*Episode premise spoilers.*
(Side note: none of my screenshots saved while I was watching the episode--argh!!!--so have this picture that I Googled as a placeholder. It proved difficult to find anything good that was both a) actually from this episode and b) not depicting a big-time spoiler.)
Well, here we are, at the end of the season. By now, the most particular particulars of the finale have been thoroughly hashed out online, but I’ll still avoid talking about the major spoilers today. I have some thoughts I’ll likely take to a future post.
The bookshop is under siege. It’s surrounded by demons, and Aziraphale is inside with the amnesiac Gabriel and two very confused humans. While he tries to hold back the forces of Hell, Crowley takes to Heaven to root out the source of all the fighting once and for all: the mystery behind Gabriel’s original disappearance.
The attack on the bookshop is entertaining—I like to see Aziraphale drawing on his nerve to protect Gabriel and the humans, though he of course gets rather dismayed at the suggestion of throwing books at the demons. Like the season 1 finale, the big showdown turns out to be less of the meat of the story than I was expecting, and the fight ends with plenty of episode left. Maybe I’ve just been overly trained by the third acts of blockbusters, that I always expect a protracted climax and a very brief denouement. Here, it’s the reverse, with ample time devoted to what follows.
And what follows is pretty extensive. We’re treated to a lengthy flashback about characters other than Aziraphale and Crowley, which places the season we just watched into context. (This was my second time through the season, and this sequence definitely helped me see a number of scenes in a different light.) We get archangels doing the absolute most on Earth, including shouting, “Mortals? What are mortals doing here? Someone turn them into pillars of salt!” We’re blessed with Muriel uttering one of the most delightful descriptions of books I’ve ever heard: “They’re like people, only portable!” And much more, which we’ll get to in a bit.
Crowley “sneaking” back into Heaven (in a fashion) is great. It’s done in the most Crowley way possible, at once totally nonchalant and indulgently over-the-top. When Muriel frets that they’re going to be in trouble for unintentionally abetting him, He smiles and says, “You think so? Well, then, let’s make it worthwhile.” His angel disguise is fab, and he wastes zero time getting down to business.
Back on Earth, we get basically nothing but great moments from Crowley. I love the relish David Tennant puts into delivering the phrase “an extremely alcoholic breakfast.” I love the quick shot where he spots Aziraphale through the window in the midst of a kerfuffle, waits for a beat, and then smiles as he sees the angel handle it. I love his summation of their dynamic over the past millennia: “I say something brilliant, he says something unintentionally funny back. It’s great!” Bless.
The headline of the finale, of course, is that ending. It’s what the fandom has been dissecting for the last six weeks, and it’s inspired metric oodles of fanart, speculation, and headcanons. Again, I’m going to sidestep the details until I have time for a more spoiler-heavy post. But David Tennant is exquisite. Michael Sheen is phenomenal. During the crucial scene, both actors hit every single beat with maximum impact. There are immeasurable layers of story and character baked into this scene, and they handle the complexity magnificently. Regardless of how someone might feel about what happens in the final scenes, I’d be hard-pressed to believe anyone could come away from it without a bone-deep conviction that Tennant and Sheen swung for the fences the entire time.
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