Starchild

True dat

It's a popular theory that fallen angels are not allowed to continue using their old names. Perhaps Aziraphale was asking what his new name is? As for Crowley's reaction to the offer of becoming an angel again, I think he made it pretty clear that he thinks Heaven is supremely hypocritical, just as bad as Hell, and he never wants to be associated with either of them again. Further to that, I think he's explicitly stated that multiple times over the years, and he thought Aziraphale was finally understanding that, and he's disappointed that it seems Aziraphale doesn't really get it after all. Hence his statement that he thinks he understands better than Aziraphale does (including that the angel is being manipulated). But I think Aziraphale understands to a point. There's a thing his face does after he forgives Crowley that suggests to me that he knew that was a step too far, but too late to take it back.

I feel like it would have worked a little better if we still had the same actor from last season playing Beelzebub. This one was just OK, a little flat, didn't have the same edge that would have been a sharper contrast to Gabriel's relentless positivity.

I wonder if we'd see Boyce first. I know that technically he should have already been onboard, since he was CMO during the events of The Cage, and apparently that's already happened here, but we've seen this show play fast and loose with canon details before.

I think someone like Mariner, who simply isn't capable of existing within the command structure, just doesn't belong in Starfleet. I think even she has admitted that once or twice. I can't imagine why she stays, except for maybe both her supremely indulgent parents are SF officers and that's where her confidence (arrogance?) comes from, and she would feel inadequate away from it and them.

Right up to the last second before the kiss, he was so unsure of the nature of his relationship with Crowley, and didn't really believe 100% that Crowley could actually love him when no one else did. I've read comments that talk about how much unresolved trauma Aziraphale is dealing with due to an eternity of emotional neglect/abuse from Heaven. It lowers his self-esteem, fuels his insecurity, ramps up his need for their approval, and informs his lack of courage to make a clean break from them. When you think of it from that perspective, how could he be expected to do anything else?

One might wonder why he followed through when that redemption was rejected, but I think there were a few things that influenced it: Humiliation - since being an angel (aligned with Heaven or not) is something that Aziraphale values so highly, Crowley's rejection of angel status, especially when offered by Aziraphale himself, may feel a little like rejection of Aziraphale. Shock - that kiss really threw him. Between the offer of Heavenly validation and the offer of overt love from Crowley, his head was spinning right off his shoulders Embarrassment - he didn't want to show vulnerability, especially in front of the Metatron Politeness - he had told the Metatron he'd come back and run things, and it's such an integral part of his personality to keep his promises Man, the acting Sheen did with his face through that scene was masterful. Right after the kiss he's so off-center he's in shock, he's crying, his world is upside down. And that final shift in his face before he offers forgiveness: Hesitation - he wants this but he's still afraid. It's still so hard to shake off the fear of offending Heaven that he's lived with literally all his life. Anger - why has Crowley chosen this exact moment to openly declare his love? Why did he wait until now, when things with Heaven are about to change for the better? Why couldn't he have done it before things got crazy again, or after they calmed down? Resolve - it just can't happen now. It was wrong of Crowley to choose this moment. And that's what comes out. And Aziraphale's face in the elevator. Trying and failing and trying again to convince himself he's made the right decision. Or that, if it's the wrong decision, it can still be salvaged at some point in the future. Poor boys.

OK I've been giving this some thought (obsessed? i don't know what you mean) and I think I have an idea. As we all know the Metatron easily manipulated Aziraphale because he knew precisely how Aziraphale would respond. He also knew exactly how Crowley would respond to the offer of rising back to angel status. And despite their cooperation to avert Armageddon, the Metatron correctly predicted that Aziraphale was still just enough in that "good angel", self-denying mindset that would make him willing to choose Heaven over Crowley. It's a near thing, though, because he knows the strength of the relationship between them, and what they can accomplish together. So, what I think is, the offer to Aziraphale is not about bringing him back to Heaven and putting him in charge. It's about separating him from Crowley, so that they don't, once again, ruin whatever new plan they have. I think that's why Derek Jacobi plays it with such slyness. When we, the audience, observe the Metatron as he interacts with Aziraphale, we can see this is not a straight offer, there's subtext there. He's very satisfied at the results of his negotiation, and I think that derives not strictly from Aziraphale's return to Heaven, but from separation of Aziraphale and Crowley. My 2 cents.

Same. And really, where else would a romance between Gabriel and Beelzebub have come from?

