Any chance David Tennant gets to pull out his natural (possibly exaggerated) Scottish accent, as he does on Good Omens Season 2 Episode 3, fun times are to be had.
Aziraphale’s 1827 lesson in the ineffable “virtues of poverty” is a moment of real personal growth for the sanctimonious angel.
I’d like to think this isn’t the last we’ll see of Elsbeth. It would be interesting to see if those ninety guineas are enough to level the playing field for her.
But first, there’s Officer Constable Muriel.
Inexperienced with humanity, even among angels, it’s a classic comedic fish-out-of-water scenario when she’s assigned to confirm and document the miracle Aziraphale claimed to have used to make Nina and Maggies fall in love.
Her Pollyanna-esque optimism and complete ineptitude are quite adorable, especially in light of the higher-up angels’ routinely callous and pompous behavior.
With her positive attitude and lean-in curiosity about the world, it would be fun to see Crowley and Aziraphale tuck her under their wings and teach her the ways of the world.
Crowley: I don’t know how you lot have managed to stay in charge all this time.
Aziraphale: I’m not sure we have, have we?
Speaking of wings, did anyone else catch the ones on “Jim’s” mug in place of the handle? I can’t imagine it’s easy to wash, but talk about cute!
Jim/Gabriel’s come a long way from wandering through the streets naked. In a few short days, his protectors have managed to give him some job readiness skills, trained him on wearing clothes, and taught him to prepare his own hot chocolate.
We get our first good look at Hell here, and Beelzebub seems to be having an identity crisis that confuses the minion, who doesn’t know what to make of an overlord who isn’t intent on punishing him.
As has been noted by Crowley, Beelzebub has a new face. Shelley Conn has taken over the role from Anna Maxwell Martin for Season 2.
Considering the transient nature of the infernal, recasting doesn’t require a lot of explanation.
Beelzebub’s a bit higher profile here, with the hunt for Gabriel across Heaven, Hell, and Earth in full swing.
The whole Lord of the Flies title twigs the fact there have been flies mentioned at regular intervals through the series so far.
Could this be a clue as to how Gabriel’s memory was wiped?
Crowley: Gravity. It’s a thing that happens when objects are pulled together. In this case, they’re all pulled downwards because the Earth is the largest thing around.
Gabriel: Why?
Crowley: Uh, honestly, I don’t remember. Seemed like a good idea when we were all talking about it. So things will stay where you put them? Not just drift off?
Gabriel: But it doesn’t stay where I put them. Goes down. Except for flies. They go up.
Crowley: Well observed.
Yes, flies go up, but so do angels, usually.
Although they share no scenes, it’s interesting how Elsbeth and Muriel contrast.
Aziraphale: Look, I am good. You, I’m afraid, are evil. But people get a choice, y’know? They cannot be truly holy unless they also get the opportunity to be wicked. She is wicked.
Crowley: That only works if you start everyone off equal. You can’t start someone off like that and expect her to do as well as someone born in a castle.
Aziraphale: Ah, but no, no, that’s the good bit. The lower you start, the more opportunities you have. So Elbeth here has all the opportunities because she’s so poor.
Crowley: That’s lunacy.
Aziraphale: No, that’s ineffable.
Human and angel. Impoverished and privileged.
Elsbeth makes choices Aziraphale can’t understand because she doesn’t have the opportunities he seems to think are universal.
Just trying to keep Wee Moragh and me alive and it doesn’t hurt anyone who isn’t already dead. So you can shove your morals up your arse, Mr. MacFell.
Elsbeth
And even when he comes around to see a benefit to body-snatching, he’s fooled into thinking Mr. Dalrymple is a good man when, in fact, he exploits the poor like Elsbeth and justifies it with his belief that they are all drunks.
Crowley steps up here to save Elsbeth from herself just as he intervened for Job’s goats (and children) on Good Omens Season 2 Episode 2.
Watching him go from Lilliputian to Brobdingnagian while high on laudanum is an outrageous bit of absurdist comedy.
I wonder what the graveyard watchmen will make of the mess they left behind at the crypt.
Assuming Elsbeth takes the ninety guineas and finds a farm to buy and settle down on, it seems karmic that Mr. Dalrymple comes to a bad end despite his education and aspirations.
You might want to think about washing your hands. It’s going to be all the rage in a few years, I’m telling you.
Crowley
Taking stock here, at the midpoint of the season, I can’t help but observe that the writers have established a relationship theme, introducing new ones with each chapter while tipping their hats to ones with established histories.
First, there’s Nina and Maggie in the unsure waters of early, not-even-real-friends-yet baby steps. Nina’s got a toxic partner to complicate things, and Maggie’s insecurity holds her back.
Then, we meet Job and his family and witness his lost-in-translation relationship with God.
Here, we see Elsbeth and Wee Moragh, two women just trying to survive in a brutal world, caring for each other when caring for themselves is impossible.
The value of these relationships is inestimable.
Consider them in comparison to how the archangels treat each other.
While they are professional, they are not a cohesive or even friendly team. There’s a power struggle as well as preconceived expectations.
Shax and Beelzebub are just as entrenched in the business of Hell, striving for mission goals and trying to impress their superiors.
This all leads back to Aziraphale and Crowley, of course.
Their partnership is one of understanding and humor. Despite being so different in nature, they are in sync regarding the bigger-picture goals.
It helps to have known each other since the dawn of existence.
Crowley: I don’t know how you lot have managed to stay in charge all this time.
Aziraphale: I’m not sure we have, have we?
Gabriel’s sudden moment of prophecy is worrying.
While he slips in the “Everyday” lyric, it’s all quite foreboding and smacks of another end-of-days scenario.
It’s probably too soon for another Anti-Christ, so maybe they’re taking another route to Revelation?
What are your thoughts, Fanatics? Is Gabriel’s memory loss part of a nefarious scheme?
Will the Bentley ever recover from its trip with Aziraphale?
Does Shax have the power to follow through on her threat to lead Hell’s force in an attack on the bookshop?
Hit our comments with your predictions!
Diana Keng is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lifelong fan of smart sci-fi and fantasy media, an upstanding citizen of the United Federation of Planets, and a supporter of AFC Richmond ’til she dies. Her guilty pleasures include female-led procedurals, old-school sitcoms, and Bluey. She teaches, knits, and dreams big. Follow her on Twitter.