#good omens season two

[noneorother]

Hi, I’ve only read one meta by you yet, but you seem to be just the right person to ask this: did you notice how many people in the scenes outside the bookshop are wearing orange, in series 2?

Any idea what that’s all about? Is it just esthetics, an echo of the bookshop‘s columns, or does it have a filmographical significance? Everytime I watch the show there seem to be more orange clothes, once you start seeing that, it’s crazy how many there are!

Hey thanks for the ask! I mean, you have until 2026 to read more of my drivel so; pace yourself! Orange clothing is definitely an *interesting* choice for extras in film. You almost never see it in background actors clothing because... it draws the eye! The fact that they included so much orange, yellow, and loud patterning in the extras in season 2 is a real decision to throw film tradition and S1 cannon out the window.

I would like to submit my own theory that the choice was made as a deliberate nod to time travel. But first, a little background.

Compare two crowd scenes on Whickeber street from each season: It's kind of nuts that even at microscopic resolution we get such a HUGE difference.

That's not to say orange is missing. Here are the only two extras wearing orange in S1, and they happen to be in the same scene in episode 2, when Newt and Shadwell meet for the first time, discussing occult beings "hiding in plain sight". (witches in this case)

We also get some pretty obvious bright orange in main characters in S1: Madame Tracy and Beelzebub. We meet Tracy in orange as she immediately reveals to Newt multiple hidden identities, see her again wearing orange hair when she communes with spirits, and finally all decked out in orange when she is being possessed by an angel (a person hiding inside a person). Beelzebub wears an orange sash and medal as a high ranking Duke of Hell, so orange is maybe their house colour, or a prestigious colour for hell in general, but after season 2 we know Beelzebub doesn't always have the same face, and is hiding intentions of their own.

Orange doesn't have much biblical significance, mostly because the colour orange was mostly seen as "fire" or "bright" coloured until way after the bible was transcribed, and orange dye wasn't really a thing in the European world until significant trade with east Asia developed. Here's the only other bright orange thing to appear all season, (in a deleted scene): Crowley hiding in plain sight, posing as a maintenance worker.

I think we might be able to draw the conclusion from season 1 that orange is a colour associated with the "Hidden Occult/Power". Not necessarily only hell, but more as something otherworldly, that's hidden in plain sight. (Interestingly, we never ever see Anathema or Agnes Nutter in orange. So I wouldn't say it's related to witches at all.)

In season 2 however, orange is everywhere. More specifically on extras' clothing and the outside of Maggie's record shop.

Maggie seems to be the only main character to wear bright orange herself (E2).

But this is by far my favourite one: in the back of the crowd of demons getting a Shax pep talk in S2E5, there's a regular human extra wearing bright orange sitting amongst the army, completely unnoticed by both demons and audience, observing the plan.

This really set off alarm bells for me, because there's a very Terry Pratchett precedent for powerful and unnoticed orange-wearing characters in the discworld series : the time monks.

Terry's character Sweeper seen here on the original cover of Night Watch. The time monks' clothing and general philosophy is based on Thai buddhist monks, who (like in many buddhists sects) wear donated, saffron-dyed robes in orange and yellow/red to symbolize flames of purity, and to separate them from the world of gross matter, like a fallen leaf from a tree.

In the discworld novel Night Watch, the time monks are responsible for monitoring and cleaning up the timeline, pruning it like a bonzai tree. They are everywhere and yet unnoticed, inside the flow of time yet not of it. And they are the ones who guide the main character through the process of being stuck after falling back through his own timeline, into his own past.

(Excerpt from the book where Sweeper is explaning time travel to Vimes).

Extras circling in the background are called "background actors" because they exist to not be noticed. Put in extras wearing orange/yellow and bright red, and suddenly you can track them, and notice how they are part of the crowd, but stand apart from it. You can notice when they go missing from one cut to the next, or appear to circle or jump between frames. Many extras, including the demon army watcher, also seem to be circling, and monitoring the goings-on in the world of Good Omens. Based on the meaning of orange from S1, it would seem these mere background actors are more than they appear to be. Could they even be checking up on unwarranted time distortions or timeline ruptures happening around a certain Bookshop...?

