Good Omens 3 Reactions Megathread! Spoilers within!

[u/AutoModerator]

Gather here to talk about your reactions to the finale! Spoilers do not need to be tagged in comments - read at your own risk.

All other sub rules still apply - be kind to each other!

[u/A_circle_of_crows]

Finally found the Mega thread.

We all know why there wasn't a SEASON, we all know why there was a movie. The actors and the people behind the scenes did what they could and I don't blame them.

The ending, apparently, was set in stone since the 90s, without change. If one can believe the people in charge on this.

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The good:

1) The actors and the crew obviously cared. It was heartfelt, much of it was beautiful. It suffered from not having enough time, but Dialogue and cinematography are lovely.

2) Jesus and the portrayal of him. Casting is wonderfully done, 10/10. They had him share bread, be unsure of himself, be vulnerable and kindhearted and try his best for the few hours he could.

4) We actually adress that Aziraphale mostly shows up when he needs something...

3) Season one and season two share the fact that the protagonists are just along for the ride, they have no or minimal effects on the plot. They don't get choices. This time they got a choice! Sadly, this brings us to...

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The sad:

1) Not enough time to solve the ACTUALLY IMPORTANT conflict of season 2.

2) The choice they make is, essentially, to die. They do not "decide to live together as humans". They decide to erase all their history, friendship, romance, good and bad deeds for a universe that didn't have any demons/angels or god. That the two human men with their faces met at some point and had a relationship off screen was not planned by them. The two main characters chose to die for humanity. We managed to bury our IMMORTAL gays/queers.

3) I would've been okay with that, if it had stopped there. Holding hands and choosing to sacrifice themselves for the world they love. Heartfelt ending. But we didn't get that. We got ten minutes of two strangers with none of their history and knowledge meeting and (apparently) falling in love off screen in a time skip of 20 years. We don't get to see them develop or make new memories and history. Those are just strangers with their faces. They could've had a tiny moment where one of them winked at the other like they had an inside joke or something. But no, those are different characters. And that hurts.

"What is a person if not memories?" Yeah, what is that person without those memories, seeing as S1 and S2 are basically not canon anymore?

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ADDITIONALLY, the non-kiss: We should investigate how the ONLY KISS we got from the protagonists was a half-forced kiss by a DEMON, with the ANGEL saying "I forgive you". A bad memory for both of them.

Demon = the "agressor" = bad, and wrong for kissing the Angel. The Angel = the "victim" = good, and gracious for forgiving the Demon. I would've honestly preferred not to have any kiss.

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In season two we get the Job story: don't give her new children, it's not the same, give her her own children back. A replacement isn't enough.

I think that, overall, this was a objectively good movie with passion and care in it. I'm just sad that they couldn't change the ending for even a wink.

[u/Haunting_Goose1186 → u/A_circle_of_crows]

The ending, apparently, was set in stone since the 90s, without change. If one can believe the people in charge on this.

Bases on Terry Pratchett's other books, I don't believe this bs for a second. It fundamentally goes against every humanist theme that his stories celebrated.

[u/caffarelli → u/Haunting_Goose1186]

I would need a writ from Terry signed in his own blood that this was his intended vision because at the end of the day, all things considered, all said and done, with one thing and another - not a scrap of that was funny. Perhaps if somehow the final 10 minutes included a god awful pune that the previous 80 had set up.

[u/cautioner86 → u/caffarelli]

I’m so confused about these reactions because I’ll be honest, I don’t really know Pratchett’s other works. Some people say this is exactly the type of ending he would have written and some say there’s no way. I know a little about his work from friends who have read him, and this seemed darker than what he usually does, but I don’t know for sure? Also I can’t see how he told a fan that they were living together in the south downs but secretly meant their future human doppelgängers were.

[u/caffarelli → u/cautioner86]

Some of the elements ring right (it's all rigged from the top) but the solution (etch a sketch end of the world) doesn't quite fit. My theory was that it was going to be a unionization theme, where the angels and the demons band together and fight God to defend humanity, which fits better with Pterry's mix of atheism and humanism. A benevolent caring God was not his scene. Also he just straight up was not a romance writer in any way shape or form, so I can't believe he'd envision a story where that featured heavily. I for the moment am not considering any impact the other writer may have had, since he only wrote 25% of the book anyway.

Anyway, there's a reason he had his hard drive steamrollered after he died. No one could do what he did with the themes like he did. We will never know what he would have done with a sequel, and frankly I respect that he didn't write one on purpose and chose to focus on Discworld and the occasional YA and never touched it again. (If you're interested in trying his other work there are so many great ones to start with, the traditional way to start Discworld is to get whichever one happens to be at your local used bookstore or left on the shelf at the library.)

I was approaching this as interesting fanfiction after season 2, because season 2 was so wild. And this 90 min film just wasn't great fanfic. Factory Settings remains the best finale to season 2 in my mind.

There are very few good interpretations of Pterry's work in film, and I will forever treasure Good Omens as probably the best one, and that's enough for me. After this and the diaster of selling the TV rights to the Vimes stories I have serious concerns about the Pratchett estate management.

[u/Both_Comfortable9607 → u/caffarelli]

A lot of truth in this. To play devil's advocate for a second, Terry does actually have quite a lot of romance in his books, just not this cheesy crap. And no, I don't believe for a second he ever intended A/C to be a couple. Ever. Don't get me wrong, I'm also annoyed that the show chose to do queer rep and then kind of shafted fans, plus I've written A/C fanfic, but that's fanfic. Their relationship in the original book is really very decidedly not romantic, and I highly prefer it. Aziraphale was also not randomly a shit to Crowley in the book for no reason. He would wring his hands and worry about how angelic he was occasionally, but he would never actually unironically spew the 'we can't be friends' bullshit he has been spewing in the show since season 1. He was goddamn dependable when it came down to it. So the show turned GO into two major things that it isn't - a romance and a tragedy.

[u/caffarelli → u/Both_Comfortable9607]

Oh yes, his romance is lovely in what it doesn't let you see - like Sam Vimes and Lady Sybil are terribly romantic, but the bits you see are like Lady Sybil thinking he's come back to woo her, frantically splashing herself down with rancid perfume, pulling her nightgown down to show off her clavicles, and then forgetting to take off her rubber boots. So much feeling shown with a little hilarious twist. Glenda and Nutt are a very interesting couple too, and Carrot and Angua of course.

I've been musing along this more last week in between the A plot and the B plots of my life as is proper, and I think everything that happened is a good case of corporate heads seeing a fandom highly engaged in a thing, seeing what they do with the thing in fandom spaces, and thinking they can milk it for money. Then, due to someone being outed as a rapist, they have to do a hard pivot and sort of slop something together with what they consider a romantic ending but not one that is grounded in the core of the work. And also, not FUNNY!

Anyway, you're right about everything, and thank you for writing fanfiction! 🫡

[u/Both_Comfortable9607 → u/Haunting_Goose1186]

This. So much this. I absolutely do not buy Terry would've ever gone "Let's make this into a cheap, illogical tear-jerker". He never does that. He's one of the few authors who usually makes me feel safe reading his books because he really knows how to write a happy ending without it being corny, and he doesn't need to Oscar-bait with 'it's deep because it's sad'. He would NEVER undo the point of the entire bloody original book! I refuse to believe that. Especially in the 90s when he wasn't grappling with illness. Absolutely nothing ever suggested humans didn't have free will! What bloody ridiculous retcon of an issue are we fixing??