S04.E05: Employee of the Bearimy

[Dowel Jones]

Poking fun at Inside The Actor's Studio, perhaps?

[Rinaldo]

32 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

Poking fun at Inside The Actor's Studio, perhaps?

Sure, if you want. But to me, it's what @lucindabelle said: Poking fun at actors in general, the ones who think their difficulties in rehearsal are deeply interesting for others to hear about.  (On Inside the Actors' Studio, they've at least been asked to share, and an audience of students has shown up to hear them, and they're presumably the ones at the top of the profession and maybe have something valuable to share. Not the case with those whom @lucindabelle and I have encountered in person.)

[incandescent]

I love Vicky's annoying ass. I bet Theatre People is one of the biggest departments in the Bad Place.

[lucindabelle]

On 10/26/2019 at 3:12 PM, Rinaldo said:

Sure, if you want. But to me, it's what @lucindabelle said: Poking fun at actors in general, the ones who think their difficulties in rehearsal are deeply interesting for others to hear about.  (On Inside the Actors' Studio, they've at least been asked to share, and an audience of students has shown up to hear them, and they're presumably the ones at the top of the profession and maybe have something valuable to share. Not the case with those whom @lucindabelle and I have encountered in person.)

The Good Place is made up of  writers, directors  and actors. These are in jokes FOR THEM.(And some of us also get it) In a previous season vicky also complained about her role and demanded a limp. Everyone on the show has acted or directed. The reason ted danson  can say “I’m in my head now” so well is he’s HEARD it and had probably even said it.
 

I imagine a LOT Of giggles in writers room and first read. 

Edited October 27, 2019 by lucindabelle

[auntiemel]

On 10/24/2019 at 7:04 PM, Linny said:

 Best. Demon Con. Ever.

Well, the production values do get better every year. 😄

[JeezumCrow]

On 10/25/2019 at 12:56 AM, Mockingbird said:

Tahani trying to close the curtains so that Chidi couldn’t see outside was the perfect bit of physical comedy in the background of the scene. 

This was hilarious, but THE moment of the episode for me was another background gag: Derek pours his champagne flute of Scrabble tiles directly into his face and follows it with a refreshed “Ahhh.” Next shot, the flute is full of tiles again. 

[Kiddvideo]

“Welcome to The Bad Place. Population Your Mom.”

The storylines have been Jason-heavy recently, but he’s my favorite at the moment. He’s so dumb but so earnest.

[lucindabelle]

9 hours ago, Kiddvideo said:

“Welcome to The Bad Place. Population Your Mom.”

The storylines have been Jason-heavy recently, but he’s my favorite at the moment. He’s so dumb but so earnest.

Earnest! Perfect description. 

[piccadilly83]

I love Vicki. I loved her when she was playing Good Eleanor, and I liked her when she was just being her insufferable demon self. That actress cracks me up. I saw her in a movie with the actress who plays Cece in New Girl and they were great. I'm sad to see her go.

Could someone explain something to me. It was bothering me in the previous episode where we learned that Good Janet was really Bad Janet. How is that neighborhood still running? Good Janet said she was controlling everything and that it was very difficult managing all of the people and the facade and everything, right? When the demons switch out Good Janet for Bad Janet and then marblize Good Janet, shouldn't that have stopped the simulation? I mean, I guess the show is trying to imply that Bad Janet was running the simulation in Good Janet's absence, but how could she do that? Also, now we have Derek running everything ... I don't know, I got confused. I guess I think of Janet as a computer, which I probably shouldn't, but I guess I don't see how someone could access to the files she was running when they're on her hard drive. I don't know, that's the only plot hole that's been bugging me.

[SomeTameGazelle]

4 hours ago, piccadilly83 said:

Could someone explain something to me. It was bothering me in the previous episode where we learned that Good Janet was really Bad Janet. How is that neighborhood still running? Good Janet said she was controlling everything and that it was very difficult managing all of the people and the facade and everything, right? When the demons switch out Good Janet for Bad Janet and then marblize Good Janet, shouldn't that have stopped the simulation? I mean, I guess the show is trying to imply that Bad Janet was running the simulation in Good Janet's absence, but how could she do that? Also, now we have Derek running everything ... I don't know, I got confused. I guess I think of Janet as a computer, which I probably shouldn't, but I guess I don't see how someone could access to the files she was running when they're on her hard drive. I don't know, that's the only plot hole that's been bugging me.

