So, back when I still had Hopes about GO3 and the world was rosy and innocent, one of the Character Flaws I was really expecting/hoping theyâd tackle is Crowleyâs extreme codependency issues. Like, hey, yeah, the end of GO2 brought up that a lot of the personality flaws we thought were resolved in GO1 still persisted and thatâs a very poignant message about how progress isnât linear but⌠surely they arenât just going to rehash the same character beats again, right? Maybe they're gonna focus on the character flaws that GO1 didn't already cover?
And out of all the character flaws that were kinda present but not resolved in any way in GO1 and highlighted in GO2 is this aspect of Crowleyâs character. And the through-line in GO2 about the unequal amount of sacrifice in the relationship is, like, you could definitely argue this is most importantly a problem of Aziraphale taking Crowley for granted and not Giving him enough and Taking too much but... the whole thing also highlighted Crowleyâs emotional neediness making so dependent and so bad at asking for what he wants Given to him and bad at insisting upon his boundaries.
So at first I hoped that maybe the Ineffable Divorce would be good for Crowley in the long run, Aziraphale has finally crossed a boundary that Crowley isnât going to acquiesce to or compromise on (his identity as Crowley, not the Angel he was). Crowley is staying on Earth around the same place as Muriel and all of the Human secondary characters established during GO2⌠maybe heâs gonna actually develop some emotional connections with Other People, learn how to still love Aziraphale while not making him the entirety of his world and reason for living. Obviously, thatâs not what happened, Crowleyâs codependence and obsessive dedication and tendency to spiral into self-destructive self-loathing has only gotten worseâŚ
But at first that still made me hopeful (first mistake when it comes to GO3, I know) that this will be the set-up to his character arc. That the point is to show this flaw of Crowley at its most harmful extreme before he starts climbing out of itâŚ. Right?
And, like, when I first went through the Finale, I was pretty ready to just chuck this down in the very long list of âIneffable Husbands Personal and Interpersonal Issues That Were Not Meaningfully Addressed by the Finale and Only Resolved by FUCKING Reincarnation of All Things", or I suppose you could say that STPUID ASS âyou were the Best Angelâ speech was supposed to totally resolve all of Crowleyâs self-loathing problems and thus also his dependency problems??? Because THAT was the point of GO2, right??? That interpersonal issues can totally be fixed forever with one big dramatic gesture?
But the more and more I think about it, I start considering the possibility that the narrative never gave Crowley a chance to fix his toxically selfless codependent âI will basically try to destroy myself over and over again if I canât be with my Angelâ issues because⌠it doesnât actually see them as issues. It just sees them totally unironically uncomplicated expressions of love. Him behaving like that isn't a tragic flaw to heal from, really, it's just a demonstration of how much he loves. The narrative sees the problem with Aziraphale being a 'Taker', not showing Crowley his love enough, but not in the fact that it's also bad for Crowley that, regardless of his partner's behavior, he is so emotionally dependent on Aziraphale, selfless to the point of it being unhealthy.
This is a very serious topic, so I want to make sure I'm being clear as possible. This isn't, like, blaming Crowley for every time he tried to set a boundary but Aziraphale argued and pouted until he surrendered. I'm not saying "Oh this is equally Crowley's fault as a person, for not being good enough at insisting on himself", I am saying that from a character and narrative standpoint, not being able to say 'no' to the one you love is a flaw that a character should raise above and overcome, and it should not be romanticized as a showcase for just how In Love this character isâŚ
In Season One, this was an issue that was easy to overlook. Crowley just seemed to enjoy spoiling Aziraphale rotten, so it was just easy to just see these gestures as romantic and sweet, and even the biggest red flag, so to speak, him resigning himself (and the world) to death because he thought Aziraphale has diedâŚ
I mean, it's not healthy, but he was literally just reeling from the shock and grief and guilt of thinking Aziraphale has died probably less than an hour ago⌠It's a contrast to Book!Crowley's near-constant resolve and optimism, but it still felt like an understandable reaction given the timeframe.
Meanwhile, like, yeah, GO3 Crowley spending years wallowing in an alleyway, dedicating himself to protecting the Bookshop he thinks Aziraphale will not return too, sacrificing the Bentley he considers to be basically part of himself, spiraling into alcoholism and gambling in a desire for self-destruction, always subtextually musing about how much he needs Aziraphale in his life...
It's not like it's not romantic or not heartwarming to see how much he misses Aziraphale and how sad he is without him and how dedicated he still is to him, but⌠I think it's also tragic because this is not a healthy level of dedication, this is not a healthy level of self-sacrifice⌠But I'm afraid that GO3 only sees it as a problem as Aziraphale being at fault here. And like, for whatever blame Aziraphale holds for the problems in their relationship, he did not make or ask Crowley spend his last years on Earth sad and miserable in an alleyway, Crowley's own depression and codependence are the main cause here!
The main reason I started getting worried that this story doesn't see that Crowley's behavior isn't just romantic, but also emblematic of a real hurt that he needs to heal from is because⌠well⌠not only does he never get a chance to really show that he's ever healed past it (like I said, plenty of character flaws didn't get this kind of resolution in the Finale), his ultimate character resolution is STILL an overdramatic gesture of selfless self-sacrifice in the name of love! He just switched from sacrificing in the name of his love for Aziraphale to sacrificing in the name of his love for Humanity!
A sacrifice that was 'self-destructive' in the most literal meaning of the word, but we're supposed to see as beautiful and the culmination of Crowley's character. Because he's just so caring and selfless⌠and that care and selflessness has never actually being unhealthy or problematic for him, right?
And then also the only real 'culmination' to Aziraphale's arc is that he starts appreciating Crowley and giving him and sacrifice in the relationship⌠as demonstrated by the fact that he gave Crowley 100% full control about what kind of world they want to ask God to make next, and went along with what Crowley wanted even when it meant to wipe both of them out of existence⌠was the problem ever was that Aziraphale was being a 'Taker' or 'Selfish', or was it really just "yeah, he should've been Dramatically Sacrificing Everything to the Point of Self-Destruction just like Crowley always did???"
The possibility and implications here just make me sad. Crowley and Aziraphale both deserved a better narrative. Aziraphale deserved a narrative that meaningfully celebrated his positive qualities and allowed him to actually grow past his flaws, Crowley deserved a narrative that acknowledged his flaws so he could also have the chance to grow past them.
pixelskylines
gummygunk
jacobvanloon
kianamaiart
kaledo-art
snowghoul
