I heard you say the past was much more fun
I’ve just finished my first watch of the Good Omens miniseries. If I’ve had one favorite book, ever, GO has probably been the top candidate, so naturally no adaptation was ever likely to live up to it for me. That’s okay though; I wasn’t looking for it to somehow top the book, and it was a pretty damn delightful experience overall.
(I had no idea just how much of the text I apparently have in my head, though. So many lines automatically running themselves in my head on story cue.)
Around the point in the final episode where a gigantic CGI Satan clawed his way through the tarmac, I realized that I was having a bit of a "Room With A View of HELL! Staircase of Satan! Pond of DEATH." moment, à la that one Eddie Izzard sketch comparing British and American filmmaking. And I get why things are all flashy and exciting, but sometimes I really prefer the understated bits. Where Mr. Young appears just when you’re anticipating Satan. Or your AntiChrist can figure out what’s going wrong without Matrix-ing his friends’ mouths away and all the glowing-red-eyed screaming. Or ... not Heaven and Hell trying to execute our heroes instead of just fading off into the background, embarrassed, in the first place. (That little addition would have won a lot more favor with me if Tenant and Sheen had played each others’ characters, even just "slipping up" here and there. That would have been delightful, but as it was, it just felt unnecessary to me.)
But ... look, Crowley and Aziraphale were magnificent, better than I ever dared hope for, honestly. Fusty, earnest, obviously smitten Aziraphale whose enthusiasm (not always in the purest and holiest of directions) could totally get him into some absurd kind of double-crossing spy drama in WWII. Slightly-too-awkward-to-be-as-cool-as-he-thinks Crowley, who takes great pride in his weird craftsmanship and would mostly prefer to slither out of serious consequences for anyone (but especially himself). And they love each other SO DAMNED MUCH. Surprising no one, the third episode’s highlights reel of their relationship across history was my favorite transformative tweak, and perhaps my favorite part of the show, period. I can never get enough of those two being ridiculous in various era-appropriate scenarios.
And of course, they really leaned into the subtext, and they never, ever tried to pull a transgression/recuperation cop-out with it, either; as I’ve seen several people mention, there were no denials (unnecessarily amused/embarrassed or otherwise) when someone "mistook" them for a couple. And the chemistry ... the adoring looks ... the indulgent way Crowley pulled the paintball stains out of Aziraphale’s clothes when he was fussing! Sigh. Sigh! I am looking forward to the fan fiction renaissance, folks. Chop chop. Could we get a (really very appropriately named) Big Bang going, do you think? I want to illustrate.
I thought the Them were delightful, if a bit too ... tidied up, and the Horsepeople were mostly great, as was oddly-wealthy-American Anathema (although sadly I found Newt significantly less charming in this version for some reason). I was into the voice of God being female, but dearly wished the voiceovers had stopped after the introduction. (And part of me kind of wanted them to be Agnes Nutter. It would have been hard to pull off, but I missed "yow daft olde fool.") And all the Queen, every time Crowley was driving, had me grooving and delighted. The Bentley! Everything about the flaming Bentley!
Heh. So yeah ... not perfect, of course not, but there was a lot to love. And I’ve missed this fandom!
Also, yeah, definitely disappeared for a few months. Life continues not to have as much space in it for fannish pursuits, and if anything, I’m gearing up to be even busier in my "spare" time. But it’d be nice to get a bit more journaling in still, at least.
This entry was originally posted at my dreamwidth. (
comments)
(I had no idea just how much of the text I apparently have in my head, though. So many lines automatically running themselves in my head on story cue.)
Around the point in the final episode where a gigantic CGI Satan clawed his way through the tarmac, I realized that I was having a bit of a "Room With A View of HELL! Staircase of Satan! Pond of DEATH." moment, à la that one Eddie Izzard sketch comparing British and American filmmaking. And I get why things are all flashy and exciting, but sometimes I really prefer the understated bits. Where Mr. Young appears just when you’re anticipating Satan. Or your AntiChrist can figure out what’s going wrong without Matrix-ing his friends’ mouths away and all the glowing-red-eyed screaming. Or ... not Heaven and Hell trying to execute our heroes instead of just fading off into the background, embarrassed, in the first place. (That little addition would have won a lot more favor with me if Tenant and Sheen had played each others’ characters, even just "slipping up" here and there. That would have been delightful, but as it was, it just felt unnecessary to me.)
But ... look, Crowley and Aziraphale were magnificent, better than I ever dared hope for, honestly. Fusty, earnest, obviously smitten Aziraphale whose enthusiasm (not always in the purest and holiest of directions) could totally get him into some absurd kind of double-crossing spy drama in WWII. Slightly-too-awkward-to-be-as-cool-as-he-thinks Crowley, who takes great pride in his weird craftsmanship and would mostly prefer to slither out of serious consequences for anyone (but especially himself). And they love each other SO DAMNED MUCH. Surprising no one, the third episode’s highlights reel of their relationship across history was my favorite transformative tweak, and perhaps my favorite part of the show, period. I can never get enough of those two being ridiculous in various era-appropriate scenarios.
And of course, they really leaned into the subtext, and they never, ever tried to pull a transgression/recuperation cop-out with it, either; as I’ve seen several people mention, there were no denials (unnecessarily amused/embarrassed or otherwise) when someone "mistook" them for a couple. And the chemistry ... the adoring looks ... the indulgent way Crowley pulled the paintball stains out of Aziraphale’s clothes when he was fussing! Sigh. Sigh! I am looking forward to the fan fiction renaissance, folks. Chop chop. Could we get a (really very appropriately named) Big Bang going, do you think? I want to illustrate.
I thought the Them were delightful, if a bit too ... tidied up, and the Horsepeople were mostly great, as was oddly-wealthy-American Anathema (although sadly I found Newt significantly less charming in this version for some reason). I was into the voice of God being female, but dearly wished the voiceovers had stopped after the introduction. (And part of me kind of wanted them to be Agnes Nutter. It would have been hard to pull off, but I missed "yow daft olde fool.") And all the Queen, every time Crowley was driving, had me grooving and delighted. The Bentley! Everything about the flaming Bentley!
Heh. So yeah ... not perfect, of course not, but there was a lot to love. And I’ve missed this fandom!
Also, yeah, definitely disappeared for a few months. Life continues not to have as much space in it for fannish pursuits, and if anything, I’m gearing up to be even busier in my "spare" time. But it’d be nice to get a bit more journaling in still, at least.
This entry was originally posted at my dreamwidth. (
comments)