By: Bijou Kruszka

‘Good Omens’ is an Amazon Prime mini-series following the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley as they work together to stop an 11-year-old Antichrist. The show, although not without its faults, is very entertaining. It is a good, but quick, watch.

To start, let’s look at all the positives. The
first few minutes of the show are narrated by God,
who is voiced by Frances McDormand. The
monologue is reminiscent of the clever writing
style found in Douglas Adams’s ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy’. It does an excellent job of setting the tone for the series, and it is a very entertaining start.

Both protagonists, Aziraphale and Crowley, are well-written, and their relationship dynamic works very well (some would say too well, but I’ll touch on that later).

Aziraphale, played by Michael Sheen, has a very interesting character arc. The series follows him internally debating whether he should fight for Earth with Crowley, or turn his back on them and be with his fellow, but inhumane, angels.

Crowley, played by David Tennant, also has an interesting character. He is very loyal to Aziraphale, and he is best described as chaotic neutral. He is often in scenes blaring Queen music out of his car, and from a person who loves Queen, I appreciate just how many scenes they play Queen songs in.

Besides Aziraphale and Crowley, there is a whole cast of side protagonists. For starters, there’s the “Them”, a group of 4 kids led by Adam, who just so happens to be the Antichrist. Though the children don’t get much screen time, they’re always entertaining and feel more like children than most young protagonists.

There’s also Newt Pulsifer and Anathema Device, a witchfinder and a witch, respectively. While Newt doesn’t get much development, he helps Anathema realize she doesn’t have to live her life centered around the prophecies written by her ancestor.

The villains, Lord Beelzebub and Archangel Gabriel are antagonists you love to hate. Beelzebub is just plain evil, as expected from a demon, but Gabriel is evil in a passive-aggressive way, which isn’t a common occurrence and is an interesting character trait.

The ending of the series is one of the best I’ve seen in a while. It’s closed enough for a nice series finale. But, it’s also open-ended just enough for a possible second season.

On the other hand, let’s look at the possible negatives. No series is without its faults, and ‘Good Omens’ is not an exception by any means.

First off, due to its religious contents, it is not a good fit for some. That’s not necessarily a negative if you enjoy that; just something to keep in mind for people who don’t. In fact, a group of Christian moms petitioned Netflix to take ‘Good Omens’ down, but failed to realize that the show was on Amazon Prime, which is hilarious.

Then, there’s the issue of queerbaiting. For those of you unaware with the term, queerbaiting is when fictional media hints at characters being LGBTQ+, but don’t ever confirm it to keep conservative audiences watching. People have said that ‘Good Omens’ is guilty of queerbaiting, but I disagree. The whole concept of ‘Good Omens’ would turn conservative audiences away, so if the creators of the series wanted Aziraphale and Crowley to end up together, they would have. I don’t deny that the characters have romantic tension, but I think that may have been accidental, and that queerbaiting is an inaccurate accusation.

Lastly, I wish there could have been more character development. Side characters like Newt and Adam’s friends barely get much screen time, therefore not giving them a chance to grow.

In the end, ‘Good Omens’, though accused of queerbaiting and unpopular with conservative audiences, is a good series, and an excellent binge watch for a boring weekend.