The Moving Box
So I’m not sure if this is completely obvious and I’ve just been an oblivious idiot, but there’s been a whole lot of ‘moving box’ imagery in the latest posters and at first I wondered (like so many others on this hellsite) if it means that Crowley is going to be moving in with Aziraphale in season two. But I was looking at this poster:
And if you look closely, what I at first thought were boxers/underpants is actually a box (or that’s what it looks like at least). Gabriel is holding a moving box. And in one of the other posters:
You can see that there are three feathers falling into the box. Now I’m assuming that the feather that is already in the box is Aziraphale, showing us that (if we’re using the moving box as a literal metaphor for living in the bookshop) he’s already settled. Then you have the black feather, obviously Crowley, who’s still hovering in the air but is clearly about to fall into the box right next to Aziraphale. Pretty easy to figure out. And then there’s the last feather, who, from the recent trailer, we know to be Gabriel. The hue of the feather is reminiscent of Gabriel’s lilac/purple eyes and he’s high up in the frame, showing us that he’s coming from above, and he’s still got a long way to fall compared to Aziraphale and Crowley, but his feather is still on a straight trajectory to plop into that cardboard box. So one could assume that he might be taking a journey over the next season towards where Aziraphale and Crowley already are: less of one side (heaven) and more in the middle. And I’m not going into this now, but I could also imagine that the Lord of Hell might take that same journey in some capacity.
Now we could also see the box as a metaphor for Earth. For that place in-between Heaven and Hell. Last season had a large focus on how Aziraphale still felt a connection to Heaven: he was still convincing himself that he was on their side, even though he was ‘conspiring’ with Crowley. He would hesitate to do anything that required deceiving Heaven, even if he usually gave in to Crowley anyway. And when he finally came to and realised that Heaven had been terrible to him, he chose humanity over one side or the other, meaning that (in this context) he fell into the box. He’s found a way to be comfortable on Earth and he’s no longer fighting in this centuries-long war against himself for who he wants to obey - where he wants to be.
Then we have Crowley, whose ark in the first season was never about his connection to Hell, not really, but rather his connection to Aziraphale. His whole thing was that he was prepared to completely disregard both Heaven and Hell for Aziraphale, and only Aziraphale. He was comfortable on Earth, he could stand being in Hell, he only really had a problem with Heaven, and for good reason. But most of his pain in season one was caused because of Aziraphale. Whether it was because Aziraphale refused to go off together or was refusing to spend more intimate time together (ie. “you go too fast for me, Crowley”), he got upset because Aziraphale turned him down. It wasn’t really about the Earth for Crowley, because Aziraphale is to Crowley what the Earth is to Aziraphale, if that makes sense. So Crowley will follow Aziraphale, and if Aziraphale is on Earth, then that’s where Crowley is too.
But there’s another facet to this Box Argument concerning Crowley. If we’re saying that the box is Earth and Aziraphale is already in the box (Earth) because he’s defied Heaven and chosen his place, then as Crowley’s pitch black feather is right above it, you could say season two will take a path in having Crowley choose a side. Having him choose: Aziraphale and Earth (the box), or Hell? And we all know that Crowley is physically unable to be away from his Angel for longer than a week. So into the box his feather goes.
So to recap: the moving box could be a metaphor for how attached/close the characters are to Earth. Aziraphale has chosen his side and is happily settled in the box. Crowley hasn’t revolted against Hell as hard as Aziraphale has against Heaven, but he’s certainly not on their side. He’s with Aziraphale - Earth is just a second thought. He’s not quite in the box yet, and he still has some deliberating to do, but he’s always going to come back to Aziraphale. And Gabriel in season one was the furthest thing from that box, or Earth. He had no comprehension of anything besides his own motives in order to further the ‘greater good’, but now he’s had a reset. He has no memory of his past self. Which means he has a chance to start over. He’s a far cry from being in the box with Aziraphale and Crowley, but now he has a chance to actually see things from their perspective.
In conclusion, I am going absolutely feral over this new plot and i am currently tearing my hair out. Help.
