The Good Place

Is good show. I look forward to season 4.

It is a good show. I jumped on around midway through season three. I'd been reluctant to give the show a try because "Wacky sitcom about eternal heavenly bliss" wasn't a premise that really spoke to me, and that was all I knew about it through osmosis.

But the first two seasons were on Netflix, I'd heard good things, and I was bored. So I gave it a go and found out that it was way better than I'd been anticipating.

My BFF had the same issue with the premise, but I was able to hook her by telling her, "It's about a con artist in Heaven. She doesn't belong there and now she has to fake it to avoid getting caught and sent to Hell." My friend loves sneaky subterfuge stuff, so that got her in the door long enough to get hooked by all the complex morality stuff; like me, she loves writing dissertations on themes and shit.

It helps that she super relates to Eleanor, like I knew she would.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Aug 1st 2019 at 8:12:37 AM

The shows biggest strength is also a weakness when it comes to get other people to watch it. You can't really tell them what makes it so great without spoilers.

Season 3 is out on DVD!

The Good Place now has a six-episode web series called "The Selection" about Shawn and his fellow demons selecting the four new humans for the experiment.

I watched the first episode and, just like the show, it is delightful.

I can't get over Evil Zumba. Is it just regular Zumba that's "evil" due to demons being in the class? Or is there some other evil component to it? Either way, hilarious.

"Which Hitler, Adolf or Steve?" "Who cares? They both stink."

Ooh, nice. I'll watch those. I'm currently rewatching season 3 with the parents to get ready for 4.

A clip from the Paley Center special about the Good Place, specifically the SFX done by David Niednagel. Which very cute is that we see the videos he does at home with his children, where he tests out the special effects that he's going to do on the show.

One more day! Aaaaaaaah!

As is usual, I did not expect any of that.

I'll make sure to watch it immediately, since last season they took episodes off Hulu alarmingly rapidly.

I'm still bitter.

Anyhoo. Watched it. Pretty great. Really liked the demons' third guy. It's impressive how the show manages to be satirical and relevant without coming across as too preachy.

Gotta say I found Simone irritating, though that's largely because I loathe the Dying Dream trope. I can only recall a single time I've ever enjoyed its use.

Edited by Larkmarn on Sep 27th 2019 at 1:16:33 PM

So Michael and/or Janet were definitely replaced with Bad Place impersonators there at the end, right?

Eh, I dunno. If Michael, it would've been nonsensical for Shaun to reveal the Michael suit. If Janet... the entire neighborhood would've been destroyed.

Definitely not impossible, but would be weird.

god I've missed this, time for one last ride!

Derek's increasingly bizarre quote martinis unquote is my favorite visual gag this episode.

oh hey Chidi's house finally gets to be shown

Though Brent is basically even more of a trash white person than Eleanor was, Simone deciding to go completely off the rails with there being no supposed consequences for her actions strikes me as something that pre-development Eleanor would've absolutely done under those circumstances.

While the Linda reveal to be Chris who's still a terrible actor that can only stick with just about three lines was hilarious, I'm kinda disappointed they decided not to have a Jason counterpart because I'm not really looking forward to the Janet love triangle being a major part of his storyline.

Shawn's punishments all seem pretty slap-on-the-wrist in nature so far, especially given how he seemingly had no major setback for the illegal portal so I'm curious to see how that'll go.

Random thing I noticed: Stonehenge was a sex thing, but not a weird sex thing. At least Matt didn't have to deal with it.

Edited by Eagal on Sep 27th 2019 at 12:01:25 PM

Brent's such an inspired choice because while he's a great choice for annoying everyone (Eleanor for being a woman, Chidi's black, Jason's Asian, Tahani's Indian, and Michael is desperately trying not to be lumped in with him, his sheer level of white privilege is going to absolutely tank any chance of him even considering being a better person.

Edited by Larkmarn on Sep 28th 2019 at 10:42:58 AM

The rest of season 4's episode titles have leaked via TV Time! You can click through the entire schedule and see all the titles. https://www.tvtime.com/en/show/311711/episode/7224311

1. "A Girl From Arizona" (2-part episode)
2. "Chillaxing"
3. "Tinker, Tailor, Demon, Spy"
4. "Employee of the Bearimy"
5. "A Chip Driver Mystery"
6. "Help Is Other People"
7. "The Funeral to End All Funerals"
8. "The Answer"
9. "Putting Cruelty First"
10. "Mondays, Am I Right?"
11. "Patty"
12. "When You're Ready" (2-part episode)

Edited by lalalei2001 on Sep 27th 2019 at 11:41:17 AM

The episode title "Employee of the Bearimy" is the best title ever.

I think what they may end up doing for characters like Brent and John is act mean to them so they know how it feels when people are mean, and how nice when people are kind to you.

I wonder if they'll try the "pair 'em up into soulmates" tactic on the new recruits. Lot of interesting combinations there.

I don't think that will work for them — I'm pretty sure people were mean to them when they were alive and they know how that feels like, they just went in different directions (John with his gossip, Brent with his misogyny) in order to feel better themselves. Making them feel bad isn't going to make them want to be better, it's just going to make them want to feel better. Because being better often means that you feel bad (see: Eleanor trying and failing to be a good person in the S2 finale).

What causes Eleanor to become better is becoming attached to other people, specifically Chidi. She first messes up Michael's plan and confesses because she wants to spare Chidi pain. They just have to find a person for John and Brent to connect to. (Simone, of course, can connect with Chidi and vice versa — it was already shown that Simone helped Chidi improve in real life.)

I mean, nobody ever said it was going to be easy.

By the way, here's a nice Parks & Rec Easter egg.

Edited by alliterator on Sep 28th 2019 at 12:25:19 PM

Eleanor forked up. This is so bad.

They are missing a crucial part of this experiment. Eleanor's efforts to be a better person were always what catalyzed the group to start taking ethics lessons. But the only reason she did that was because she knew she was an imposter. Michael gave her a fake Good Person character history, which sent her into a panic by making her realize she belonged in the Bad Place.

Eleanor had to face the ugly reality of being a hell-bound trash bag in the guise of a decent human being. This is what motivated her to fake it 'til she made it. The new class has no such impetus. They're more equivalent to Tahani, who was always condescending and arrogant about her place here and generally had to have her nose rubbed in "YOU BELONG IN THE BAD PLACE" before she stopped acting like the superior above-it-all MVP of Heaven.

These people think they belong here. They think their terrible actions on Earth earned them an eternal reward. They have no reason to try to change.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Sep 28th 2019 at 9:27:05 AM

I think that will be explained in "A Girl From Arizona Part 2." There is definitely some element that they haven't introduced yet — the impetus for them trying to be better.

I have been Dereked. Murder has been me!

Also, all of the Bad Place demons singing the Kars for Kids theme was hilarious, especially Shawn.

Gen threatening Shawn to watch heartwarming videos of soldiers coming home to their dogs-isn't that a call-back to Michael's favorite color, pleurigloss(from The Eternal Shriek)?