Good Omens season 2 episode 4 recap: A new threat emerges

Shax (Miranda Richardson) in a red blouse in Hell in Good Omens season 2 episode 4
Shax becomes a major threat in the fourth episode of Good Omens season 2. (Image credit: Mark Mainz/Prime Video)

This article contains spoilers for Good Omens season 2 episode 4, "The Hitchhiker".

The bulk of Good Omens season 2's fourth episode is devoted to another chapter in Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and Crowley's (David Tennant) past. On the route back from his trip to Edinburgh — see our Good Omens season 2 episode 3 recap for a review of how that went — the angel has a chance encounter with Crowley's replacement in Hell, Shax. 

Then, we take a trip back to 1941, where the divine duo ends up performing a daring magic trick in London's West End. Here's what happened in Good Omens season 2 episode 4.

A demonic encounter

We begin in the present day, with Aziraphale behind the wheel of Crowley's Bentley on his way back to London. En route, he continues to pass a mysterious hitchhiker who keeps reappearing in his mirrors, but he grinds to a halt when they show up right in front of the car.

The hitchhiker quickly climbs inside and morphs into Shax. She explains that she's Crowley's replacement in Hell and demands to know where Gabriel is, revealing that she thinks her predecessor is keeping him somewhere and that she once heard the pair were an item in the past. 

Aziraphale tries to throw her off the trail, but slips up and accidentally reveals where the archangel is, and she climbs out of the car. 

Back to the Blitz

We take another flashback to London in 1941, where the pair confronted three German spies in a church during the Blitz back in season 1. The bomb lands on the church again, but the pair survive the impact, and Crowley hands him a bag of books which he'd saved for him.

The Nazi spies are sent to Hell, where they're checked in by a demon called Furfur. Shax is working alongside him, and tells Furfur that she could see about helping him get a promotion if he finds any info about Crowley and his good deeds for him. When the three spies blame their death on Crowley, he ends up sending them back to Earth temporarily as zombies to gather proof of his collaboration with Aziraphale. 

They're initially not thrilled about being sent back as zombies, though they come round to the idea when presented with their other alternative: eternal torture via spiders.

Once they're back on Earth (and they've eaten their first victim), they began tracking Crowley and Aziraphale down. 

Fell the Marvellous

Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) in his magician's get-up in Good Omens season 2 episode 4

Aziraphale takes to the stage. (Image credit: Prime Video)

Crowley takes Aziraphale with him to a West End theater, where he was supposed to deliver a shipment of whiskey... but all the bottles got smashed in the Blitz. His client, Mrs. Henderson, is livid. When she complains that she'd already lost her magician, Aziraphale (who wanted to thank Crowley for saving his books from the bombing) offers to perform in the magician's place. 

The zombies watch on as Aziraphale shows Crowley his routine, but the demon convinces Aziraphale that he needs a much bigger trick for the West End. So, they head to a magic shop. The shopkeeper attempts to sell him some minor illusions, though Aziraphale is dead-set on performing a Bullet Catch routine. Crowley agrees to act as his stooge and fire the rifle, as long as Aziraphale will employ a miracle should anything go wrong. When they leave, the zombies storm into the shop and eat the owner. 

Back at the theater, Aziraphale takes to the stage, and the zombies use the ring Furfur gave them to summon him so he can gather photographic proof of Crowley's collaboration with the other side. Furfur also switches on his miracle blocker to ensure neither of them can use their powers.

The bullet catch

Aziraphale nervously takes to the stage and tries to use a minor miracle to warm up the crowd, which is when the pair discover their powers won't work. Together, they perform the trick, painfully aware that they now won't be able to fix things if it goes wrong, and Furfur snaps a photo of them together on stage.

Together, they pull it off and the room erupts into applause. After the performance, Furfur confronts them with his evidence and triumphantly declares a legion of demons will arrive the following morning to collect Crowley for his transgressions. He also grants the three spies their promised freedom... though this does mean they're stuck in the current form forever.

Furfur goes to present his evidence before the Dark Council in Hell, though he finds the evidence is missing and a leaflet for the theater in his envelope instead, and is told to return to his post. Aziraphale had used his sleight of hand skills to swap the leaflet for the photo. 

We then return to the present briefly as the episode concludes. Shax goes before Lord Beelzebub and reveals what she knows about Gabriel's whereabouts. She goes on to share her plan to storm Aziraphale's bookstore with legions of demons to retrieve the archangel, and Beelzebub grants her permission to do exactly that. 

Meanwhile, Aziraphale is reunited with Crowley. He tells Aziraphale that his plan to get Nina and Maggie together failed, so his angelic friend reveals he will be holding the Whickber Street Traders and Shopkeepers Association monthly to bring them together.

Good Omens season 2 is available to stream on Prime Video. 

Martin Shore
Staff Writer at WhatToWatch.com

Martin was a Staff Writer with WhatToWatch.com, where he produced a variety of articles focused on the latest and greatest films and TV shows. Now he works for our sister site Tom's Guide in the same role.

Some of his favorite shows are What We Do In The Shadows, Bridgerton, Gangs of London, The Witcher, Doctor Who, and Ghosts. When he’s not watching TV or at the movies, Martin’s probably still in front of a screen playing the latest video games, reading, or watching the NFL.