#good omens 2 #art director talks good omens #good omens meta #go season 2 #go meta #good omens season 2 #good omens season two #good omens #go2 #good omens analysis #good omens s2 #good omens theory

[sparkplug02]

My take on the Final Fifteen

To Aziraphale, I don’t think the choice was “stay with Crowley on Earth” or “leave Crowley for Heaven.” I think the choice was “go to Heaven with Crowley” or “go to Heaven without Crowley.” In other words,

“No” wasn’t an option (to Aziraphale) (gif is not mine).

From the coffee shop scene where the Metatron orders coffee from Nina:

Metatron: “Do people ever ask for death?”

Nina: “What?”

Metatron: “The name of your establishment, ‘Give me coffee or give me death’ - I assume they always ask for coffee?”

Nina: “They don’t ever ask for death, no.”

Metatron: “I don’t suppose they do. So predictable.”

Death isn’t an option. “No” isn’t an option. Not to Aziraphale, who goes along with Heaven as best he can.

With Job, there was wiggle room to bend the rules and interpret things in Job’s behavior. Aziraphale lied but he didn’t outright refuse anyone. Technically, Crowley was the one who made the trick happen. Aziraphale only affirmed it.

During the Final Fifteen, Aziraphale had effectively just started a war. To quote Crowley, “Heaven won’t like that.” Then Voice of God personally came down and, rather than issuing a punishment for using his halo, the Metatron told Aziraphale he would be the new Supreme Archangel.

If God (or God’s voice) says so, then it must be. Aziraphale IS the new Supreme Archangel. The Supreme Archangel must reside in Heaven, so Aziraphale will go to Heaven. For an angel, there is no choice in that. I doubt it crosses Aziraphale’s mind that refusal mighty be an option. There is no option.

Aziraphale’s time on Earth is up. Maybe that is how he sees it. Nothing lasts forever, and he has to go. I doubt he wants to go alone though.

(gif still not mine)

If Crowley came with him, that would make Heaven more bearable. Making Crowley into an angel again might not be an “I can fix you” but a “this is the only way we can stay together.” It is not within Aziraphale’s new jurisdiction to refuse the call of the Lord, but it is within his jurisdiction to give a call of his own. I doubt any angel has the power to make a demon an angel again, so the Metatron was probably banking on the fact that Crowley doesn’t trust Heaven and would never willingly return there, but I also doubt Aziraphale knew that.

If you approach this from a perspective of no alternative, no choice for Aziraphale to stay or leave, only the choice for Crowley to join him or stay behind, then the response to “tell me you said no” was a very honest and genuine “I couldn’t.” Not because Aziraphale values Heaven over Crowley, but because he has no choice in the matter. He IS going to Heaven. He doesn’t see a way out of that.

Of course, Crowley does, and why wouldn’t he? He makes his ‘too late’ love confession, and when that doesn’t work outright, he tries to convince Aziraphale that he has a choice, that he can refuse, that he should refuse, that he ought to refuse.

One of the things I learned in a public speaking class (shoutout to Donna) is that if you’re trying to persuade someone, you can’t expect to get them to swing from one extreme to another. You have to know where your audience stands on the issue and aim to move them one, maybe two degrees towards your side at a time. If you want to change someone’s mind the easy way (talking to them instead of forcing them through an experience that changes their perspective), you have to go slow and steady. If you try to argue someone from one extreme to another, then all you’re likely to do is push them even further away from the stance you want them to take.

This was not a slow and steady persuasion. This was a last-ditch attempt at a long shot. Aziraphale had just started to separate himself from Heaven, enough that he stopped Armageddon with Crowley, but he wasn’t completely detached from them. They still sent Muriel to watch him, which implies that he’s still under Heaven’s control, even if he has gone rogue.

Aziraphale doesn’t see staying behind as an option. He cannot do it, it will not happen. He spends all that time trying to convince Crowley to come with him because that it is the only thing that will make this inevitable future bearable. He must go to Heaven, he will go to Heaven. When Crowley asks him if he said no, he doesn’t respond because this isn’t something he can say no to. It doesn’t occur to him, and he doesn’t consider any possibility…

…until Crowley kisses him.

