Look, I spent my whole life trying to learn about right and wrong and, apparently, I failed.
Chidi's lowkey the best character on the show
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The Good Place S2 |OT| Well, Fork Me - Thursdays 8:30/7:30c
- Thread starter TheOddOne
- Start date
Look, I spent my whole life trying to learn about right and wrong and, apparently, I failed.
Chidi's lowkey the best character on the show
So I take it Vicky is a series regular now?. She's one of my favorite characters now and good god I love all of them. This show is absolutely hilarious and the mythology is insanely interesting.
Also lol where did they take a shot at La la Land?. Reading that Schur interview Cornballer posted and I loved his response.
Edit: I guess ziti of stars was the joke.
http://www.vulture.com/2017/09/the-good-place-food-puns-dance-dance-resolution.html
Also lol where did they take a shot at La la Land?. Reading that Schur interview Cornballer posted and I loved his response.
Edit: I guess ziti of stars was the joke.
http://www.vulture.com/2017/09/the-good-place-food-puns-dance-dance-resolution.html
Lupin the Third
Member
Michael didn't react much when Janet came to report that the train full of cocaine was ready.
Does he know more than he's letting on about the Medium Place?
Does he know more than he's letting on about the Medium Place?
He knows they have been repeatedly sneaking off and doesn't have a high opinion of the humans so he's not surprised
as someone who just binged season 1 recently, I feel that this was one of those episodes that works better if you are binge watching than as a weekly episode, does that make sense?
Basically not much happened is what im saying I guess. Still good tho, because the dialogue is always a treat (much like B99 in that sense for me)
Basically not much happened is what im saying I guess. Still good tho, because the dialogue is always a treat (much like B99 in that sense for me)
Hot speculative take: Michael is a secret agent from the Good Place. His actual mission is to prove that humans who were sent to the Bad Place could learn enough ethics to get into the Good Place instead.
"Why does he reset them all the time then?" you ask. I don't know. Some twists are themselves twisty.
Just watched the new episode. I still believe Michael's boss is messing with him.
Why would he approve such a big project? They have like several hundreds demons to only torture four people. All the previous torturing methods mentioned in the show are "efficient." You just need one demon to torture many people.
Why would he approve such a big project? They have like several hundreds demons to only torture four people. All the previous torturing methods mentioned in the show are "efficient." You just need one demon to torture many people.
Aarglefarg
Member
That efficiency could have lead to high unemployment.
They also showed Eleanor having a jazz bro soulmate named Sebastian, it was ultimately the three hour spoken word jazz poem that tipped her off that it was The Bad Place. If that isn't a dig at La La Land, I don't know what is.
Sepinwall asked Michael Schur about this in an interview and he said, basically, that in an infinity of Bad Places and demons the concept of efficiency is meaningless. They can't run out of demons, so it's really just a question of whether the torture quality is high enough to justify changing things, because they don't like change.
http://uproxx.com/sepinwall/the-good-place-twist-explained-mike-schur/3/
Ahh didn't even notice that soulmate was named Sebastian. Lol damn fhat was pretty savage. Glad this creative team gets it and I'm guessing that's why the cast is insanely diverse. Like I mentioned it in the other thread but my family was in disbelief when they found out Manny Jacinto is Filipino and he's playing a Filipino. They all thought he'd be playing any other Asian race but his own.
encephalon
Member
I know the lead is a white lady, but I love the diversity on the show. Look, asian people being hired!
paradox121
Member
I only just realised that all the white men on the show are literal demons.
War Peaceman
You're a big guy.
I think it is diversity done right. They never directly address their ethnicities, but they don't hide from it either. Tahaani's relationship with her parents is a very typical South Asian family (particularly British-Asian) trait, albeit exaggerated.
Doctor Shatner
Member
I kept seeing this thread popping up in off-topic and decided to watch a few eps on Netflix.
1st season complete and caught up in season 2
glad I didn't actually click into the OT, wow, twist got me good, but the entire show is really a delight.
1st season complete and caught up in season 2
glad I didn't actually click into the OT, wow, twist got me good, but the entire show is really a delight.
SuperPac
Member
I assume he is just one of the demons playing roles and isn't actually in charge of any of the places. Was rewatching the episode where Michael calls him and he uses an old-timey radio type device and not the video screen of when he spoke with Sean. Dunno if that lends any credence one way or the other tho'.
