The final review of Good Omens – a picture of heaven, but a note from the fire of TV | Fantasy TV

Tprophecies of Good Omens have been bad from the beginning. Several episodes of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s 1990 fantasy came to an end when the Prime TV version began in 2019, but at that time Pratchett had died and the show was difficult and embarrassing, also because of the fear of its origin, but still affected by the uncertainty that Pratchett could be.

Four years later, the second season told a new story that acknowledged the strengths of the show’s leads, David Tennant and Michael Sheen. Without a book to refer to or Pratchett to consult, Gaiman seemed unsure of what to do with his stars, but the thrilling finale turned the chemistry between Tennant Crowley’s troubled demon and Sheen’s thoughtful angel Aziraphale into an affair, confirmed by a kiss before being threatened by the celestial bodies.

Now the controversy has created a third and final race, which should have ended well, before it started. Gaiman has denied allegations of rape and other serious crimes against him by several women. Three lawsuits against him were dismissed by federal judges in the United States in February 2026. And although he still has a writing debt on Good Omens, his impact has been limited and the third season has been a special 90-minute episode instead of the six episodes that were planned. It was filmed in early 2025; for a while it looked like Amazon wouldn’t release it at all.

The result is what one would expect from a pregnant show: it’s a confusing mess, its story reduced to incoherence.

The big business is the second coming of Jesus, arranged in the holy halls of heaven by the Archangels and archangels. The joke in Good Omens is that both heaven and hell are dysfunctional offices, interfering with people’s business and small laws and fraudulent institutions – inevitably, then the heavenly group will soon stop knowing where the messiah is, leaving him to roam the Earth alone.

Jesus is played by Bilal Hasna as an innocent man who is just about to recover from the “nail job”, but who still misses the gang of 12 he had during his last incarnation. In a strange and confusing story he meets Harry the Fish (Mark Addy) who is a retired street preacher. In an attempt to find and take care of God’s son, Aziraphale – who was hoping to greet Jesus with a nice cup of tea – returns to Earth and reunites with Crowley, who is now a gambling addict full of anger at Aziraphale’s decision to prioritize work over their relationship. “You have rejected Jesus and blocked the Second Coming!” belches Crowley at his sad soulmate. But when Aziraphale helps Crowley get his Bentley back with a crooked casino magician played by Sean Pertwee, the two are friends, at least.

For a while Good Omens reverts to its trademark, which is Tennant’s chin-swinging game of fury while Sheen complains. More than ever, there’s an interesting twist to the conversation: “He likes deserts,” says Crowley, speculating about where Jesus might have wandered. I spent 40 days behind when I knew him!”

When archangels begin to die inexplicably and holy things disappear, however, the two forget all about Christ and find out which of the central guardians of paradise is ruining the project, a problem that has been solved too soon for the solution to be necessary. Both of the central issues are non-starters.

And so we head to the final four-way showdown between Crowley, Aziraphale and two supernatural beings, played by two star-studded heavyweights. While debating what it was, Good Omens echoes its religious origins, rendering the human elements of depravity into bloody wonders that should not be restrained and fear judgment from above. All four cast members were destroyed: the show has perhaps the biggest crisis in TV history between the iconic artists and the old script. (Previously, the show made an unprecedented plot to make Paul Chahidi, who happens to be godlike, as the archangel Sandalphon, annoying.)

But the actors, especially Tennant and Sheen, almost redeemed it. Crowley and Aziraphale’s tearful determination of whether their love can defeat the will of the infinite is delivered with passion by both, and then there’s an unashamedly beautiful coda that imagines another version of their characters where the problem doesn’t arise. It shows that these two can be as smart as a couple in a typical romantic drama, as different characters created by different writers: Good Omens be damned.