Somewhere north of 20 years ago, my friend Patrick told me I should read Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Patrick’s taste in entertainment is generally reliable, so I did even if I had misgivings. “It took two people I’ve never heard of to write this?” is a thing I remember thinking. In my defense, Neil Gaiman wasn’t “Neil Gaiman” when he wrote the book with Sir Terry Pratchett, and I certainly know who they both are now.
Good Omens, the novel, is the story of pending Armageddon, a misplaced anti-Christ, and the humans, angels, and demons in his orbit. The heart of the book is the relationship between the angel Aziraphale and demon Crowley, and that’s true of the Amazon Prime Video adaptation as well.
Adapting one work of art for another medium seems like a Herculean task. I was happy to know that this work’s raison d’être was a final wish of Terry Pratchett made of Neil Gaiman, and Gaiman wrote and produced the adaptation. There are scenes and characters missing. There are scenes and characters added, or expanded upon from the scope of their role in the novel. Nothing added diminishes or distracts from the core of the story, and nothing removed truly does either. I could quibble with some additions, but those that stood out as new content came from Gaiman and added to the experience. Likewise, one of my favorite gags from the book is missing along with a terribly minor subplot, but said subplot didn’t really go anywhere in the book; it’s a stretch to even call it a subplot.
Good Omens is a faithful adaptation not in that is perfectly translates every word from the novel to the screen, but in that it uses the medium of its presentation to tell the same story in a different way. The acting ranges from fine to outstanding, with the notable performances coming from the roles you’d hope stand out. There’s a wider range of quality to the special effects, but for a show that relies on the divine and the supernatural, that gap is less troublesome than might be expected while watching the show.
Good Omens, be it novel or Prime Video adaptation, remains an easily recommendable experience.
