The Good Place – Season 4, Episode 12 (Patty)

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This episode finally has the gang and the audience see the Good Place, for real.

The episode kicks off with the gang arriving in the Good Place. Janet checks in and tells the gang that they have to wait to be invited to their welcoming party, due to the fact that if humans see the Good Place all at once, their brains will be scrambled. Michael is nervous about being there due to being a demon, however the Good Place Committee welcome him and reveal that they plan on having him become an official Good Place architect.

However when Michael goes with the Committee to be officially welcomed, the Committee trick him into signing legal documents that give him complete control of the Good Place and immediately quit. When Michael goes looking for them, he finds a whiteboard with a list of ideas for improving the Good Place.

Later, Janet, Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani and Jason go to the welcoming party which caters to their personalities. Jason decides to go through one of the green doors that take people wherever they want, so he can go-kart with monkeys as it’s his lifelong dream. Chidi meets his idol, Hypatia of Alexandria, who informs him that “they’re all screwed”. Meanwhile Tahani meets Paltibaal, who helped the poor in Ancient Phoenicia, who appears unexcited to meet her, and Janet meets another Good Place Janet, who brings people what they want without rhyme or reason.

Meanwhile, Hypatia explains to Eleanor and Chidi that on paper, the Good Place is paradise – all your desires and needs are met, but it’s infinite – when perfection goes on forever, you become a glassy-eyed, mush person or a “happiness zombie”. Eleanor and Chidi go back to the party to tell the others, with Tahani and Janet pointing out what they’ve noticed, Michael informing them about the Committee quitting, and Jason returning from go-karting, now bored with it.

When they go into the Committee’s office to discuss it further, Michael explains that as the Committee weren’t human they couldn’t understand the problem or fix it. Michael proposes that perhaps he erases everyone’s memories every once in a while so they can appreciate the Good Place, but Chidi points out he used that as a method to torture them and that paradise can’t use the same playbook as hell. When Eleanor reminds Michael that humans are always a little bit sad about life as it ends, she proposes that they add a door that allows people to end their existence peacefully if they wish.

When the Soul Squad tells everyone that the new door has been installed and that they can end their existence if they want to, they cheer and celebrate. Hypatia tells Chidi that’s she going to stick around for a while.

The episode ends with everyone going off to their separate houses (Jason’s is revealed to be a Stupid Nick’s Wing Dump restaurant), with Eleanor and Chidi watching the sunset together.

Overall I felt that this was a solid penultimate episode to the series. As the Bad Place and the afterlife system itself was flawed, it’s only natural for the Good Place to be flawed and need fixing as well, which has been hinted at with the Good Place Committee’s blind obedience and slow pace in operating. Solving the main problem with the Good Place was the best final obstacle for the group to deal with before they could finally reap the benefits of their hard work, and live happily ever after in the Good Place.

I’m looking forward to reviewing the series finale.

Stray Observations:

-According to Janet, Aristotle and Plato are in the Bad Place as they defended slavery, whilst Socrates is in the Bad Place as he was too annoying and a loud chewer.

-Some of the ideas to improve the Good Place listed on the whiteboard include:

  • Music you can eat.
  • Get more chocolate in chocolate.
  • More hoverboards.
  • Wait until Beyonce gets here and ask her to fix it.
  • Fewer hoverboards (somehow?).
  • Giant mini donuts (not just regular donuts, Dave will explain).

-Michael puts a heart over the ‘i’ when he signs his name on the Good Place legal documents.

-Hypatia tells Chidi that there is a preference to stay current in the Good Place.

Best one liners and interactions:

  • “I feel just like Dorothy when she lands in Oz. Excited, incredulous, much taller than everyone else around me.” (Tahani on arriving in the Good Place)
  • “What’s everyone want to do first?” “Racing go-karts with monkeys.” “Sure.” “It’s my lifelong dream. Monkeys are the ideal go-kart opponents. They’re funny enough to give the finger but not smart enough to win.” (Eleanor-Jason-Chidi-Jason)
  • “Michael, we’re so happy you made it. You look radiant. You have the calming yet authoritative presence of a bomb-sniffing dog.” (Drew to Michael)
  • “First question, how did you get the ‘of’ in your name? Is it where you hung out the most? Am I Eleanor of the Cheesecake Factory Bar?” (Eleanor to Hypatia)
  • “I would have killed for a vaccine. Any vaccine. It’s crazy that you guys just don’t like them now.” (Paltibaal to Tahani)

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