THE GOOD PLACE: “RHONDA, DIANA, JAKE, AND TRENT”

We finally made it to the real Bad Place! Join us as we discuss this week’s episode of The Good Place, in which our heroes face their demons. Literally.

First let’s talk about our heroes’ fake identities. Which was your favorite?

Melissa: Tahani with her American accent and outstanding improv skills was my favorite. Why was everyone in ’40s garb? I like the aesthetic, but it’s not what I was expecting. Anyway, I want to be mad at Chidi for making everything difficult all the time, but he wouldn’t be Chidi if he didn’t struggle with lying about his identity. I did enjoy watching him maneuver the mine field that was the bro demons.

Roz: I feel for Chidi, but that might have been more to do with the dude bros than anything else.

Cay: Jason and Tahani certainly seemed to fit in the best, although Eleanor was fine, too. I’m not sure who struggled more – Chidi or Good Janet! I think that overall, Jason made me laugh the most.

Cara: Tahani is probably my favorite. She definitely had a talent for it. I enjoyed watching Chidi switch on his inner dude bro though.

What did you think of The Bad Place?

Melissa: I was already wary of hot dogs, but the nine different hot dog factories in the Bad Place pretty much put paid to me ever eating one again. The Museum of Human Misery: Hall of Low-Grade Crappiness was genius. (Although I wouldn’t classify unsolicited d*ck pics as “low-grade”. Clearly whoever included that has never been on the receiving end.) Everything we saw was a commentary on the continual, minorly awful things we do to each other every day.

Roz: I like the aesthetic of the Bad Place – it looks hip – but I know that the real winner was the museum. I can tell that so much thought went into that low-grade crappiness.

Cay: It was one hilarious gag after another in the museum – dick pics, toxic masculinity, mansplaining – although I’d probably elevate some of them above “low-grade” crappiness! Even on a second watch I think I missed a few.  Clearly, the Bad Place is mostly bad for the people who are being tortured, not the torturers, at least until they actually want a train to run on time, I guess.

Cara: I’m with Melissa, The Hall of Low-Grade Crappiness was genius. I love how well they have played on the bad place as a miserable workplace environment. The show is great at drawing on all the small miserable parts of daily life, and this episode was packed full of them.

MICHAEL SACRIFICED HIMSELF! DISCUSS!

Melissa: OMG!!!!!! On the character development side, what a huge step forward for Michael. On the story development side, OMG!!!! What will happen next? Thank goodness this isn’t the season finale, although it begs the question how they’ll top themselves for the actual season finale. I may need to lie down.

Roz: I guess he did learn about being human to make the sacrifice. If this had been the finale, I’d be mad as hell and not in a place to take it anymore.

Cay: Or maybe his “sacrifice” isn’t quite what it appeared? Maybe he has a plan?

Cara: I think the question of what comes next is a big one. Michael had to do something big if he’s going to get out of the Bad Place, and this episode managed to show that both he and Eleanor really have changed. I really hope that the humans are sent back to earth to prove they’re worthy of the Good Place, and I hope Michael is sent with them. I’d love to see Michael living among humans.

MVP?

Melissa: Jason and his Molotov cocktail. Go figure.

Roz: I’m with Melissa. I didn’t know I’d love to see a Molotov cocktail used effectively but I did love it.

Cay: The cocktail was just perfect after they foreshadowed it. My MVP was the writers – this episode was a gag a minute. One of the smartest, funniest half hours of TV I think I’ve seen!

Cara: This episode and the last were both very well written, which is saying something in a show that has consistently shown quality writing. Jason was amazing this week, but I’m going for Michael. Watching Ted Danson play a character who is so bad at disguising his true intentions was great. And that last innocent, “Hey Boss” was great.

Favorite lines/scenes?

Melissa: Chidi has a lucky bookmark! Ha! Also got a kick out of Dax Shepherd, Kristin Bell’s real life partner, playing the leader of the bro demons.

Roz: Dudebros! Dax getting to guest star was awesome. I’d find it funnier if Ryan Hansen showed up.

Cay: Other than the “low grade crappiness” I cited above, my housemate and I were cracking up over the AXE bodyspray that makes you smell “like Transformers movies make you feel”. AXE could only come from Hell…

Cara: The dude bros were great, and seeing Dax Shepherd was excellent. My favorite scene was Jason on the train to the Bad Place. His “I’ll get eggs then” in response to learning about pancakes in the bad place’s IHOP was great, and his explanation of why oranges are complicated was a classic Jason moment. “They don’t make sense. Apples, you eat their clothes, but oranges, you don’t?”

The Good Place airs Thursdays at 8:30/7:30c on NBC.