Because the show is presented as half-hour single camera comedy, a format not known for featuring twists of any kind. Nobody thought to look for one.
I imagine, in the future, people may be less likely to take sitcoms at face value.
The Good Place Season 2
- Thread starter JD
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Because the show is presented as half-hour single camera comedy, a format not known for featuring twists of any kind. Nobody thought to look for one.
I imagine, in the future, people may be less likely to take sitcoms at face value.
Also, we never questioned Chidi and Tahani's deserved spot in the Good Place. Yeah, we didn't know the effect of Chidi's indecisiveness on his friends, and we were just told Tahani raised millions for charity, but her over the top narcissism should have tipped us off.
Watching season 1 knowing what’s going on is like watching a new show. Lots of subtle things. Like, when everyone gets their favorite food and Eleanor gets nothing and Jason gets tofu. Chidi gets a sentimental favorite food from his childhood.
First time through, you don’t question it’s his favorite food, Now you realize, he doesn’t really like it, he just convinced himself he did to not hurt his grandmother’s feelings.
First time through, you don’t question it’s his favorite food, Now you realize, he doesn’t really like it, he just convinced himself he did to not hurt his grandmother’s feelings.
Why wouldn't it have been his actual favourite food? Chidi and Tahani believed they belonged in the good place, for them the torture had to be a bit more subtle, some things had to be actually good for it to be believable like Tahani getting a house she genuinely loved. Were there hints that Chidi just pretended to like the food? And wouldn't that be dangerous to give him his not actually favourite food when Janet could always easily reveal the truth? When Michael tortured Chidi by making him throw his life's wok away he did it by being honest, Chidi's book really was super long, convoluted and boring for the vast majority of people.
Plus Chidi getting his actual favorite food and oohing and aahing with every bite would make it worse for Eleanor and Jason and knowing Chidi seeing them being miserable would make him feel bad he's enjoying his food so mich.
It's more in character for what we know, like they had frozen yogurt stores because it's something everybody thinks they love but don't really, why wouldn't he use the same strategy for Chidi?
Chidi loved the food when he was a child, and hadn't had it since, so he remembers it as his favorite food. It has emotional meaning for him. But it's like going back and watching the TV shows you loved when you were 6, they don't live up to your memories. If he ended up not liking it the same he did when he was a kid, he's not going to question that they picked his favorite food because he remembered it that way, and it's going to tarnish a cherished memory.
But if he genuinely thinks of it as his favourite food I think it would trigger happy memories even if it isn't that great objectively. What you say does make sense though, it would absolutely be in character for Michael and I guess a small and very subtle torture would be good in that situation, it sucks a little bit for Chidi but not so much that he shows it outwardly, so Eleanor would still perceive him as getting his personal best food ever while she gets nothing plus Jason to worry about.
The one thing that doesn’t fit with the twist. Mindy Sinclair’s video has Michael as the good place representative. The only way that makes sense is if Michael was already planning his trick and expected Eleanor would escape there, and planted that video without the knowledge of the real Good Place.
Or he graciously volunteered to play Good Place guy in the video and they didn’t question his motives.
Or he graciously volunteered to play Good Place guy in the video and they didn’t question his motives.
I checked youtube to see if I was remembering correctly. Michael wasn't the Good Place representative in the Medium Place video.
Weird I remembered him as being so.
I will say, after watching S1 again, if they don’t bring back Adam Scott to try to tempt Eleanor toward evil, they’re wrong.
The Trolley Problem has won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form. This is a big surprise for me, especially since it beat episodes of Black Mirror, Doctor Who, and Star Trek: Discovery. Micheal's Gambit, the Season 1 finale was also nominated, it was the only show to get 2 nominations.
Especially when Chidi had to choose whether or not to harvest Eleanor's organs to save the people he ran over with the trolley.
I'm rewatching the season to get ready for season 3. I noticed where the Note Eleanor sent herself was what Chidi taught. This show is awesome to watch multiple times.
He's maybe the only thing missing from season 2, but... I really think they outdid themselves making up for it with Maya Rudolph. I have to laugh at how skeptical I was before I started watching this show. It REALLY just looked like something that wouldn't appeal to me, but this cast is so damn good at this thing, that it's impossible to dislike imho
Season 2 wasn't up when I rewatched season 1, if it's up now I will definitely rewatch before the fall season.
There's a browser add-on for Google Chrome that turns Search into Ask Janet, censors swearing and reminds you to go off the internet every hour. It's forking neat.
I just found a foreshadowing hint in rewatching some of season 2
In the episode Best Self, when Chidi is telling Eleanor he wished they could have met somewhere else besides this afterlife, & she laughs at his ideas of where they'd meet, because she'd never be at a philosophy conference etc... one of the examples he gives is her knocking on his office door & asking for help with philosophy
In the very last scene of the finale... that's exactly what she does
In the very last scene of the finale... that's exactly what she does
Well played, The Good Place... Well played
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