I have wanted to talk (rant) about a miracle in Good Omens that, I feel, does not get enough exposure (such as in the meta posts that discuss miracles, like this one, but also in general discussions of Good Omens awesomeness). The miracle of Aziraphale&Madame Tracy getting to Tadfield airbase with Shadwell.
We get to see just the start of this miraculous flight in the TV show.
(GIF source - thank you, @fuckyeahgoodomens​)
The book describes this scene in glorious detail - firstÂ
Putputputputput and a blue nimbus began to outline the scooter and its occupants with a gentle sort of a glow, like an afterimage, all around them.
- as we see in the show. And then:
I would like to draw attention to the “probably wasn’t going at more than two hundred miles an hour” bit. The top speed I can find Crowley going is 120 mph (in London, after the bookshop fire). While Aziraphale may be wary of Crowley’s driving, let it be remembered that the Angel is not afraid to go fast (well, at least in a physical sense. Okay, that still sounds wrong. In a literal sense. I’m not talking about 1967 here!)
To be fair, Aziraphale did slow down some over time. Per script book, he crosses the M25 at a mere 100 mph. And how saddened I am that we do not get to witness that crossing in the show!!! Even though it is described in the script briefly, the book offers a full, colorful description:
WHAT AN IMAGE!
But apart from the sheer aesthetic of it, I would like to discuss the more functional/mechanical aspects.
Crowley drives the Bentley to M25 as fast as the terrain allows, including in the book crossing the River Thames, apparently, across its bottom, which is special in its own right, and blasts across M25. Through an astounding and much celebrated feat of imagination and sheer willpower, with white knuckles, clenched teeth and glowing eyes (something-something “biospatial feedback?” per the book? always been curious about that little detail) he keeps himself and his most immediate belongings from combustion - in the book it is noted that he moves Agnes Nutter’s book to “the safety of his lap”. Then and for the following 30 miles Crowley keeps the Bentley together, but it becomes a fireball, a mess of burnt metal with no paint left and completely melted tires. It is damaged beyond repair, and memorably explodes in the show.Â
And by all accounts, Crowley is exhausted by this process. In the book he “wasn’t feeling very well” by the end of the journey. In the original TV script he falls down upon exiting the remnants of the Bentley.
Let’s compare this to Aziraphale’s miracle.
Aziraphale lifts a scooter with two corporations 40 feet into the air, and flies it 40 miles to the Tadfield airbase at speeds of 100-200 miles per hour. Even more impressively, he generates a sort of force-field bubble, which is unharmed by the flames of M25 other than fading at the edges and completely protects the scooter, its passengers and their belongings (the Thundergun) from harm.
It is explicitly stated both the in the book and the TV show script that the impact of M25 is not limited to the ground, and flying over it is no easier than crossing at the ground level. Â
SCIENTIST 1: Everything you are telling us is ridiculous. The temperature immediately above the M25 right now is somewhere in excess of 750 degrees...
SCIENTIST 2: Or minus a hundred and fifty.Â
SCIENTIST 1: Or minus 150. It’s probably just a mechanical error. The point is, we can’t even get a helicopter over the M25 without winding up with helicopter McNuggets.
The M25 is so terrible that even a Duke of Hell cannot protect himself from it. In fact, Crowley seems to believe there is no way for a human to get across.
A screaming, glowing ribbon of pain and dark light.* Odegra. Nothing could cross it and survive. Nothing mortal, anyway.
Well, I guess someone forgot to inform Aziraphale of this. While Crowley applies all his powers to keep from catching fire and has to remember not to breathe, the protection Aziraphale affords his human companions is so absolute that Madame Tracy thoroughly enjoys the flight (while Shadwell is simply terrified, but never mentions other discomfort).
And apparently Aziraphale does this without visibly breaking a sweat? The landing is not described, but there are no mentions of “stumbling away from the scooter”. In fact, the whole journey is never mentioned again, like it’s no big deal. (How cool is that?!)
Crowley has an amazing imagination, and his ability to stop time is highly impressive. But as far as transporting goods and people across occult obstacles - I think Aziraphale takes the cake.
