History Recap / TheGoodPlaceS2E01EverythingIsGreat

* RashomanStyle: We see the story a few times from different perspectives.

* RashamanStory: We see the story a few times from different perspectives.

* RashomanStory: We see the story a few times from different perspectives.

Eleanor is paired off with a new "soulmate" named Chris, a muscular gym bunny who keeps running off to go work out anytime Eleanor tries to talk to him. Janet then arrives to give Eleanor the note she wrote to herself to find Chidi. Already suspicious, this makes Eleanor warier of what's going on.

Meanwhile, Chidi is forced to choose between two potential soulmates; just as he is about to choose Angelique, who seems ideal for him, Michael determines that the other woman, Pevita, with whom Chidi felt no connection, is his accurate soulmate. When Eleanor finds him, he is too distracted by his own situation and is unwilling to help her.

Tahani is dissatisfied that her new soulmate Tomas is very short and has unrefined tastes, and that their home is small. Michael plans for Eleanor to get drunk and behave badly at the welcome party, but instead, Tahani gets drunk and makes a scene.

Eleanor finally gets Chidi's attention and he realizes the paper Eleanor's note was written on is from a book in his collection, and he suspects they have met before. At Eleanor's house, Eleanor admits that she doesn't belong in the Good Place. Michael, Janet, Tahani, Jason, and everyone's supposed soulmates arrive. Tahani and Jason openly express their dissatisfaction and Eleanor figures out that they are not in the Good Place; she reveals the note. Michael again erases the humans' memories and reboots the fake Good Place, but conceals the reboot from Shawn, who disallowed a third attempt.

* BrainlessBeauty: Eleanor's new "soulmate" is handsome, but terrible at making convincing sounding excuses.

* DemotedToExtra: InUniverse, Vicky, the demon who portrayed "Good Eleanor" in the first attempt, is not happy with being a background character this time around.

* TheDiva: After having a rather juicy role in the previous cycle as "The Real Eleanor", Vicky is annoyed at being a mere local shop owner this time around. She starts [[WagTheDirector making up further details to her backstory to stay relevant]].

* GoneHorriblyRight: Michael's second attempt has the main four be exposed to more extreme and obvious torture much quicker than they were in the first. The torture definitely works, but it also causes them to question why the hell the "Good Place" feels so miserable, which makes them figure out they're being lied to on the first night they arrive.

** Tahani goes through one in her day, first being partnered with a soulmate shorter than her, who lives in modest accommodations with decorations including a picture of Kamilah. When she tries complaining to Michael, he manages to turn it around on her by claiming everyone else is fine with their lot, forcing Tahani to act like the truly selfless person she pretends to be. And then she goes to a party in cargo pants and crocs, which she almost endures until Glenn comes along, at which point she starts drinking.

* ALessonLearnedTooWell: Michael's first attempt at a fake Good Place worked a tad too well because it made Eleanor feel so guilty that it drove her to try to improve herself and ultimately confess to everyone. The second attempt ended up applying the lessons learned from the first failure a little too well, as it makes the humans miserable right off the bat. It's pretty clear that even if Eleanor didn't have the "Find Chidi" letter, they would've figured the truth out on their own eventually.
* LiteralMinded: Eleanor's new soulmate took Michael at his word when he told him to make up an excuse to leave if Eleanor tried to confess to him that she didn't belong in the Good Place -- "such as 'I'm going to the gym'". He uses that one every time.
* MemoryGambit: Eleanor feeding a brief message to Janet immediately clued her in that something wasn't right about the world she was in, so rather than behave the same way she did in the first season she avoids most of those pitfalls in an attempt to find Chidi.

* VillainProtagonist: Some of the sections in this episodes are from Michael's perspective, focusing on his methods of torture and his attempts to fool Shawn into thinking 'everything is great'.

* WalkingShirtlessScene: Eleanors' new soulmate regularly finds an excuse to remove their shirt and leave to go work out. Michael berates him as the purpose was to avoid Eleanor bonding too closely to him, and the prompt of finding a gym was a suggestion and not the only choice he had.

* TheDiva: After having a rather juicy role in the previous cycle as "[[NamesTheSame The Real Eleanor]]", Vicky is annoyed at being a mere local shop owner this time around. She starts [[WagTheDirector making up further details to her backstory to stay relevant]].