To the world.
Put an angel and a demon together who are facing the End of Times, and what do you get? Some surprisingly heartfelt moments.
Warning: Spoilers Off applies to this page. Proceed at your own risk.
Season 1
- Aziraphale holding up his wing to Crowley when it starts raining at the Garden of Eden.
- Before that, a small detail, although Aziraphale seems a bit surprised when he sees Crowley, he does not try to get away from him and talks to him civilly, even though they are supposed to be "enemies".
- The look on Crowley's face when Aziraphale admits he gave Adam and Eve his sword to protect themselves in the wild. He's at first shocked, then he teases the angel a bit... and then he just smiles, cracking a little joke that even gets Aziraphale to chuckle. It's the moment he realizes that this angel is different, and will follow his own moral compass with or without God's permission. Thus, a 6,000 year friendship begins in earnest.
- Aziraphale gives Adam and Eve his Flaming Sword (which was a gift from God Herself). It returns to him at the climax of the story.
- Immediately after leaving the garden, Adam uses the sword to fend off a lion that attacked him and Eve. Aziraphale's kindness saved their lives and, by extension, all of humanity.
- Crowley is, as far as Hell's concerned, the poster boy for evil and horror responsible for all the great ills in history, which is what exempts him from directly bringing souls over to their side. This reputation has been largely gained due to him sending memos taking credit for all the entirely human-driven ills of the world, all while being a relatively harmless likable sweetheart who is happy to push minor temptations, build an annoying motorway charged with hell energy, and shut down mobile phone service in London for an afternoon. He's also apparently concerned with all the animals that'll get caught up in the Armageddon, and distressed at the idea of children dying in the Great Flood while Noah's safe on his ark. Evil incarnate.
- Note that it was Crowley's idea for him and Aziraphale to coordinate their evil/good deeds so they would negate each other. While his wide-spread tactics like poorly designed motorways mean that he is good at his job, he appears more interested in growing beautiful plants than corrupting humans.
- Remember the last temptation of Christ? Crowley didn't intend it as a temptation, he just thought Jesus was a "bright young lad" who deserved to see the world.Crowley: Well he's a carpenter from Galilee, his traveling opportunities are limited.
- When Crowley and Aziraphale start with their "fraternizing" sometime before 1601, Aziraphale protests whenever the demon suggests exchanging favors. Why? Because he's terrified that if Hell ever finds out, Crowley would not just be killed, but destroyed.
- When Dagon communicates with Crowley via the Bentley's radio, he seems more concerned about his fellow demon finding out he is with Aziraphale than about the Hell Hound.
- Aziraphale refuses to help Crowley get holy water, because he worries that Crowley will use it on himself. Crowley has to plan a heist himself to procure it. When he finds out, Aziraphale gives Crowley the holy water - because he's afraid that Crowley will hurt himself trying to get it.
- Even better, the holy water he gives Crowley was real. Think how easy it would have been to give him a flask of regular tap water and just tell him it was holy; what's he gonna do, dip a pinkie in to check it's real? But no: Aziraphale respects Crowley enough to give him the real stuff, even if he doesn't like him having it.
- During the Blitz, Crowley hurries into a church, which hurts him (because it's Holy Ground), in order to save Aziraphale. He even manages to save the books, too, which Aziraphale clearly appreciates.
- When questioned on if she remembers anything about the baby Antichrist, Sister Mary only recalls that "He had lovely little toesie-woesies." To her, the Antichrist was just a sweet little baby to coo over. While Crowley is clearly annoyed, Aziraphale's face is an expression of pure "D'awwww!"
- Before Aziraphale puts an end to Sister Mary's trance, he makes sure she remembers the experience as a dream about whatever she likes best.
- Anathema and Adam get on like a house on fire, starting when Adam hears Anathema crying and goes to see if he can help her. She makes him a snack and shares her occult magazines with him, which he finds utterly fascinating.
- The first manifestation of Adam's power? Shutting down a nuclear power plant (and somehow making it so it manages to produce 100% clean energy) and setting a kraken on the whaling ship, because Anathema was earlier ranting about the ways humans have hurt the Earth. Even though it's a sign of darker things to come, it's still very telling that the first ways Adam changes the world are good things.
- When she realizes what Adam is, Anathema is horrified, saying it can't be true. "He's the sweetest kid in the village!"
- When Gabriel comes to check in with Aziraphale, the first thing they notice is the distinctly evil scent of the back room. Aziraphale explains it away, but he never mentions Crowley's 'evil smell' to him – so either he loves Crowley's company enough to not be warded off by it, or he's gotten so used to him that it doesn't bother him anymore.
- There's also the unspoken implication that Crowley hangs out at Aziraphale's bookshop often enough for his scent to be detected. This is further hinted by the fact that when Crowley is disguised as Aziraphale, he notices some children's books that weren't there before and says, “Those are new.”