This is only one example. He keeps turning around, keeps looking back. THAT is one step in the right direction. THAT was enough to make him hesitate, to wonder if maybe he could choose not to go to Heaven and that maybe he should. One fabulous kiss and now, all of a sudden, he’s second-guessing himself.

He still goes, but in the elevator, the Metatron tells Aziraphale about the Second Coming. Crowley figured this out earlier, and Aziraphale knows it now. That final look? Well, they both know how Crowley thinks the Big One will end. Heaven and Hell against Humanity.

In order for Crowley to succeed at stopping the Second Coming, Aziraphale would have had to stay with him. In order for Aziraphale to succeed at thwarting the Second Coming, Crowley would have had to come with him. They probably both feel like the other is abandoning them in their greatest time of need.

Here’s the thing, though: Aziraphale may be Supreme Archangel now, but he was Guardian of the Eastern Gate first and foremost. Aziraphale might stand by and watch Heaven and Hell fight, but the second Heaven turns against Humanity, ohhhhhh it’s over. He was only willing to kill Adam because he thought the rest of Humanity’s survival depended on it. He knows humans kill each other and die all the time, but the last time he’s watched a holy or unholy being kill people was the Flood, and that was God Herself doing it. If his captors fellow angels start killing humans as collateral for the Second Coming, then that will knock him over the edge.

And Heaven doesn’t want that. The Metatron gets Aziraphale in line before the Second Coming starts. If Aziraphale and Crowley team up (you know, the angel and demon who tried to subtly perform a double-half-miracle and instead produced a 25 Lazari smoke signal), it’s over. The day Heaven loses their grip on Aziraphale is the day Heaven loses.

I think Crowley’s kiss worked better than he thinks it did. It made Aziraphale doubt, and it walked him one step closer to turning around. Aziraphale’s protective Principality nature will take care of the rest, and as soon as Aziraphale realizes he has a choice, we all know the choice he will make. Crowley is an optimist. He’ll be there when Aziraphale figured it out.

He’ll be pissed off, but he’ll be there. They both will. Crowley is still on Their Side. My guess is that Aziraphale will go radio silent for an episode or so before he sabotages Heaven so bad that the only way they can recover is by teaming up with Hell. The second Crowley sees Heaven’s plan going up in flames, he’ll know his angel is behind it. He’ll know Aziraphale is on Their Side again.

#good omens #good omens season 2 spoilers #good omens season two #good omens season 2 #good omens s2 #good omens season 3 #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #crowley #aziracrow #crowly x aziraphale #final fifteen #metatron #neil gaiman

[rainy-xp]

Snake Crowley <3

Season two hurt me so bad so now I‘m making silly little fanart :')

#art #fanart #good omens #crowley #aziraphale #good omens fanart #good omens fandom #good omens crowley #good omens art #good omens aziraphale #good omens season one #good omens season 2 #good omens series #good omens s1 #snake crowley #crowley plants #good omens season two #good omens fanwork

[taurielofmirkwood77777]

In 0.5 seconds and without saying a single word, Michael Sheen changed lives.

This was the bitchiest bitch moment Aziraphale had in all 2 seasons. Thank you for your service, respectfully, I am deceased.

GIF credit: @wildsflag

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens s2 #good omens season 2 #good omens season two #aziraphale #crowley #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #michael sheen

[ato-dato]

Piss off!!! Thanks!!!!!!!!!! :)))))

#bookstore-sitting is a very hard job #you wouldn’t understand #anyway #we interrupt your usual funny programme for a little bit of angst #but we’ll be back shortly #aziraphale #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #aziraphale x crowley #crowley #muriel #good omens muriel #good omens season two #good omens #good omens spoilers #good omens fanart #good omens s2 #art #artwork #my art #fanart #digital art #drawing #comic #fan comic

[bewarethecircles]

I went through every possible emotion in those last 20 minutes, plus some that I made up on the spot! how are y'all?

#we're really all dying together huh #good omens #good omens season two #good omens spoilers #good omens 2 #good omens 2 spoilers #crowley x aziraphale #ineffable husbands #ineffable spouses #ineffable bureaucracy #beelzebub x gabriel #aziraphale x crowley

[neil-gaiman]

You remember how I told everyone the plot of Season 2 before it aired?

