Good Omens’ Final Love Letter to Fanfiction

I’ve been teaching Good Omens for years now: the 1990 fantasy novel co-written by the late Terry Pratchett and another writer, the 2019 series adaptation, the vast collection of sources both gleefully draw upon, and the fanfiction for it all. I wasn’t going to teach it again this time around—I like to change things up—but when the final season’s release coincided with my summer class in Fanfiction and Adaptation at the University of Utah, it seemed like a good plan.

And so, May 13th found me awake at 1 A.M., watching the series finale through bleary and teary eyes. Despite widespread sorrow at the glittering yet gutting conclusion for our heroes, 6,000+–year-old angel and demon Aziraphale and Crowley, I thought it was the most heartfelt and validating love letter to fanfiction I’ve seen come out of a commercial enterprise. Unfortunately, this message got tangled up with the show’s other unique ambitions: to save itself from its author—not Pratchett, the other one—and restore the Good Omens legacy to its fans.