Mockingbird

Janet on mag-a-nents! Jameela’s read on Eleanor—that this is the warmest we’ve seen her, bar last season’s finale—felt really apt. Jen said it was because it’s the first time we’ve really seen with without her back against the wall. But I also can’t really see selfish flashback Eleanor offering to share her pullout sofa with a stranger. Is this evidence of a few weeks of Chidi’s classes working? Or of Team Cockroach retaining some tiny bit of “these are my people”? Chidi was also pretty instantly entertained by Eleanor’s self-assessment. But maybe I’m just seeing that because I want to I also love how much Marc HATED the claustrophobic joke, even if I again sided with Jameela. The ad for Deirdre and Margaret had me in stitches.

Oh, I completely believe that Eleanor and Chidi ARE soulmates and fell in love over and over again. I ship it. (And I also believe that Michael and Eleanor are platonic soulmates.) I'm just saying that Michael only said that they were soulmates during the first attempt, as far as we know. All of the other times, Eleanor and Chidi had different assigned soulmates. And D'Arcy can certainly make the most of very few lines. Agreed completely with her "perfect."

Except Eleanor was only his soulmate in 1 out of 802 reboots, right? I think a Chidi who would potentially risk his place in—what he thought to be the Good Place—to help the same annoying outsider become a better person would absolutely spend a few hours a week teaching her, especially after his What We Owe to Each Other lecture series. An NBC ad for next week’s episode actually spoiled Trevor’s comeback, but I was still happy to see him. He’ll be fun/the worst next week.

A million times this. We Crumb from a Land Down Under is one of my favorite food puns on this show. The Doorman’s genuine delight about the frog on the mug warmed my soul. I didn’t necessarily love Michael telling Chidi to help the next person to ask for it, as the cornerstone of Chidi and Eleanor’s relationship has always been that he’s agreed to help her every single time he asked. But I guess they wanted to gift us with that Australian accent from Ted. I do love how much Eleanor selflessly “bullies” Chidi into making good decisions. So glad to have this show and these characters back.

I've always loved Mike Schur's work, but thanks to all of these podcasts, I've developed a pretty severe Mike Schur crush. Dude more than lives up to his reputation.

As an American, I thought the pantomime was completely over the top as well, but once I saw a similar “panto” on Father Brown, I did some digging. Apparently the “pantomime dame” is traditionally a middle-aged man in drag and has been around for centuries. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantomime_dame

And Michael threw away Chidi’s life’s work. Told him it was unreadable. As a person currently writing her dissertation, I felt that. I should have known then, but I’ve just been so strongly conditioned to trust Ted Danson characters. It’s also a huge hint that we never saw Michael with anyone other than the four humans.

Marc’s insistance that Shawn is god, to Mike’s growing faux exasperation, though. Also, it was super sweet that KB just said she really cares about what Mike Schur thinks of her, only for her to be Mike’s first “what’s good” of the episode.

I was so shocked that Michael came in fifth after he was clearly the producer favorite that I forgot to comment on how shocked HE was he came in fifth.

HOLY SHIT. My faith in the people who watch this show and vote has been completely restored. Here I was, ready to be all cynical and crabby, and I would have been happy with anyone in the top three winning. (But Tyra (1) personal space and (2) don’t thank people for everything they’ve done for Tourette’s.)

So you don’t need a ton of talent to win America’s Got Talent as long as you’re a really good person?

The rest of the comedy nominees fell at some point on the super disappointed to super pissed spectrum.

Leslie Jones should be at every proposal.

Here’s the season 3 scene! https://ew.com/tv/2018/09/11/the-good-place-season-3-premiere-first-scene/ Edited to add the even better youtube clip:

Khiem! I thought for sure that Amber was getting the winner's edit all season, and, while I liked both her and Jo, a lot of Khiem's work was just, well, art. I'm so happy for him, and it was sweet to see Amanda. A well-deserved win. Nick's gripe about Amber's puzzle being too easy to solve slayed me. I'll be eagerly awaiting season 2.

The Swanson Safe Company ad was such a forking delight. I love how much everyone on this show loves this show.

But...why is next week already the finale? Where am I going to get my Offerman dancing fix?

Agreed. Everything about that was utterly delightful. Hopefully NBC uploads it shortly for anyone who missed it.

Guess no one on the panel watched any Even Stevens. Recognizing Mr. Stevens helped me pick out the designer of the Starbucks logo.

Nick's concern about Dayna talking to magazines had me in stitches for some reason. And his giggle is just a gift to all of us in this dark time. I know some people are getting tired of Nick and Amy's banter, but them cracking each other up is still very much a highlight of this show for me. I loved Khiem's dog, even if it made no sense for him to be backwards, and, as an owner of a very beloved dog, the thought of her eating me squicks me out. His aesthetic isn't necessarily a match for the tone of the show, but the gummy bear/candy bone carnage in his Colosseum last week made me laugh so hard, probably because it's just so tonally different. But he's exceedingly talented, and I always love seeing what he creates. Amber does seem to be getting the winner's edit, as they've been showing her "growth," but I'm just hoping that everyone on this show receives a career/sales bump.

I sort of groaned when Marc Evan Jackson (who I’ve appreciated for years but now just flat out love thanks to this podcast) announced that they were trying out new things like ads. Well played. (And I’m guessing we’ll be getting Mantzoukis for one of Derek’s episodes.) This podcast is a delight.

If, by second time through you mean my fourth time through, I’m in. (This show is my own personal Good Place.)

I appreciate most things about Nick Offerman and the type of human he is, but I loved him respectfully disagreeing with the judges to appreciate the work the one contestant had done with the wood’s grain. With such a wide variety of makers, finding judges knowledgeable in all of their mediums would have been impossible, which is perhaps my one slight critique of the show. There isn’t really a Mary Berry of all crafting.

This is everything I need in a television show at this moment in time.

While I'm glad the show got a bit of recognition for Ted and Maya, the fact that it wasn't nominated for best comedy, when some shows that really aren't even comedies get nominated, is mind-boggling to me. Kristen deserved a nomination, too. The whole thing is bullshirt.