The Good Place – Season 1, Episode 7 (The Eternal Shriek)
This episode picks up from where we were left off. Michael explains to the residents that he believes he is the design flaw in the neighbourhood as the incidents that Eleanor caused also happened moments after he did something wrong. Michael asks Janet to call a train for him to leave the neighbourhood so he can retire, which she also needs to operate.
Tahani decides to throw Michael a retirement party and as she plans it, he reveals to her, Eleanor, Jason and Chidi that retirement for him means an extreme form of punishment. Chidi tells Eleanor that she has to confess now, however Eleanor decides that Janet has to be shut down because if Janet can’t drive the train, Michael can’t leave. Chidi emphasises to Eleanor that lying causes nothing but misery, which leads to flashbacks of Chidi’s misery over lying about liking his colleague’s, Henry, red cowboy boots.
Janet takes Eleanor and Chidi to a beach where her “kill switch” button is located. Janet explains to them that there is a failsafe in place, which involves her begging for her life in such a realistic manner it throws people off pressing the button. While Eleanor and Chidi argue over which one of them should press the button after failing to do so, Chidi ends up accidentally pressing it after trying to prevent Jason from doing so, as he ended up at the beach because the retirement party bored him. Moments after Janet is shut down, an alarm goes off, complete with a video of Janet, declaring “attention, I have been murdered!”
Tahani’s retirement party for Michael then turns into a funeral for Janet. During the funeral, Janet comes back to life – or rebooted, with no memory, and operating at a diminished capacity. To figure out who killed Janet and why, as well as to reboot her properly, Michael postpones his retirement. Later, Chidi tells Eleanor he plans to confess to murdering Janet.
The episode ends with Michael calling a neighbourhood meeting. During the meeting, Chidi continues to struggle with his secret, and Michael asks for information from the residents about Janet’s murder. Eleanor tells Chidi she loves him and admits to everyone that she is the problem as she was brought to the Good Place by mistake and is not supposed to be there.
Overall I felt this was a solid episode with character development with Chidi, with flashbacks focusing on him and his inability to lie. The flashbacks provided great insight into his character and a great running gag for the episode. The episode also provided character development for Janet, showing her capabilities and providing fun facts about her evolution. On another note, interestingly, Michael’s theories about why he was the problem in the neighbourhood were actually plausible.
This episode is also the most crucial for the series so far as the final moments have Eleanor finally admitting to being brought to the Good Place by mistake. It will be interesting to see where the season, now at the halfway point, goes from here.
Stray Observations:
Running gag: “This is way everyone hates moral philosophy professors”.
-“Retirement” for Michael is as follows: his soul will be disintegrated, each molecule placed on the surface of a different burning sun. His essence will be scooped with a flaming ladle and poured over hot diamonds. What’s left of his body will be beaten with a titanium rod like a piñata, with the string hanging him up tied to his genitals.
-Janet can’t feel emotions or eat.
-There have been 25 generations of Janet. Each new update of Janet gains more wisdom and social abilities.
-The first Janet had a click wheel.
-The human things Michael wanted to do before “retiring”:
- Get his hair wet.
- Pull a hamstring.
- Learn the difference between “toward” and “towards”.
- That thing where you walk down a hallway, and someone else is walking the other way, both of you lean to one side, then the other, and then you both chuckle over your shared foible.
- Get a Rewards Card (any kind).
- Talk briefly to someone and then say, “take it sleazy”.
- Eat a saltine (which he does as Tahani had some for the party, he felt it was too salty).
-The theme of Michael’s retirement party went from joyous with desserts chosen based on retirement puns, to sombre, to transforming into Janet’s funeral.
Best one liners and interactions:
- “Why do bad things always happen to mediocre people who are lying about their identity?” (Eleanor to Chidi)
- “Listen man, I’m dead, you’re dead, we all died and now we’re killing her. Pay it forward.” (Eleanor to Chidi on “killing” Janet)
Hints of the Season 1 Finale twist:
-Michael’s “retirement” being an extreme and physical form of punishment and torture.
-The fact that Janet has a “kill switch” in case she is not operating properly that she herself provides access to, yet if it’s used, an alarm declares that she has been murdered. Why is there such a “kill switch” in place if it can’t be used without this alarm going off?
Loveday Writing 