Recap / Good Omens Episode 3 "Hard Times"

aka: Good Omens Episode 3

Episode 3

Hard Times

Aziraphale and Crowley's journey through history begins at the gates of Eden, and between them had many misadventures performing minor miracles and subtly influencing the world for their respective bosses. Over time, however, something changes. These two eternal enemies begin keeping regular contact, and even form an unlikely friendship, socializing and even aiding each other from time to time.

Fate recruits the second of the Horsemen— Famine: a businessman with an insatiable hunger.

Tropes That Appear In This Episode:

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• Actor Allusion: Crowley himself is a casual observer in Shakespeare's works, preferring "the funny ones" and begrudgingly making Hamlet popular as a favor to Aziraphale. Not only has David Tennant played the titular character in the 2009 television adaptation of the play, but he has also met with William Shakespeare as the Doctor in the Doctor Who episode "The Shakespeare Code", where he and Martha Jones indirectly inspired Shakespeare in a manner that eventually leads to the creation of (among other things) Hamlet. He and Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) were also Benedick and Beatrice in a production of Much Ado About Nothing— one of Shakespeare's notable "funny ones".
• Adaptation Expansion: The prologue of the episode provides an expanded look at Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship across the span of human history, showing them go from being on opposite sides of the conflict between Heaven and Hell, to reluctantly beginning "the arrangement", to becoming best friends. Along the way, they witness construction of Noah's Ark, the Crucifixion, Shakespeare's Hamlet being performed at the Globe, and get caught up in the events of the French Revolution and World War II. We are also shown the origin of the thermos flask of holy water that Crowley obtains as "insurance".
• Asmodeus: One of the names Aziraphale guesses Crowley's new name is.
• Asshole Victim: The French revolutionary in 1793 and the Nazis in 1941.
• Ax-Crazy: The French revolutionary in 1793, who calls the sound of the guillotine outside "awful"... because he thinks they're doing it wrong. He also takes great glee in telling Aziraphale that he'll be the 999th person that he beheads via guillotine.
• Balance Between Good and Evil: Aziraphale and Crowley realize during the King Arthur years that all they're doing is thwarting each other, with the end result being neutral. They come to what they call "the Arrangement," where they either both do nothing (and tell their bosses that they were thwarted by the other side), or occasionally one of them goes off to do both of their jobs to save them some time.
• Been There, Shaped History: Half of the episode shows Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship throughout history, as well as how they each helped to shape history in their own ways.
• Burger Fool: Famine runs a chain of these, where they serve artificial food substitutes known as "Chow".
• Call-Back: The episode begins with God Herself asking Aziraphale where his Flaming Sword is. Apparently She never brings it up to him again.
• Cold Open: Lasting half the episode.
• The Dead Have Names: Played for Laughs. Shadwell made up a large number of fake Witch Finders in order to justify a larger budget for the organization (since their pay rates are centuries out of date), and they all have terrible names because Shadwell has no imagination. For some reason, he felt the need to kill off Sergeant Milk Bottle— and when Aziraphale talks to him, he offers his consolations for the loss.
• Death Is Cheap: Of a sort. Aziraphale really doesn't want to die because the paperwork is super annoying. This confuses the humans who are trying to kill him. Crowley rescues him at least twice.
• Divine Intervention: A theological inversion— Hamlet only became popular because of Crowley as a part of the Arrangement.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Crowley seems mildly disgusted that the Heavenly side will be drowning innocent children in The Great Flood (with him even stating that "It sounds like something my side would do!"). Additionally, after he and Aziraphale have the Witch Finders investigate him, Crowley admits that he would rather not be the one to kill Adam, as he's personally not "up for killing kids."
  • He also seems to take exception to Aziraphale's constantly presuming that any and all of man's woes - be they the mass executions of Revolutionary France or German spies trying to steal mystical artefacts for Hitler - are all his doing and not simply the result of humanity's own flaws.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Crowley's hair is constantly changing throughout history. By contrast, Aziraphale keeps his exactly the same from Eden to the present day.
• Failed a Spot Check: Crowley doesn't notice that most of the Witch Finders are obviously fake because he doesn't care. Aziraphale is just Super Gullible.
