r/TheGoodPlace • u/WandersFar Change can be scary but I’m an artist. It’s my job to be scared. • Jan 11 '19
Season Three S3E11 The Book Of Dougs: Episode Discussion Spoiler
Airs tonight at 9:30 PM, ESCL. ¹ (About an hour from when this post is live.)
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¹ ESCL = Eastern Standard Clock Land
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u/WandersFar Jan 11 '19
If Chidi’s gonna get eaten by a pancake, he doesn’t want to do it dressed as a sexy mailman. Understandable.
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u/WandersFar Jan 11 '19
This is the first time Chidi’s talked about his parents. And apparently they were academics, too? Attending symposiums?
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u/gonzolady Jan 11 '19
Poor Tahani she’s trying so hard. That was a nice certificate ⭐️
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u/Bedlampuhedron Jan 11 '19
Tahani has really grown a lot.
But not enough to not comment on that horrible carpeting
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u/hitchopottimus Jan 11 '19
And not enough that her happy smell wasn’t the airline curtain from first class.
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Jan 11 '19
Why does The Good Place have such a dodgy carpet
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u/terafonne Jan 12 '19
because it would take them half a century to even consider considering to get it replaced
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u/Thriftyverse Jan 13 '19
They had to put it in thousands of years ago just so it could get looking dodgy enough for Tahani to feel good making a disparaging comment about it in this part of Jeremy Berimy
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Jan 14 '19
Did anyone else notice the layers and LAYERS of smaller carpets when Michael was conferring with the Good Place team?!
The DETAILS on this show!! Incredible.
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u/SpiffyShindigs Jan 11 '19
The helpless, disgusted sound she made when tearing up that certificate before BOOKING IT out of the room. Tahani was my MVP this episode.
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u/Greeneyedgal13 Jan 11 '19
Her delivery just kills me. She is so funny. When she said "never mind! Misfire!!" I was in tears
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u/MailChick Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 11 '19
Jeez, I think I preferred the demons. At least Shawn can get shirt done.
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u/WandersFar Jan 11 '19
The Good Place committee was pretty insufferable, imo. I would not want to spend eternity with that saccharine gaggle of feckless losers.
Meanwhile there is not a single Bad Place demon that I don’t love. Bambadjan, Vicky, Glenn, Val, Chris, Shawn, Trevor… They’re all so entertaining. Sure, they may occasionally try to bite you or impale you with needles, but at least you have fun while they’re doing it!
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u/WandersFar Jan 11 '19
People throwing up on roller coasters… people throwing up in wave pools… Eleanor’s happy place. :)
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u/Caleb35 Jan 11 '19
I love that Eleanor is actually trying to physically break into heaven.
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u/mi-16evil Jan 11 '19
"Anything I try to put into the lock just turns to glitter."
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u/Arandomcheese Jan 12 '19
Why glitter though? I thought it was stupidly bad for the environment.
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u/Cavalish Jan 11 '19
I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same, her actions were completely rational to me. They’ve been at it SO long, whether they remember all of it or not. I would be throwing myself at that door too.
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u/ChronoMonkeyX Jan 11 '19
I would be throwing myself at that door too.
I noticed nobody thought to knock.
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u/EvidenceBasedSwamp Jan 11 '19
I have a friend who just brute forces locks in escape rooms instead of trying to do the puzzle. The amazing thing is once in a while he does get some.
I don't really approve. Now that I think about it, I'm a Chidi and he's an Eleanor.
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u/Caleb35 Jan 11 '19
That’s very sweet and I wish you both well with your nuptials.
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u/Bedlampuhedron Jan 11 '19
Reminded me of that American Dad episode where Stan goes to heaven: "You're literally putting a gun to God's head! I couldn't think of a better metaphor than that!"
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u/agentpanda Jan 11 '19
Does anyone else have vague moments of "Wow, D'Arcy Carden does a great job playing Janet pretending to be one of the neutral Janets from the last episode... oh wait that's because they're all 'her'."
