History Recap / TheGoodPlaceS4E02AGirlFromArizonaPart2

* BatmanGambit: After if becomes obvious to the gang that Brent is too conceited to accept the fact that he doesn't belong in the good place, but rather belongs in "the even better place", they decide to play along and tell him that he ''can'' get there by doing more good deeds than anyone else in the neighborhood. While they are aware that he won't earn any points at present, because his motive is just to benefit himself, they hope that like with Eleanor when she first arrived in the neighborhood, the good deeds he does will become a habit and he will start doing them out of genuine kindness.

** Upon realizing how big of a nut to crack Brent is, Eleanor and Michael orchestrate a chaos sequence similar to the one meant for Eleanor in [[Recap/TheGoodPlaceS1E01EverythingIsFine the first episode]], including everyone's clothes developing jagged stripes. The college motif even comes in to play with orange and black for Princeton. (The original blue and yellow was for University of Michigan, which was the shirt Eleanor wore as pajamas.)

* SureLetsGoWithThat: Brent becomes convinced that there is a "Best Place" where he really belongs. Eleanor and Michael decide to let him think he's right and convince him that he can go to said Best Place if he does lots of good deeds.
%%** Eleanor concludes that Michael's nervous breakdown from the last season's finale was actually all an act, in order for her to get herself together and become the leader of this project. Michael pretends she's right, as he's too ashamed to admit his breakdown was in fact real.

After much tribulation, the gang manages to set Brent and Simone on the right path to redemption...sort of. Meanwhile, Janet has decided it is best to put her relationship with Jason on hold for the sake of the experiment, leading Jason to genuinely question whether his impulsive behavior is really the best approach to take in life.

** Realizing how big of a nut to crack Brent is, they orchestrate a chaos sequence similar to the one meant for Eleanor in [[Recap/TheGoodPlaceS1E01EverythingIsFine the first episode]], including everyone's clothes developing jagged stripes. The college motif even comes in to play with orange and black for Princeton. (The original blue and yellow was for University of Michigan, which was the shirt Eleanor wore as pajamas.)

* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: When Eleanor {{Rage Quit}}s after overhearing everyone else discusses replacing her as leader, Michael cheers her up by pointing out that while HumansAreFlawed, they are also capable of great things, codifying her status as TheUnchosenOne despite just being a trashbag from Arizona.

--> '''Michael:''' ...human beings, it turns out, are ''weird'', and I will never truly understand what it's like to be one. This is a job for a human. One who's tough, but also empathetic, and has a big heart... and a world-class bullshirt detector. You think you can't do this? Eleanor... you're the ''only'' one who can do this.

* HumansAreSpecial: Michael got Eleanor to pretend to be the Architect because he felt she was amazing because of the progress she had made and needed to prove that people could indeed change.

** Realizing how big of a nut to crack Brent is, they orchestrate a chaos sequence similar to the one meant for Eleanor in [[Recap/TheGoodPlaceS1E01EverythingIsFine the first episode]], including everyone's clothes developing jagged stripes.

* SureLetsGoWithThat:
** Brent becomes convinced that there is a "Best Place" where he really belongs. Eleanor and Michael decide to let him think he's right and convince him that he can go to said Best Place if he does lots of good deeds.

* JerkassHasAPoint: While a little blunt about it, the gang's concerns about Eleanor's capabilities as the leader are not without merit. After all, her attempts to improve Brent thus far have only made matters worse, and she didn't want to pair Chidi up with Simone, a sure fire way to help convince her that this is not just a dream, simply because she didn't want her ex-boyfriend dating someone else.

* HumansAreSpecial: Michael got Eleanor to pretend to be the Architect because she was amazing and needed to prove that people could indeed change.

* BrickJoke: Chidi tries to summon one of his books from home, but decides it's unlikely he could do that. Moments after he's done talking to Eleanor some time later, a book flies into his head.

** Realizing how big of a nut to crack Brent is, they orchestrate a chaos sequence similar to the one meant for Eleanor in [[Recap/TheGoodPlaceS1E01EverythingIsFine the first episode]], including everyone's clothes developing stripes.

* GoodFeelsGood: While still heartbroken over pushing Chidi and Simone together, Eleanor seems proud of their progress, comparing it to donating old bras to Goodwill.

** Eleanor concludes that Michael's nervous breakdown from the last season's finale was actually all an act, in order for her to get herself together and become the leader of this project. Michael pretends she's right, as he's too ashamed to admit his breakdown was in fact real.

** Realizing how big of a nut to crack Brent is, they orchestrate a chaos sequence similar to the one meant to Eleanor in [[Recap/TheGoodPlaceS1E01EverythingIsFine the first episode]], including everyone's clothes developing stripes.

* JerkassHasAPoint: While a little blunt about it, the gang's concerns about Eleanor's capabilities as the leader are not without merit. After all, her attempts to improve Brent thus far have only made matters worse, and she didn't want to pair Chidi up with Simone, a sure fire way to help convince her that this is not just a dream, simply because she didn't want her exe boyfriend dating someone else.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Michael gives a gentle one to Jason after he proposes orchestrating a flashmob to make things up with Janet, saying that he always thinks impulsively and recklessly, which was the whole reason his torture in the original fake good place neighborhood was to have him be a silent Budhist monk.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: You know Eleanor must ''really'' been forking up with her duties as the head of the neighborhood when even ''Jason'' calls her out for it.

* BatmanGambit: AFter if becomes obvious to the gang that Brent is too conceited to accept the fact that he doesn't belong in the good place, but rather belongs in "the even better place", they decide to play along and tell him that he ''can'' get there by doing more good deeds than anyone else in the neighborhood. While they are aware that he won't earn any points at present, because his motive is just to benefit himself, they hope that like with Eleanor when she first arrived in the neighborhood, the good deeds he does will become a habit and he will start doing them out of genuine kindness.

After much tribulation, the gang manages to set Brent and Simone on the right path to redemption...sort of. Meanwhile, Janet has decided it is best to put her relationship with Jason on hold for the sake of the experiment, much to Jason's dismay.

Eleanor, Michael, Janet and Tahani have their hands full when the new residents begin to show their true colors. Jason receives some unsettling news.

* CallBack: Realizing how big of a nut to crack Brent is, they orchestrate a chaos sequence similar to the one meant to Eleanor in [[Recap/TheGoodPlaceS1E01EverythingIsFine the first episode]], including everyone's clothes developing stripes.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Jason asks Michael what he can do after accidentally making Janet's job harder with chaotic and unpredictable antics, so he thinks that orchestrating a chaotic and unpredictable flash-mob will somehow make it up to her. Michael manages to talk him out of it.

* SureLetsGoWithThat: Brent becomes convinced that there is a "Best Place" where he really belongs. Eleanor and Michael decide to let him think he's right and convince him that he can go to said Best Place if he does lots of good deeds.

* CallBack: When Eleanor and Michael convinces Brent that he can get into "The Best Place" by increasing his point-total, they compare it to when Eleanor did the same thing, even down to holding the door for people with no point increase due to his corrupt motivation.