‘Good Omens’ Season 1 Recap: What to Remember Ahead of Season 2 (2024)

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Good Omens Season 1.

Season 1 of Good Omens adapted Terry Pratchett's and Neil Gaiman's best-selling novel into a critically-acclaimed TV show that also became one of Prime Video’s biggest hits. It’s no wonder the streamer is bringing angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and demon Crowley (David Tennant) back for new adventures. However, while we are excited to see what happens on Earth after the Apocalypse, with new and returning cast members filling the ranks of Heaven and Hell, the series is about to go into uncharted territories by presenting a new storyline that happens after the book’s ending. It’s an exciting concept, and by the looks of the first trailer, Good Omens Season 2 will reward faithful fans who have kept tabs on all the previous main characters and events. That means the time is ripe to rewatch all episodes of Season 1. Still, if you are short on time, we’ve prepared a handy Good Omens Season 1 recap to tell you everything you need to remember ahead of Season 2.

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Who Are Crowley and Aziraphale?

Since the dawn of time, the forces of Hell and Heaven have been preparing for the last great battle between good and evil, set to happen during Armageddon. While angels and demons are destined to face each other on the battlefield, the Last War will be fought on Earth, home of the Creator’s favorite children, the humans. Because humans are at the center of God’s plans, Heaven and Hell decide to keep tabs on them after Adam and Eve set foot in the Garden of Eden. Aziraphale is the angel sent to guard the humans, watching their steps and trying to steer their path toward good. Crowley, on the other hand, comes to Earth to stir chaos. Crowley, for instance, turns into a snake and convinces Eve to bite the forbidden fruit, leading to humans being kicked out of Eden. It’s at this point that he makes the acquaintance of the angel Aziraphale.

Over the course of history, Aziraphale and Crowley grow closer to each other. As the representatives of Heaven and Hell on Earth, they acquire a taste for everything related to humans. While that makes them weirdos in the eyes of other angels and demons, they can count on each other for support and mutual understanding. That’s why Good Omens is a fantasy series that doubles as a tender romance, as Aziraphale and Crowley fall for each other as millennia pass, despite being on opposite teams of the biblical game. Aziraphale’s and Crowley's love for each other and Earth leads the angel and the demon to join forces to prevent the Apocalypse, which threatens to destroy their home and blooming relationship.

How Did the Apocalypse Happen in ‘Good Omens’?

As Hell’s emissary, Crowley is charged with delivering the Antichrist to a satanic convent, where the nurses will ensure the family of an important American diplomat raises the baby. Satan (Niall Greig Fulton/Benedict Cumberbatch) wants his son to be in a position of power when he turns eleven, the age when the boy becomes the destroyer of the world. However, due to a mix-up, the Antichrist ends up with the Youngs, your average suburban family.

Unaware of the whereabouts of the real Antichrist, Crowley and Aziraphale forge a pact through which they act as the godfathers of the diplomat’s child, influencing him towards good and evil. Crowley and Aziraphale believe combining their angelic and demonic powers can help the Antichrist grow up as a normal child, with good and evil added to a zero result. That would theoretically stop Armageddon while not raising suspicions in Hell or Heaven. Unfortunately, they spent eleven years guarding the wrong child, while the young Adam Young (Sam Taylor Buck) enjoys an average childhood.

Aziraphale and Crowley are left in the dark while the forces of Hell send a Hellhound to awaken the powers of the Antichrist. After that, Adam starts to make his dreams come true, transforming nuclear reactors into lemon candies and bringing Atlantis back from the bottom of the ocean. One by one, the Four Horsem*n of the apocalypse are also summoned to Tadfield Airbase, where they intend to launch nuclear weapons all over the world. Fortunately, after he learns he’s the Antichrist, Adam decides he doesn’t want power if that means losing the people he loves. So, instead, Adam summons his friends to Tadfield to prevent Armageddon.

The final showdown happens in the airbase. Adam and his friends defeat War (Mireille Enos), Famine (Yusuf Gatewood), and Pollution (Lourdes Faberes), while Death (Jamie Hill/Brian Cox) takes its leave after the battle. While the kids take on the Horsem*n, two humans manage to shut down the Airbase computers and prevent the missile from flying: the descendant of a witch who predicted the Apocalypse, Anathema Device (Adria Arjona), and the descendant of a witchfinder, Newton Pulsifer (Jack Whitehall).

Armageddon is thwarted, bringing the leaders of Hell and Heaven to Earth to push Adam Young to restart Apocalypse. However, they decide to stand down once Aziraphale questions if God’s Great Plan for Armageddon is the same as God’s ineffable plan, which theoretically could be prevented. After that, Satan himself decides to come to Earth to force his son to destroy the world. Crowley and Aziraphale stand by Adam Young’s side, helping him to face his father and use his powers to send the king of Hell back to where he came for. Adam also remakes the world exactly as it was before his powers awakened. All ends well for everybody except for Crowley and Aziraphale, who are charged with treason by Hell and Heaven.

What Happens to Crowley and Aziraphale After Armageddon?

In the final episode of Good Omens Season 1, Aziraphale and Crowley are taken back to Heaven and Hell, respectively. For their crimes, they are both condemned to death. In Aziraphale’s case, he’s forced to step into Hellfire, the only thing capable of killing an angel. For Crowley, the punishment is for the demon to melt in a tub filled with holy water. Aziraphale and Crowley survive their executions, to everyone’s surprise. So, both in Heaven and in Hell, angels and demons decide they should leave the duo alone on Earth. It would be too dangerous to meddle with creatures that grew so close together that they acquired each other’s powers.

As we soon find out, Aziraphale and Crowley had disguised themselves as each other before their arrest so that they could trick the forces of Heaven and Hell. Since they know each other so well, impersonating each other wasn’t a real challenge. And just like that, Aziraphale and Crowley help to prevent Armageddon while also buying their freedom from biblical duties. That means Season 2 of Good Omens will undoubtedly reveal how the duo has been living by themselves on Earth.

Season 2 of Good Omens comes to Prime Video on July 28.