Good Omens remains a breezy trifle in Episode 203, “The Clue”

The second season of Good Omens continues with Episode 2, “The Clue.” Like the premiere, this episode is…pleasant, if not blow-out-the-back-of-your-head amazing.

I have some of the same complaints as I did last week. The original Good Omens book by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett had several storylines running at once, and the first season of the TV show adapted them all. Season 2 is being imagined solo by Gaiman, and there’s simply not as much happening. Gabriel (Jon Hamm) loses his memory and shows up at the bookshop owned by the Earth-bound angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen). Aziraphale calls upon his demon buddy Crowley (David Tennant) to help puzzle out what’s happened, but they’re no closer to getting answers at the end of this episode than they were at the end of the last one.

Instead of plot, we get to spend more time with Aziraphale and Crowley and learn about their ancient friendship. “The Clue” treats us to an extended flashback to when they were working with Job, “a particular favorite of God’s.” If I remember my Bible, and I almost certainly don’t, Job was tested by the almighty with woes uncounted, all to see if his faith was shakable. It’s one of the more petty anecdotes form the Old Testament; like, God is going to punish this good man just to see what he’ll do, I guess?

Obviously, Good Omens mines the story for comedy. I particularly liked Aziraphale and Crowley visited Job’s spoiled children, one of whom is played with hysterically insufferable haughtiness by David Tennant’s son Ty (who played the teenaged Aegon Targaryen in House of the Dragon, FYI).

The point of this interlude is to show how neither Aziraphale nor Crowley fit within their roles; Aziraphale has a problem with God smiting Job for apparently no reason, and Crowley isn’t willing to visit too much suffering upon the poor guy, whatever Satan’s orders. It gets the point across, but it takes too long and isn’t entertaining enough in the meantime.

Michael Sheen, David Tennant and Jon Hamm carry Good Omens

If you’re gonna focus on character over plot, you need scripts that crackle and pop. I think what these scripts need most is a punch-up; just lock them in a room with some funny people for a few days and let them go nuts. While there are some nice zingers in this episode (“I’m not taking you to hell, angel.” “Why not?” “Well, I don’t think you’d like it.”), there aren’t as many as you’d expect, particularly with so little happening.

When I laughed, it was mostly because the actors were doing a bang-up job with the lines they were given, rather than the lines themselves. Sheen in particular was doing it for me. Aziraphale gets it in his head that the Buddy Holly song “Everybody” holds a hidden message about what’s happening to Gabriel, and I cracked a smile whenever Sheen talked excited about this new “clue.”

Later, Aziraphale asks to borrow Crowley’s car to do some hands-on sleuthing. “I thought I might pop up there myself and investigate,” he says. Again, that’s not a funny line by itself, but Sheen has a ball with it. He makes it funny. And look at Aziraphale’s expression when he finds out how great human food tastes for the first time:

Funny! Jon Hamm, too, is bringing his facial A-game. Here he is as Gabriel back in his himbo days before the memory loss, when he’s baffled as to why Aziraphale is concerned over Job’s suffering:

And here he is trying and failing to see through Aziraphale and Crowley’s plot to let Job skate by with less punishment than intended:

Hamm is also great at playing Gabriel (he goes by “Jim” now) in the present as a braindead blank slate. “Don’t I know you?” an angel asks after coming to Aziraphale’s bookstore for an inspection. “Yes, you do,” Jim answers, utterly sincere. “I’m the assistant bookseller. I opened the door for you.” Hamm is great at delivering deadpan.

Verdict

There’s an interesting moment in “The Clue” where Gabriel starts to get his memory back but then backs off because “my head isn’t big enough, not anymore.” That was intriguing, and makes me want to know what’s behind this mystery. I just with the show would step on the gas a bit, or at least make me laugh a little harder while it takes the long way around.

Good Bullet Points

• Miracles are apparently measured in “Lazurai.”
• We learn that Jane Austen was a spy and a diamond thief in addition to being an author. “You think you know someone…”
• There’s a subplot about a record store owner and a barista who like each other but won’t admit it. Aziraphale and Crowley have to get them together, for sitcom-ish reasons. I don’t know if this will be important to the plot, but I did like Crowley’s strategy for playing Cupid: force them to get caught in a rainstorm together. “Get humans wet and staring into each other’s eyes: va voom, sorted.”
• Aziraphale with a fun line: “I passed my driving test 90 years ago. They didn’t even require tests but I insisted.”

Episode Grade: C+

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