For the most part, Good Omens season 2 is just as sweet and gentle as series co-creator Neil Gaiman promised fans it would be. However, just when everything looks like it’s been worked out in the season finale, the story takes a dramatic and unexpected turn. Let’s break down the Good Omens season 2 ending—including that jaw-dropping cliffhanger.
This article contains massive spoilers for episode 6 of Good Omens 2. You’ve been warned!
The Good Omens season 2 ending
Like season 1, Good Omens season 2 is ostensibly about the long-simmering rivalry between angels and demons—but at its core, it’s a love story.
With Shax (Miranda Richardson) and her legion of demons invading his bookshop, Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) resorts to a desperate measure: he removes his halo from inside his head (yeah, like a literal glowing ring) and shatters it, incapacitating all the demons. There’s a reason he didn’t just do that from the start, though. Shattering a halo triggers a war between Heaven and Hell.
All the higher-ups from Heaven and Hell show up at the shop to get things rolling, and while they’re bickering with each other, they get a stunning revelation (excuse the pun): Gabriel and Beelzebub are in love.
Gabriel and Beelzebub, power couple
See, when Crowley (David Tennant) got himself arrested and sent to Heaven, he looked in Gabriel (Jon Hamm)’s file and found out that Gabriel was demoted for vetoing Heaven’s second attempt at Armageddon. Before the other Archangels could erase his memory as part of the demotion, though, he escaped. Why did he want the world to keep on going? Because he and Beelzebub (Shelley Conn) fell for each other at the Resurrectionist pub after the first Armageddon failed. Beelzebub gifted him a fly that served as a container, and as he fled Heaven, he stuck all his memories in it for safekeeping.
At the bookshop, Beelzebub shows him how to access his memories, and then the two of them abdicate their positions as Supreme Archangel and Grand Duke of Hell. Where do they go when they vanish from sight? Maybe some nice little nebula somewhere.
What about Maggie and Nina?
Then there’s the matter of Maggie (Maggie Service) and Nina (Nina Sosanya). After all the commotion, the two of them sit Crowley down for a talk. Human lives aren’t a matchmaking game, they explain to him. Nina is just coming out of a bad breakup and she’s not ready to see someone else yet, and Aziraphale and Crowley shouldn’t have meddled in their affairs. Nina and Maggie also drop a truth bomb on Crowley: he has to tell Aziraphale how he feels about him.
Meanwhile, Shax is now Grand Duke of Hell, but Heaven needs a new Supreme Archangel. The Metatron arrives, asks Aziraphale to talk privately with him, and then offers him the job.
Aziraphale’s shocking betrayal
At first, Aziraphale says no. He likes running the bookshop and living on Earth! But then, the Metatron sweetens the deal by telling him that Crowley can be reinstated as an angel, serving as his second-in-command. Crowley can leave the demon life behind and return to the good side!
Surely Aziraphale knows that that’s the last thing Crowley wants, right? Right? Nope. Aziraphale rushes back to the bookshop, eager to give Crowley the good news. Together, ruling Heaven, they’ll make a difference! But Crowley is appalled at the idea. He pulls Aziraphale into what seems to be the first and last kiss they’ll ever share, and then leaves.
Muriel takes over the bookshop, and Aziraphale goes off with the Metatron as Crowley watches from his Bentley. Then the Metatron reveals that Aziraphale’s first assignment will be bringing about the Second Coming. Oops! There go Aziraphale’s plans to make a difference!
The season ends on Crowley and Aziraphale’s faces, one in his car and the other in the heavenly elevator. For the most part, they both look stricken, but at the very end, Aziraphale smiles.
Why Aziraphale and Crowley’s kiss is so surprising
Even aside from the unfortunate leak that gave away Aziraphale and Crowley’s kiss before the season dropped, many fans figured that season 2 would make the couple’s romance explicit. However, this kiss wasn’t the lovey-dovey final moment that many were no doubt expecting. (Trust me, I’ve seen the fan art.)
Instead, the long-awaited kiss is an act of desperation. Crowley seems to believe that Aziraphale is never going to understand how Crowley feels about him, so he might as well show his affection before they say goodbye forever.
But did you notice how Aziraphale doesn’t seem to return it? As they kiss, his hands hover behind Crowley’s back instead of embracing him. He seems more stunned than anything else. This was not the weak-in-the-knees, hyper-romantic kiss we were all expecting.
Why does Aziraphale smile at the end of Good Omens season 2?
What a fascinating—and troubling—moment! Is Aziraphale already becoming corrupted by his new position? Does he figure out a way to win Crowley over again and make things right? There’s no way to know until season 3. Speaking of which…
Will there be a Good Omens season 3?
Hopefully, yes! Neil Gaiman told his fans on Tumblr that season 2 is the precursor to a third season, which will be based on material that he and Terry Pratchett developed for a sequel to the novel. Gaiman also said that Prime Video will be monitoring how many people watch the complete series in the first few weeks, and using that data to decide whether to order a third season.
Here’s hoping that a third season gets made. Can you imagine Aziraphale and Crowley’s story ending on this tragic note? Can you imagine never finding out what happens next? I shudder at the thought. I want these guys to get their cottage together in the South Downs.
Even if season 3 does get greenlit, though, it’ll be a long wait. With the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers still refusing to give writers and actors the fair pay and working conditions they need, the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes are still going strong.
Come on, AMPTP. Do the right thing. We need the next chapter of Good Omens ASAP.
(featured image: Prime Video)
Published: Jul 28, 2023 11:21 am