• The Farmer and the Viper: Aziraphale remarks that Jesus is being crucified because he preached "Be kind to each other."
  Crowley: Oh yeah. That'll do it.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: When meeting with Shadwell, Crowley is seen reading what appears to be Hell's newspaper.
• Funny Background Event: The TV behind Crowley and Shadwell in the cafe scene is showing, appropriately enough, Witchfinder General.
• Ghostapo: During World War II, a group of Nazi spies hire Aziraphale to bring them all of his books of prophesy (with the exception of Agnes Nutter, this being the only one that he does not have). They also briefly mention the Holy Grail and the Spear of Destiny on the Gestapo's priority list.
• The Great Flood: Aziraphale specifies that God is not wiping out the entire human race, just the locals in the Middle-East. The Chinese, Native Americans, and the Australians are explicitly spared.
• Haute Cuisine Is Weird: Famine tricks rich diners into starving themselves through serving basically nonexistent dishes. One meal is "Chicken froth on a reduction of broccoli gel with a mushroom foam," directly preceded by a bag of lavender-scented air.
  Famine: I've never seen a room full of rich people so hungry before.
• Hidden in Plain Sight: Anathema can't see Adam's aura because it's larger than the British Isles.
• Holy Burns Evil: Downplayed. While Crowley walks into a church to save Aziraphale during the Blitz, he is hopping on his heels like he was barefoot on a hot sidewalk.
• Humans Are Bastards: Crowley was only in Paris during the French Revolution because he was given credit by his superiors in Hell for starting it. Crowley insists otherwise, attributing it to humans being humans.
• I Never Told You My Name: A subtle example, but after asking Aziraphale to explain the Great Flood and the Ark to him, Crowley yells at Noah’s son Shem by name, indicating that he probably knew more about the situation than he initially said.
• I Was Quite a Looker: A gender-inverted example, the younger Shadwell seen in the flashbacks when he first meets Crowley was actually quite handsome.
• Jesus Was Way Cool: For all the moments that the miniseries pokes fun at Christianity, Jesus Christ's portrayal is still sympathetic, being a "bright young lad" who only wanted to encourage people to be kind to one another. Even Crowley shows respect for him, having shown him all the kingdoms of the world as a last kind gesture, and the scene of Jesus' crucifixion is notably somber and with more understated humor.
• Line-of-Sight Alias: Shadwell gives all the fictional Witchfinders names of this type, including Lieutenant Table, Sergeant Milk Bottle, and Sergeant Pepper.
• Mephistopheles: Another one of Aziraphale's guesses as to what Crowley's new name is.
• Mistaken for Suicidal: Crowley asks Aziraphale to get Crowley some holy water for "insurance." Aziraphale refuses, thinking that he would kill himself with it.
• My Grandson, Myself: Crowley gets away with not having aged a day to Shadwell because Shadwell thinks he's the son of the man that he met in The '60s.
• Mysterious Middle Initial: Crowley goes by Anthony J. Crowley in the 1940s.
  Aziraphale: What does the 'J' stand for?
  Crowley: Uh, it's just a 'J', really.
• Mythology Gag:
  • In the book, when Death is asked when Elvis Presley died, he says that he "hasn't claimed him." In this episode, the camera briefly lingers on an elderly man with a quiff working the grill at the Burger Lord restaurant that Famine was operating in.
  • This isn't the first time William Shakespeare owed his success to "divine intervention" in a Neil Gaiman property, the eponymous Bill making a deal with Morpheus in The Sandman (1989).
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: During the Victorian era, Crowley asks Aziraphale to obtain holy water for him as "insurance" in the event that things go wrong for him, which is permanently deadly to demonkind. Aziraphale flatly refuses to do so, believing that a) Crowley intends to use it for suicide (Crowley insists that it is not for that purpose), and b) the trouble that he would himself be in if he was found out to have been "fraternizing" with a demon. A century later, in 1960s Soho, Crowley is planning a heist to steal some holy water from a church, which Aziraphale learns of and confronts him about. Seeing that Crowley is determined to obtain it regardless, and whilst admitting that his feelings on the matter are unchanged, Aziraphale states that he cannot in good conscience allow him to take the risk, and so reluctantly gifts Crowley with a thermos flask's worth of holy water and tells him to call off the heist; Crowley, unsurprisingly, is taken aback by this.
  Crowley: Should I say "thank you"?
  Aziraphale: Better not.
• Orphaned Punchline: Inverted. The Elvis Presley cameo was meant to set up a gag where Death claims he never touched the King when given the question on an arcade game. While Death does play the arcade game, he never states this, so the cameo isn't given a punchline.