Agreed. A lot of fans think he might have been Raphael, whom we never hear about being around in Heaven.

Interesting points. Couple of questions: I had thought all demons were fallen angels. Were some demons created after the Fall? If Crowley might be Lucifer, then who came out of the ground in S1? Didn't they actually call him Lucifer (or Satan, same thing)?

Well yes, but Aziraphale could always change his mind. Or not cooperate once up there, he's already shown himself to be contrary so they can't just assume he'll go along with something he doesn't want to go along with just because. It just felt like more than the surface manipulation to me.

Did anyone else get the feeling that the Metatron has something up his sleeve? The looks he kept throwing Aziraphale seemed quite suspicious to me. I know there's something out there called the "coffee theory", which I presume is something about the Metatron doing something to the coffee so that when Aziraphale drank it (something the Metatron was very insistent on) he would become more malleable, more likely to take the new job. But honestly Aziraphale didn't seem to be acting any differently to me.

Apparently it was a full-fledged League of Gentlemen reunion, if not all in the same scenes. ETA: 3 acted in the same scenes, one was a writer.

I don't even remember seeing them get through the tent task. Did they show it? Or were they so good at it that it really did go that fast.

Ironic, but acceptable.

Well that was unexpected. I think Mami Watta was physically incapable of picking her jaw up off the floor after that elimination.

Love the Skye Boat Song! Have you heard Roger Whittaker's whistling version, where he adds in the sounds of seagulls? Brilliant.

I thought I heard dialogue in TOS that suggested Kirk learned from Spock. But I suppose it doesn't have to mean he learned from the beginning, only that Spock helped to sharpen Kirk's skills. One of my guilty pleasures is watching a reaction video on YouTube, where a young person who's never heard music from my generation listens to it for the first time. Their faces when they hear someone like Karen Carpenter for the first time is everything. And inevitably there's the comment about "no autotune back then."

It looks like Justin just shut down. I think Jermaine realized that no amount of trying to communicate was going to work, and that's why he said, let's just go. He's had a rough go of it for sure. That being said, I get bored when one team dominates.

As a fan of the queens, this was a disappointing episode. I feel for Jermaine discovering how little resilience his partner actually has. It was Justin who quit, both times. I could feel Jermaine's frustration and I'm impressed he didn't just start crying from it. Interesting that Justin didn't outright apologize for it all though, at least not on camera. I would be tripping over all the sorry's I was dropping. I hope they can redeem themselves. I don't think hate is warranted, since they haven't hurt anyone other than themselves, especially not for Jermaine. It's not like Justin's waffling ended up knocking out another team. They may have delayed some teams that could have been able to catch up to the frontrunners, but we don't know that for sure.

Ha, wouldn't it be funny (not) if they pulled a "Fear" and S2 starts with Negan already in charge of a new Sanctuary in NYC, with throwaway comments about how he took over and married the theatre boss and made the Croat his right hand man and Maggie is already in some jail cell and they don't bother to show how any of it happened with flashbacks.

The Queen of the Opera reminded me of the following, in no particular order: Patti LuPone Laurie Metcalf Frances Conroy Sarah Paulson In the most awesome ways, of course.

Yes. Roddenberry may have wanted to focus on the peaceful missions, and good on him for that, but there was no alternative force when things got hairy. We've never seen one fleet for exploration/science and one for war/defense. We've only ever seen a few ships that specialize in one (Reliant) or the other (Defiant). Starfleet is for both science/exploration and military/defense purposes, there's no two ways about it, really.

I never watch those. Why are they doing those now anyway? Why not just go straight into the next show like they used to? My guess? They tricked Maggie into bringing him, making her think they wanted to kill him, because she wouldn't do it if she knew the real reason: they always admired his leadership and want him to create a new Sanctuary to keep the outside world from interfering with them. They're going to try to talk him into doing it all over again, make him the King. Tempting after all the crow he's had to eat over the last few years, no? The Marshal is beginning to see shades of gray and may become his new Simon. And of course, he'll keep Hershel and try to mentor him as he once did Carl. Setting up the massive eventual showdown with Maggie. Many people have said they wanted a show that focused on the early years of Negan establishing the Sanctuary. Maybe that's what this is? Maggie was lying about the food being stolen. Ginny climbed the tower and found it full of grain. Then they showed the Croat handing Maggie the wanted poster, telling us that he intended for her to bring Negan to the island all along.