Either I'm pretty stupid or she really just dissolves into a role. Probably both.
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u/womcave Jan 11 '19
I wonder what her "layer cap" is. If she has one.
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u/agentpanda Jan 11 '19
Assuming that a 'layer cap' refers to the number of times she can nest a character in a character, that's a good question and I agree!
Considering D'arcy herself just seems to be 'Janet', endlessly sweet and hilarious as a person [not a person], we're already at 3; but we can probably go one deeper if she ever has to play 'D'Arcy playing Janet pretending to be a Bad/Neutral Janet pretending to be a Good Janet' which isn't impossible to believe.
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u/The_Bravinator Jan 16 '19
Closest I've ever seen to that is a Supernatural episode where the actors are playing their characters pretending to be the real actors, and at one point recursively playing their characters.
It's a wild ride.
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u/sad_cats Jan 11 '19
tbh i don't think she quite got chidi. but her playing jason eleanor and tahani was spot on. 3/4 is not bad AT ALL
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u/mootsnoot Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 11 '19
It really shows off D'Arcy's versatility as an actress, that's for sure. She's been able to play three different spins on Janet herself (so distinctly that it's not even instantly obvious to everybody that all three Janets are her!), and multiple instances of one of the spins pretending to be one of the others, and all four of the show's main human characters in Janet-bodied form, and to do it all convincingly -- and even though she obviously worked hard at it, she's managed to make it all look effortless.
Not every actress could pull that off. Give the woman an Emmy right now, don't even make her compete.
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u/_Romula_ Jan 11 '19
And Janet-bodied Eleanor pretending to be Janet-bodied Jason. Which was excellent, imo.
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u/7oby Jan 12 '19
If you really want to hear D'Arcy's excellence, listen to her role as Auggie Auggerman. https://youtu.be/K201ZckiYgk?t=3154
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u/mootsnoot Jan 12 '19
I've heard that before! She's fantastic, I'm totally in love with her (and her chemistry with Jason DEREK! Mantzoukas, too.)
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u/ymcameron Jan 11 '19
She’s the new Tatiana Maslany
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u/agentpanda Jan 11 '19
Had to look her up and apparently the only thing I know her from is playing Nadia in Parks and Rec for 2 episodes, haha, but I'll take your word on that, she was good in that role for sure!
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u/ymcameron Jan 11 '19
She was incredible in the show Orphan Black, which spoiler for the first episode, is a thriller about a woman who discovers she is a clone. Tat plays like 10+ different people throughout the show and at points has to go multiple layers deep, like playing clone A disguised as clone B while another person thinks she’s clone C, and at least once an episode you forget they’re all played by the same person.
Incidentally, at The Good Place Experience at Comic-Con, when they show you your good place entrance video, the reason they told you you died was because a collectible figurine and Tatiana Maslany were spotted at the same Starbucks and you were trampled to death by the oncoming mob.
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u/Meia_Ang Jan 12 '19
you died was because a collectible figurine and Tatiana Maslany were spotted at the same Starbucks and you were trampled to death by the oncoming mob.
That's awesome and I would like to die this way.
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u/notanotherpyr0 Jan 12 '19
There is a Looney Tunes episode where Bugs pretends to be Daffy, and Daffy pretends to be Bugs, and voice actors think it's the most difficult thing Mel Blanc did. They are both distinctly Daffy pretending to be Bugs, and Bugs pretending to be Daffy, you can pick them out with your eyes closed, but forming those distinct identities is actually really hard. It's probably easier for an actor because you have other people to work off of(Mel Blanc was literally having a conversation with himself) but it is probably more difficult than you would think.
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u/Weather Jan 11 '19
You're not alone. It took me way too long to realize that D'Arcy played both Janet and Bad Janet. I assumed they just used a similar-looking actress at first. She's just able to switch up her roles so seamlessly.
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Jan 12 '19
That should be pretty obvious after the previous episode. In an interview, she said that she pretty much went insane preparing for that episode.
