Loveday Writing

When Tahani meets John, she realises that he was a gossip columnist that regularly wrote mean blog posts about her. This makes her and the rest of the gang realise that the Bad Place didn’t pick the worst people, they picked the people who would be the worst for them. The file on the second human comes in and when everyone steps out of the office, it’s revealed that the second human chosen is Simone.

Michael calls The Judge and Shawn and relays Tahani’s theory to them, which Shawn confirms is correct. Michael tells The Judge that having four humans connected to the original four will destroy the integrity of the experiment, however Shawn argues that The Judge never stipulated that the Bad Place couldn’t choose people who were connected to them. The Judge rules Shawn’s actions as acceptable, however as it was a dirty trick, she allows Michael to erase Simone’s memory back to before she met Chidi. Despite solving the problem of Simone remembering the gang, another one arises when Chidi becomes anxious at the possibility of him letting it slip to Simone that they previously knew each other and dated.

Michael tells Chidi that the neighbourhood is big enough that he could easily avoid her, however Chidi counters that a crucial part of the experiment is him helping the humans by teaching them moral philosophy, and that Simone is perceptive and may pick up on him lying to her. He says that Michael needs to erase his memories and reboot him. Eleanor proposes that Michael only erase the memories Chidi has of Simone, but Michael says that he can’t do that as Chidi’s memories of Simone are entangled with his memories of her. Chidi tells them that he has thought about this from every angle and has concluded that if his memories aren’t wiped he will ruin the experiment in one way or another.

Eleanor tells Jason and Tahani that Chidi’s memories will be wiped back to the moment before his death in the original timeline. Michael also tells them that The Judge has given them until the next morning to bring in the remaining two humans. As a “going away” present, Michael shows Eleanor and Chidi a video of their time together over the course of the reboots. Eleanor starts to break down and Chidi tells her that he’s not scared of being rebooted as he has faith in her and that they’ll eventually end up together.

The next morning Eleanor is in Michael’s office and Janet arrives. Eleanor asks Janet what the meaning of life is, as well as what is the point of love if it disappears and how is not loving worse. Janet tells her that the love between two humans is special because the “pandemonium” or chaos of the universe can’t be understood. Janet also tells Eleanor that she has her support. Eleanor appreciates her support as well as referencing the concept of “pandemonium” as she recognises it from Paradise Lost, which Chidi gave her to read. The final moments of the episode and the season has Eleanor welcome Chidi to the neighbourhood as the third human in the repeated experiment.

Overall I felt that this was a solid finale as season 4’s story arc has kicked off with the repeated experiment beginning. Chidi having his memories wiped as he requested and essentially going back to where he started was a nice twist and a plausible obstacle in his and Eleanor’s love story to keep it going for the final season.

In regards to the season as a whole, I feel that this season is the show’s weakest so far. As the four protagonists have had their memories wiped and have been sent back to Earth to essentially start over, they have to be told what has happened to them, so most of the season is essentially re-hashing the previous two seasons. That being said, they still managed to grow.

Eleanor’s growth is shown as she started the season meeting Chidi on Earth wanting to become a better person, and she ended it leading the repeat of the very experiment she was subjected to in the first season, without hesitation. Chidi’s growth is shown in his immediate decisiveness that his memories should be erased to maintain the integrity of the experiment, and his certainty and faith in Eleanor and their relationship. Tahani’s growth is shown through successfully reconciling with Kamilah, and refusing to take the Bad Place’s bait with having John as one of the subjects in the repeated experiment. Jason’s growth is shown through trying to help his father get into the Good Place, helping his brother, and being brave enough to admit to his feelings for Janet (even if she didn’t want to admit to them at times).

I’m looking forward to reviewing the fourth and final season.

Stray Observations:

-There are 322 people (including John) in the new neighbourhood.

-According to Janet, the craziest secret celebrity hook-up was Drake and Ruth Bader Ginsberg on and off for years. It’s later revealed that Tahani set them up.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “We tell The Judge we have to cancel the experiment because I have a fat neck, she’ll understand.” (Michael to Eleanor during his panic attack)
• “Oh no, Michael looks like me this is bad!” (Chidi to Eleanor on Michael)
• “Scared is the best way to be horny!” (Eleanor to Chidi)
• “What’s that saying when you’re playing Chess and you trap your opponent into an inescapable position…oh right, eat butt you dingdongs!” (Shawn to Michael, Janet and the gang)
• “Jason, talk to no-one, go nowhere, do nothing.” “I won’t let you down.” (Eleanor-Jason)
• “You’re just gonna think I’m some sexy, god-like figure, who you wanna hump immediately after meeting her.” “I know you’re deflecting by making jokes about how hot you are…” “It’s not a joke, I’m a legit snack!” (Eleanor-Chidi-Eleanor on Chidi not remembering her once he’s rebooted)