- When Aziraphale is discorporated and sent to Heaven, Crowley thinks he's been killed (since the bookstore is on fire, and hellfire kills angels) and breaks down screaming. He's so upset by this that he gives up on his plan to run away from Armageddon and instead gets drunk off his ass in a pub until Aziraphale appears in front of him. This is pretty Tear Jerker until that last bit, but the hope in Crowley's voice when Aziraphale appears in front of him and explains what happened is what really seals the deal.Crowley: SOMEBODY KILLED MY BEST FRIEND! BASTARDS!
- The Power of Friendship between Adam, the Them and Dog — despite all he's put them through, despite going Screw This, I'm Outta Here when Adam got too scary, despite yelling a him, telling him he wasn't their friend anymore, and treating him to a "The Reason You Suck" Speech... the moment Adam collapses to the ground, the kids and the dog immediately run back to him to check if he's all right. Okay, Brian does pick up a cricket bat and is clearly planning to hit Adam with it if it turns out to be a trick, but he puts it down as soon as Adam apologizes and shows that he's back to himself.
- Aziraphale (hitching a lift in the body of Madame Tracy) and Crowley reuniting at the airbase. Crowley's arrival in his currently combusting Bentley draws a thrilled "Crowley!" from Aziraphale, and Crowley responds with a cheerful "Hey, Aziraphale!" The pair of them have been running on pure stress since Crowley discovered the book shop in flames, and it's clear that they're relieved and happy to see each other. Crowley even remarks that the dress Aziraphale/Madam Tracy is wearing "suits you", and looks settled in a way extremely unlike his closeups while driving the flaming Bentley.
- Just before Satan shows up, Crowley stops time, bringing himself, Aziraphale, and Adam to an empty plane. Aziraphale and Crowley spread their wings and hold up their respective weapons, telling Adam he has to think quickly – but whatever happens, they're on his side. The two then hold Adam's hands, and Crowley unfreezes time, him and Aziraphale clearly ready to stand with Adam and protect him from his demonic father as best they can.
- In the end, Adam rejects Satan as his father. Satan was never there for him, yet expects Adam to do what he says. To Adam, he only has one father and that’s Arthur Young. Adam is able to resist the freaking Devil through his love for his adoptive parents.
- When Crowley realises that Adam has rewritten reality so that Satan no longer has any claim to him, he gives a very rare, genuine smile as he explains what's happened.
- When Crowley walks in the street, he stops and smiles as the camera pans over to show his now unburnt Bentley. However, instead of getting back into his beloved car, he calls for a cab and takes it to go meet up with Aziraphale.
- Also Aziraphale happily going back into his bookshop and looking around to see everything as it was before the fire. He does see some children's books that weren't there before, but he leaves them anyway.
- If anything, this is heightened by the fact that at this point "Crowley" and "Aziraphale" have already made the body swap. Of course "Crowley" doesn't take the car; Aziraphale is terrified of the damn thing! Highlighted by the fact that the first thing they ask about over ice cream is the Bentley and the bookshop respectively. They were each just genuinely happy that something so important to their best friend had been returned after its traumatic loss!
- Another thing about the swap. Aziraphale and Crowley mimic each other so well that their respective colleagues, angels of truth and demons of deception, can't tell that they're disguises. Let's rephrase that, Aziraphale and Crowley know each other's mannerisms so well they walk into the homes of their enemies and fool everybody.
- Then, of course, there is the fact that that the both of them were willing to risk their existences and walk into Heaven and Hell, surrounded by their foes, to save each other. If that is not an Act of True Love, nothing is.
- As "Aziraphale" is about to be executed, Gabriel says, "Shut your mouth and die already," but he also looks uncomfortable, and the forced smile drops in a second into something like wide-eyed fear and regret. He's not taking any glee in this. He's known Aziraphale for God knows how long - even though he's convinced he's doing the right thing, it doesn't mean he finds it enjoyable. It stands in stark contrast with the demons in Hell baying for Crowley's blood.
- What does he do when Crowley blows hellfire towards them? Gabriel instinctively spreads his arms to shield Sandalphon and Uriel - especially Uriel, who skitters back the furthest, with a look of unbridled panic on their face.
- Crowley gets one as well with Gabriel's "shut up and die" statement. Right after he says it, it cuts to "Aziraphale" with a tight-lipped death glare locked directly on to Gabriel. Crowley is utterly pissed that anyone, let alone another angel, would dare speak to his angel that way. It's safe to say that Gabriel is now #1 on Crowley's permanent shit list.
- At the end, after everything's settled and Aziraphale and Crowley have avoided punishment for betraying Heaven and Hell, they go out to eat at the Ritz, where they toast over saving the world and compliment each other in their own ways.Aziraphale: I like to think none of this would have worked out if you weren't, at heart, just a little bit of a good person.
