The best thing about season 2 of Good Omens is also the worst thing about it.

Even though I will never say no to these two

Photo: Mark Mainz/Prime Video

If you were wondering if the second season of Good Omens would focus on angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and demon Crowley (David Tennantcomplicated )’s past or how their relationship has changed in the present, the answer is yes.

Season 2 of Good Omens does pick up after the events of the first season (and the book it’s based on) when Aziraphale and Crowley had put off the end of the world. But it also has “minisodes,” which are long flashbacks between scenes set in the present.

Most of them aren’t “mini,” though (in fact, the longest one takes up most of its episode time). All of them occur in the past and have little to do with the main storyline in the present, in which the archangel Gabriel (Jon Hamm), who has no memory and is naked, shows up at Aziraphale’s door.

Photo: Mark Mainz/Prime Video

They almost feel like they belong to a different version of Good Omens season 2, where Aziraphale and Crowley’s past is told in short stories (perhaps they were once rough ideas that Neil Gaiman outlined with co-author Terry Pratchett). If that were true, then these short episodes would be a lot of fun. But because of how the season is set up, they tend to get too far away from the main story for too long, to the point where it barely moves forward. It’s very annoying because I want to watch them and spend more time with these characters, but it also takes away from the main plot, which is interesting.

Aziraphale and Crowley are just interesting people, so any time they are on screen is a treat. I want to see more of them talking to each other, especially as they get into more trouble over a thousand years. Sheen and Tennant play them well; their easy chemistry excites even the most boring scenes. And since they are a demon and an angel, things that are normal for them seem strange to us, like making the events in the Book of Job happen or digging up bodies in Scotland. These flashbacks show us how important events changed Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship and made it what it is now.

Photo: Mark Mainz/Prime Video

But season 2 of Good Omens has more plot than these single-episode adventures. Again, the universe’s fate is at stake as Aziraphale and Crowley figure out what Gabriel is trying to tell them and hide him from the prying eyes of heaven and hell. They must also set a date between two shop owners across the street because of a misunderstanding. This is a fun set-up on its own, but the mini-episodes keep making it hard to follow because they rarely, if ever, add anything to the main episode besides some background on a small moment or two. These mini-episodes are so much fun, and I want a whole season of them because I love these characters, actors, and historical settings. But I also keep forgetting why we should care about the season’s main plot if we only see 10 minutes in each episode.

If you’re interested in Aziraphale and Crowley, as I’m sure many fans of Good Omens are, these flashbacks fill in their history and show how they got to be friends. But those mini-episodes don’t do much to move that relationship forward, and the main plotline that takes place in the present day doesn’t have enough time to do so either. They are the most entertaining part of the season, but they also limit what could happen in the modern plot. I want more and less at the same time. Still, I mostly want to see more of these characters, and if this weird way is the only way to do that right now, I’ll take it, even though they deserve more.