Every episode of Good Omens season 2, ranked worst to best

It’s-a getting closer: Episode 301, “The Arrival”

Overall, I think I preferred the episodes set in the present to the ones set in the past, especially when the season gets off to a decently strong start. In “The Arrival,” Aziraphale and Crowley are minding their own business when a buck-naked Archangel Gabriel shows up on his doorstep completely unaware of who he is or why he’s here, but could Aziraphale help him please?

Being of a generous spirit, of course Aziraphale invites Gabriel in. Soon Crowley gets involved, and before they know it they’re hiding this sought-after celestial superbeing from both heaven and hell.

It’s a fun, albeit slow-moving, way to kick off the season. I was immediately curious about why Gabriel was here and what happened to his memories, and I enjoyed watching Jon Hamm do his thing as the amnesiac angel. Hamm got famous playing Don Draper on Mad Men, a very serious role, but he’s always seemed like what he really wants to do is make people laugh. He gets that chance in Good Omens.

Also, you gotta love the opening flashback to when Aziraphale and Crowley were both angels at the dawn of creation.

Party: Episode 205, “The Ball”

“The Ball” can’t be at the top of the list — it basically ends on a cliffhanger with Shax’s demon horde on the precipice of entering Crowley’s bookshop — but after three episodes spent mainly with Crowley and Aziraphale in the distant past, it was nice to get some plot momentum.

Ever helpful, Aziraphale decides to take the monthly meeting of local shopkeepers and turn it into a Jane Austen-themed party for the benefit of Maggie and Nina, whom Aziraphale and Crowley must convince the agents of heaven are actually in love because of a byzantine plotline worthy of a very strange sitcom. Anyway, the dancing is fun, and we get some strong hints that their may be more to Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship than just being platonic life partners.

It’s not a perfect episode. The scenes where Shax recruits demon’s in hell are a little slow, but it’s all worth it for the moment when Gabriel walks out of the bookshop resplendent in a big white furry coat and a doofy smile, ready to give himself to the legions of darkness. Did I mention that Jon Hamm is really fun in this role?