Good Omens season 2 review: A miraculous second act
Season 2 is another triumph.
There aren't many TV series that do fantasy quite as well as Good Omens - and season 2 has proven that once again.
As David Tennant's Crowley and Michael Sheen's Aziraphale return for round two, it's worth remembering that this season could have gone wrong in a lot of ways.
It goes beyond the realms of the beloved book, written by Neil Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchett. Production happened during Covid-19, with Gaiman being open about how the budget was cut. Plus, it acts as something of a bridge to get us to the season 3 that Gaiman and Pratchett mapped out together, with only six episodes to bring a rich story to life.
But our second outing with our angel and demon is still another triumph.
We catch up with the miraculous pair after they cut ties with Heaven and Hell. Gabriel (Jon Hamm) saunters back into our lives remembering nothing about who he is or why he's even there - oh, and he's naked and Heaven and Hell are both keen to hunt him down, with Aziraphale and Crowley working together to keep him hidden. Perfect.
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Maggie Service, who returns as a new character named Maggie, put it well when she described season 2 as "an entanglement of worlds and stories and mystery and misdirection and all sorts of epic adventures". As did Gaiman, when he teased it as "gentle and romantic".
The whimsical, comedic and heartfelt tone of the show remains unlike anything else, with Gaiman and Pratchett's world brought beautifully to life by the actors, set designers, hair and makeup artists, and everyone else behind the magic.
Can we talk about those references and Easter eggs? An absolute treat for fans.
Unsurprisingly, Tennant and Sheen's on-screen chemistry is what glues the whole season together - and it's more important now than ever. While the smaller stakes do take away from the season in some aspects, they're also a gift in other parts, namely seeing Aziraphale and Crowley dip into almost domestic lives together, with plenty of laugh-out-loud scenes and moments of genuine heartbreak.
They clearly know their characters inside out, providing a beautiful performance that's surely only enhanced by their friendship behind-the-scenes.
While it would be an unusual choice for any other show (of course, this is not just any other show), Gaiman's decision to welcome back cast members including Maggie Service and Nina Sosanya was the right one, with the pair of them bringing in perfectly human counterparts to Aziraphale and Crowley.
A special mention also has to go to Ty Tennant - despite some fans' scepticism about casting Tennant's son, and although he only has a minor part, he's an absolute scene stealer.
As for where we leave things, it's easy to see how a season 3 would follow on - and we desperately hope that it does. Gaiman has been open about how he envisions three seasons for the show, and it seems only fair that the powers that be allow fans to see how the story ends.
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It was always going to be a hard task topping season 1 and, in comparison, season 2 feels a little safer. It's hard to sense that Aziraphale and Crowley are ever truly in danger, unlike our last outing with them.
But, instead, we're given deeper insight into our dysfunctional pair of heroes, a beautiful tale, and an ending that might ask more questions than it answers.
In other words, ineffable. Just how we like it.
Good Omens season 2 will land on Prime Video on 28th July 2023 - try Amazon Prime Video for free for 30 days. Plus, read our guides to the best Amazon Prime series and the best movies on Amazon Prime.
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