Good Omens is a six episode miniseries based on the book of the same name. As you'd expect from the authors of the book, Good Omens has a quirky atmosphere and equally quirky performances. It sets the tone and atmosphere really well. In particular, the performances for both the angel, Aziraphale, and demon, Crowley, are outstanding and endearing. The plot follows Aziraphale and Crowley, both of whom live on Earth and are representations of heaven and hell respectively. They both love the human life and have secretly formed an alliance to delay and hopefully prevent the inevitable war between heaven and hell. Dubbed the Armageddon, the Earth is foretold to be destroyed in the battle and a new place be formed.
The first episode is a setup for the arrival of the anti-christ and the multiple things that happened which caused it to be a mess. This becomes important later on as the day approaches when the anti-christ is supposed to start Armageddon. It is a tad bit vague in the opening where it doesn't convey its main plot point immediately. It takes around half the episode before it becomes clearer on where it is going and from then on, it starts to hook you in. The second episode once again is messy with its take on the story. It rapidly introduces new characters where their plights interrelate with each other but are not immediately shown how. It actually takes all the way until the end of the series before we see properly how they all fit into the plot.
As Aziraphale and Crowley are working together to actively prevent the anti-christ from rising (against their orders no less), their banter and interactions with each other is great. Their personalities are reflective of their nature. Crowley is more aggressive and short tempered while Aziraphale is more elegant and appreciates the finer things in life. Their unlikely friendship is definitely the highlight of the show.
The series touches on the story on how the pair got together. It is fascinating as it feels like Crowley is slowly corrupting or twisting Aziraphale's way of thinking into that it is okay to team up. The rationale is that they were just cancelling each other out anyway. The pair's job of Earth was to help humanity or tempt them, and apparently there is heaps of paperwork to file. As their backstories are told, it goes through multiple time periods including touching on well known stories from the bible. It's always fun to see what period that they are as well as the clothes that they are wearing. The pair's personalities have not changed at all over the years.
Through the pair's actions, we see that heaven and hell might not be so different after all. Well, heaven is depicted as white and clean, while hell is more dark and dank, but both sides feel that the war is inevitable. Their superiors refuse to listen to any rationalization and the pair are doing all they can to sway them, to no avail. The rise of the anti-christ is put on the back burner from time to time and this makes it kind of weird and hard to follow. Their power is hard to fathom and as the time draws to a close, they get stronger and stronger yet we don't know where they are headed. As the episodes go on, the time frame in which it is set in is shorter and shorter. The series began with events that took place over years while the later episodes are all happening within the last few hours before Armageddon.
A sticking point is how God provides narration throughout the series. She usually provides some sort of snarky yet serious comment. One thing though is that the quirky nature and humor is spot on, particularly in the last few episodes. Everything does come together to form a solid ending. The final episode felt like it dragged on after the major conflict was over; however, it made sense to see the aftermath. It has a clever (if expected) solution and conclusion to the pair's final problems.
Overall, Good Omens is a solid series. While the storytelling can have its issues, the charisma of the unlikely friendship between Aziraphale and Crowley is what keeps you going. It is a strong bond that's wonderful to see how they work off each other.
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