The Ineffable Mrs Sandwich
I’ve been wondering at her relevance. I put a post up a bit ago about the signs at her front door that rang honking great foreshadowing bells: “Come Upstairs” and “No pairs. One only. Be Brave” on a wall surrounded by stars. Not to mention they now have a “New Model” with “Friendly Hands” up there.
In the party, she says something to Aziraphale that made my brain jangle because of all the meta that I’ve been eating: [her girls] stand on their own two feet. Initially I thought this was a sex-work joke, but there’s the fact that at the beginning of the season, both lads are completely co-dependent, especially Crowley who talks about “my only friend”. By the end of the season, the boys are separated and they will be forced to stand on their own two feet for the first time since 2500BC.
Throw into the mix that God’s department is always referred to as “upstairs” and Mrs Sandwich is the only person shown coming down from an upstairs to a ground level that has a chandelier, much like Aziraphale’s bookshop also has a chandelier on the ground floor, directly over his contact point with the almighty.
“I don’t know why you invited me,” she says and Aziraphale makes a point that she’s part of their world, even if she feels she’s separate from it. Then you have the seamstress conversation and yes, maybe she is a brothel madame, but the fact she can’t say what her actual role/position is has very ineffable vibes to me. A convenient way to mask her real identity/purpose.
When Crowley walks her out the party, he says “Have you got your hand in?” and she replies “Oh, I’ve got more than that, love.” which would track for the person who was playing three-card monty with the universe. Since they’re so careful with their dialogue, between all of this and her calling Crowley “a good lad”?
Add the fact that her “girls” upstairs can tell when Nina is unhappy when making coffee and that one of the drinks she orders almost matches the order by the Metatron, who has professed to consume human food/drink. His version has almond syrup instead of hazelnut and almond is symbolic in the bible for watchfulness and promise of a new season. (However, interestingly, some Biblical translations of hazelnut and almond mean the same thing)
And what is a sandwich if not two separate sides with something in the middle?