Poodlestrike
Banned
Trevor is probably reasonably senior since he was in the Mindy video, but his actual role is still up in the air. Damn shame he's not cameoing this season.
Trevor is definitely high up and in charge of his own "neighborhood" Mindy is real and he was in the video
It was probably a favor or seeing him being a dick to Micheal made by Shaun to so it
Or maybe he's transferring Vicky to Micheal, would be hilarious if he did it because she was annoying or something and "dude you need a demon, fucking have her I'm done with her"
It was probably a favor or seeing him being a dick to Micheal made by Shaun to so it
Or maybe he's transferring Vicky to Micheal, would be hilarious if he did it because she was annoying or something and "dude you need a demon, fucking have her I'm done with her"
StudioTan
Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
Congrats on calling but that doesn't mean it's nothing special. Even the other actors on the show didn't figure it out before being told the twist prior to filming the finale.
http://ew.com/tv/2017/09/20/the-good-place-bad-place-video-kristen-bell/
aparisi2274
Member
Just watched last Thursdays episode. When Eleanor slapped Jason and the lollipop flew out of his mouth, I had to pause the DVR for a good 5min
This show just gets better every week.
This show just gets better every week.
That bit was amazing. I was really hoping after he picked it up by the lollypop end that he'd put it back in his mouth stick first.
Jack Scofield
Member
Jason is actively hurting the show for me. He's soooo dumb and doesn't add anything to the core group. I also hate his cadence when he speaks, though I'm not sure if that's the actor's normal speaking style or not.
Aside from that, I love this show.
Aside from that, I love this show.
StarCreator
Member
I legit have problems believing how well Jason pulled off the silent monk ruse early in S1 for so long given how completely stupid he acts now. He's almost a completely different character entirely now.
I love Jason. Hes a little too dumb right now but Im sure theyll balance it out.
I was talking to my wife about a philosophical question that Tahani and Chidi pose. Ostensibly, Tahani is in the Bad Place because, although she did many good things, she only did them with the intention of self-aggrandizement. In other words, intentions matter and consequences dont.
However, Chidi is in the Bad Place for the exact opposite reason his behavior made a lot of people frustrated or angry, but he it was only because he was so focused on doing the right thing in the situation! Chidis presence suggests that consequences matter and intentions dont. So its a little unclear what you actually need to do to get into the Good Place.
Jason and Eleanor occupy kind of the opposite corners in this analysis Jasons clearly committed a lot of petty crimes but seems to lack any real malignant impulse, while Eleanor constantly acted out of pure selfishness, but didnt really do anything that terrible.
I was talking to my wife about a philosophical question that Tahani and Chidi pose. Ostensibly, Tahani is in the Bad Place because, although she did many good things, she only did them with the intention of self-aggrandizement. In other words, intentions matter and consequences dont.
However, Chidi is in the Bad Place for the exact opposite reason his behavior made a lot of people frustrated or angry, but he it was only because he was so focused on doing the right thing in the situation! Chidis presence suggests that consequences matter and intentions dont. So its a little unclear what you actually need to do to get into the Good Place.
Jason and Eleanor occupy kind of the opposite corners in this analysis Jasons clearly committed a lot of petty crimes but seems to lack any real malignant impulse, while Eleanor constantly acted out of pure selfishness, but didnt really do anything that terrible.
StarCreator
Member
I don't think Tahani and Chidi are exceptions to the rule.
As you said, Tahani's motivations weren't selfless, so much of the good she did didn't count.
Chidi, on the other hand, had great motivations, but didn't actually accomplish a lot of good.
Then there's Mindy, who accomplished one colossal good thing pretty much accidentally.
I suspect that the answer is that you have to do the Right Thing for the Right Reasons. Both intentions and consequences matter.
But it's possible that intentions matter more than consequences. Michael said that Chidi was the one who came closest to getting into the Good Place (even if he still wasn't very close).
Personally, I think Chidi's flaw was that even his intentions weren't quite correct. In his flashbacks it always seemed like he wanted to follow his ethical rules not because it would help people but because they were the rules and he wanted to follow the rules. Consider the flashback to his childhood when he was supposed to pick someone for his team and instead "filibustered recess." Nobody who could have been hurt by his choice cared and just wanted him to make one, but he refused because he wanted to be sure of his motivation. He was acting for his own self-satisfaction rather than to help anyone else.
broncobuster
Banned
Tahani talking so much probably helped him a whole lot.