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u/ezekael Jan 12 '19
wow you're right! i totally considered neutral janet to be a completely different character
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u/FertilityHollis Jan 11 '19
It just hit me. Chidi was absolutely correct about the almond milk.
Mind. Blown.
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u/Meia_Ang Jan 12 '19
What I realized watching this is that it's pretty normal more people have psychological issues today. Sure, we know how to diagnose them better, and hide them less. But if you're trying to be a good person, have the intelligence to know the repercussions of your actions in this complex world, and don't have an emotional filter strong enough? You either do nothing, like Chidi. Or become insane.
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u/peanutsandfuck Jan 12 '19
And the irony is that dairy milk uses even more water and is worse for the environment to produce. So if Chidi loses points for using almond milk, most people drinking any kind of milk would lose even more! For that matter, eating any food at all will lose you points, but things like lentils and radishes lose you the least. Doug Forcett thinks he’s getting points for eating the most environmentally friendly foods, but he’s still losing a few points each time he eats. Because he lives off the grid, he doesn’t do enough good for others to make up for the amount lost. So it seems like you’re damned either way, or it’s about a perfect balance.
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u/MiserableLurker Jan 14 '19
It's worse than that: Eleanor was correct about buying coffee from the gropey coffee shop dude...
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u/Koala_Guru Jan 11 '19
Chidi on a few occasions when finding out he was in the Bad Place assumed that it was because he heard that almonds were bad for the environment and drank almond milk anyway. Tonight’s episode had Michael discovering that the reason so many people hadn’t made it to the Good Place is because the world gets more and more complicated so it is harder to be good. The guy who got his grandma roses lost points because the act of purchasing them led to so many other bad things in other parts of the world he wasn’t even aware of.
Therefore, Chidi was right about the almond milk. Every time he drank some, he probably lost a lot of points.
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u/Hormisdas Jan 11 '19
"What if we both write down what we think you mean"
The most Chidi way of going about it.
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u/Meia_Ang Jan 12 '19
Yes but it's both because of his character development and the fact that he was in the Good Place!
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u/seattlechunny Jan 11 '19
All of Chidi's best lines so far have been single word responses...
"What?" "How?!" "WHY!"
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u/kgm2s-2 Jan 11 '19
And Michael's response to Chidi questioning Elanor about the Mailman Calendar: "Don't"
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u/museloverx96 Jan 14 '19
That was also Eleanor's response to Chidi questioning Jason after Jason talks about his favorite smell!
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u/blastedin Jan 11 '19
Him screaming "WHY" while falling into the river remains the funniest moment of the show to me
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Jan 12 '19
Chidi's "I'm done" after asking about the dot over the "i" in Jeremy Bearimy is my personal favorite delivery.
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u/paradox28jon Jan 11 '19
Chidi didn't feel like the real Chidi in this episode. He was so... calm. I kept thinking the twist was going to be Eleanor thinking he wasn't the real Chidi & that they were still in the Bad Place.
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u/heytaradiddle Jan 11 '19
I've noticed that Chidi seems a lot more sure of himself when Eleanor's feelings (and helping her work through them) are involved.
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u/Bytewave Jan 13 '19
Yeah, the positive aspects of their love obviously includes more confidence for him, and Eleanor making fewer horrible decisions.
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u/TDIfan241 Jan 15 '19
I thought it was because he was in the good place. Everyone was off because of it. Tahini was being good to be good, chidi was more confident, eleanor was vulnerable, Jason was Jason.
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u/FinishingSauce Jan 16 '19
There has been a lot of character development happening very rapidly but you might be right.
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u/rossisdead Jan 11 '19
Maybe the smell of perfect morality was keeping him calm
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u/The_MAGA_Bomber Jan 11 '19
And/or warm pretzels.
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u/Retrosteve Jan 13 '19
Janet was her old factually correct self when she said "those two smells are very similar." She didn't sound like she was joking, just like she was asserting a fact from her usual omniscient powers thing.
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u/Dammit-Hannah Jan 11 '19
Knowing that there *is* a moral truth and he can smell it definitely must have helped.
