1x03 Hard Times

[8.3/10] Look, I know it’s important that stories have conflicts and that six-hour shows expand their reach beyond just two people and that you need rising and falling action and all that good stuff. But damnit, I would watch the hell out of a version of Good Omens that was just “Aziraphale and Crowley hang out throughout history.”

The section of the episode before the opening credits is just so damn fun! Beyond the amusement of the costumes, and the takes on different biblical or historical moments, and the continually great banter between the angel and the demon, you just have lots of fun developments. Everything from the unicorn missing Noah’s arc, to the triple cross of the Nazis, to the secret history of why Hamlet was such a hit are all brilliant.

But I also love these segments as a way to show millennia-long bits of character development in between those two. I really like Michael Sheen’s performance in these segments, the way that he questions the brutality of old testament justice and seems appalled at the violence, but is so conditioned (and frankly repressed) that he refuses to the plan. I also really like how Crowley convinces himself he’s as evil as ever, but throughout history pops in to help his dear friend when he needs it. And I particularly like the way that, through the ages, the two slowly discover a certain futility to the way that they’re continually canceling one another out, and decide to just lay low and enjoy themselves and even help one another out rather than fighting to a stalemate between good and evil.

Despite all that, I think my favorite part is Aziraphale’s refusal to let his friend risk or even end his life. Even though the show has had its semi-dramatic moments at times, it’s been pretty irreverent, so digging into Aziraphale’s line in the sand about the holy water, only to show him bending and finally outright breaking the rules for his friend, sells the impact of their friendship on one another. That adds real weight to the final scene where the pair “break-up”, which feels both impactful given the history and change between them we’ve just witnessed, and has a certain combination of drama and humor to it given how the pair can seem like an old married couple at times.

The rest of the goings-on in the episode are fine. I’ll admit, I’m not quite sure what to make of Adam being influenced by Anathema and using his powers to neutralize nuclear power plants, but it’s an interesting development. The discovery that Aziraphale and Crowley’s “agents” turn out to be the same conspiracy nut is a funny one. And I like how Pulcifer discovers something genuinely witchy, that just happens to point him to the town where the real antichrist lives. (I also like that it’s something as subtle as always-perfect weather, and bits like “Lieutenant Milkbottle” are worth a laugh.)

Still, the heart of the episode comes from the way it focuses most squarely on the friendship between these two opposing beings who have nevertheless grown close and yet find themselves at odds. The notion of the two “running away together” has a certain potency given some subtext here (and Sheen sells it accordingly), but the way that their personal friendship and professional opposition collide here gives “Hard Times” both a dramatic and comic force that hasn’t been nearly as present in the prior episodes.

Overall this is the pick of the litter so far, and gives me hope for what the show can do going forward, particularly if it builds on the neat Aziraphale and Crowley work it did here.