Crowley: And if you weren't, deep down, just enough of a bastard to be worth knowing.
[Crowley and Aziraphale smile and hold up their champagne flutes]
Crowley: To the world.
Aziraphale: To the world.- To solidify this point, the scene immediately prior to this one has Aziraphale and Crowley discussing their respective "executions." Crowley doesn't discuss blowing hellfire at Gabriel – that's just Crowley. But Aziraphale takes an almost childish glee in telling Crowley how he asked Beelzebub for a rubber duck before making Archangel Michael miracle him a bath towel, which Crowley finds absolutely hilarious. Aziraphale has been rather tight-laced up until now, and doesn't show as many evil leanings as Crowley does good ones, so it really hammers in it that Aziraphale wasn't doing this to act like Crowley and that he really get some enjoyment out of fucking with everyone like that.
- Crowley and Aziraphale's expressions and body language as they toast and afterwards are also worth noting. Crowley is looking fondly at Aziraphale and gives a very slight smile as he raises his glass. Aziraphale lowers his eyes in a shy (or flirtatious) manner, smiles and looks across at Crowley before adding his emphatic "To the world." As the camera pulls back and God's narration drowns out their conversation, Aziraphale is chattering animatedly at Crowley, stretching out an arm towards him, leaning across the table to him and laughing. It's the most open and engaged we see the angel, who always kept a certain distance from his friend before now. It's clear that Aziraphale is no longer holding back on their friendship. Crowley, meanwhile, looks both relaxed and attentive to the conversation, no longer constantly watching their backs.
- Aziraphale and Crowley's friendship in general. Despite how little they have in common with each other (and despite Aziraphale's denial), those two are incredibly tight-knit and always find a way to stay close despite their falling outs. It's good to have companions when you're immortal.
- It may not have been extremely well developed, but Newt and Anathema are surprisingly sweet nevertheless. Sure, you can argue they only got together Because Destiny Says So, but Newt is a genuinely kind, good-hearted man and Anathema is a smart, dedicated, very pretty young woman. The two really couldn't have done much better, and by the time the curtain falls, they're clearly committed to remaining at each others' side, come what may.
- For all of the casual insults he throws at her, when Shadwell realizes Aziraphale has possessed Madame Tracy, he flips out and orders him to "Get out of that good woman's head!" What happened to "Jezebel", Shadwell?
- When he thinks hears a demon in Madame Tracy's room making 'lewd suggestions,' he bursts into the room, saying, "Get away from her!"
- At the airbase, Shadwell, while holding his giant bazooka gun thing, shouts something to the effect that anyone who tries to hurt Madame Tracy will have to get through him. Prompting Madame Tracy to coo in surprise and delight.
- A small one, but Crowley only ever takes his sunglasses off either when he is completely alone or when he is alone with Aziraphale. He even keeps his them on when meeting with fellow demons even though there's no reason to hide his eyes from them. It's only around Aziraphale where he is comfortable enough without the shades.
Season 2
- Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship extends far beyond the Garden of Eden, as we get to see the two of them working to help make the universe before the creation of Adam and Eve. We even get the reason why Crowley eventually fell and became a demon: he made a nebula (with Aziraphale's help) and is dejected that, not only will the universe only be around for a few thousand years, so the nebula will barely have any time to make any stars, but most likely, the only people in the universe that might admire the beauty of the nebula probably won't ever get to see it.
- Maggie, a record shop owner who rents her space from Aziraphale, is practically in tears when she meets with him in the season premiere, apologizing profusely for falling so far behind on the rent. She admits she still doesn't have the money, and that Aziraphale has been more than patient with her, and promises she'll be out in a couple of weeks. Aziraphale, however, is having none of that, and the money certainly makes no difference to him. He asks if Maggie's managed to get ahold of some records he asked for, and she has—so he says that if she gives him the records for free, he'll consider them square. Maggie, astonished, points out the records are worth less than ten pounds, but it's more than a fair trade as far as Aziraphale's concerned. When he leaves, she's completely overjoyed she'll get to hang onto the family business after all.Maggie: You can't just forgive me eight months' rent!
Aziraphale: Oh, I can. I'm very good at forgiveness. It's one of my favorite things. - Despite being immensely angry at Aziraphale for giving an amnesiac Gabriel, their enemy, shelter, Crowley still refuses to give him up to Beelzebub even when offered a hefty reward.
- Aziraphale is the only one of the angels to question whether it's okay to punish Job and his family to win a bet (with Satan, of all people). He's also the only one to bring up that you can't just replace a man's dead children with new ones and expect it to be square, and that Sitis, who is pushing sixty, probably won't want to give birth again, let alone seven more times.