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u/sunmachinecomingdown Jan 13 '19
Unfortunately Jason smelled something that hasn't happened, calling the existence of absolute moral truth into question.
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u/carlotta4th Jan 16 '19
That was my theory, because aside from him focusing on helping Eleanor I think the smell of "perfect morality" would be inherently calming to someone like Chidi.
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Jan 11 '19
Actually, for most people with anxiety disorders, your brain can basically override your anxiety when it comes to a person you care about‘s wellbeing.
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u/cats_and_vibrators Jan 11 '19
This is my life. It’s so much easier for me to show up for someone else than to show up for myself.
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u/seattlechunny Jan 11 '19
That's super cool! I like the fact that chidi can be used to show how paralyzing anxiety can be in someone's life, as well as steps that their friends can take to help them calm down again :)
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u/KevintheNoodly Jan 11 '19
I think that Eleanor gets rid of his nervousness. Like when he was sure of saying he loves her in the tape.
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u/Lewon_S Jan 11 '19
I don’t think so...a lot of people with anxiety find they can snap out of it when somebody else needs their help with similar things.
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u/RussellWestG0AT Jan 11 '19
You guys were right!!! The world is too complicated these days so nobody can get enough points!!!
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u/Hormisdas Jan 11 '19
I was under the impression that the tampering explanation was probably a false lead, but I didn't think of "the world is too complicated" idea; I was guessing the committee was just full of people with way too high of expectations (or that Sean literally might have had people on the committee to subvert them).
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u/jks513 Jan 11 '19
I don't thing the expectations were too high, it's just they setup a system without fully realizing the unintended consequences and then as the world got more complex it became harder and harder to meet the standards. Mindy probably made it to the Medium Place because she did something so great and since she died immediately she didn't get all the complexity points attached to the actual implementation of the idea.
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Jan 11 '19
I was totally on board with the 'The Good Place' is secretly corrupt theory.
But, no, they're not corrupt, they're just incompetent
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u/Fanatical_Idiot Jan 12 '19
If theres one thing I understand about this show at this point its that if the characters are working on a solution, they're wrong.
Ever step forward is a step sideways.
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Jan 17 '19
I felt like this episode was another way of saying “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism”
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u/mootsnoot Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 11 '19
Personally, I didn't quite get all the way there, but I got pretty close. My working theory was that negative point totals began to inflate much faster than positive ones once the shift toward a globalized, integrated, modern world started to happen -- which is exactly right -- but I hadn't quite finished theorizing exactly why that was the case. I was torn between "because you could have a deeper impact on the entire world instead of just your own backyard", which was the right path even if I didn't finish following it, and "because America inundates the world with the shittier parts of its pop culture", and I didn't come to a final decision.
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u/jhairfield Jan 11 '19
I just need you to know that based on your username and the fact that you're on this subreddit, you might be my new bestfriend.
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u/RussellWestG0AT Jan 11 '19
Good to see another Westbrook fan on Reddit! Crazy game last night.
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u/Intrepid00 Jan 14 '19
The accountants are treating money not as an exchange of goods but also an exchange of all bad deads.
In other words money is the root of all evil but not the way you think.
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u/dontthrowmeinabox Jan 11 '19
“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, and I blame you!”
That’s the most weirdly sweet thing I’ve heard in a long time.
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u/Who_GNU Jan 11 '19
Even that showed their system is broken. Weapons don't make people bad; bad people are just more productive with weapons.
They should be able to figure out who's bad, without giving them weapons.
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u/Green_Napkin Jan 11 '19
Their whole afterlife system makes no sense, which was always something that bothered me about the show, so I'm glad that them questioning it is a plot point now
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u/babaganate Jan 12 '19
Yeah no the weapons already existed, they were talking about the invention of stabbing, which is the act.
