Iām honestly really bothered by the way that Aziraphale was treated by the writers and, notably, by CROWLEY, throughout the finale. why on EARTH did every single interaction between crowley and aziraphale regarding s2 Final Fifteen consist of crowley accusing aziraphale of abandoning him, aziraphale explaining that he had to try to do the right thing / they couldnāt have been happy if they left all of earthās inhabitants to suffer, and then crowley just making faces at him and never ONCE responding to those valid claims??? i kept expecting crowley to eventually arrive at the conclusion that yes, aziraphaleās motivations WERE noble, and clearly his attempts to do good actually WERE on track to achieving something (ie the Second Coming wasnāt going to be a war at all before michael ruined everything). but crowley never breached that topic.
it was all about crowleyās forgiveness of aziraphale, but never crowleyās admission that aziraphale made valid choices, too. throughout the show, aziraphale may have been flawed for acting like angels were superior to demons in efforts to keep him and crowley safe, but crowley is also flawed for always belittling aziraphale and calling him stupid/idiotic/etc any time he made a choice independent of their relationship out of some kind of protective instinct. iām just so tired of the narrative that aziraphaleās flaws are flaws, and crowleyās flaws are quirks.
like what do you mean aziraphale is a ātakerā????? he went back to Heaven to save all of humanity, yet he was characterized as selfish for it and no one ever stood up for him or acknowledged his attempts to stand up for himself. and in the end it was crowley who god gave the choice of what to do about the universe to, and whose idea it was to start a new universe for the sake of humansā freedom. aziraphale sacrificed himself and his happiness FIRST with the s2 finale, but that choice was dubbed selfish whereas crowley was given the big moment to be self-sacrificing in s3 yet his choice is heroic. never mind the fact that aziraphale fought for the humans even harder than crowley did when he refused to run away in both seasons 1 and 2. no no noā aziraphale is lazy. crowley is a hero.
besides, to imply that aziraphale only ātookā and demanded things from crowley is to entirely misunderstand their dynamic. crowley takes on a doting role in that relationship because he has been told that he has to be the symbol of evilā not even just a demon, but THE snake itselfā and as much as he tried to convince himself otherwise throughout history, thatās NOT who he really is. caring for aziraphale gave him the chance to be vulnerable and loving; aziraphale loved him BECAUSE he was different from other demons, not in spite of it. weāre expected to believe that while crowley is a good person BECAUSE heās not like other demons, aziraphale is a good person DEPSITE the fact that he enjoys food and is ālazyā or āpridefulā or āgluttonous.ā
furthermore, while i understand that throughout history aziraphale could have reciprocated crowleyās care more openly, letās not forget that over and over again, crowley implies things like āthey never check upā and āthey love me down there.ā while the risk of punishment and death is equally huge for both of them, the risk was always more likely to be a problem for aziraphale, who had heaven breathing down his neck 24/7 if he so much as used one frivolous miracle to save his own life. aziraphale kept them both alive for 6000 years by keeping crowley at a distance, yet he STILL showed up and gave him holy waterā something that easily could have gotten him killedā and showed up for crowley however he could. their situations were different, and in season 1, crowley understood that difference. they had to go at aziraphaleās pace. but all of that went out the window when aziraphale was characterized as a selfish ātakerā who abandoned his city and his soulmate rather than someone who tried to fucking save them.
donāt even get me STARTED on the scene between the two of them and God; the entire show has clearly indicated that, in different ways, aziraphale and crowley each have equal degrees of trauma surrounding God and her lack of communication with them. thatās what made their moments throughout the Job minisode so movingā they understood what the other was going through because they were experiencing the same thing. so why on Earth was the moment of Godās arrival given to Crowley and crowley alone?? aziraphale literally stepped aside to encourage crowley to ask his brilliant question, yet crowley didnāt offer aziraphale the same stage, and when god took it upon herself to address aziraphale, his question was exclusively romantic and had nothing to do with his own trauma surrounding heaven and humanity. aziraphale was reduced to crowleyās love interest, from the interaction with god to the fact that (nearly) every step along the way, it was crowley who figured out the next phase of the mystery first.
aziraphale has ALWAYS had ambitions outside of crowleyā they both adore humanity, but it was crowley who always suggested that they say fuck it and run away whereas aziraphale stood by earth time and time again. so it makes NO sense that aziraphale wouldnāt ask god a question about anything besides his love story. thatās never been who he is. his love for crowley is an important part of his identity, but itās not the only part. you wouldnāt get that if you watched that scene out of context.
and unlike the crowley we know and love from seasons 1 and 2, finale-crowley NEVER intervened to say something like, āno, angel. you are not good DESPITE the fact that you eat and dance and act hedonistically. you are good BECAUSE of those things.ā aziraphaleās goodwill has always rippled out of small kindnessesā he stops crowley from abandoning a stranger in the street whom he just ran over with a car. his love of music caused him to forgive a tenantās rent for free. his love of food gave him a connection with the owner of a local coffee shop and sushi restaurant. fucking BULLSHIT that heās lazy or hedonistic ābutā still a good angel. heās a good angel BECAUSE of the things God criticized him for, not in spite of them. and even if she said those things with respect /teasingness, Mr. āI did not care for itā was SILENT during all the moments that implied that aziraphaleās interests and joys were flaws.
aziraphale is selfish for loving food and comfort, but crowleyās obsession with his car or plants just makes him funny and iconic. i kept waiting for crowley to intervene and say something beautiful about aziraphale the way that azi did for him in that scene, but nope.
