Spoilers ahead for Season 2 of Good Omens on Prime Video.
Good Omens returned in the 2023 TV schedule to quite literally go off-book, as the plot continued past the events of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's original novel. This involved a big expansion on Beelzebub's story, and not just because Bridgerton alum Shelley Conn stepped in to play the Lord of the Flies. Conn got a fittingly gruesome debut as Beelzebub in the first episode of the season, which involved "vomiting" flies all over David Tennant as Crowley.
Shelley Conn spoke with CinemaBlend at the Good Omens Season 2 press junket prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike. After she explained what shocked her about her transformation from Bridgerton's Lady Mary into the Lord of the Flies, I asked the actress about her reaction to seeing the finished product of Beelzebub once this visual effects of the flies were added. Conn explained:
Oh, I loved it. I mean, I've done a bit of green screen and all that kind of stuff before, so I had every faith and obviously I'd seen the show and I just knew, but... knowing that I'm doing it, but it's actually going to be not me, it's going to be an effect. There was a great moment where I had to... just had to, like, drop my jaw and imagine just millions and millions of flies coming out of my mouth, and then vomiting all over David Tennant who was sitting next to me. It was so fun, and it's just that thing of, it's not happening in the moment, so there I am kind of like literally [mimes flies coming out of mouth] at him. He was very gracious about that.
Shelley Conn's incarnation of the character certainly got a memorable introduction! Beelzebub dropped in uninvited on Crowley while he was sitting in his car, fresh off a fight with Aziraphale about what to do with the amnesiac Gabriel. Fittingly, the Lord of the Flies' arrival was preceded by flies swarming in the Bentley, before Beelzebub turned up, entirely made up of flies. In fact, Conn herself was hardly recognizable until the scene switched to Hell, and David Tennant was apparently "very gracious" about the actress pretending to vomit on him. All in a day's work on Good Omens!
Of course, Beelzebub wouldn't have been entirely recognizable without the flies and Crowley helpfully pointing out that the Lord of the Flies was sporting a new face. Scheduling prevented original actress Anna Maxwell Martin from returning for Season 2, and Good Omens acknowledged the switch by stating that Beelzebub was ready for a face change. Gabriel noted the change as well when he didn't even realize who he was speaking to in the pub in Scotland, but it clearly didn't stop him from falling in love with his Hellish counterpart, with a little help from Buddy Holly and "Everyday."
Oddly enough, Gabriel and Beelzebub got the happiest ending of any Good Omens pairing in Season 2, although it happened in a way that may mean that Jon Hamm and Shelley Conn wouldn't reprise their roles even if the show is renewed for Season 3. The Good Omens Season 2 ending saw the former representatives of Heaven and Hell disappear off into the stars together, with the understanding that they would never be able to return. Neither one was unhappy about that, but I know I'd be happy to see them back again!
Unfortunately, there is currently no news of whether or not Prime Video subscribers will actually get a third season from Neil Gaiman and the cast members whose characters are still in the mix. The Season 2 finale of course ended in a painful cliffhanger for Crowley and Aziraphale with the latter returning to Heaven and the former refusing to go with him, with Muriel – who had not been entirely prepared for Crowley and Aziraphale's shenanigans – in charge of the bookshop.
For now, the best course of action to motivate a renewal for Season 3 may simply be to watch and rewatch the first two seasons streaming via Prime Video. Like the cast members due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, original book co-author and series writer, executive producer, and co-showrunner Neil Gaiman couldn't promote Season 2 as he likely would have if not for the WGA writers strike, but fans can always generate some buzz themselves!