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u/ZarathustraV Jan 11 '19
hey man, someone had to be the first one to do it; the proverbial google-whack of stabbings
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u/idiotcollegebabe Jan 11 '19
Chidi’s heaven is him being confident and sure of himself so now he’s charming af
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u/dngaay Jan 11 '19
And Eleanor's is finding someone she can be vulnerable with and have anxiety sweats around
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Jan 12 '19
I think everyone became more of their ideal self. Chidi was confident, Eleanor vulnerable, Tahani caring, and Jason empathetic. Hell even Janet was far more human and Micheal more sure of himself.
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u/mtm4440 Jan 11 '19
And was it just me or did Janet seem alot more human than usual, which could be her heaven.
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u/mtm4440 Jan 11 '19
Episode should have really been called "Four Oreos from Heaven"
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u/mi-16evil Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 11 '19
If that's not the new They Might Be Giants album name then what are we doing?
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u/SpiffyShindigs Jan 11 '19
According to the podcast, it was called "Four Oreos" in early drafts!
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u/DBSdidnothingwrong Jan 11 '19
Amazing thing: mindy was a drug addict and a evil lawyer but the idea of charity plus her dying got her to the medium place. Her sister was a good human being, who created a charity big enough to help a lot of people but ends in the bad place cause she lives to suffer the unintended consequences.
Pretty funny
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u/d4m4s74 Jan 11 '19
I think it helps that she was dead while the good things were happening so she couldn't ruin it by being alive.
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u/lovetheblazer Jan 11 '19
“I assume it’s because you’re happy... or horny. Is this a horny cry?”
Chidi just really gets Eleanor, you guys
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u/TNWhaa Jan 11 '19
So the first episode of The Good Place that is in the actual Good Place is a bottle episode where we don’t really see the actual Good Place?
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u/Hobbit-guy Jan 11 '19
"Being a good person gets a little harder"
This show is just so deep and connects with me so much...
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u/suhrockinon Jan 11 '19
Chidi was right all along - it WAS the almond milk!
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u/All_was_well_ Jan 11 '19
"To me it feels like a curtain closing between first class and economy" Oh Tahani, never change.
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u/dontthrowmeinabox Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 11 '19
The Titanic is sinking, and they’re writing a strongly worded letter to the iceberg.
If there ever was a quote to sum up modern politics, that would be it.
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u/Genoscythe_ Jan 12 '19
"We are the good guys, we can't just DO stuff" was definitely a shot at process-over-results centrist politicians.
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u/HermioneSmith Jan 11 '19
That Eleanor freak out when she saw Chidi in the mailman costume is THE most relatable thing that ever aired on TV ever
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u/DJDublin Jan 11 '19
It reminded me of the video where Kristen Bell was crying because she was so happy about a sloth came to her birthday.
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Jan 11 '19
“The emotions aren’t coming out of my butt, they’re coming out of my eyes” Janet is somehow the most human character sometimes
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u/mtm4440 Jan 11 '19
I just binged the entire series since New Years. This is my first live episode and I'm hyped!
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u/memxz Jan 11 '19
This episode may be uneventful and idk how the fanbase is ranking it as, but it really hit home to me? the whole 'the world gets more complicated and every day it's harder to be good' followed by Tahani Janet and Jason showing affection and empathy for eachother, idk it was an interesting contrast that touched me for some reason
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u/halfabean Jan 11 '19
This was a really good episode in a season of really good episodes.
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u/andreeuh Jan 11 '19
Chidi has gotten smooth since getting to TGP!
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u/jelatinman Jan 11 '19
It smells like he has definitive answers to his questions so he is finally able to relax.
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u/lovetheblazer Jan 11 '19
Eleanor is about to find out just how jacked Chidi is. Then they will truly be in the Good Place
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u/DeadlyPlace Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 11 '19
Well they had sex in that closet, so I hope she knows how jacked he is. Edit: Just realized you don't have to take your top off to have sex.
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u/supersmileys Jan 11 '19
Fully on board for Chidi wearing the mailman costume for the rest of the season.
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Jan 11 '19
"you're a nice height - your energy is electric"
Dang, if that didn't make me happy too.
