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Once upon a time, when the Almighty (Francis McDormand) created Eden, where he settled Adam and Eve, the demon Crowley (David Tennant), who took the form of a tempting snake, appeared to Eve and persuaded the girl to crunch an apple from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil against the will of the Creator . And Eve tasted the sinful fruit, and she treated Adam, and then the Almighty became angry and said: Adam, Eve – get out of Eden to such and such a mother.

The angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) took pity on the first people and gave them a flaming sword so that they could use it to protect themselves from wild animals in the desert. The sword was issued to Aziraphale on receipt, it has its own inventory number, and it will need to be returned, but Aziraphale tries not to think about it.

Years and centuries passed. The angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley were sent to Earth so that they both looked after humanity and reported: the first to the Heavenly Office, in which Aziraphale is supervised by the stern but fair Archangel Gabriel (John Ham), the second to the Underground Office, on behalf of which Crowley supervised by Duke Ada Gastur (Ned Dennehy).

However, let’s be honest that Aziraphale and Crowley blossomed on Earth. Firstly, they had the audacity to make friends there, which is unacceptable from all sides. Secondly, both, although implicitly, do not put a penny on the corresponding offices – Aziraphale tries to hide this carefully, and Crowley is already really not shy.

But, however, their relaxed existence on Earth came to an end. Because THE TIME HAS COME! The baby Antichrist is sent to Earth, whom Crowley must replace with the born child of the American ambassador. Crowley is sent on a mission to the hospital at the monastery, whose servants are completely devoted to Satan, but not everything went as planned.

Nevertheless, the Antichrist is on Earth, the terrible dog Cerberus has joined him, so there is very little left before the Apocalypse, after which there will be no stone left unturned on Earth.

However, Aziraphale and Crowley, to whom this Earth is dear for purely sentimental reasons, decide to somehow prevent this Apocalypse.

***

Good Omens was written in 1990 by famous science fiction writer Terry Pratchett and at that time not very famous journalist and comics author Neil Gaiman.

During Pratchett’s lifetime, no attempts were made to film adaptation of this novel – Pratchett and Gaiman agreed that if such a question arises, then only the two of them would work on the film adaptation – however, after Terry’s death, Neil was handed a letter from the writer in which he gave full consent to that Gaiman worked on a film adaptation after his death.

Gaiman began work on a film adaptation, and Amazon became interested in the project, which acquired the rights to a miniseries based on Gaiman’s script based on the novel.

The director was Douglas McKinton, an experienced serial director who has worked on Doctor Who, Sherlock, Dirk Gently’s Detective Agency and many other series.

What did they get as a result? In my opinion, pure delight: I looked with great pleasure, I liked it extremely. Signature Pratchett humor, excellent Gaimanian fantasy and irony, a masterful and very original production, brilliant acting.

The general style of the production was somewhat reminiscent of an excellent film adaptation of another famous science fiction writer Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” – despite the fact that, of course, “Good Omens” is a completely original work, and it is filled with excellent humor, irony and colorful characters.

Aziraphale couple – Crowley – just gorgeous! Completely different, even opposite, but at the same time perfectly complementing each other. Michael Sheen’s Aziraphale is good-natured, very gentle in communication, loves delicious food and old books. Each time he meets Crowley, he persuades himself to end this friendly relationship with a creature from a hostile camp, but once again he cannot resist the magic of this person.

David Tennant’s Crowley is something of a masterpiece! Incredibly stylish cynic, who is cramped in a wretched hellish world where real chic is so lacking. At the same time, he is not going to become an angel either – this is not a master’s business, to do good deeds. However, just Crowley is the same force that always wishes evil and always does good. In Crowley – the manner of communicating with Aziraphale, the manner of talking with fellow demons, the driving style, the principles of raising domestic plants – this can be watched endlessly.

But, however, in the series there are enough curious characters, and in addition to Aziraphale – Crowley. Jon Hamm did a great job as the Archangel Gabriel. A kind of strong-willed angelic bureaucrat to the marrow of his bones, who blindly follows higher instructions and does not get involved in the affairs of his department.

Michael McKean just lit up in the role of Sergeant Shadwell, a witch hunter – a great character turned out, very funny. And how harshly he treated the Whore of Babylon – Madame Tracy (Miranda Richardson), in whose house he deigned to live – it was simply hilarious.

Well, a great couple – the hereditary witch Anathema Device (Adria Arjona) and the unsuccessful witch hunter Newton Pulsifer (Jack Whitehall). They came to the fore there in the last episodes and were also very, very funny.

Of course, this series was not without the most witty references to all sorts of biblical texts and prophecies, as well as to the corresponding films and books. (For example, the security guard at the military base in the last episode reads “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman.) But there is no point in retelling all this, it’s better to just look.

Very cool and written, and staged, and played, just five points – the series turned out to be absolutely wonderful, so I highly recommend watching it.

PS I can’t say anything about dubbing, I had a version with one English track. I asked people who watched the series in translation and voice acting. They praise LostFilm and “Cube in Cube” – well, these teams traditionally give out very high quality, so it’s not surprising.

 

Good Omens serie meaning

Director: Douglas McKinton Cast: Jon Hamm, Miranda Richardson, Michael McKean, Frances McDormand, David Tennant, Michael Sheen, Ned Dennehy, Adria Arjona, Sam Taylor Buck, Daniel Mays, Shan Brook, Ollie, Jack Whitehall

 

Series, UK-USA, 2019, 55 min. 6 episodes, 382 minutes.