The Magic Panda, revealed to be a real thing during the neighborhood shutdown party in season 2, was an "Employee of the Bearimy" . 
Spoilers The Good Place Season 4
- Thread starter Mojochi
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I liked this episode but didn't find it up to the usual level of funny. I'm not a Derek fan. I just don't get the character.
Eleanor and Tahani together were great. Tahani's inability to not name drop is one of my fav parts of the show. Maybe my favorite scenes was when Real Janet first saw Jason on stage in the Bad Place. She knew immediately it was him.
I feel like I missed whenever it was that Simone and Chidi became a thing.
Eleanor and Tahani together were great. Tahani's inability to not name drop is one of my fav parts of the show. Maybe my favorite scenes was when Real Janet first saw Jason on stage in the Bad Place. She knew immediately it was him.
I feel like I missed whenever it was that Simone and Chidi became a thing.
I dunno. They're certainly the most abstractly funny, in that it's unrealistic gag work. One's a fantasy creature that can parody from outside, (Like the Solomons on 3rd Rock) & the other is a comedically extreme human, (Like Coach on Cheers) So the jokes are broader, and more base. TBH, I find Janet just as funny in a similar way
Personally, I've laughed WAY harder at Eleanor and/or Chidi over the course of the 1st couple seasons, because of how spot on that Michael Shur brand of human commentary actually is. Unfortunately, we aren't seeing much of that this season yet. They've all started outgrowing what we laughed at about them. It's why the show is ending. The Chidi humor this season is sort of deliberately superficial, like we should unquestionably be noticing that that is not what Chidi is anymore... at least not all of what he is
As much as it was nice to see Eleanor's selflessness toward Chidi this week, it's ultimately the wrong direction, & I suspect they'll end up making a point of that. It's important to realize that the original Chidi was in need of improvement & growth just as much as the other 3, & this iteration of Chidi isn't being allowed to blossom in the ways he has previously. He's just been given a little happiness with Simone, that deliberately hasn't gone anywhere worthwhile
Is it any wonder he's been sitting in an old chair the whole time? That's the guy he's supposed to stop being. At the end of all this, his growth too is now part of the "save humanity" bargain, & they're neglecting it... & they're not succeeding much with John or Brent either, or even Simone really.
Other thoughts... I think Glenn was a legit defector like Michael, & there are other demons down there of the same mentality. They were just going about their workaday lives under the assumption that the system was just. Now that that's in question, so are their perspectives
I wasn't a fan of this episode. I didn't think it was funny and it kinda just stopped at the end. I'm hoping the episodes in the future make this episode worth it but tonight I just wasn't feeling it at all.
Nope, it was a new episode.
I kind of agree with you, tomalak. There wasn't much to the episode and I was a bit disappointed by the end of the episode. I get what Michael was going for with the purpose of his story to Bad Janet and why he let her go, but it fell flat for me.
I kind of agree with you, tomalak. There wasn't much to the episode and I was a bit disappointed by the end of the episode. I get what Michael was going for with the purpose of his story to Bad Janet and why he let her go, but it fell flat for me.
I liked the episode but agree it lacked the punch of most episodes.
I don’t mind that it was set up like it was going to lead to a big revelation for Brent and then it ended on recovering from a setback and extending empathy to Bad Janet.
The thing I found most interesting about the episode was it started getting to what Simone’s sinfulness is. The snap judgments, even when deserved like in this case, cut off the need for expressing empathy and considering circumstances.
I don’t mind that it was set up like it was going to lead to a big revelation for Brent and then it ended on recovering from a setback and extending empathy to Bad Janet.
The thing I found most interesting about the episode was it started getting to what Simone’s sinfulness is. The snap judgments, even when deserved like in this case, cut off the need for expressing empathy and considering circumstances.
Weird. I liked this episode more than the past few. I felt there was more philosophic weight than there had been. I like the idea of being good is trying to be better than you were yesterday. I really liked the group realizing they had to stop walking on egg shells around Brent. And I bet sending Bad Janet to the Bad Place with the book will have repercussions.
Ultimately I liked the suggesting that people aren’t good or bad but a mix of both and it’s how one responds to getting knocked down.
Ultimately I liked the suggesting that people aren’t good or bad but a mix of both and it’s how one responds to getting knocked down.
I’m wondering how many episodes until “Wait, we’re in the Bad Place!”
One more Bad Place trick that could affect Brent. Have him catch a glimpse of the point ratings and have him be doing poorly. Just like with Tahani in S1.
The thing with Brent character is if they want to have him get better it’ll be hard to earn it in a way that’s believable to the audience.
One more Bad Place trick that could affect Brent. Have him catch a glimpse of the point ratings and have him be doing poorly. Just like with Tahani in S1.
The thing with Brent character is if they want to have him get better it’ll be hard to earn it in a way that’s believable to the audience.
I wonder if Brent learning he's NOT in the good place is what it will take for him to change. That his actions in his life actually did have consequences.
I don't think they can do that, if Brent thinks he's in the bad place or even in danger of going to the bad place his motivation will change if he tries to save his butt. It'd be like the four humans learning about the afterlife on earth last season, Michael stated that none of them would be able to gain any more points because of that and before that the judge refused to acknowledge their progress in season 2 because they only did it for a reward.
Brent would have to do something selfless like giving up his ticket to the best place for someone else
How is Chidi’s progress determined? We haven’t seen any of his decision paralysis this season. And he’s gotten close to Simone very fast, even punched a guy to defend her, something we’ve never seen a prior version of him do.
Well, it's certainly an episode just setting up the turn. Without that, it does fall a bit flat, but I'm letting it pass, as it's working into the final action of the mid-season. There's only like 2 more episodes before a hiatus, I think. Episode 9 is listed for 2020, so maybe January.