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u/HermioneSmith Jan 11 '19
I am so jealous of the actor who got to spend a few hours complimenting Ted Danson! I would have paid for the privilege
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u/headoverheelys Jan 11 '19
I need a gif of Chidi saying "Pop that bench."
I need it.
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Jan 11 '19
This is all the accountant's fault if you think about it. They're still basing good/bad stuff on the first time a cave man gave another one a rock.
Their point system is stuck and it doesn't work in modern times.
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u/Calimie Jan 11 '19
I'm glad it wasn't the Bad Place's doing: they didn't have to.
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u/Hobbit-guy Jan 11 '19
We're the good guys...we can't just do stuff
For some reason that line hit me hard
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u/whoopswoebeme Jan 11 '19
Yeah -- more worried about adhering to rules w/o stopping to re-evaluate those rules, or what would be the best way to actually do good things :o
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u/_potaTARDIS_ Jan 11 '19
Oh my god, Nicole Byer from Nailed It? On The Good Place?????? I COULDNT BE MROE FUCKING WELL FED ASKFJSADKJFASKL
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u/mtm4440 Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 11 '19
Tahani trying to triple negate that document like Michael Scott with a whiteboard.
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u/EvilChameleon09 Jan 11 '19
This episode just confirmed to me yet again that Jameela Jamil could easily be The Doctor on Doctor Who one day.
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u/DesignerPhrase Jan 11 '19
good lord that would be fantastic casting, after capaldi and whittaker it would be fun to see another posh doctor
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u/seattlechunny Jan 11 '19
"What kind of messed up place turns away refugees?"
Jason Mendoza, hitting it right on the nose there...
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u/agentpanda Jan 11 '19
For the record, that joke has been executed once before! In 'Best Self', if I'm not mistaken, Eleanor pulls it off during a similar conversation about getting into the real Good Place on the balloon.
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u/seattlechunny Jan 11 '19
Panicked Tahani ripping up a "death did us depart" certificate is exactly what I needed for the start of the year :)
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u/obes22 Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 11 '19
Sometimes this show just hits a nerve. I lost my shit when Michael got showered by compliments
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u/Raktoner Jan 11 '19
I would love to have a handsome thoughtful knowledgeable fruit-gathering man to find endless things to compliment me about
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u/obes22 Jan 11 '19
A common theory was confirmed. Complexity caused the human downfall in the last 500 years and was the reason humans never made it into the goodplace. Pretty sure the judge will change things based on Michael's findings since no one else in creation has the ability to change reality. As far as we or the characters know.
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u/Quack___Quack Jan 11 '19
I think it will be ultimately tasked to the humans and Michael to fix it. Imagine how anxious it will make Chidi to have the system by which people are eternally judged in his hands!
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u/joecb91 Jan 11 '19
The Good Place and Brooklyn 99 back to back? This is The Good Place.
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u/AlecBaldwinner Jan 11 '19
"Being a good person gets a little harder."
To quote Chidi, "this broke me."
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u/nobody2000 Jan 11 '19
I'm upset there was no "Doug Shellstrop" explored in this episode.
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u/ThatsAGeauxTigers Jan 11 '19
They still have The Book of Dougs. They can still dive into it. It just seems like too much of a coincidence not to make it a plot point.
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u/headoverheelys Jan 11 '19
I was smiling like an idiot through all of the Chidi and Eleanor scenes. :) Good job writers, there was a lot of built up expectations and ya nailed it.
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u/hypo11 Jan 11 '19
But if the problem is interconnectedness, wouldn't Doug Forcett's plan have been successful despite it? The focus of his good deeds was heavily skewed against unintended consequences. He ate the radishes or whatever because they consumed the least water. I am sure he bought clothes that would never have been made in a sweatshop, etc. It seemed like his failure, if anything, was being a happiness pump at the expense of his own. But if that isn't the strike against him, but rather the complications of our world, how does one who goes off the grid and lives in peace wind up so far away from the cutoff?