• Previously on…: Once we finally get past the credits, there's a 5 second Blipvert of scenes from the previous two episodes.
• Pre-emptive Declaration: Crowley to the German spies who are about to discorporate Aziraphale.
  Crowley: In about a minute, a German bomber will release a bomb that will land right here. If you run away, very very fast, you might not die. You won't enjoy dying, definitely won't enjoy what comes after.
  Mr. Glozier: You expect us to believe that? The bombs tonight will fall on the East End.
  Crowley: Yes. It would take a last minute demonic intervention to throw them off course, yes. You're all wasting your valuable running away time! And if, uh, in 30 seconds, a bomb does land here, it would take a real miracle for my friend and I to survive it.
  Aziraphale: A— a real miracle?
  Mr. Harmony: [to Greta] Kill them. They are very irritating.
  [Crowley points up at the church ceiling as the whistling sound of a bomb falling from the sky becomes audible. Seconds later, a bomb lands on the church, reducing it to rubble, killing the spies but leaving Aziraphale and Crowley unscathed]
• Prolonged Prologue: It takes 29 minutes before the opening credits start and we are put back in the present. That means that the extended prologue showing Aziraphale and Crowley's friendship throughout history takes up half of the episode.
• Put Them All Out of My Misery:
  Mr. Harmony: Kill them. They are very irritating.
• Rattling Off Legal: The waitress serving Chow has to play a recording listing a long list of disclaimers, including a Take That! at the fat-free Olestra.
  "Chow-brand unfood contains spun, plaited and woven protein molecules designed to be ignored by your digestive enzymes, no-cal sweeteners, oil replacements, fibrous materials, colorings and flavorings. Chow is an edible substance and must not be confused with food. Eating Chow can help you to lose weight, hair, and kidney functions. May cause anal leakage. Enjoy your meal!"
• Series Continuity Error: A minor one, but Jesus calls God "Father", when we know that this version of God presents as female. Then again, considering Otherworldly and Sexually Ambiguous is very much in play in this series, it doesn't really matter.
• Shout-Out: One of the non-existent Witch Finders that Shadwell promises to send to investigate Tadfield is Sgt. Pepper.
• Supernatural Repellent: Downplayed in that the effect is so subtle that none of the characters notices, but Dog is reluctant to enter Jasmine Cottage because it has a horseshoe hanging over the doorframe.
• Take That!: When Famine's agent remarks that the new shake he is selling has no food content, Famine remarks that shakes had no actual food content to begin with.
• That's Gotta Hurt: Crowley, when he watches Jesus being crucified.
• Those Wacky Nazis: When Crowley shows up to help Aziraphale when he is about to be discorporated by Greta, Mr. Harmony, and Mr. Glozier, Aziraphale assumes that they are working for Crowley. Crowley insists that they aren't, calling them "half-witted Nazi spies" and quickly being distracted by the holy water in the room as if they don't matter. Right after the bomb lands on the church, Aziraphale (who is a Nice Guy by default) is more torn up about his books being destroyed than the lives lost.
• Tempting Fate: While Aziraphale is explaining The Great Flood to Crowley, he makes it very clear that God has no intention of wiping out the human race. In the present, the Apocalypse is happening.
• Too Dumb to Live:
  • More like "Too Dumb To Not Be Discorporated", but Aziraphale decides to go to Paris, in the middle of the French Revolution, dressed like a nobleman, just so he can have crepes.
  • Then in World War II, he manages to easily get double crossed by his spy.
• Truth in Television:
  • Unlike in most depictions of Shakespeare and his plays, here Hamlet is being viewed during the day. This was the norm during Shakespeare's time, as before the invention of the the light-bulb and electricity, artificial light from the likes of torches were ineffective, and thus plays were usually done during the daytime.
  • The idea that Shakespeare actually wants audience members talking over the play and engage directly was typical audience decorum at the time. The idea that an audience sits quietly out of respect during the show is a very modern idea.
• Unicorn: Apparently there were unicorns on Earth, but Shem failed to notice one of the two that were supposed to be loaded onto the Ark escaping, resulting in the species going extinct.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Anathema tells Adam the various ills that plague the world (global warming, animal poaching, artificial food, etc.). This later convinces Adam that he should destroy the world and remake it to be better.
• Worthless Yellow Rocks: When Crowley enters the church to save Aziraphale from the Nazis, he cannot help but be astonished to see that the holy water there is just sitting there unguarded.

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