Plus, I think this episode is setting up something big, with Michael giving Bad Janet the chronical. I think Michael is invested in more than just proving their experiment right. I think he also wants to prove himself right, for defecting from the Bad Place. He's sending that book, to make his case more.
It's because of that, plus the growing contingent of demons like Glenn, who are now getting uncertain about their system, disruptive things must be going on there. It's not enough for team cockroach to just be right. All of those other characters must be gotten through to as well, I think. That's what Michael's up to.
I'm honestly not sure what has to happen with Brent. It just doesn't seem possible to have him want to be better organically, & it's not part of the equation for him to find out the truth of his circumstance, because that undermines it.
The idea is that they have to want to be better people, naturally, & the only reason that Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, & Jason came to it themselves eventually, without foreknowledge of their fates, was because they began to realize their own self-engineered misery. They figured out they were living lives that were unfulfilling for themselves & those around them
Brent doesn't seem to see his own misery. He seems oblivious, or at least oblivious in how that misery is self-engineered. He needs see the truth of who he is, & how that's not good for anyone, including himself. He needs to have a crisis of conscience, the way everyone of original 4 did. All of the experimentees do, maybe.
Plus, I think this episode is setting up something big, with Michael giving Bad Janet the chronical. I think Michael is invested in more than just proving their experiment right. I think he also wants to prove himself right, for defecting from the Bad Place. He's sending that book, to make his case more.
It's because of that, plus the growing contingent of demons like Glenn, who are now getting uncertain about their system, disruptive things must be going on there. It's not enough for team cockroach to just be right. All of those other characters must be gotten through to as well, I think. That's what Michael's up to.
I'm honestly not sure what has to happen with Brent. It just doesn't seem possible to have him want to be better organically, & it's not part of the equation for him to find out the truth of his circumstance, because that undermines it.
The idea is that they have to want to be better people, naturally, & the only reason that Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, & Jason came to it themselves eventually, without foreknowledge of their fates, was because they began to realize their own self-engineered misery. They figured out they were living lives that were unfulfilling for themselves & those around them
Brent doesn't seem to see his own misery. He seems oblivious, or at least oblivious in how that misery is self-engineered. He needs see the truth of who he is, & how that's not good for anyone, including himself. He needs to have a crisis of conscience, the way everyone of original 4 did. All of the experimentees do, maybe.
The whole experiment going on right now is a bit stupid, they found out last season that the entire system is flawed and no one has gotten into the good place in hundreds of years. The experiment the judge set up misses the point entirely because the problem isn't wether humans can improve in the afterlife or not. Even if none of the four humans improve this time, none of them deserves to be tortured for eternity, they shouldn't have been marked for the bad place in the first place.
But even within the experiment the group made mistakes, in the original experiment Eleanor and Jason were told by Michael right at the start "I think you're someone else". Would Eleanor have improved if she had been told "Welcome to paradise, trashbag from Arizona!"? If she had thought she belonged there, there would have been nothing to confess to Chidi and no reason for her to try to improve, so no philosophy classes. Jason would have just been Jason not thinking about a lot really.
In season 2 Michael even pointed out that a chaos sequence for Tahani wouldn't work because she thinks she belongs in the good place and now they did one for Brent and surprise, it didn't work.
So yeah, the experiment will end next episode and most likely end with a victory for the bad place and the second half of the season will deal with changing the bad place itself, Glenn having doubts and defecting and an improved via countless reboots Bad Janet with the manifesto are a setup for that.
But even within the experiment the group made mistakes, in the original experiment Eleanor and Jason were told by Michael right at the start "I think you're someone else". Would Eleanor have improved if she had been told "Welcome to paradise, trashbag from Arizona!"? If she had thought she belonged there, there would have been nothing to confess to Chidi and no reason for her to try to improve, so no philosophy classes. Jason would have just been Jason not thinking about a lot really.
In season 2 Michael even pointed out that a chaos sequence for Tahani wouldn't work because she thinks she belongs in the good place and now they did one for Brent and surprise, it didn't work.
So yeah, the experiment will end next episode and most likely end with a victory for the bad place and the second half of the season will deal with changing the bad place itself, Glenn having doubts and defecting and an improved via countless reboots Bad Janet with the manifesto are a setup for that.
The whole experiment does kind of seem like its narrative purpose was to bring the show full circle, more than because it was the logical next step. But I think it still serves the purpose to test the 'nature versus nurture' hypothesis, if people behave immorally because of the complexity of the situations they're pushed into more than because they're inherently bad people.
Obviously the group isn't just going to win. But I wouldn't be surprised if the Judge said "The experiment was a failure, but you four, you're not going to The Bad Place, I reopened your points too and YOU all got enough points". So then we get an episode in the real Good Place and then Eleanor has to rally the Good Place out of their bureaucratic inertia to fight for the rest of the humans.
Obviously the group isn't just going to win. But I wouldn't be surprised if the Judge said "The experiment was a failure, but you four, you're not going to The Bad Place, I reopened your points too and YOU all got enough points". So then we get an episode in the real Good Place and then Eleanor has to rally the Good Place out of their bureaucratic inertia to fight for the rest of the humans.
However, in season 3, on Earth, she still felt the need to become a better person, with only a near death experience as the motivator. I think we're supposed to infer that there's been other iterations where team Cockroach always tried to better themselves, once they'd had some kind of crisis of conscience. It's that which makes them backable characters. They're all good hearted people at their core, & with the right stimulus, will organically choose to be that better version of themselves
I don't know if that can be said of Brent yet or not, but if it is the case, then that's the direction it must take
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