*Episode premise spoilers.*
This is the first episode of the season without a major flashback sequence in it, but the modern-day section is pretty great, offering up a nice blend of humor, action, and romance. It’s the penultimate episode, so you know some major shit is going down!
We previously saw Crowley’s Richard Curtis-inspired method of getting two humans to fall in love, now it’s Aziraphale’s turn. He has big plans, and they involve turning the local street traders’ meeting into a Jane Austen-style ball. However, the forces of Hell, determined to root out Gabriel, have other ideas.
This is a very straightforward episode. We have two main plots—Aziraphale throwing a ball and the demon Shax leading a ragtag army to attack the bookshop—and they collide in interesting ways. The combination gives us a neat atmospheric concoction, one that’s equal parts lush romance, uncanny unease, and creeping foreboding. I like seeing all the various small business owners coming under the spell of Aziraphale’s Austeny miracle, and the production does a nice job of prefacing the arrival of the demons. Through it all, we still get plenty of fun comedy.
It's lovely to see Aziraphale being so openly romantic here. He really pulls out all the stops for his plan, and I adore the blissful expression on his face as he stands back and watches people dance at the ball. Later, after shit hits the fan, Nina is aggravated by Aziraphale’s assurance that Crowley will have a plan to defeat the demons, and she urges him to “make [his] own plan for once.” In response, Aziraphale smiles and says, “Oh, I am. But rescuing me makes him so happy.” Love it!
In the first portion of the episode, Crowley mostly just trails after Aziraphale as he prepares for the ball, idling watching the angel’s interactions and amusing himself in the background when he gets bored (spoiler alert: at one point, there’s a fez involved.) But as the ball begins to get underway and Crowley can sense something wrong ahead of the demons’ arrival, he gets laser-focused on the problem at hand, repeatedly trying to warn Aziraphale but not getting anywhere because Aziraphale is so swept up in the moment. Also, there’s a bit where he distractedly, impatiently tosses a tray of vol-au-vent. Hee!
This is a great episode for David Tennant. He’s excellent in a one-on-one scene with Gabriel, in which Crowley recounts part of the season 1 finale and we learn just how deeply it affected him. Tennant is a master of scary calm here, keeping his voice low and even as he seethes with hatred. I also love the way he handles the confrontation with the demons. He very much remains Crowley throughout, but parts of it are just so Doctor-coded, especially his deployment of the time-honored strategy “talk really fast and lie confidently until they believe you.” I love that for him.
Another great scene comes a bit earlier in the episode, where Nina tries to suss out the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale. I love it, because Crowley vehemently denies that they’re together, but it’s 100% not a “no homo” type of denial. He isn’t frantically backtracking to say, “I’m not like that,” or, “We’re not like that.” Rather, he’s a lovelorn cynic who’s burnt-out on hope, explaining, “It’s not like that,” because he wants it to be but he’s all too aware that it’s not—really well done. Plus, I love the indignation in Tennant’s voice as Crowley exclaims, “He’s not my ‘bit on the side!’” Impeccable line delivery, no notes!
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