Plenty of Heavenly Content // Pictured above is the original Good Omens novel, the Good Omens Script Book based on the series’s first season, and the newly added second season of Good Omens. Along with these are several other varieties of content all centered on the story of Good Omens just for the fandom’s enjoyment.
A heavenly demonic second season arrives for Prime Video’s Good Omens
by Sienna Nicholson
The year 2023 has been big on shows and movies alike with everyone having something they’re looking forward to. While the recent Writers’ and Actors’ Strikes have limited lots of entertainment this year, some shows were able to unobtrusively debut for the world. One of these to make the cut was a highly anticipated TV show called Good Omens, returning with its second season to make fans all over go absolutely berserk.
The show Good Omens first came out on Amazon Prime Video in 2019. The series was directly based on the 1990 hit book written by both Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. The authors are famously known for writing The Color of Magic and Coraline respectively, along with several other well-known books. The book Good Omens wasn’t meant to be a big deal. Simply a fun collaboration between friends where they’d split the pay and never think of it again.
Despite that fact, the book exploded in fame, selling over five million copies. Fans all over the world were gripped by such a unique and quirky perspective of the universe and how it functions. Suddenly, such a small project grew into a monumentous achievement renowned by many, (especially those on Tumblr), and it isn’t hard to see why.
The story revolves around an angel named Aziraphale and a demon named Crowley who, over the years of working for their respective bureaucracies of Heaven and Hell, have made a sort of partnership on Earth. The two are faced with the end of the world as they know it and are forced to work together to stop their beloved planet from ceasing to exist. So, in making the show, the plot of the first season follows Gaiman and Pratchett’s original book almost to a T.
Though Pratchett tragically passed away due to his Alzheimer’s on March 12th, 2015, he and Gaiman had discussed the makings of a TV rendition of their famous novel for years. It was unfortunate that Pratchett wasn’t able to be a part of the process, but if anything, his death spurred Gaiman on to make the show a reality.
“Terry Pratchett asked me to make a Good Omens television series in August 2014,” he wrote in the introduction to the Good Omens Script Book. “And then, in March 2015, Terry died. I flew home from the funeral and I started writing the first episode.”
In the book, there are several overlapping plotlines following other characters such as Newton Pulsifer and Anathema Device or The Them, a group consisting of four children and a hellhound. Although the show is modified to focus more primarily on Aziraphale and Crowley, long-time fans of the book were overjoyed to find the show was almost a perfect translation, doing everything to respect its original source and even including several direct quotes.
As to why when a second season was announced four years later, many fans were intrigued. The first season covered the entirety of the original book, and though Gaiman and Pratchett had discussed it, a second novel had never been made. So, many wondered what on Earth this new story could display, and if it would at all ruin the precious world of Good Omens many had grown to love.
Thankfully, as the day arrived on July 28th, 2023, fans were overjoyed to report the second season did not fail in the slightest. It was an absolute hit with the old fans as the story focused more on Aziraphale and Crowley’s dynamic, something much wanted by the fandom as they are revered as the lovable “ineffable husbands” online.
In contrast to the first season, which prioritized the action-heavy plot of stopping Armaggedeon, this new story focuses on the ever-changing friendship between the two leading characters, and how their roles as angel and demon often restricted it.
The show, just as the season before it, is filled with lighthearted humor and bantering fun. However, alongside the comedy, there’s a much stronger hint of romantic tension between the two leads. Part of Good Omens’ attraction over the years has been its open queerness, making many feel seen through the story. The main characters themselves, along with any other angel and demon, have an open and flexible gender identity with varying pronouns.
The new season paralleled its leads with a new duo, Maggie and Nina, who are both sapphic women running their own businesses on the famous Soho Street of London while also pining for one another. Both women reflect many different features of Aziraphale and Crowley’s dynamic and even help them realize their own romantic feelings for each other. Through this season, their relationship is examined in a new and vulnerable light, one the fandom immediately became obsessed with.
Along with pleasing the long-time fans, an entire new flock of people came in at the news of a second season. Many who had thought about watching the show in the past or had never even heard of Good Omens in any way before finally caught wind of the advertising, despite how limited it was due to the ongoing strikes.
The second season soared in popularity long after its premiere. Three weeks after its release it sat in the top three TV shows on Prime Video in 44 countries, and within the first ten days of September 2023, it was ranked the seventh most popular TV series on Prime Video. Clearly, the sequel was as much of a hit as its predecessor.
With how successful the following season was, many fans are anxiously awaiting a third and final season, especially following such a cliffhanger ending. Many feared there would never be a third season with the lack of advertising and strikes, even with the popularity the second season was able to gather. However, the future seems brighter for the show now that the Writer’s Strike has officially ended with a deal agreed upon as of September 27th, 2023.
If all ends well with the strikes, Gaiman will be able to continue working on a script for a third season of Good Omens and fans across the globe can continue to watch their favorite angel and demon in action.
