Michael's Motivation (SPOILERS)

[Sansophia]

It just occurred to me that the last episode's title, 'Michael's Gambit' is as intentionally misleading as everything else on the show. Consider the following:

After the reveal, Michael is still pretty damn pleasant for an exposed demon. He's nowhere near as bad as the "Bad Place" crew.

Michael is always fastidious and polite in the office flashback and only talks badly about people in his presentation, where he's trying to get Shaun to sign off on it.

Michael also never unjustly criticizes the cast: Chidi's work IS garbage, Tahani IS insensitive, Jason SHOULD be locked up for the safety of society, and he really did seem to enjoy Elanor's company when she was his assistant. He didn't have to enjoy Karaoke that much.

He did not need for one second to add all those exotic yogurt flavors. And he could have made the damage done to the neighborhood last a lot longer to guilt trip Elanor, or tempted her a lot more to where Chidi would have an actual breakdown because he thought the Elanor would destabilize the neighborhood into total collapse. This would not have been hard at all. And yet he didn't.

Most importantly, Shaun was with him when Elanor dropped the ball.

I'm not saying Michael isn't a demon, but he doesn't have the stomach cold-blooded torture, and he's not nearly as petty as knocking over the cactus indicates.  He's so low in the hierarchy because he's seen as a sensitive weenie and has to act like an asshole to be taken seriously.  And considering these are flawed, medium people he selected for his neighborhood, I think that was a deliberate choice. He's saving them from a fire and brimstone hell they don't deserve. He might have fun pushing their buttons, but he never goes out of his way to make them feel truly miserable. Even the swinger's couple ultimately relieved tension instead of making it worse.

I think therefore, Michael's Gambit pretending to be truly evil in from of his boss, and erasing everyone's memories was how he was keeping them from being reassigned to someplace much worse. It's not completely altruistic, as he does enjoy prodding these people, but he does have genuine concern for them after coming to know them and their potential. To acknowledge this however, would cause the entire project to be shut down.

[Notwisconsin]

Remember the other demons were living in the neighborhood, so he wanted them to be happy and comfortable during their time off.

[Dots And Stripes]

41 minutes ago, Notwisconsin said:

Remember the other demons were living in the neighborhood, so he wanted them to be happy and comfortable during their time off.

What makes demons happy and comfortable? I assume it would be the other torturous things Trevor likes more so than things that would genuinely be expected in the good place.

The idea that Michael is not truly evil is interesting and I think it's a possibility. Based on Schur's other shows I think there's definitely more going on than four medium people being stuck in the Bad Place forever. Still, Michael had an evil smile in the flashbacks. He didn't think he'd need to reveal his plan later, so it's not like he was laying the foundation with that. I assume it was his delight at being mischievous. He might be more complex than pure good or pure bad.

[Fiftyninth]

2 hours ago, Sansophia said:

He did not need for one second to add all those exotic yogurt flavors.

Or is that specifically to torture Chidi with impossible decisions? Do we ever see Chidi eat the froyo, or does he always go without? (I know he certainly sometimes has gone without.)

[King of Birds]

3 hours ago, Sansophia said:

He did not need for one second to add all those exotic yogurt flavors.

See, this is another case where I just couldn't believe this WAS the "Good Place" since Schur either wrote or approved this same message (which is much more apropos of The Truth! )

If Michael really wants to build an afterlife fit for these people, he has to allow it to be one where sometimes Friends is great and sometimes it's crummy. And in a way, he seems to understand that. Just listen to what he says to Eleanor when she asks why the Good Place offers frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. That's just what humans do, Michael says. "Taking something great and ruining it a little so you can have more of it."

Ergo, Michael IS EVIL if only for the FROYO! 

Edited January 23, 2017 by King of Birds

[Sansophia]

The more I hear about Ron Swanson, more I think I really missed something in not watching Parks and Recreation. I think I would have figured the offness of the Good Place wasn't sloppy and tone-deaf writing. Even so about frozen Yogurt, and I don't like Yogurt, I really want to taste full cell phone battery.

[Traveller519]

Nice work! I do hope we get to redeem Michael a bit. Hopefully his curiosity for all things human is genuine. It's that sense of wonder that's really fantastic.

I think I'm going to need to go back and watch Bored to Death this summer to get some more Earnest Ted Danson.

[cpcathy]

Great idea! I have all of Bored to Death on DVD, I love the three actors together and George Christopher is such an optimistic character, interested in everything around him!