History Recap / TheGoodPlaceS3E02TheBrainyBunch

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: According to Gen, Michael's meddling on Earth has caused a ripple effect including things like Brexit, ''Film/TheGreatestShowman'' grossing $400 million, Byron Allen owning the Weather Channel, and the Jacksonville Jaguars becoming ''good''!

* BareYourMidriff: Janet's outfit when posing as a waitress on Earth is rather fanservicey, since it shows off her waist.

* ChekhovsGun: On Earth, Janet attempts to summon things like she usually does, except she can't use her powers so nothing turns up. At the end of the episode, all of the things she attempted to summon appear all at once when she and Michael are about to be taken to the Bad Place by Gen. The huge pile of objects blocks Gen's way, allowing Janet and Michael to escape to Earth.

* PoisonousFriend: In order to break up the group, Trevor attempts to be the new best friend that secretly sabotages everyone's good progress by having them doubt themselves or get on bad terms with each other. Luckily, his not-so-subtle obnoxious demeanor works against him, as none of the others, especially Eleanor, can really stand him.

* ChekhovsGun: On Earth, Janet attempts to summon things like she usually does, except she can't use her powers so nothing turns up. At the end of the episode, all of the things she attempted to summon appear all at once when she and Michael are about to be taken to the Bad Place by Gen. The various objects block Gen's way, allowing Janet and Michael to escape to Earth.

** While frustrated about Trevor messing the group, Janet wonders if they could simply take him out. One of the methods she mentions is dropping a steamroller on his head, similar to an iconic scene in ''Manga/StardustCrusaders''.

** By freeze-framing, you can see that among the things Janet attempted to summon while on Earth were a tractor, a filing cabinet, a turtle, a military tank, a hairdryer, an enormous barrel of poison, at least three shopping trolleys, a billboard reading "Trevor Stinks - Janet", a rolled-up carpet, a drive-thru diner, and [[RunningGag a cactus]].

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: According to Gen, Michael's meddling on Earth has caused a ripple effect including things like Brexit, ''Film/TheGreatestShowman'' grossing $400 million, and the Jacksonville Jaguars becoming ''good''!

* BaitAndSwitch:
** Trevor gets Jason and Tahani drunk at the bar and attempts to have them hook up, hoping for something embarrassing to happen (like Jason taking advantage of her). The next day an embarrassed Tahani starts grumbling about the night before, leading Trevor to think his plan was successful... then Tahani continues and it turns out all that happened was that Jason got her home safely. Tahani was just complaining about herself being drunk and felt bad for burdening Jason and everyone else with this apparently boorish behavior.
** When Gen lists the bizarre things that happened due to Michael and Janet interfering with the timeline, it seems as though she's building up to telling them about Donald Trump getting elected President, but she never brings that up and instead finishes off with the Jacksonville Jaguars making it to playoffs.

* RealityEnsues: Gen was bound to discover Michael and Janet's meddling with the gang by the second episode. As inattentive to universal affairs as she is, someone sneaking out so many times in a row in a such a short time span won't avoid detection too long.

* BaitAndSwitch: Trevor gets Jason and Tahani drunk at the bar and attempts to have them hook up, hoping for something embarrassing to happen (like Jason taking advantage of her). The next day an embarrassed Tahani starts grumbling about the night before, leading Trevor to think his plan was successful... then Tahani continues and it turns out all that happened was that Jason got her home safely. Tahani was just complaining about herself being drunk and felt bad for burdening Jason and everyone else with this apparently boorish behavior.

Trevor joins the group, acting as an unlikable, overeager guy in order to drive Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason away from each other, as Michael and Janet attempt to stop him. He drags the group to an America-themed restaurant where he insinuates that Chidi being friends with his test subjects will skew the results, correctly predicting that Eleanor will get disheartened when she seemingly fails to dissuade him. He also schemes to get Tahani and Jason to hook up so Tahani will leave the group in disgust. However, these plots fail when Tahani is actually charmed by Jason's behavior and stays, while Chidi goes to Eleanor's motel room, admits that they're friends, and brings her back to the study group.

Gen orders Trevor, Michael, and Janet to return to her chambers, expressing anger and disappointment at Michael's continued meddling in human affairs. She gets rid of Trevor with a wave of the hand and forbids Michael and Janet from returning to Earth, saying that now the humans will have to get into the Good Place on their own merit. However, all the items Janet attempted to summon back on Earth appear and block her way; this distraction (and Jeff the Doorman handing them the key) allows Michael and Janet time to escape through the portal down to Earth.

* BaitAndSwitch: Trevor gets Jason and Tahani drunk at the bar and attempts to have them hook up, hoping for something embarrassing to happen (like Jason taking advantage of her). The next day an embarrassed Tahani starts grumbling about the night before, leading Trevor to think his plan was successful... then Tahani continues and it turns out all that happened was that Jason got her home safely--Tahani was just complaining about herself being drunk and felt bad for burdening Jason and everyone else with this apparently boorish behaviour.

* BroughtDownToNormal: Janet doesn't have any powers on Earth, unlike in the afterlife. While she retains her perfect knowledge of all human affairs, it does not update in real time anymore, and she cannot summon objects.

* ConspicuousTrenchcoat: Michael dons a very obvious trench coat and fedora when trying to look inconspicuous on Earth. Trevor compares him to ComicStrip/DickTracy.

* CurbStompBattle: Trevor, mighty demon in charge of an entire section of the Bad Place, gets casually tossed into the outer darkness by Gen.

* {{Eagleland}}: Trevor takes the group to an American-themed restaurant that exemplifies all the negative stereotypes--a tacky Western style accentuated with pop culture decor, an allegedly horrible [[OnlyInFlorida Florida]] table, a "Manifest Destiny" package where you can kick anyone out for $30, and available tables being announced by (apparently real) guns going off. Even Eleanor calls it the "world's worst restaurant."

* MundaneObjectAmazement: Jeff the Doorman takes a moment while on Earth to sample a tap.

* RealityEnsues: Gen was bound to discover Michael and Janet's meddling with the gang by the second episode. As inattentive to universal affairs as she is, someone sneaking out so many times in row in a such a short time span won't avoid detection too long.

** Trevor asks the group if they think that Disney making more ''Franchise/StarWars'' sequels will eventually lead to a rebooted ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}''.
** Jason brings a spider to the MRI, thinking that will give him superpowers like ComicBook/SpiderMan.

** Among the pile of objects that Janet summoned is a "Paunch Burger" brand bucket of soda, a popular fast food chain from ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' (another comedy series by Michael Schur).

* WhamEpisode: Gen finds out about Janet and Michael's meddling on Earth and Trevor's attempts to counteract their meddling. She ends the experiment, but lets the four humans continue living, giving them a chance to earn their place in the Good Place for real. She decides to send Janet and Michael back to the Bad Place for disobeying her instructions, but the two choose self-imposed exile on Earth rather then meet the grisly fates that await them in the Bad Place.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Michael and Janet are effectively banished from the afterlife, as they are safe neither in the Bad Place nor in the Judge's Zone.

[[caption-width-right:350:"God, I'm just so happy to be here...if that makes sense."]]

** Among the pile of objects that Janet summoned is a "Paunch Burger" brand bucket of soda, a popular fast food chain from ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' (an earlier comedy series by Mike Schur).