When it was announced that Amazon Prime greenlit a second season for Good Omens, I was thrilled but scared at the same time. I really liked the original series so getting more of something I like is always a good thing. But the first season was based on the book, which was written Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Now, Terry Pratchett couldn’t be part of this new season as he passed away shortly before the Amazon Prime series was released. Without one of the original co-creators behind it and without something to base it on, can Neil Gaiman actually make a second season work?

Although all the episodes of Good Omens 2 has been out on Amazon Prime for a while now, I’m still going to make this a SPOILER FREE review. With that out of the way, on with the review proper!

Good Omens 2 takes places a few years after the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley prevented Armageddon and, although the two have been expelled from their respective groups, they’ve settled down to a relatively peaceful life Earth as they have for eons. However, things are thrown into chaos when the Archangel Gabriel arrives at Aziraphale’s bookstore naked with no memory of him being the leader of the forces of Heaven. With both the forces of Heaven and Hell now searching for Gabriel, Aziraphale and Crowley decide to hide the new fallen angel and figure out what happened before another Armageddon may happen.

Right out of the gate, let me tell you that I really did like Good Omens 2. However, it is missing something that made the first season so good: Terry Pratchett. Terry Pratchett is known for his more fantastical style of writing which did add a lot of the unique flavor to the characters in the book and the first season. Now, it’s not like Neil Gaiman isn’t a stranger to crazy and imaginative characters. But his characters are a much more gloomy than Terry Pratchett’s. There’s a palpable lack of wackiness in the second season is what I’m trying to get at and I kind of miss the more whimsical personalities from the first season.

That’s not to say the characters in Good Omens 2 are bad. Quite the opposite, really, as most of them are endearing in their own right. For starters, we have the two main characters, Aziraphale and Crowley, played by Michael Sheen and David Tennant, respectively. These two do a tour de force in acting all throughout the series. Michael Sheen does a wonderful job as the more naive and affable Aziraphale and David Tennant’s performance as the more rough around the edges Crowley is just delicious. Also, their chemistry together is perfect together, making you believe this odd couple have known each other for god knows how long. Honestly, if they did a show just featuring these two characters as they go about their life on Earth, I would definitely watch it in a heartbeat. And I think other viewers would say the same thing. That’s how good their performances are.

The other returning actors also get their time to shine. Jon Hamm’s version of this more forgetful and even more oblivious Archangel Gabriel is really good as well. His lines are somewhat predictable as they do fall in line with the dummy who doesn’t fully comprehend the situation but Jon Hamm’s delivery makes it more than just bearable. Miranda Richardson returns in a new role as the demon Shax, who took over Crowley’s position as the head demon of the area. She also does a wonderful job of playing the ambitious demon but her scariness is undercut by her being oblivious to the ways of humans.

Among the new characters and actors, I will say the one who steals the show for me would be Quelin Sepulveda as Muriel, a very low-level angel who comes off as very naive on how the world works. But instead of showing disdain with humans like a lot of the other angels in the show, Muriel is more intrigued with the human condition and even tries to blend in. She gives off a very sincere performance. I will say some people might find her annoying but I didn’t. She’s a fun addition, in my opinion.

Less endearing, however, are the two new human characters, Maggie and Nina, played by Maggie Service and Nina Sosanya. You can tell by how these characters were named by their respective actresses how little thought was put into their characters. Now, it’s not that Maggie and Nina were bad characters. The problem is they do come off as so uninteresting, especially with the more outrageous personalities in Good Omens. You might say they’re not as zany because they’re both humans. But, even when you compare them to the humans from the first season of Good Omens, Sergeant Shadwell, occultist Anathema Device, Witchfinder Newton Pulsifer and Adam (the son of Satan himself), record shop owner Maggie and coffee shop proprietor Nina come off as rather bland. I get the point of including them as they are kind of a metaphor for Aziraphale and Crowley’s relationship. They still come off as very uninteresting, metaphor or not.

I also do have to say that the more cartoony tone is missing in Good Omens 2. I guess that’s because that was Terry Pratchett’s contribution to the first story. Neil Gaiman seems to have replaced it with more of a satirical slant to the overall story, much more than what was seen in the first season. It feels more interested at poking fun at the more religious aspects of the world. I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing, though. But I can see some people getting their feathers ruffled quite a bit because of it. I will say the messages, such as how things aren’t always black and white, are a little heavy handed at times.

Finally, the overarching story this time around, while good, feels much more inconsequential than the one in the first season. Sure, the mystery of why Gabriel lost his memory is intriguing but you never feel any real danger. This makes the climax of the series feel kind of abrupt as the escalated to that point so quickly. But I’m not saying the journey to the climax is a bad thing. It just seems kind of unnecessary that it had to get to that point. Oh, I also have a slight complaint with the ending as it comes off like Neil Gaiman is begging viewers to ask for a third season. I just enjoyed the more satisfying ending from the first, that’s all.

I will say Good Omens 2 is still very, very good. But I can’t say it’s better than the first season. Just seeing Michael Sheen and David Tennant as Aziraphale and Crowley is more than enough for me to watch the entire thing. Although I know Neil Gaiman trying to manipulate me into demanding Amazon Prime to greenlight another season with the ending, I would’ve done so without that. It’s still definitely a watch and I can’t recommend Good Omens 2 enough.

Have you seen Good Omens 2? How does it compare to the first season? Let me know in the comments section below!