"I don't know what to tell you. That's the easiest way to describe it."
"I'm gonna remember this day forever because of your dope speech and also because of the great tacos I had and also because I got married and I found out I was going to hell and also I became a hundred-millionaire."
— Jason
Michael desperately attempts to explain away the magic door he just opened, claiming that he and Janet are FBI agents but Eleanor is having none of it. Finally, he breaks down and reveals the truth. This means the four humans are all doomed to spend eternity in the Bad Place; now that they know how the points system works, their motivation is compromised and there's no way for them to earn any more points.
Eleanor reacts to this by heading to a bar to get drunk. While she's at the bar, she finds somebody's wallet, but after attempting to keep the money and finding she can't go through with it, decides to find its owner and return it to him. The owner of the wallet thanks her for giving him back his wallet, as it contained a drawing from his daughter who he doesn't get to see much due to his job.
Chidi, meanwhile, melts down. After quoting Nietzsche to a drug dealer and ripping off his shirt in a public park, he goes shopping for an absurd amount of junk food (and almond milk), and then makes and eats some incredibly disgusting junk food chili and rants about nihilism in front of his confused students.
Tahani, on the other hand, is determined to do good deeds nonetheless and gets Jason to act as her bodyguard while she makes an anonymous donation to the Sydney Opera, but he convinces her to give the money away to random strangers instead. Later, she decides to give her entire fortune to Jason. When the bank won't allow her to do that, the two of them get (platonically) married instead, so he can have half of her money.
Janet and Michael sit down to write a manifesto. Even if this experiment failed, they decide that maybe there's hope that they can help some future experiment succeed.
At the end, the six all meet up again. Eleanor convinces them that even if they're all doomed, they might as well spend their lives trying to help as many other people as possible get into the Good Place. They all agree... and then Larry Hemsworth shows up, expecting to fly back to England with Tahani and get married.
Tropes in this episode include:
- All for Nothing: Due to Janet and Michael's carelessness, they are forced to admit the truth to the Brainy Bunch. Because they now know how the afterlife works, whatever ethically positive motivations people will all be corrupted and rendered meaningless, thus all the time Michael and Janet spent trying to get them into the Good Place the old-fashioned way, the fates of their friends' souls and the risks in becoming fugitives on Earth were also rendered meaningless.
- All There in the Script: As seen below, several ancillary characters with speaking lines are given joke names based on Australian celebrities and puns:
- Mylie Kinogue: One of the students at Chidi's class.
- Gel Mibson: The bank manager.
- Cat Pash: The manager of the Sydney Opera House.
- Eeth Kurban: Another one of Chidi's students.
- Lod Raver: The bartender at the Drinking Nemo bar.
- Mark Supial: The cab driver.
- Waomi Natts: The clerk at the grocery store who tells Chidi to put on a shirt. (Her name tag says "Julie".)
- Gvonne Olgagong: The cashier at the grocery store. (Her name tag says "Rose".)
- Nicole Mankid: The current occupant of Fred Booth's old house who gives Eleanor all the stuff he left behind.
- A non-pun or spoonerism example is the guy who asks Chidi if he wants to meet God. His character is named Damon after Damon Lindelof who created Lost and The Leftovers, which were influences on The Good Place. His character is actually a reference to an unseen character wearing a red bandana from the latter.
- The Anti-Nihilist: This is where Eleanor lands by the end of the episode. Since they're all eternally damned anyway, why not try to help others?
- Apathetic Teacher: Chidi becomes a lot more useless and unenthusiastic of a teacher when he has his nervous breakdown. His students lampshade it, acknowledging that he's clearly going through something, and they're very sorry about that, but exams are coming up, so if he could teach them something, please? What results is a rant about Nihilism and how life is pointless.Chidi:...You all get "A"s, or "F"s. And there is no test. And you all failed it, and you all got "A"s. Who cares? Good-bye.
- Awful Truth: The four humans learn that they had died and gone to Hell, and that now knowing about the points system for the afterlife guarantees that they are destined for Hell no matter what they do in life from that point onward.
- Bad Liar: Michael's attempt to pretend he and Janet are FBI agents goes more and more out of control and he eventually has to give up.
- Being Good Sucks: Eleanor goes through a lot of trouble just to return one man's missing wallet, and she shows visible frustration with the entire ordeal.
- Broken Masquerade: Michael and Janet up until now spent their time on Earth this season trying to secretly monitor Team Cockroach's progress while interacting with them as little as possible, including Michael assuming fake identities to stop each human from straying too far. Unfortunately, after getting caught opening the door to the afterlife last episode, they finally give up and explain the afterlife to the four humans as well as how they've already died.
- Brutal Honesty: While drowning her sorrows at a bar after learning about her unconditional damnation, Eleanor pretends its her birthday to the bartender after learning of the establishments "one free drink on your birthday" policy. But when the bartender asks for ID verification, Eleanor flat out admits that she's lying because she wants a free margarita, to which the bartender awkwardly replies that if he just randomly gave her a free drink, he'd have to do it for everybody and would quickly go out of business.
