Line #9 Recap/TheGoodPlaceS1E08MostImprovedPlayer


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tgp_e8.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"I'll tell you, but it doesn't make me look great, so don't judge me."]]
3
4	->''"What to do with Eleanor? Should I let her stay? Should I send her away? You think I should send her away? No, I should let her stay? Or no, I shouldn't let her stay because she doesn't belong here? Or no, I shouldn't let her stay even though she does belong here?"''
5	-->-- '''Michael''' to '''Jason'''
6
7	Michael interviews Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason about Eleanor and Janet's death. After finally getting Eleanor's file from Janet (who is still re-learning things and had been only producing different types of cacti beforehand), he learns that Eleanor ruined a dress that belonged to her roommate Madison and lied about who was responsible, leading to a lawsuit that bankrupted an innocent dry cleaner owner, public humiliation of Madison, and Eleanor's personal profit via t-shirts insulting Madison. This leads to Michael calling the Bad Place to come pick up Eleanor. A train from the Bad Place arrives, bringing Trevor, a cruel and sleazy demon, to take Eleanor. After Chidi confesses that he killed Janet and that Eleanor is learning to be a better person, Michael and the others arrive at the train station to prevent Trevor from taking Eleanor. Trevor agrees to let the matter be discussed if he can continue to keep the other Eleanor Shellstrop who was meant for the Good Place and is then led off the train.
8	----
9	!!Tropes:
10
11	* AfterlifeExpress: The vehicle taking people to the Good or Bad Places is a train.
12	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: "Unless I can find a compelling reason to keep you here, you will spend eternity with murderers and arsonists and people who take off their shoes ''and'' socks on commercial airlines!"
13	* [[AssholeVictim Ashhole Victim]]: The InUniverse MemeticMutation of "Dress Bitch" deeply hurt Madison... but since she caused the dry cleaner to go bankrupt with her [[DisproportionateRetribution disproportionate]] and [[MisplacedRetribution misplaced]] retribution without showing a hint of remorse, it's hard to feel all that sorry for her.
14	* ChekhovsGag: Trevor's lackeys are wearing the infamous "Dress Bitch" t-shirts.
15	* DisproportionateRetribution: Madison sues the dry cleaner owners she thought broke the zipper on her favorite dress for millions of dollars.
16	* EveryoneHasStandards:
17	** Even when Tahani is angrily accusing Eleanor of pretending to be her friend, she won't outright condemn her to the Bad Place. She also looks touched when Eleanor hugs her and sincerely says she was a good friend.
18	** Michael doesn't even have to tell off Eleanor for the "Dress Bitch" incident. His expression of horror says it all.
19	** Even Eleanor herself questioned the morality of the t-shirt incident when she was alive. She only went with it when her other roommate showed her how much money they had made from pre-orders for the t-shirts.
20	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Being able to change your score after you die is vital to the series as a whole.
21	* FreezeFrameBonus: Madison's start of fame was when her story got posted to News Glop, a TakeThat to Buzzfeed, and it has a number of other stories.
22	** 11 Bicycles that Look Like 8 Cats
23	** Tom Hiddleston Ate a Three-Bean Salad and It's Nothing
24	** Which "Just the Ten of Us" Character Aren't You?
25	** This Video of a Juggalo Using an ATM Will Make You Rethink Everything You Knew About the Krebs Citric Acid Cycle
26	* HopeSpot:
27	** Michael says he's looking for a reason to keep Eleanor because, despite her not belonging, she's his friend and has helped him. He fails to find a reason during his examination of Eleanor's moral character and calls a train to pick her up.
28	** Due to Janet being down and unable to find Eleanor's file, Eleanor answers a questionnaire where it seems she'll pass. Then Janet finds the file, and Eleanor is forced to admit she doesn't belong in the Good Place after reviewing her past transgressions.
29	** After Chidi confesses to Michael about killing Janet and the ethics lessons, they both agree that Eleanor's CharacterDevelopment needs to be taken into account. So Michael says they're keeping Eleanor in the Good Place until they figure out the mix-up. Trevor then says if Michael does that, they're keeping the "real" Eleanor Shellstrop, the woman who was supposed to be in the Good Place.
30	* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: Downplayed, but Trevor has this attitude towards both Eleanors.
31	* InstantHumiliationJustAddYouTube: The flashback of this episode shows Eleanor exploited this. She "borrowed" her roommate Madison's dress and broke the back zipper, and rather than own up to it, she lied that the dry cleaners did it. Madison flipped out and sued the dry cleaners and drove them to bankruptcy, all of which got recorded and posted on the Internet, earning Madison the unflattering nickname "Dress Bitch". And to add insult to injury, Eleanor and her other roommate also secretly made and sold shirts with Madison's face and the "Dress Bitch" nickname pasted on them.
32	* KindHeartedCatLover: Downplayed and invoked when Tahani admits that she likes Eleanor the same way she would like a sweet stray cat.
33	* LieDetector: Michael has one to probe Eleanor and Jason.
34	* MisplacedRetribution: Madison's crusade and lawsuit against the dry cleaners she thought broke the zipper on her dress.
35	* OverlyLongGag: Janet mistaking things for a cactus goes on for longer than necessary.
36	* PetTheDog: In one of Eleanor's very few humanizing moments when she was alive, she took it on herself to cheer up her cousin's daughter when said cousin couldn't get her life on track. Eleanor would take the daughter to the mall and buy her "churro dogs".
37	* ResurrectionSickness: After being shut off and subsequently rebooted, Janet spends a few days having to relearn all the knowledge of the universe. Also, she can only say her name and "hello", and spontaneously generates cacti.
38	* SeeminglyProfoundFool: When Jason pricks himself with a cactus, Michael concludes that he is comparing it to Eleanor.
39	--> ''Oh, of course. A cactus, on its own, intends no harm - it's only when we interfere that it becomes dangerous. I need to remember my own agency here.''
40	* TakeThat: Hawiian pizza... the worst pizza.
41	* ToxicFriendInfluence: Granted, Eleanor by herself was hardly a saint pre-character development, but her friends from her life on Earth were definitely this, as they all enabled each other's worst impulses.
42	* WasItAllALie: Tahani starts questioning if Eleanor pretended to be her friend, if Eleanor isn't supposed to be in the Good Place. She realizes that Eleanor wasn't pretending when the latter gives her a farewell hug and thanks her for being her friend.

Context Recap / TheGoodPlaceS1E08MostImprovedPlayer