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u/Spacetime_Inspector Jan 11 '19
I think the fact that he has to go off the grid to live a 'right' life is part of the problem. You probably don't get all that many points for eating a radish or walking five weeks to give $47 to a snail hospital. You have to be involved with society to do good for others, but if you're involved with society your actions become tainted. We see evidence of that too - imagine what awful deeds Raymond is freed up to commit while Doug does his laundry for him.
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u/rocker27c23 Jan 11 '19
All the things that Doug did were to AVOID negative points, but these actions may not actually gain him a significant amount of points. He did the best he could in not losing points, if that makes sense.
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u/MKoz628 Jan 11 '19
I want to know all the fruits the writers rejected before they landed on pluots.
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u/here_for_news1 Jan 11 '19
It feels like this episode is shitting on both the right in general with the refugee statement and the more traditionally liberal parts of the left with the good place committee, I like it.
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u/pretty-in-pink Jan 11 '19
Yeah. I think Schur is trying to say that being good can involve breaking some formalities especially in dire situations. Kind of what’s the issue with the UN in response to criseses in the 90s
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u/lolfcknmemethrowaway Jan 11 '19
It's a fantastic criticism of technocratic liberalism -- especially the kind that dominates in American politics today. It's a kind of politics that is more concerned with the procedure and aesthetics of decision-making than with the actual consequences of the decisions themselves, and as we see in the ep, it is usually unhelpful in actually improving the situation.
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u/maddiebeee Jan 11 '19
ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, MAYBE WE’LL SEE MAYA NEXT WEEK??
jeez, i love her.
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u/dontthrowmeinabox Jan 11 '19
The Good Place people seem like Lawful Neutral.
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u/heytaradiddle Jan 11 '19
I don't know, I think they fit Lawful Good pretty well. They definitely put emphasis on "good" things beyond the regulations they set to achieve those good things. Like, giving gifts as a thank you for a thank you seems Lawful Good to me.
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u/supersmileys Jan 11 '19
I don't know whether it's just because I've been listening to the podcast during the hiatus and have fallen in love with Jameela Jamil or what, but I found Tahani to be more of a delight than usual this episode.
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u/The_Nothingman Jan 11 '19
The Good Place people look and sound like how I imagine people that listen to NPR do
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u/niknok007 Jan 11 '19
Oh god the Good Place is full of Hermes Conrad bureaucrats
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u/Viney Jan 11 '19
Did Michael make a Jeff Bezos reference or was that just a general joke about CEOs sending naked selfies?
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u/Mcfinley Jan 11 '19
Seeing as the episode was probably filmed 6 months ago and the Bezos thing dropped two days ago....definitely the former. Michael Schur confirmed psychic
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u/_rob___ Jan 11 '19
Wow. Brooklyn 99 and now this episode of The Good Place back to back. An hour of wholesome television. I've never felt more alive.
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u/Dukkado Jan 11 '19
Think about it, even with this in mind, Doug did A LOT of points, he must be a kind of saint
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u/tregorman Jan 11 '19
Michael is advocating direct action, while the committee who ultimately want to do the right thing is stuck trying not to anger anyone and in doing so basically doing nothing. Meanwhile the bad place who doesn't have to follow any guidelines is managing to get whatever they want done for the most part.
Yeah I think there might be some commentary.
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u/pretty-in-pink Jan 11 '19
Yup. I also see it as a critique of the Unites Nation’s response to crimes against humanity. Too much beauracracy while lives are being lost
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u/seattlechunny Jan 11 '19
I think in general it's a satire of the constraints that people put on themselves when they think of themselves as being on the moral high ground. Once you put yourself up there, you have to follow ALL of the rules, and ensure that every minutia is covered. Otherwise, someone can poke at you and say that you made a mistake (like forgetting to file a "Hear hear!" memorandum).
They are still trying to be good people - but it's deontology run amok. When rules are the only things that matter, the purpose for those rules starts to fade away.
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u/WandersFar Jan 11 '19
“It’s nice to know I can talk about girls with my wife.” Gold.