It makes more sense if you think of what Janet is supplying as more like the operating system or even an application rather than specific files. So they replaced the hardware when Bad Janet and then Derek stepped in, but that hardware could still run the neighborhood.

Edited November 1, 2019 by SomeTameGazelle
Trimmed quote

[Loandbehold]

4 hours ago, piccadilly83 said:

I think of Janet as a computer,

Not a computer.

15 minutes ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Janet is supplying as more like the operating system or even an application

Not an operating system. Not an application.

Now that that's out of my system (not a system), Bad Janet said that she was rebooted often (don't recall how many times) so she could pass as Good Janet. Given that, I can see how she could keep the neighborhood going. Also, Sean was taken to task already for interfering w/ the experiment. If Bad Janet just stopped doing whatever she does to keep the neighborhood going, as opposed to little things that muck up what's happening, Gen could end the experiment and declare the Soul Squad the winners. Or some other punishment given to Sean.

As for Derek, he also has seen many reboots since Mindy does it when she's angry or bored, and that's pretty often. As a result, he's able to keep the neighborhood going, even if he does a poor job.

[SomeTameGazelle]

40 minutes ago, Loandbehold said:

Not a computer.

Not an operating system. Not an application.

Now that that's out of my system (not a system), Bad Janet said that she was rebooted often (don't recall how many times) so she could pass as Good Janet. Given that, I can see how she could keep the neighborhood going. Also, Sean was taken to task already for interfering w/ the experiment. If Bad Janet just stopped doing whatever she does to keep the neighborhood going, as opposed to little things that muck up what's happening, Gen could end the experiment and declare the Soul Squad the winners. Or some other punishment given to Sean.

As for Derek, he also has seen many reboots since Mindy does it when she's angry or bored, and that's pretty often. As a result, he's able to keep the neighborhood going, even if he does a poor job.

Just an analogy, man. The capacity Bad Janet and Derek have to run the neighbourhood doesn't explain how they can take it over if the neighbourhood were "stored" in Janet, which it isn't. Maybe a better analogy would be if we think of the neighbourhood as a baby and Janet as its mother. Let's say normally the mother would breastfeed the baby. But when she goes out someone else -- the father (Derek) or her sister (Bad Janet) -- bottle-feeds the baby. Baby stays nourished, everything's fine. Still just an analogy because obviously we don't know how Janets actually work.

[possibilities]

It's magic. That's my explanation. TV magic.

[bros402]

19 hours ago, piccadilly83 said:

I love Vicki. I loved her when she was playing Good Eleanor, and I liked her when she was just being her insufferable demon self. That actress cracks me up. I saw her in a movie with the actress who plays Cece in New Girl and they were great. I'm sad to see her go.

Could someone explain something to me. It was bothering me in the previous episode where we learned that Good Janet was really Bad Janet. How is that neighborhood still running? Good Janet said she was controlling everything and that it was very difficult managing all of the people and the facade and everything, right? When the demons switch out Good Janet for Bad Janet and then marblize Good Janet, shouldn't that have stopped the simulation? I mean, I guess the show is trying to imply that Bad Janet was running the simulation in Good Janet's absence, but how could she do that? Also, now we have Derek running everything ... I don't know, I got confused. I guess I think of Janet as a computer, which I probably shouldn't, but I guess I don't see how someone could access to the files she was running when they're on her hard drive. I don't know, that's the only plot hole that's been bugging me.

I think it is because there wasn't a lapse between Janet being taken and Bad Janet impersonating Janet, so after Janet left the neighborhood the load was just transferred to the nearest available Janet, which was Bad-Janet-as-Good-Janet.

At worst, it would have just killed the Janet babies - since Mindy doesn't have a Janet, but her house stays there. The original neighborhood only disappeared after Janet made it happen. So without a Janet present, the neighborhood is static.

