In hindsight, I guess it's obvious that the only way Season 2 was meant to be a bridge was as a bridge from Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, the collaborative effort between Terry Pratchett and NG to Good Omens: The Story of Crowley the Extremely Cool Demon Who Was Also the Best Angel, the story as NG originally envisioned it. And it is equally obvious to me that he did not understand how Crowley had evolved from his original idea and that he resented Aziraphale's inclusion in the story at all. They were never meant to be a couple in his eyes but he was happy to play with the idea as a way to make his self-insert suffering martyr version of Crowley even sadder by turning Aziraphale from a co-main character and equal partner into an unworthy love interest who never really understood him.
And it all just pisses me off because while I can dismiss S3 as a piece of shit written by a piece of shit, part of the legacy it leaves behind is the poisoning of the fandom, now and in the future, against a character I have loved for 30 years.
(I know Crowley was treated very badly by Season 3 too. Please don't @ me to tell me how much worse he had it - that was the intent. They were both done extremely dirty, but you're meant to sympathize with Crowley and to see Aziraphale as cruel.)
What a "tribute" to an alleged friend, completely assassinating the character he created for your shared story just to elevate your own. "For Terry" indeed. ðŸ˜