- Call-Back:
- Once again, Eleanor manages to see through Michael's attempt at deceiving the four. This time, the consequences are far worse than just getting everyone's memories wiped.
- Chidi's grocery store run recalls Eleanor's from right before she died.
- The many cartons of almond milk in Chidi's cart recall how, every time he learned he was in the Bad Place, his initial thought was that it was because he kept drinking almond milk even though he knew it was terrible for the environment.
- The entire premise of the episode—that people who are doing good things because they're aware of the point system can't get into the Good Place—recapitulates the Season 1 episode "What's My Motivation".
- Eleanor finds a lost wallet at a bar and returns it to its rightful owner. This references a Noodle Incident that was mentioned in the Pilot, where she found a lost wallet at a bar and kept it for herself.
- The guy who asked Eleanor if she wanted to talk to God on her arrival in Australia shows up to ask Chidi the same question. Because it's been a year In-Universe, his hair is now long and he has a beard.
Drug Dealer: I just wanted to sell you drugs and you made it weird! - Central Theme: Once the characters discover their fates and the Awful Truth that there is nothing they can do to change it, the episode separates into multiple plotlines as each character deals with this in different ways. Eleanor attempts to revert to The Hedonist only to find herself obligated to return a missing wallet, get further items to return that increase her burden only to find immense gratitude from the recipient that makes it worthwhile. Tahani and Jason decide to get married and go on a charity spree. Chidi wallows in depression, creates a chili/candy concoction for no reason and loses all enthusiasm for teaching. But giving a quick summation to his class he outlines the different ethical theories demonstrated: Jason was good for consequences, Tahani was good for intuition and Eleanor was good out of social obligation, while he had become consumed with nihilism. Eleanor's story though gave her a personal discovery, that if your life has an end then it only makes sense to do what is right.
- Character Tic: Chidi realizes, after his massive freak-out, that he's once again got a stomach ache (though Eleanor notes the chilli he made probably has something to do with it).
- Conscience Makes You Go Back: Eleanor was all ready to take Fred's cash, but her conscience nags at her to go out of her way and return it.
- Continuity Nod:
- It probably has more to do with the actor's physique making it a given, but Eleanor had mentioned several times that Chidi was surprisingly jacked. This episode we get to see him shirtless and yes, he's in very good shape.
- Eleanor grumbles about there being so many Spider-Man movies, much as she was shown grumbling about the existence of Spider-Man 2 in "What's My Motivation?". She also mixes it with her previously-expressed hatred of "skinny twerps".
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: During his Freak Out, Chidi cooks up a pot of chili that includes M&Ms and marshmallow Peeps.
- Creator Cameo: Episode writer Megan Amram has a brief appearance as a street violinist (or, as Jason would have it, "chin-guitarist").
- Dumbass Has a Point: While Jason's suggestion to just give people money might seem strange, it's actually a legitimate debate in the charity world, with many arguing that individuals know best how to improve their own situation and that it's therefore more efficient to give them money strings-free, as opposed to Tahani's style of grandiose self-serving philanthropy. He even manages to make the argument for why many people think it's a better approach (his observation on what a big difference a relatively small amount of money could have made at certain points in his life for things like loans, bail, medical expenses, and similar things that can have catastrophically higher long-term costs both to the individual and society as a whole if not paid on time, or spending small amounts to start a business.)
- Face Death with Dignity: Upon realizing nothing that they can do will save the humans from the Bad Place, Michael and Janet calmly prepare to turn themselves in to the judge to face retirement, albeit after authoring an extensive manifesto detailing their actions in the hopes that someone else can pick up and succeed at reforming the afterlife's judgment methods where they failed.
- Fanservice: Chidi ripping his shirt off during his Heroic BSoD. Turns out Eleanor was right, he really is "surprisingly jacked".
- Felony Misdemeanour: Not only is the bank teller alarmed by Jason being from Florida, he informs Tahani that the bank is actually supposed to close if someone from Florida so much as sets foot in the building.
- Food Songs Are Funny: Chidi sings a "Coconut" parody about his mental-breakdown-chili that goes roughly "you put the Peeps in the chili pot, it makes it taste... bad."
- Good Feels Good:
- Tahani and Jason have a great day, giving away thousands of dollars to random people in need.
- Eleanor grudgingly decides to return a stranger's wallet, even though the process is frustrating and sends her around multiple different places. When she finally finds the owner, he reveals that it contained a picture that his daughter had drawn him, and is overjoyed it have it back. The moment is so poignant that it triggers an anti-nihilistic awakening. Even if eternal redemption is impossible, she realizes she'd rather help people than be selfish while she has the chance.
- Heroic BSoD: Chidi suffers this from the news that he is damned no matter what he does in life, resulting in him adopting and spouting off nihilistic philosophy so much that he scares a drug dealer, buying $800 worth of candy, giving away his car and his credit card, and cooking up a disgusting candy-infused chili while in the middle of giving a classroom lecture.
