This may have been obvious but I just put this together

"I work in soho, I hear things."

No, that's not it, Aziraphale. You got shadwell to spy on your boyfriend, didn't you?

Have we established how long Shadwell and Aziraphale have known each other because I find it convenient that just as Shadwell shows up to Crowley's meeting in the Dirty Donkey, Aziraphale turns up there too.

That's the face of a man who just got caught

This is exactly what happened, and we have a couple of clues to that end.

When Shadwell initially enters the heist meeting at the Donkey, we learn that Crowley had actually hired Mr. Narker. Shadwell informs Crowley that Mr. Narker has died and given over his business to Shadwell. Two things about this.

First, this plot point and dialogue are completely unnecessary unless it's a clue. My guess is that Mr. Narker experienced a "miraculous blessing" of fortune which detoured him away from Crowley's heist. Aziraphale then sends in his (hu)man Shadwell, with the story that Narker has died.

Which leads to the second point, being that Shadwell's story about Mr. Narker is pretty questionable. If Mr. Narker was dying and had the foresight to bequeath his lock master business to Shadwell, he apparently hadn't told his clients, aka, Crowley? And if Mr. Narker died unexpectedly, well then, there's no bequeathing of anything. It's a flimsy story either way.

Something I noticed on subsequent viewings is that when Crowley leaves the Donkey, Shadwell is already outside, standing and facing the bookshop. Possibly signaling to Aziraphale on the second floor confirming the heist is a go?

No matter what happened in 1941, no matter what transpired between them, Aziraphale has been keeping tabs on Crowley, protecting him from afar. Aziraphale is Crowley's guardian angel in the most literal sense.

And based on what we see at the heist planning, Crowley very much needs one because he is the worst criminal mastermind ever. He goes by his own name, he unquestionably accepted Shadwell into his heist gang on a word, without confirming anything, and my favorite bit, whips out a huge wad of cash in a room full of thieves who outnumber him three to one. Crowley. Darling demon. You may be able to perform miracles, but all it would take is a lucky bullet or knife blade to be discorporated. That eternal optimism can work against him.

One final observation. Given this, Shadwell's been on Aziraphale's payroll since at least the 1960's, and this "church caper" is almost certainly how Shadwell comes to work for Crowley. Which means he's been working for and checking up on both, each for the other, and double-dipping them for cash, for more than fifty years.

This was me. I'm awful at keeping more than one account, it was only a matter of time before I posted on the wrong account. 😅 Man, it was fun to meta again.

brilliant meta!

Scott Arthur played the young Shadwell in episode 3 :). They let him keep the Shadwell’s tobacco box (the bigger thing) and the lighter (the smaller thing on the right).  (x)

The Cupperty Ceremony

Every bit of food and drink in both seasons has a metaphorical significance, even if you don't realize it.

Tea is no exception. Its one of the few times an eastern philosophy creeps into Good Omens, but it still meets with a western ideal. It's also intrinsically linked to Aziraphale and his affected British style.

Coffee gets more of a focus in S2, and has a specific meaning around freedom and liberty, whereas tea appears more in S1. But the metaphorical meanings around them are fairly consistent across both seasons, with stereotypes for the British drinking tea and the Americans only drinking coffee put aside.

Lets start with Muriel on the doorstep of the bookshop, at the beginning of S2E3, asking to come in, because its noisy outside.

Scott Arthur played the young Shadwell in episode 3 :). They let him keep the Shadwell’s tobacco box (the bigger thing) and the lighter (the smaller thing on the right).  (x)

I’m sorry southern pansy means what?? Omg

….okay people really don’t know this! Yes, calling someone a pansy is calling them gay, and a southern pansy is a posh gay, so when Aziraphale says he’s not just a southern pansy he’s THE southern pansy, he is literally saying he is the gayest of all the posh gays XD

Reblogging for all the non-British (and British not-in-the-know!) fans who didn’t realise that “Southern Pansy” means Posh English Homosexual. 

I feel that this is important information.

I internal joy screeched at that scene b/c he was reclaiming a derogatory term & it was so empowering to see! By reclaiming it he was saying to Shadwell (& Heaven too), “You don’t get to degrade me. I’m embracing that word as mine, not yours. I know who I am now.” AND THAT IS GLORIOUS & POWERFUL

… it never occurred to me that people didn’t realise what “southern pansy” meant, so I’m reblogging this for everyone who didn’t know.

I was the author and I thought everyone knew.

I have to wonder did @neil-gaiman just make that up on the spot?

No. He was going to be the picklock for the group, to break into the church. (You also see him using his lockpicking skills to get into Aziraphale's bookshop at the end of Episode 4.)

yes! i think it's important that there is this character who seems just awful, but he too has worth and deserves love and care. he cleans himself up, leaves his awful dingy flat where he has been holed up with his fixations (sort of a one man cult), and joins madame tracy in her lovely home. there is hope even for him.

also being Good Omens, only a "gun" apparently fashioned out of the leftovers of a brass band will do.

Crowley is only pretending to read the newspaper :).