Loveday Writing

Trevor’s plan is to drive the gang away from each other and the study. He puts on an over-eager, best friend act to annoy and alienate Eleanor, at first suggesting that they go site seeing in Sydney, only to end up going to an American-like restaurant, the Cowboy Skyscraper Buffet. When they get there, Janet poses a waitress, subtly letting Trevor know that she will be watching him and the gang.

At the restaurant, Trevor alienates Eleanor further by suggesting that they all move into a house together, has Chidi doubt whether it’s ethical for him to be friends with them as they are subjects in his study, and gets Tahani and Jason drunk so that they’ll hook up. Janet struggles without her powers, unable to summon objects, Michael tells her to focus on the mission and keep Trevor away from the gang.

When Chidi is freaking out over the possible ethical issues of being friends with the gang, Eleanor comes over to comfort him and counters that he is off the clock, and admits that she thought they were becoming friends. When Eleanor walks away, Michael (as the librarian) tries to get Chidi to open up with no success.

Michael and Janet later go into the men’s room at the restaurant to confront Trevor. He points out his success in sabotaging the gang and that sooner or later, The Judge will find out about their trips to Earth.

The next day, Chidi is still struggling with the ethical question of befriending the gang, whilst Tahani admits that she and Jason didn’t hook up and that he was a perfect gentleman who made sure she got home safely. In turn, Jason admits he had fun getting to know Tahani. Chidi notices that Eleanor didn’t show up, and anticipating that Chidi would want to see her to encourage her to stay in the study, Simone calls a car for him to go to her. Chidi goes to see Eleanor at her motel room and reassures her that he is still her friend and convinces her to stick around and participate in the study for another three months. Eleanor agrees.

Later, Michael and Janet confront Trevor in another men’s room, only this time The Doorman shows up and tells them that The Judge wants to see them. Shortly after they step through the portal, Trevor tries to suck up to The Judge, only for her to flick him into a void. The Judge chastises Michael and Janet for their continued trips to Earth and tells them that the experiment is over, that the humans will be subjected to the regular points threshold to determine whether they get into the Good Place, and that they will be sent to the Bad Place. When Janet points out that Michael will be retired and Janet will be marbleised, The Judge counters that they should have thought about that before they meddled with the experiment.

Just as The Judge is about to send them to the Bad Place, the objects that Janet tried to summon on Earth start to appear. As more and more objects appear, blocking The Judge’s path to them, Janet suggests to Michael that they run. They end up running to the door, with The Doorman giving them the key and cheering them on. By the time The Judge clears her path, the door closes and The Doorman tells her that they escaped.

Stray Observations:

-Jason thought that if he went into the MRI machine with a spider in his hand that he would get super powers.

-Trevor references Michael, Janet and the gang as cockroaches – a callback to the Team Cockroach story arc.

-The episode’s title comes from Trevor nicknaming them ‘The Brainy Bunch’ and having sweaters (or jumpers as they are called in Australia) with photos of them and the nickname on the sweaters in The Brady Bunch signature font and photo style.

-According to The Judge, Michael’s and Janet’s constant illegal visits to Earth caused the following ripple effects: Brexit, the success of The Greatest Showman, the Jacksonville Jaguars making the play offs, and Byron Allen purchasing The Weather Channel.

-As well as Janet’s powers being bound when she’s on Earth, her knowledge has also stopped updating.

-Janet doesn’t know if Trevor can die but would like to run a steamroller over his head.

-Apparently demons don’t need to use the bathroom but Trevor goes in because he likes the smells.

-The objects Janet tried to summon on Earth that appear in front of The Judge include but are not limited to: beer, a recliner, spaghetti, a turtle, a bike, a barrel of toxic chemicals, grenades, a ladder, a billboard that says ‘Trevor stinks!’, a ‘50s style diner, and an army tank.

-According to Janet her powers work like a printer in that when her powers are back online, any objects that she tried to summon but couldn’t, rapidly appear in succession.

-The Doorman’s name is revealed to be Jeff.

-When Trevor steps through the portal to see The Judge, his clothes and hair revert back to the style he had when he was a demon.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “Humans only live for 80 years and they spend so much of it waiting for things to be over.” (Janet to Michael)
• “Attention everyone, don’t look at me.” “I really don’t know what to do.” (Tahani-Simone)