- While he had slight contempt for two of Job's children (in his defence, they were rather rude to him), Crowley is gentle and indulging to the youngest. She notices he was an angel and now a demon, which seems to delight Crowley. While he tells her she hasn't annoyed him yet, he still indulges her by turning her into a blue lizard, which was what she requested.
- Crowley was the one who taught Aziraphale the joy of eating.
- Crowley intervenes just before Sitis can renounce her faith and curse God, knowing that can't end well for her, no matter how justified her anger.
- Crowley and Aziraphale working together to covertly save Job's children and reunite them with a relieved Job and Sitis, who make it clear that they don't care anymore about the goats or their house burning down or their crops dying. They just want their kids back.
- Turns out, even if Crowley never informed Aziraphale what truly occurred during the failed execution in Heaven, Aziraphale has more than enough reason to leave Gabriel to the wolves with his 6000 years worth of mistreatment and heinous actions on Gabriel's part. Aziraphale is resentful, angry, and scared that Gabriel is in his shop, in his home, uncertain when he might suddenly regain his memories and go back to the horrible angel he was once more. Even so, he makes sure Gabriel has clothes to wear, he stays warm and safe, and is kind to him when trying to recall things ended up being too painful for Gabriel. Really, the prime example of true compassion in the series.
- Aziraphale's efforts to get Nina and Maggie to fall in love are sweet, but when Crowley gets involved as well, it's adorable. The smile on Crowley's face, when it seems like his plan is working, is one of the most open, genuine smiles Crowley's ever shown in the series.
- While Crowley keeps citing movies as his reason for believing that his plan to get Nina and Maggie caught in the rain, sheltering under an awning, and falling in love would work, that was what happened between him and Aziraphale on the walls of the Garden of Eden.
- Aziraphale has turned Crowley's Bentley yellow because "It's pretty!" Then you recall: his bookshop walls, his duster, his coat - there's a lot of yellows in Aziraphale's life... What color were Crowley's eyes again?
- There are many LED candles and fire extinguishers in the bookshop. After what happened in season 1, clearly someone wasn't taking any chances. Whether it's Aziraphale not wanting harm to come to his beloved books, or Crowley not wanting harm to come to his beloved angel, it's equally heartwarming.
- Crowley gets all up in Gabriel's face and explains why he hates the former Archangel so much: It's because Gabriel told Crowley's best friend to shut his mouth and die. Slightly dampened by the fact that it's said to Jim, who is apologetic and sympathetic, to the point of being willing to jump out of a window if it would make things better.
- For all of Crowley's anger, he's not so heartless enough to let Jim off himself when he clearly isn't Gabriel right now and thus doesn't truly know the extent of his actions. He doesn't push further when Jim can't recall further memories, and before he leaves, gives him hot cocoa as compensation.
- During the demon invasion chaos, Nina chastises Aziraphale for leaning so heavily on Crowley and asks him to stand up and make his own action plan. Aziraphale warmly replies that he knows what he's doing—and that it makes Crowley so happy to be able to rescue him.
- Gabriel and Beelzebub's character development and romantic development. In four years they managed to knock their heads together and realized something that has taken Aziraphale and Crowley six thousand to even approach realizing: they deserve better than Heaven and Hell, and they deserve each other. When last the audience saw Gabriel, he was at the top of the angelic hierarchy, the Archangel Fucking Gabriel, power-hungry and powerful. In the interim, he had grown out of it due to a little demonic influence (and indeed, good deeds). On the other hand, Beelzebub became dissatisfied with their lot in Hell and wanted to be acknowledged, praised, and thanked for their work.
- "Every Day" by Buddy Holly. At first it was just noise to Gabriel, but he remembered it and put it on the jukebox to comfort the afflicted because it was something Beelzebub liked.
- Beelzebub's gift of the fly to Gabriel, being the first time someone had ever given Gabriel something. It ended up saving his life.
- Even with his memory gone, Gabriel knew that he would need to find a person who would make everything right again. That was Beelzebub, but he couldn't go straight down to Hell in his state, so he went for the next best thing: kindly Aziraphale, who would take care of him, and Crowley, the former infernal contact point with Earth, who would lead him to Beelzebub. In the final episode Beelzebub says Aziraphale took better care of Gabriel than they could have done themselves.
- Although remembering his time as the Archangel Gabriel hurt, the sweet memory of enjoying the Buddy Holly song with Beelzebub stayed inside Jim's subconscious.
- When asked where they want to be sent for punishment Gabriel and Beelzebub reply that they don't care as long as they're together.Gabriel: I would like...better clothes. And, I would like to be with Beelzebub. Wherever Beelzebub is is my Heaven.
Beelzebub: And where you are, my sweet, is forever my Hell.
- Aziraphale went off of it the wrong, but he ultimately wasn't going to go back to Heaven, a place of trauma, for any reason until Crowley becomes part of the discussion. He then agrees, because he can weather anything, as long as Crowley is right next to him.
