Loveday Writing

As Janet can’t retrieve her file, Michael needs to find alternative ways to determine what kind of person Eleanor is. Michael performs a litmus test on her, asking a handful of odd questions. After he finishes asking her questions, Michael gets out a lie detector cube that changes colour based on whether Eleanor is telling the truth or not. Michael asks her whether she killed Janet and/or knows who did and she tells the truth. While she is in there, Chidi, Tahani and Jason are waiting outside. Tahani is chastising Eleanor behind her back, and when Eleanor comes out, Tahani has a go at her again and goes in to speak with Michael.

After Tahani goes in, Eleanor informs Chidi and Jason about her interaction with Michael and the predicament they’re in. While she’s in his office, Michael asks Tahani if Eleanor deserves to be in the Good Place, but Tahani only gives Michael a vague answer. After he is finished questioning Tahani, Michael questions Jason. Michael asks him what to do and to keep his cover he doesn’t respond. When Michael sees Jason prick his finger on one of the cacti Janet has conjured, he interprets this as Jason telling him he needs to find his own agency in the situation. Michael allows Jason to keep a cactus and asks Chidi to come in, only for Janet to show up with Eleanor’s actual file, Michael then calls Eleanor back into his office.

When Michael opens Eleanor’s file, the first thing he finds is a good deed where it’s revealed that Eleanor would occasionally take her cousin, Julie, to the mall to cheer her up. He then goes on to find a bad deed – Eleanor wanted to borrow her roommate, Madison’s, dress but she refused. Eleanor ended up trying on the dress anyway only to rip it. Instead of admitting to it, Eleanor makes Madison think that the dry cleaner ripped it and Madison ends up suing them. The legal fees ran the dry cleaner out of business, the story of the lawsuit went viral, resulting in Madison being chastised by the public, and an unflattering picture taken of her and being dubbed ‘the dress bitch’. Eleanor suggests that T-shirts could be made with the picture and nickname. She has the t-shirts made, which results in her earning a profit from them. Eleanor then ended up buying her own peach dress with the profits. Michael then asks Eleanor if she feels she belongs in the Good Place, she says no, which is the truth. Michael then uses an intercom to let the Bad Place know about Eleanor and tells them to come and get her.

The Bad Place Crew arrive at the neighbourhood via train, with one demon, Trevor, being their leader. Michael asks Trevor if he knows what caused the mistake, he says no and that the Bad Place Crew are just as stumped about it as he is. While Trevor wants to get going, Michael asks him to let Eleanor say her goodbyes.

Eleanor says goodbye to Chidi by making a passing remark on how there should be a Medium Place for people like her, and thanks him for doing everything he could to help her.  Eleanor says her goodbyes to Tahani and Jason, and then boards the train with Trevor.

After Eleanor leaves, Chidi storms into Michael’s office and confesses to murdering Janet, knowing about Eleanor from the beginning, and teaching her to become a better person. Chidi says that she is improving as a person, she is just doing it after she died.

As the train starts to leave the neighbourhood, Michael storms on and takes Eleanor off. Trevor tries to protest it, however Michael says that they are in uncharted territory and Eleanor should stay in the Good Place until they figure it out. Trevor agrees, only if the Bad Place gets to keep the Real Eleanor. This news shocks everyone and Trevor asks the Real Eleanor to come out on to the train station platform.

Overall this was a solid episode. While it wasn’t necessarily action-packed, it provided the building blocks of exploring why Eleanor was brought to the Good Place by mistake, provided insight into her character or rather her character’s life before she died, and had a great reveal at the end with “Real Eleanor”. I also enjoyed the first appearance of the Bad Place Crew.

Stray Observations:

-Eleanor’s date of birth is October 14^th. However she says her birth year is 1986 but is actually 1982.

-Some of the questions of the litmus test Michael performs on Eleanor are as follows:

• “Did you ever commit a serious crime, such as murder, sexual harassment, arson or otherwise?”
• “Did you ever have a vanity license plate, like ‘Mama’s BMW’, ‘Lexus for Liz’ or ‘Boob Guy’?”
• “Did you ever reheat fish in an office microwave?”
• “Have you ever paid money to hear music performed by California funk rock band The Red Hot Chili Peppers?”
• “Did you ever take off your shoes and socks on a commercial airline?”
• “Did you ever appear on the American television program The Bachelor or its companion shows, The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise, or post on any social media site that you were emotionally invested in any of the relationships the contestants were pursuing?”

-Tahani was friends with Taylor Swift and Kanye West, and apparently Beyoncé was her best friend.

-Eleanor’s roommate, Madison, says she has to pick up her vanity plates, implying Madison will end up in the Bad Place when she dies.

–Possible continuity error: it was mentioned in a previous episode that only Janet can call and operate the train, yet the Bad Place Crew arrived on the train and conducted the returning train without her.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “You lied so much you forgot your own birthday.” (Michael to Eleanor)
• “I know we’re in a miserable bind here, but this might be the proudest day of my life.” “No offence, but that’s a real bummer of a life.” (Chidi-Eleanor on Eleanor quoting Kant off by heart)
• “I’ll tell you but it doesn’t make look great, so don’t judge me.” “That’s literally the purpose of this entire exercise.” (Eleanor-Michael)
• “You’re too nice to humiliate!” (Trevor to Michael)
• “I’m sorry I dragged you into this, and that I never did laundry. And that I waited until you were about to do yours and then secretly tossed mine into the basket to trick you into doing it.” “You didn’t trick me, I repeatedly asked you to stop.” (Eleanor-Chidi)
• “Love you babe, can’t wait to torture you!” (Trevor to Eleanor)

Hints of the Season 1 Finale twist:

–Michael says that the system has never made a mistake before, yet Eleanor being in the Good Place is a mistake.

-Both Michael and Trevor, or rather the Good Place and the Bad Place are equally stumped about why Eleanor was mistakenly sent to the Good Place.

-“Real Eleanor” was also on the train, yet she wasn’t revealed or seen by anyone, Eleanor included, until the final moments of the episode.