and while i understand the argument iāve seen some fans make that itās religiously liberating for aziraphale to acknowledge that he is technically a sinner by biblical standards but is still good, my issue stems from the word āstill.ā he argued to god that she was right about him āBUTā he still always tried to do good. no oneā not aziraphale OR crowleyā pointed out that those things arenāt sins in the first placeā they make him who he is. crowley is redeemed, in godās eyes, for his creativity and curiosity, but his temper/selfishness was never addressed. alternatively, aziraphaleās so-deemed āflawsā were criticized, but his love for crowley is what made god appreciate him. and as sweet as that idea is, itās also a version of synecdoche; it reduces aziraphale to his love story and nothing else.
and SPEAKING of aziraphaleās speech to crowley, while it WAS so sweet, i call bullshit on the idea that crowley was the āonlyā one willing to question, or that he ātaughtā aziraphale bravery. aziraphale has been THE bravest character on that show since Day One; the very first thing we learned about him was that he gave away his god-given sword because adam and eve were alone and scared, and aziraphale made that choice entirely without crowleyās influence. we also watched him look out for his fellow angel and warn him not to get into trouble BEFORE the Fall even happenedā proving that deep down, aziraphale suspected heaven for what it really was before crowley even did. and then in the finale, we watched an angel who JUST saw what happens to deserters take off his own wrappings to help an injured demon whoād threatened him with his own blade.
aziraphale has NEVER needed crowley to teach him bravery; crowley taught him that the bravery he already possessed was nothing to be ashamed of. but to rob aziraphale of the same qualities that crowley possesses, to give him no ambitions outside of romance (ie āi only want one thingā), is to demote his character to crowleyās love interest, and not once in this finale did crowley speak up about it.
i think a lot of times when we have a queer relationshipā even one like this in which neither being is genderedā fans subconsciously try to find a Man and Woman in the dynamic based on systemic heteronormativity and misogyny. so when we condemn aziraphale for his flaws but treat crowleyās as silly aspects of his personality, when we refuse to acknowledge that aziraphale might have ambitions outside of his love story (ie the Nate and Andy From Devil Wears Prada Effect), or when we claim that wanting SOME creature comforts for himself makes him lazy and prideful, we end up treating aziraphale exactly the way that female love interests are treated. and while i personally think thatās been a huge issue in the fanbase for years, this finale is the first time in which crowley acted that way, too. crowley actively mistreated aziraphale throughout this entire finale.
even down to the human versions of themselves: anthony is a published author, a teller of his own story (albeit not a particularly successful one), whereas that scene implied that asa didnāt even own that bookshop, he was a subordinate employee in it, connoting an inherent difference in power. and while i understand that ācrowleyā might be an easier name to adapt than āaziraphale,ā something in me twinges sadly at the fact that he doesnāt even keep his own name in their supposed, reincarnated happy ending. and our very last scene of them involved crowley looking at the stars-aka HIS passionā and aziraphale bringing him a drink like some kind of housewife. whatever happened to all the fanon representations of the south downs cottage that was overrun with plants AND books? aziraphaleās personality was bled from his happy ending, and only crowleyās remained.
iāll always be sorry for that clever, kind, compassionate angel who forgives all at the expense of himself, who willingly sacrificed his own happiness after fighting for it for 6,000 years so he could undo the system of abuse that HE was a victim of only to be obliviated out of existence before he got the chance to have that happiness back. he was never acknowledged as the protagonist, the frodo baggins, the hero of this story. and he fucking deserved better.
Yup, absolutely - to all of this. S3 reads like a fanfic by someone who much preferred Crowley, and wanted to prove that Crowley Was Right All Along, And Aziraphale Is A Gullible or Oblivious Idiot Who Must Be Humiliated And Made To Grovel.
Which is fine in fanfic, deeply suspect in canon.
Part of the problem is that characters like Aziraphale, who are Lawful Good or Neutral Good, seem trickier to write than bad-boy-with-a-heart-of-gold. Writers don't seem to know what to do with characters who aren't overtly and loudly rebelling against the system. Most storylines featuring them focus on discrediting their worldview.
I found it kind of hilarious how the two of them are in the scene with God, but Crowley is fairly useless in squaring up to God (Crowley is just going to lounge there and let a capricious and cruel overlord insult his angel like that? Unlikely!) and Aziraphale is fairly useless in deciding the final outcome ("Well, okay, we'll wipe out the universe if you say so").
And in the end, this looks a bit like the Bury Your Gays trope, except watered down to "okay, they can TECHNICALLY be together, but they have to make enormous and life-destroying sacrifices."
The concession I'll make is...if you look at it from the point of view of someone who was facing a devastating loss, it looks like a catharsis fic. If you were going through a heartbreaking, life-altering event, why would you believe that God could be kind, and warm, and playful? Wouldn't you believe more in the entity who "made you complete...only to take it away"? Why should these fictional characters get everything they want when life has been so bloody cruel to you?
And that's all I'll say on that, because I feel odd bringing someone's real life into the conversation. It feels intrusive. But in this case, it could explain quite a bit.
Thst said, I now know how I feel about S2, which I also felt was unnecessarily bleak: I'm ignoring it entirely. S2 and 3 many have some really nice scenes, but I don't think they added much. I'm inclined to believe that the original Good Omens was entire unto itself. We so desperately wanted to see more from our demon and angel, but sadly the writer's room obsession with angst and bittersweet-endings-at-best was always likely to look at this optimistic, warm, often silly series and decide "needs more misery!"
I have tons to say on the topic of S2 and S3, but to be honest, I think you've covered most of it!
