Shared Soul - Tumblr Posts

I know someone who looks like you.

Good Omens Faces & Names, Labels & Identities

One theme that I see running fairly strongly through S2 is the idea of identity.

I'll start with Nina and Maggie precisely because they chose to use the actresses' real names as their characters' names. I'm sure the actresses are back because they are respected and liked, but it also works to serve a purpose. That of emphasizing identity. Who someone is beneath the outward appearance. And maybe to get us to slow down and question our assumptions about someone when we see their face.

It's Nina Sosanya, the actress. But also Nina, the coffee shop owner. And, Satanic Sister Mary Loquacious and Mary Hodges, Tadfield Manor owner.

It's Maggie Service, the actress. But also, Maggie, the record shop owner. And "Skinny Latte". And Satanic Sister Mary Garrulous.

Is it Madame Tracy or Shax? Is it Shakespeare or Furfur?

With Gabriel we have Jim, James, and of course "Supreme Archangel".

Aziraphale is "Angel", Mr Fell, Mr McFell, Mr Wherever-He-Is and your partner. Even "Hey you!" from Gabriel.

Crowley is Crawley, Anthony J Crowley, [Mr] Six Shots of Espresso, [Mr] Struck By Lightning, Mr Crowley. And, from the Metatron, Demon.

Did I miss any other nicknames for our characters? Let me know in the comments.

By comparison, we have Beezelbub, same name and same being inside, but with a different face. Interestingly, Crowley knew it was Beez and simply noticed the different outward appearance. But Gabriel did not immediately recognize the new face as being the someone he knew.

Some of this may seem a bit so what? It's a show, so of course the actors are not the same as the characters. But how many viewers, upon realizing that Nina and Maggie were also in S1, upon recognizing that Shax looked like Madame Tracy from S1, thought that maybe they were still the characters they were from S1, even if only for just a moment? Because they had the same face. Because they looked like someone we knew.

Returning to Gabriel. Or Jim. But he's actually both, at least in my opinion. I think Jim was always in there, but smothered by Gabriel The Supreme Archangel. And by setting aside the memories of how he behaved as the Supreme Archangel, we get to see the nice angel that he used to be, or could be.

I take all this as a warning to be careful with my assumptions about who's who based only on seeing their face.

Now this is the part where I veer off into my own theory-land with all of this. I currently still hold the shared-soul theory because I haven't seen anything to outright debunk it. The theory that a part of Crowley has gone up to heaven within Aziraphale. This is where I think the edges have been blurred and the face we see in the elevator, riding up to heaven with The Metatron, looks like Aziraphale, but there's more inside than just Aziraphale.