For nearly a decade, fans of the book “Good Omens” waited for the promised television adaptation. Well, maybe ‘waited’ isn’t the right word in this case. They worried, fretted, bit their nails down to the skin and back, felt hopeful and anxious about the future simultaneously, and had a few other extreme emotions here and there. But unlike some public figures who dabble in politics, we’re not here to condemn the extremists on both sides, especially when all these feelings are entirely justified every time a successful book gets a television treatment – especially when it’s such a beloved work of literary art.
The story, in a nutshell – an angel and a demon stationed on Earth are trying to prevent the end of the world against the wishes of their superiors in a wildly absurd comedy of errors. If you add the other nut to the mixture, you could say the story involves a terrifying hell dog, four horsemen of the apocalypse, a war between good and evil, and a child who is, for all practical purposes, the son of the Devil.
After the (very disappointing, in my opinion) TV adaptation of his book “American Gods,” “Good Omens” journey to the small screen was relatively short. The writing task remained entirely in the hands of Neil Gaiman, and the results speak for themselves – on a screenwriting level, this is one of the most faithful adaptations to the source material I’ve seen in recent years. It doesn’t mean the script is 100% identical to the book; it is more like 85% (not based on scientific data, but trust me). Still, even the parts not found in the original book maintain their spirit and add to the TV adaptation (the scene with Noah’s Ark, for example, is one of my favorites in the series).
I haven’t enjoyed a television series this much in a long time, regardless of whether it’s an adaptation of a book I love. David Tennant (Doctor Who, Jessica Jones) and Michael Sheen (Masters of Sex) as the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale, respectively, manage to convey the special relationship between rivals/friends, some would even say – lovers, brilliantly. But the series doesn’t rely solely on the perfect performances of these two, and the other plotlines of the story successfully make their way to the small screen, in no small part thanks to Frances McDormand’s notes in the role of God.
If you’ve made it this far, you might think this is a perfect creation. Is it true? I imagine it’s a highly subjective matter. In my opinion, it lacked a few plotlines and characters that added a lot to the book, and Shadwell’s character wasn’t ridiculed enough. Still, even if you take these minor criticisms at face value (which you shouldn’t), you can conclude that this is the best production imaginable for this series. One that leaves you wanting more but doesn’t necessarily demand a continuation (and thus prevents unnecessary production seasons that deviate from the literary storyline, as Hulu did with “The Handmaid’s Tale”).
In short, you should watch this series, and the sooner, the better, just in case the massive campaign launched by a group of fans calling for the cancellation of “Good Omens” on Netflix actually succeeds, even though it’s an Amazon Prime series.
P.S.
This wonderful miniseries made me realize how much I didn’t like the TV adaptation of “American Gods,” which I’ve been stuck in the middle of its second season for a few months now, with all sorts of technical glitches, including my Android TV box not communicating with Amazon and forcing me to connect my computer to the TV as if we were in the 1950s. And here, for “Good Omens,” I found the strength in me to joyfully get up from the couch quickly and gladly turn the manual crank once or twice if that’s what it took to turn on the TV.