Poodlestrike
Banned
I had a thought today; I think that the reason why the Good Place vs. Bad Place placement rules seem to produce such strange outcomes is because they're not really designed so much as mutually settled on. Michael framing the reason why the Good Place would take him in as him "rescuing" the four, plus the way that the Mindy situation went down, makes me think that there isn't really a governing authority between the Good Place and the Bad, and the two actually exist in some kind of active opposition. So rather than applying some logical, internally consistent ethical criteria, you get a little bit of a mess, because that's what happens with negotiated settlements; nobody's really happy.
It explains why he had to steal a Janet instead of asking for one from Shaun and how according to Micheal there's a chance for them to take him which makes no sense of they are under the same management
mechashiva
Member
He was busy with his bud hole.
If Michael from S1 is to be believed, almost nobody actually does get into The Good Place, and plausibly they judge based on some combination of intentions and deeds -- you'd get points for helping an old lady across the street if you did it because you wanted to do the right thing, but not because you wanted to impress someone else. Certainly none of the four main characters measure up to who Eleanor was supposed to be or the backstories the demonic extras come up with. The only person who seems hard to explain is Mindy, but the argument they make for her isn't completely nuts -- she intended and did a ridiculous amount of good, even if it was an uncharacteristic act. Edit: Mindy suggests to me that Michael was basically telling the truth. It's a very bean-county system that doesn't leave a whole lot of room for judgment calls. Do a good thing -> get points. Get enough points -> go to The Good Place. Mindy's case was so egregiously weird that someone appealed.
Is the 'points' system for real though? I was thinking it might be part of the initial ruse. It's explained that good actions earn you points, but there's no asterisk that says those actions have to be motivated by good intentions. I know they mention Tahani barely made it to the "good" place in season one, but her 'good' actions were largely influenced by her means - if she wasn't wealthy, would she have been able to achieve enough to get there? I dunno, it seems to me that the criteria for determining who goes where might be a little less arbitrary than literal moral currency, or maybe there's more nuance to the system than they initially let on.
I think we should all we know as a grain of salt as 9f now
But Chidi was the one that got closest because he genuinely wants to do good but unintentional made everybody miserable because he wanted to be good
Baroquemantic
Member
This is all just an experiment run by aliens. No one's actually dead. Or it's a Matrix-like simulation.
Only half serious
StarCreator
Member
Watch the final reveal be that Eleanor has been in a catatonic state ever since being run over by the shopping carts and her damaged brain has been creating the entire scenario and the characters she meets using the likenesses of the doctors and nurses watching over her.
... nah, can't be.
I actually went back and watched the Mindy case for this discussion and the specific point at issue is that Mindy didnt do the good thing, her sister did it after Mindys death. She just used Mindys money and plans to do it. So how much credit does Mindy get for actions taken by somebody else after her death, but inspired by her? This potentially opens the door to a whole lot of shenanigans.
Also I realized that Mindys explanations still leave a whole lot of unanswered questions. How does she know about the charitys success when it took place after her death? I cant tell whether details like these are irrelevant or key hints any more.
I imagine they probably told her to explain why there's confusion and issues with her placement
StarCreator
Member
Either they told her of the details when they finally decided her fate... or she's actually God and there to test Eleanor, who will immediately fail if she ever delivers the cocaine.
LordRaptor
Member
Its not even that clear cut with Tahani - S1 showed her near pathethetic (as in inspiring pathos) need to please people and make an impression, and her backstory as to why includes being overshadowed in literally every single thing she does by her sister, to her own parents getting her name wrong in their last will and testament, so its not even like she does these things for the fame and recognition, as much as she did those things for the love and respect her parents never gave her (and never will).
As for how 'the system' works, I'm sort of inclined to take Michael at face value that no religion or philosophy has ever got more than 5% or whatever close to it
Actually, from what we've seen, there is. When Eleanor was trying to do good things for the other residents so that she could stay we saw that her selfish motivation meant that she wasn't actually earning any points. She only started earning points after she gave up on staying. And I think Janet provided that tracker, so it would make sense for it to run on genuine Good Place rules.
Jason did wonder if they'd been abducted by aliens, and he was right about it being a prank show, so...
Poodlestrike
Banned
I've had this thought ever since I hit the original twist. It'd be BRILLIANT, or, possibly, monstrously stupid and awful.
One of those options.