What Even Are "Good Omens?"

Emily Pelaez | 3 minute read

According to my quick google search, they are signs, events, or phenomena believed to predict a favorable/lucky future. In my family, blue birds are apparently a good omen–though I can’t recall if anything interesting has happened after seeing one. Nevertheless, it’s something to think about.

Do you have a good omen? Something lucky that makes you feel lucky, like that stinky rabbit's tail hanging on the back of your bag. (Poor rabbits, what’d they do to make their chopped off feet seem lucky? All that hopping through gardens, I’m sure.) Or perhaps a penny you picked up from the ground! Whatever you might call it, seeing a good omen usually makes one feel a bit giddy. I like the whole blue bird thing my family has going on, not only for the luck side of it, but also because I do like pointing at birds and getting a fun reaction of that’s good luck for our family!

Well now that we know what a good omen is, I’ll get to the actual point of this blog. I recently finished a show named after these infamous signs of luck. The 2019 television show Good Omens was actually not a television show at first. It was a book. I’ve only just started reading it now as I write this post, but so far the book is just as quirky as the show. As someone who has gone through a fair share of book genres, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s style of fantasy in this is absolutely one of my favorites. To be fair, I get easily overwhelmed by the idea of entire new worlds with entirely new elements and entirely new rules. But I felt like I was taking a breath of well needed fresh air as I watched the show and began the book. A rule-following angel and a snarky demon are placed right in the middle of modern day (or as modern as the story was written in) England, where the 11 year old Antichrist they’re looking for also happens to live.

Yes, this book-turned-show is about an angel and a demon trying to stop armageddon. But instead of the black and white personalities I tend to see within such books, I actually found myself surprised by the amount of depth each silly character hid beneath the stereotypes. A demon helping someone in need, an angel secretly doubting God, the Antichrist hating nuclear power. It wasn’t the complete reverse I’d seen run into the ground, nice demon mean angel, but something far different–yet somehow similar. It didn’t feel like a stereotype for the simple reason that it wasn’t. Aziraphale the angel was not a perfect, holy being that only did good; he had flaws that made sense but remained flaws. And Crowley the demon wasn’t a stinky slimeball who ate babies, but much more humane while still managing to maintain his wickedness.

The plot not only engages readers and watchers, but puts these two through experiences that show their best and worst selves. It's one of my favorite ways to see characters grow–especially in their relationships. The main duo's, Aziraphale and Crowley, relationship plays a major role in the show. Personally, it was what intriuged me the most.