- Implausible Deniability: Michael shuts the door so it just disappears and asks "What door?".
- Innocently Insensitive: Invoked by Jason while he and Tahani are giving money to random strangers. Tahani asks a stranger if he is poor, a comment which Jason implicitly calls her out for.
- I Think You Broke Him: Chidi after Michael explains why the "Jeremy Bearimy" chart of the afterlife timeline has a dot over the I, which turns out to be The Last Straw for him.Chidi: This broke me. The dot over the I. It broke me. I-I'm done.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Let's face it, most viewers will have also completely forgotten about Larry during the episode, meaning his arrival at the end will have been equally panic-inducing as it was for Tahani.
- Marriage of Convenience: Tahani and Jason get married to overcome the bank's objection to Tahani giving Jason her fortune. Apparently, they both forgot about her impending marriage to Larry...
- Naked Nutter: After learning the truth about the afterlife, Chidi undergoes an existentialist crisis and wanders through a grocery store shirtless and muttering about nihilism. He gets better shortly.
- The Namesake: The episode explains that Jeremy Bearimy, written in cursive, is basically how time works in the afterlife.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: All of Michael's attempts to save the four humans were ultimately counter-productive. They would have had a better chance of making it into the Good Place if he'd just left them alone.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Milder examples; background characters' appearances are mundane, but their names in the credits blatantly rip off
famous Australians' names: Gvonne Eoogalong, Lod Raver, Cat Pash, Waomi Natts, Eeth Kurban, Gel Mibson, Mylie Kinogue, and Nicole Mankid. - Offending the Fool: A variation, in that the offender was Innocently Insensitive and the offendee wasn't the target - when Jason and Tahani are giving out money to random people on the street, Tahani asks one of them if they are poor. Jason tells her not to say that.
- Oh, Crap!: Tahani goes blank when Larry, her fiancé, walks in after she and Jason announce their spontaneous marriage.
- Punny Name: One of the background characters' names according to the credits is Mark Supial, a gag off of the marsupial animals present in Australia.
- See You in Hell: Upon learning the truth about the afterlife and her ultimate fate, Eleanor says this before walking out on the group. She then notes that, while she says it often when departing, this time it is literally true.
- Shirtless Scene: Chidi removes his shirt while walking through a park and he keeps it off up until a grocery store employee informs him that shirts are required in the store.
- Shout-Out:
- Eleanor goes to a bar named Drinking Nemo. According to the podcast, the names of the bank Tahani and Jason go to (FNB) and the grocery store Chidi goes to (BNG) are short for "Financing Nemo Bank" and "Bagging Nemo's Groceries" respectively.
- Tahani asks Jason to be her bodyguard—like her friend Kevin Costner, who played a bodyguard, in The Bodyguard.
- Eleanor complains about there being too many Spider-Man movies.
- Chidi's song while making chili is set to the tune of Harry Nilsson's "Coconut."
- Weirdly enough, Janet including a recipe for pizza dough cinnamon rolls in Michael’s manifesto is a direct reference to Mario Batali’s sexual harassment apology, which included a pizza dough cinnamon roll recipe.
- Michael practically says that time in the afterlife is wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey. Instead it's "Jeremy Bearimy."
- Straw Nihilist: Played for Laughs when Chidi briefly turns into one during his breakdown, quoting Friedrich Nietzsche's "God is Dead" to a drug dealer and encouraging his students to abandon philosophy and embrace nihilism.
- Technologically Blind Elders: Michael (played by Ted Danson, in his 70s) is an exceedingly slow two-finger typist who laughs at his typos, much to Janet's frustration. Played with in that neither of them are considered 'elders' as such.
- These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know: The nature of the afterlife is kept under the wraps for a reason, which is demonstrated in its entirety when the Brainy Bunch knows the truth, mainly that simply knowing about the Good Place while mortal can damn you to eternal torture, and the Timey-Wimey Ball.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: Or at least selfish: Eleanor decides that being damned no matter what means that she might as well think and act only for herself. This doesn't last long, though, because she soon discovers that she just can't bring herself to keep money from a wallet that she found on the floor.
- Timey-Wimey Ball: Time in the afterlife apparently works like this: while time on Earth moves in a linear fashion that can be represented by a straight line, time in the afterlife curves and loops around until it looks like the name "Jeremy Bearimy" written in cursive letters. Including the dot of the "i" which, described as concisely as possible, is both Tuesdays and July and also sometimes never (in other words, it's the time moment in the Bearimy timeline where nothing never happens).
- Trivial Title: This episode concerns the human foursome learning the truth about the afterlife, and their reaction to the bad news that now they're doomed to go back to the Bad Place. "Jeremy Bearimy" is just the name for how the Timey-Wimey Ball works in the afterlife; its only relevence to the plot is that the dot over the "i" in Bearimy is the final straw that breaks Chidi's sanity.