(Everyone tries to remember and then shakes their heads.)

That's right. I didn't. I spent several years going "wait and see". And you waited and you saw.

I'm not going to reveal any of the plot of Season 3, either. So there's really no point in asking me to make things happen, or to tell me what you do or you don't want to happen. I'm not going to.

#good omens #good omens season two #good omens season 3

[moss-balll]

they really brought david tenant’s son in and said hey do you want to play a gay little boy in good omens 2. just a little camp mf. nepotism done right.

#bro was in it for 3 minutes and was somehow the gayest character in the show #in the very gay show #good omens #aziraphale #crowley #good omens season two #good omens 2 #good omens spoilers #mosstxt

[whitechocolateandwindydays]

So, who was gonna tell me that ‘No Nightingales’ is a book about two ghosts preventing a war from happening, then being in a love-hate relationship and not talking to each other for 66 years in a house on Berkeley Square??

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens 2 spoilers #good omens season two #no nightingales #ineffable spouses #ineffable husbands #ineffable idiots #ineffable divorce

[weird-little-book-lover]

Zira having Crowley put the gun down in s1 is much funnier to me after s2

"Yes, yes, let's not do that again"

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens crowley #good omens season two #david tennant #michael sheen #anthony j crowley #aziraphale #crowley #neil gaiman #good omens spoilers

[its-tickety-boo]

These two idiots kill me because what Crowley is hearing from Aziraphale is, “I am able to look past your demonic nature because I love you so much, but if there was a way, I would change that part of you” and what Crowley wants to hear is, “I look at all of you and I love all of you”

Meanwhile Aziraphale’s actually saying, “I love every version of you that I’ve known, but I miss the smile you had when I met you and I would give anything to bring that joy back”

#communication? these bitches never heard of it #they’re so tragic and for what #good omens #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #anthony j crowley #crowley #good omens season two #good omens s2 #good omens season 2 #miscommunication #ineffable idiots #ineffable divorce #I’ve seen so many variations of this post and they all destroy me

[unstablefrog1]

It feels appropriate

#aziraphale #crowley #good omens season two #good omens s2 #writers #writersstrike #writers strike #good omens season 2 #good omens #good omens 2 #ineffable husbands #david tennant #michael sheen

[furiousdinosaurdestiny]

Ugh 😭😭😭

#michael sheen #good omens #good omemes #aziraphale #crowley #david tennant #good omens season two #good omens 2 #crowly x aziraphale #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #good ineffable omens #ineffable lovers #ineffable partners #ineffable spouses #ineffible husbands #i forgive you

[xxlumos]

Holding onto you for dear life.

#brainrot BRAINROT #i love them so much you cant even imagine it #on to the next piece I GUESS #click for better resolution <3 #good omens #good omens season 2 spoilers #go2 #good omens season two #good omens season 2 #crowley #aziraphale #aziracrow #crowley x aziraphale #innefable husbands #illustration #art #digital art #digital illustration #myart #csp #clip studio paint #clip studio art

[pinkpiggy93]

The first moment of splendor

I made this one based on the first scene of season 2 and this made me believe that Aziraphale fell in love the moment he met Crowley while Crowley at this point was just full of awe and wonder as he created the galaxy. I noticed that Az somehow copied some of Crowley’s manerism, just bubly and cheerful, or perhaps the wing cover later, back in season 1, was Aziraphale returning Crowley’s kind gesture at the very beginning, this moment.

In any case i love love love it, soooo many good moments in this season. What are your thoughts?

#good omens fanart #good omens #crowley #aziraphale #otp: ineffable #ineffable husbands #pinkpiggy93 comics #pinkpiggy art #good omens season two

[ato-dato]

Road help.

#Sorry azi ur gonna have to be crystal clear when speaking to him #clueless Crowley is so important to me u don’t even know #crowley #aziraphale #aziracrow #aziraphale x crowley #ineffable idiots #ineffable husbands #good omens season two #good omens #good omens 2 #good omens fanart #good omens spoilers #good omens season 2 #art #artwork #my art #fanart #digital art #drawing #comic #fan comic #suggestive #i guess????