[Jobiska]

On 10/25/2019 at 3:30 AM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Shawn had a good comment about Jason's cheekbones.

I laughed especially hard because just a couple of days before I watched a YouTube video of "Manny Jacinto reads thirsty tweets" and a lot of them were about his cheekbones/jawline/bone structure.

[snarktini]

On 10/25/2019 at 9:24 AM, Traveller519 said:

WELCOME TO THE BAD PLACE
   "Population: Your Mom"

I had to get the pause on the DVR just right, but that made me laugh more than it should.

As soon as I saw the sign I immediately guessed it was a Yo Mama joke -- it didn't look like a number and this show likes a throwaway sign gag -- and sure enough the freeze frame confirmed. Win!

On 10/25/2019 at 9:32 AM, iMonrey said:

Definitely. The running gag of Chidi going "OOOOOOOOH!" throughout the episode any time he thought the puzzle was taking on new twists was both hilarious and endearing.

Could he be any more adorable?! His glee was just amazing. I really like when we get to see happy Chidi instead of anxious Chidi.

[aradia22]

Ted Danson in a trench coat and a fedora like an old timey private eye is just... chef's kiss.

As much as the demons are sabotaging them I kind of like that things aren't running smoothly because of tensions within the group. Tahani would want to feel more useful.

The Demoncon plan wasn't all that great but I'm willing to believe that they got away because of the incompetence at this mandatory company event.

All these Jaguars jokes are the most I've ever laughed at a sports thing.

[Zuleikha]

Tahani realising she wants to be useful for real, learn and do something that matters.

This has always been my issue with how the show presents Tahani:  Tahani was shown to us as an effective charity fundraiser. That is very, very useful. She wasn't throwing parties just to get in with the upper crust or do drugs and have a great time. Her parties were purposeful. Tahani, of all the originals, has always actively worked to make the world better and has always been shown to be genuinely kind. 

I'm enjoying the show, but like last season, I'm not feeling the initial episodes as special. It all feels like filler. It's neither funny enough nor deep enough. Too much plot is coming from the demon sabotage and too little is coming from the actual stakes or the potential ethical dilemmas. 

[Guest]

54 minutes ago, Zuleikha said:

This has always been my issue with how the show presents Tahani:  Tahani was shown to us as an effective charity fundraiser. That is very, very useful. She wasn't throwing parties just to get in with the upper crust or do drugs and have a great time. Her parties were purposeful. Tahani, of all the originals, has always actively worked to make the world better and has always been shown to be genuinely kind. 

But she was just throwing parties to get in with the upper crust. The fundraising was incidental to that goal and only served as a way to try and prove she was better than her sister. She admitted she didn’t care about the people she was helping and that her only real goal was to snog Ryan Gosling and the Met Ball. 

I love they way Tahani has evolved but she really wasn’t genuinely kind. She deliberately tried to make others feel bad to make herself feel better. Her actions were the result of her own pain but she was still awful to anyone she perceived to be beneath her. 

Edited November 9, 2019 by Guest

[Zuleikha]

Quote

The fundraising was incidental to that goal and only served as a way to try and prove she was better than her sister.

I don't believe that was consistent with the Tahani we were shown in s1. She was always shown as genuinely kind and compassionate to Eleanor, Michael, and the other residents. But we can agree to disagree--I've written about this in various s1 and s2 threads. Although even if her motives had been bad, that still wouldn't support the specific choice the writers made of denigrating her actual abilities. It's still a thing she did successfully that was useful and had positive impact, regardless of why she did it.

Edited November 9, 2019 by Zuleikha

[Guest]

54 minutes ago, Zuleikha said:

 Although even if her motives had been bad, that still wouldn't support the specific choice the writers made of denigrating her actual abilities. It's still a thing she did successfully that was useful and had positive impact, regardless of why she did it.

I don’t think they have been denigrating her actual abilities. Eleanor choose to have her be responsible for the most important aspect of the experiment. Tahani was the only one who diminished her own importance to the experiment.