Good Omens Season 2 is nearly here to deliver more of the heavenly humor that was a hit with viewers back in 2019 … hopefully, anyway! Without a book as source material this time, fans have only been able to speculate about what’s to come based on the footage released so far. In the final days of waiting for the July 28 premiere, I decided to use my Amazon Prime Video subscription and revisit Season 1 of one of Amazon Prime’s best shows.
Now, after rewatching the six-episode first season based on Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's novel, I have some things that I want Season 2 to bring back to the 2023 TV schedule. While we're sure to get more shenanigans from David Tennant's Crowley and Michael Sheen's Aziraphale, here are six less guaranteed parts of Season 1 that I can only hope are brought back for Season 2!
1. Queen Songs
While Season 1 had a fantastic score by David Arnold, the music that may be best remembered were the Queen songs used throughout. The show didn’t delve into all the backstory about Crowley’s car and Queen from the book, but I knew I would love Good Omens as soon as Crowley pulled up with the “Beelzebub has a devil put aside for meeeeeeee!” line of “Bohemian Rhapsody” blasting from the Bentley.
Even if the Good Omens Season 2 trailer suggests that Buddy Holly’s “Everyday” will be the song of the season, I’m holding out hope for more of Freddie Mercury singing as Crowley goes through a crisis or two. There can be no doubt that the demon is still driving that car, after all!
2. Terry Pratchett Easter Eggs
Good Omens is based on the novel of the same name co-authored by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Sadly, Gaiman had to do the book to screen adaptation without Pratchett, as the writer passed away in 2015. Gaiman was open about missing his co-author, and Season 1 included some touching nods to him.
His hat and scarf can be spotted in the first episode, left behind in Aziraphale’s bookshop. Then, in the second episode, the newspaper featuring Shadwell’s Witchfinder Army advert also had a notice for “Uncle Terry’s” lost hat and a “LOST BOOK” ad for Colour of Magic, a.k.a. the first book in Pratchett’s Discworld series. I’d love to see more of these nods in Season 2!
3. Flashbacks To A 6000-Year Old Friendship
Some of the most fun scenes from Season 1 were flashbacks of Crowley and Aziraphale from the literal beginning. They showed how the angel and demon went from enemies to frenemies to allies, whose encounter during the Blitz ended with violins swelling in the soundtrack. The flashbacks even explained how Crowley got his emergency stash of holy water. The demon himself pointed out in the present that they'd been – to quote Crowley – "friends" for 6000 years, and Aziraphale wasn't exactly convincing when he denied it.
I’m confident that we will see more flashbacks based on the opening credits sequence, but I'm hoping that they develop character again and don't just serve the plot. If that involves more of Crowley’s wild fashion/hair choices opposite Aziraphale more or less sporting the same look for 6000 years, all the better!
4. Crowley's Terrified Plants
Crowley didn’t spend a whole lot of time in his flat in Season 1, but enough for Good Omens to reveal the one thing he devoted personal attention to: his houseplants. Other than giving Crowley a reason to have a plant mister for his bluff in the showdown against Hastur, they weren’t really essential to the plot… but the demon scaring his plants into growing beautifully was a fun window into his character, and I want to see more of them.
Plus, Crowley threatening his plants is pulled from the original book, and Gaiman’s note in The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book about adapting it never fails to make me laugh. For the script, he wrote: “The plants are terrified. No, I don’t know how we show this on television either.” The show figured it out for Season 1; let’s see more in Season 2!
5. Crowley And Aziraphale Being (Mostly) Incompetent
One of the funniest parts of both the book and the first season, in my mind, is the fact that the main characters actually did relatively little to advance the main plot up until the end, unless it counts that they spent eleven years giving the wrong child a very strange upbringing and accidentally stole Anathema's book. Even Aziraphale noted at the end of Season 1 that it could have been awful if they’d been “at all competent,” to which Crowley responded with “Point taken.”
Sure, they did their parts to save the world, and pulling off their body swap at the end was a neat trick, but the season wouldn’t have been as much fun if they were actually successful from start to finish. Here’s hoping that the break between seasons – whether or not the fun 30th anniversary video with David Tennant and Michael Sheen is canon to the show – didn’t suddenly transform them into an extremely competent angel and demon. They can be good at what they do... but not too good.
6. Aziraphale As Enough Of A Bastard To Be Worth Knowing
The final scene of the first season featured Aziraphale saying that none of what happened would have worked out if Crowley wasn’t a little bit of a good person at heart, with Crowley responding that Aziraphale was “enough of a bastard to be worth knowing” deep down. In the process of trying to save the world, more of Crowley’s good side showed in Season 1 than Aziraphale’s devilish side, but he certainly had his moments, not the least of which was wanting Shadwell to shoot bricks at 11-year-old Adam.
Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship was central to the series in Season 1, and it wouldn’t be as much fun if it was based on just the demon being a little bit good. Let the angel keep being a bit of a bastard! The trailer for Season 2 reveals Crowley seemingly going undercover in Heaven; here’s hoping that Aziraphale is up to his own tricks as well.
Heavenly Honorable Mentions:
Visual gags in Heaven and Hell. After getting angels on hoverboards in the background in Heaven and a “PLEASE DO NOT LICK THE WALLS” sign in Hell in Season 1, I’m ready for more visual gags in Season 2.
Demons and/or Aziraphale dancing. Angels in general don’t dance, but demons (and Aziraphale) do! I don’t know how Season 2 could incorporate bad demon dancing and/or the gavotte, but I’d be on board.
Crowley’s hair color. Call me crazy, but Crowley’s hair in the Season 2 trailer looks a whole lot brighter than his Season 1 hair. I don’t know if that’s deliberate or just the series investing in some different hair dye for David Tennant, but I’m hoping for a flashback throwback.
Season 2 of Good Omens premieres on Friday, July 28 at 12:01 a.m. PT on Amazon Prime Video. There’s still time to rewatch Season 1 yourself and figure out what you want to see next for Crowley and Aziraphale!
