Two days ago I got to be one of the fans who had the extraordinary luck to attend the World Premiere of Good Omens and see the first two episodes at the Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square. While the premiere experience itself was somewhat disappointing (more on that in a full report soon), the episodes most certainly weren’t.
Here’s my brief, spoiler-free review of the episodes we’ve watched.
Episode 1 – “In the Beginning”:
In the beginning, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett wrote a little book called “Good Omens”. From there on, everything changed.
Usually I’m very judgemental when it comes to books being adapted into TV shows/films/plays. I’m that extremely annoying person in the crowd who constantly keeps pointing out, “But that’s not how it happened!” and “They just skipped this and that scene!” It’s why I was debating about reading the book before the show comes out (I did it anyway) and why I was somewhat nervous about the show’s release. I didn’t want to hate something that features so many actors that I love.
But it needs to be said – what we’ve seen in the London Premiere didn’t disappoint. Nor did it make me angry or frustrated. Yes, there was one scene I was disappointed by – I bet it’ll be clear which one once you’ve watched the show – but for the most part, it really was wonderful. The writing is true to the characters we’ve come to love (and die-hard fans will even recognise certain lines), and once you start watching it, it actually becomes impossible to imagine anything else. Even though it’s not 100% like the book (again, I’m that annoying person who constantly checks the differences), it felt like the adaptation was done in the only proper way to make it.
The first episode is very much the perfect opening to this completely mad show. It’s not at all surprising; the book itself is absolutely insane (“from the twisted minds of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett”, as Amazon put it). When it comes to the show, it feels like Gaiman even kicked the madness up a notch, and the truth is, it feels right. The adaptation was clearly done with care and love; you can tell, just by watching, how important it was for Gaiman to create something Pratchett would’ve loved. And if Pratchett is looking down at this, I think it’s safe to say he’s happy with the result.
The best thing about the first episode was, of course, seeing David Tennant and Michael Sheen together. Each of them is brilliant on his own, but together they’re positively explosive. They play off of each other beautifully; they seem to be in perfect sync. Tennant’s Crowley is funny and devilishly charming (no doubt he finds it easy to tempt people!) and is very much the slightly confused “Angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards” (gotta love the book’s descriptions). Sheen’s Aziraphale is gentle and kind, somewhat of an introverted old soul and in his own way, absolutely hilarious. Truth to be told, both actors capture their characters’ essence beautifully, almost like the roles were written for them. And seeing the two of them are together makes you wish they’d do everything together from now on.
There’s quite a bit happening in the first episode, but the episode doesn’t feel long in any way; things are happening quickly and there’s always something happening on the screen. Your focus constantly shifts to something new onscreen; there’s no time to think about anything other than what you’re seeing. It’s only when the episode is over that you realise just how much you’ve just seen. That, I believe, is quality television.
It’s also brilliant to get a glimpse at some of the other characters in this episode – particularly Jon Hamm’s Gabriel – and at the beautiful sets and locations they’ve used for the show. From Central London to South Africa, the show has just about everything, and we get to see quite a bit of that range as early as in the first episode. The costumes and props are beautiful and absolutely compliment the general beauty of whatever’s on screen in that moment. Clearly, this is an extremely detailed (and presumably extremely expensive) production, and it makes it absolutely beautiful to watch. It’s all the more beautiful on a massive iSense screen with Dolby® Atmos™ sound; it’s almost like it was made for setting. If I’m being honest, it doesn’t feel like a TV show at all; it feels more like a six-hour-film (Or rather, two-hour-film, as that’s all we got to see on Tuesday).
There were some small things that annoyed me here and there, and that one disappointing scene, but on the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed the first episode. It’s fun and witty and charming; light and hilarious at times and dark and emotional at others. In the end of the day, it’s (mostly) everything you were hoping for and more. Much like the book, the first episode just sucks you in. And just like that, you’re hooked.
Episode 2 – “The Book”:
While the second episode is somewhat slower-paced than the first episode, it’s just as funny and mad and visually beautiful. The real beauty of the episode, though, is the deeper look we get to have at most of the show’s characters (Crowley and Aziraphale aside, of course). And by deeper, I mean in relation to the book, not just the first episode.
It’s been mentioned more than once that the show has one of the most impressive, star-studded casts anyone can remember. It seemed that every other week we heard about this and that star joining the production or even just stopping by for a quick cameo. As this episode unfolds, it slowly becomes clearer why – because so many of those so-called-supporting-characters get to have far more detailed storylines. And so far, these storylines seem – for the most part – absolutely delicious.
The sense of “not entirely like the book but done absolutely right so I don’t care” (a bit of a mouthful, I know) was even stronger in this episode. With the added details and storylines, it feels a bit like Good Omens: The Complete Edition. It’s a bit like the release of a Director’s Cut for a movie; there are always the extra scenes that you end up wishing hadn’t been left in the editing room. While those scenes probably weren’t written when Good Omens was released (29 years ago, if you can believe that), for most of them, it almost feels like they were, or at least like they should’ve been. Again, it comes to show just how well Neil Gaiman did the adaptation. I honestly think Terry Pratchett would’ve been proud to see it.
Those added storylines give each of the cast members their own time to shine. Josie Lawrence’s Agnes Nutter is one of the episode’s highlights; she’s just about everything you could imagine a 17th century prescient witch to be. Jon Hamm’s Gabriel is hilarious, mostly because he has no intention of being funny. Adria Arjona’s Anathema Device and Jack Whitehall’s Newton Pulsifer are probably the most relatable characters and definitely two of the characters that feel just right (again, because I’m that person constantly comparing to the book). The children are wonderful, and I particularly loved Amma Ris’s Pepper. That’s probably not surprising; I do love strong, well written female characters. A bit like Agnes Nutter, she’s just that awesome.
In a sense, this episode is a bit like putting together the first pieces of a puzzle. You can see the general picture and you have a sense of which storyline goes where – especially if you’ve read the book, but some of them are clear even if you haven’t – but you don’t see where exactly they go just yet. You see the beauty in each piece, but you don’t see the beauty of the whole picture just yet. You slowly start seeing the connections, but you don’t see how they all fit together just yet. Even though I read the book more than once and I already know where it’s going, this episode definitely left me intrigued.
I don’t know whether it’s because it is a bit slower or because I was that sleep-deprived (I was), but this episode felt slightly longer to me. It still went by fairly quickly, though, and the last few scenes left me desperate to see the rest of it. I’ve been waiting for the show for quite a while now, so I can’t really say I was patient about it before Tuesday, but now I’m even more impatient, counting down the hours and minutes (12 hours!) until we finally get to watch the rest of it. I never thought I’d say it, but I’m extremely excited about the apocalypse.
Well, then. Welcome to the end times.