In Review: Good Omens, Season 2 (Amazon Prime)

Synopsis: In season 2 of Good Omens Aziraphale and retired demon Crowley’s lives become extremely complicated.

A naked archangel turns up at the door to renegade angel Aziraphale’s bookshop, with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Of course, Heaven and Hell are both desperate to find the runaway. 

While this is going on, Crowley and Aziraphale attempt to fix a human romance. Inevitably, things become increasingly unsafe for them, in the past and the present.

Review: There’s good news and bad news for Good Omens fans. First, the good news is that Neil Gaiman designed the second season as a bridge from the original novel to the sequel he and Terry Pratchett had planned. Happily, Gaiman is already working on the third season.

Unfortunately, the bad news is that the combined creative strikes will delay the production and release of the third season. That will regrettably impact my review of season two. I can’t assess season two thoroughly, because it ends on a cliffhanger.

Story

I’ll forgo the commentary I’d like to make about the systemic viability of cliffhangers within the increasingly unstable entertainment industry. Instead, I’ll focus on the positive aspects of the storytelling.

Of course, the overarching positive aspect of the storytelling is Gaiman himself. His unabashed love for the universe he and Pratchett created shined through every scene.

At the script level, I particularly liked Gaiman’s use of thematic parallels to maintain the narrative economy. I also appreciated how he paid off his setups leading up to the cliffhanger. I didn’t realize Gaiman was such a Jane Austen fanboy, and that’s all I’ll say.

Acting

The entire cast is brilliant. That said, I have to focus on three performers. 

First, Jon Hamm brought a wonderful depth to Gabriel throughout. Hamm managed to convey endearing innocence and arrogance simultaneously.

As awesome as Jon Hamm was, though, Good Omens, Season 2 belonged to the leads. David Tennant and Michael Sheen are artisan chocolate and peanut butter together.

Overall

In closing, we here at SciFi Pulse stand with the writers and actors. Hopefully, they’ll take comprehensive new contracts into production on the third season.

• You can stream Good Omens, Season 2 here. 
• You can read SciFi Pulse’s review of Good Omens, Season 1 here.