Loveday Writing

The episode then cuts to Chidi teaching Eleanor and Jason the concept of Utilitarianism, which Jason immediately grasps when gives Chidi and Eleanor a bizarre but accurate example of the concept about one of his friend’s ex-girlfriends. After Jason leaves, Eleanor tries to continue with the lessons, but Chidi clearly doesn’t want to. After Eleanor annoys Chidi by repeatedly asking him what’s wrong, he finally admits that he is growing tired of spending all of his time teaching Eleanor and not living in the Paradise he envisioned when he got to the Good Place. Just as they have finished arguing and Eleanor angrily tells Chidi she will move out, Michael orders that the residents stay in their homes as the sinkhole is not repairing itself.

As Chidi, Eleanor and Jason were in class, Tahani was throwing a brunch party for some of the residents. During the party, Janet arrives to tell Michael that they have a Category 55 Emergency Doomsday Crisis – the sinkhole is not repairing itself, and she and Michael have to go in and repair it by hand. While Janet and Michael are attending to it, Tahani manages to access the neighbourhood technical manual that they left behind and finds the neighbourhood rankings. To her horror, she discovers she is ranked second-to-last.  She is determined to improve her ranking by hosting a brunch for everyone quarantining in her home, as well as assisting Michael and Janet with repairing the sinkhole. However she is unable to do so as she experiences side effects from the sinkhole. When Michael asks her why she was outside during the quarantine, she admits to seeing the rankings. Michael informs her that the points evaluation system stops after death and asks her why the rankings unravelled her. She responds that she always had to compete with her sister, Kamilah, who her parents clearly favoured.

While Chidi and Eleanor are quarantining with each other, Michael asks them to host Bart and Nina, a couple who live next to the sinkhole. As Bart started a company that investigates identity theft and Nina was a marriage counsellor back on Earth, Eleanor freaks out at the strong possibility that they will discover her secret. However to the surprise of both of them, Bart and Nina detect that Chidi is keeping a secret of his own. Chidi reveals to them that he is disappointed that he hasn’t found his true soulmate. The next morning, after doing the dishes for the first time in her life, Eleanor guides Chidi out to the lake so he can read French poetry in a rowboat, something he told her he envisioned doing in his afterlife.

The episode ends with the sinkhole having repaired itself, however Michael tells Eleanor that he has no idea what caused the sinkhole or what caused it to repair itself, and needs to investigate further. He asks Eleanor to come to his office the next morning to help him investigate.

Overall I felt this was a solid episode as we saw character development in Tahani with the flashbacks to her life competing with her sister and being desperate for her parents’ attention, providing an insight into her psyche. There was also character development in Eleanor in both being considerate of others in the Good Place, as well as with her friendship with Chidi. It will be interesting to see how Eleanor keeps her secret hidden as Michael further investigates the origins of the sinkhole.

Stray Observations:

-Jason apparently knew a girl named, Sheila, a black market alligator dealer with a pierced jawbone. She was going to marry his “friend”, Donkey Doug, and move to Sarasota. This would have broken up the dance crew, so Jason put some stolen boogie boards in Sheila’s garage and called the cops. He framed her to save the dance crew. According to Chidi this is the perfect example of utilitarianism.

-Michael has been practising small talk.

-Chidi has never actually rowed a boat before.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “’Everything’s cool, no big deal’ I know that move. When I told a boyfriend something was ‘no big deal’, it meant anything from ‘I just bought weed from your nephew’ to ‘I secretly befriended your ex-girlfriend last year, things got out of hand and now I’m her bridesmaid’.” (Eleanor to Chidi)

Hints of the Season 1 Finale twist:

-Chidi wants to enjoy paradise instead of teaching Eleanor, but he if doesn’t teach Eleanor he’s shirking his ethical responsibility, which is making him miserable.