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S02.E03: Dance Dance Resolution

ElectricBoogaloo

By ElectricBoogaloo
in The Good Place [V]

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MrWhyt
MrWhyt

i think the best part was when Jason figured it out first.

Linny
Linny

"Busty Alexa" pleading for her life because she had tickets to next week's performance of Hamilton was delightful. Eleanor and Chidi falling into bed and in love wasn't what I was expecting, but

Mockingbird
Mockingbird

This show. So so good.  I can't wait to watch those first ten minutes again. I was laughing too hard from Janet's pleading and Jason's figuring out they were in the bad place to hear everything. 

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Mockingbird

Mockingbird

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This show. So so good. 

I can't wait to watch those first ten minutes again. I was laughing too hard from Janet's pleading and Jason's figuring out they were in the bad place to hear everything. 

And the pacing! They're not forking around in the writers' room. 

I wish I could force everyone I know to watch this. 

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Linny

Linny

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"Busty Alexa" pleading for her life because she had tickets to next week's performance of Hamilton was delightful.

Eleanor and Chidi falling into bed and in love wasn't what I was expecting, but I liked it. There's enough chemistry between them to justify a romantic pairing, so I would like to see that fleshed out. I also liked Mindy tiredly flipping through her outdated copy of People magazine while Eleanor freaked out. Mindy is fucking strange but somehow she works for me.

The restaurants changing names in the background throughout the various attempts was so incredibly well done. Knish From A Rose, Cake Canaveral, Biscotti Pippen, Beignet and the Jet, The Pestos Yet To Come, You Do the Hokey Gnocchi and You Get Yourself Some Food, and Hot Dog on a Stick on a Stick were inspired and hilarious. It's these thoughtful layers of comedy that really make this show shine.

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Mockingbird

Mockingbird

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7 minutes ago, Linny said:

"Busty Alexa" pleading for her life because she had tickets to next week's performance of Hamilton was delightful.

Eleanor and Chidi falling into bed and in love wasn't what I was expecting, but I liked it. There's enough chemistry between them to justify a romantic pairing, so I would like to see that fleshed out. I also liked Mindy tiredly flipping through her outdated copy of People magazine while Eleanor freaked out. Mindy is fucking strange but somehow she works for me.

The restaurants changing names in the background throughout the various attempts was so incredibly well done. Knish From A Rose, Cake Canaveral, Biscotti Pippen, Beignet and the Jet, The Pestos Yet To Come, You Do the Hokey Gnocchi and You Get Yourself Some Food, and Hot Dog on a Stick on a Stick were inspired and hilarious. It's these thoughtful layers of comedy that really make this show shine.

Not just tickets to Hamilton. But tickets to Hamilton with the rumor that Daveed Diggs was coming back. That was cold, Michael. 

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DrScottie

DrScottie

(edited)

This show is forking amazing. 

I'm surprised the more higher up demons like Glenn (who was at the conference table) or Todd (the lava monster) haven't reported to Shawn about the multiple reboots. Vicki is blackmailing him so I get why she isn't. 

It was fun to see Eleanor act the jerk she was in real life again. Redemption arcs can get a little dull to see. 

32 minutes ago, Linny said:

Eleanor and Chidi falling into bed and in love wasn't what I was expecting, but I liked it. There's enough chemistry between them to justify a romantic pairing, so I would like to see that fleshed out. I also liked Mindy tiredly flipping through her outdated copy of People magazine while Eleanor freaked out. Mindy is fucking strange but somehow she works for me.

I feel bad for Mindy knowing these people will keep showing up not remembering anything. You know, I am hoping they can bring some stuff back from their neighborhood to Mindy's place. She should have more than warm beer, an outdated People magazine, and old VHS tapes. She needs her fix. 

After so many attempts, I'm not at all surprised at least a few of them were like that. Tahani, Eleanor, and Vicki (though that was likely fake) expressed feelings for him in the first attempt. It was somewhat inevitable. 

So, our group of four is teaming up with Michael to stop Vicki and to save him. To be fair, he has spared them from the really "Bad Place" so it would be best if he avoided the Eternal Shriek and kept the charade going. Otherwise, it's butt spiders, penis flattening, twisting, etc. for them. 

22 minutes ago, Mockingbird said:

Not just tickets to Hamilton. But tickets to Hamilton with the rumor that Daveed Diggs was coming back. That was cold, Michael. 

Janet can get anything that someone asks of her and she'll say anything to keep from getting rebooted. He knows that, but I too think tickets to Hamilton would be reason enough to not kill her that time. 

Edited by DrScottie
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chaifan

chaifan

This show is such the bright spot of good writing, good acting, originality, etc., that is sorely lacking elsewhere.  (Can you tell I just watched Will & Grace, and am now suffering through Great News?)  Loved the rapid pace clicking through all the reboots.  Loved the change in backgrounds.  Loved loved loved the mean giraffe!  And I can totally understand the minions rebelling after 100+ tries.  Can't wait to see where the new alliance will take us next week.

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CaptainTightpants

CaptainTightpants

I love the delightfully unpredictable nature of this show! It is so fresh and original. (:

Not even 10 min into the third episode and they are on attempt #802! The montage of failed attempts is pretty much the funniest 10 min of TV I've ever seen. 

I'm really happy that they are perusing the Eleanor/Chidi romantic angle because the chemistry between the actors is a wonder to see. But I am also impatient to see the Jason/Janet relationship being repaired as well. They are utter perfection, this is honestly on of the best cast shows I've ever come across!

Also, I hated Vicky ever since she showed up as RealEleanor in season 1. So I am in no way surprised that she has gone full-on queen bitch. I hope that Team Michael & the 4 humans utterly destroy her! 

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CherithCutestory

CherithCutestory

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(edited)

I will NEVER FORGIVE this show for not giving me more of the Tahani is your soulmate scenario!

Except for that one soul crushing error in judgment, that was perfect. Watching Eleanor (and Jason that one time) figure it out every single time would have gotten  really dull if they played it out more. But at the same time why wouldn't she figure it out every time? It's not like she had a note first season. The way they did it was just perfect. Michael would never just give up after three tries.

My favorites of the Groundhog Afterlife were Eleanor just walking in on him talking into his recorder, his going off about it while Eleanor was sitting right there, and the revolving clown figures (?). Oh and Chidi being chased in the background.

The interesting thing to me is that it seems like Janet was the cause behind Chidi and Eleanor being reunited each time. And Chidi and Eleanor being together will always lead to growth (for both) and recognition.

I read speculation on another forum that Janet was actually God. Or like a fragment of God's consciousness. Like she's the Holy Ghost. This episode made me think it was true. Michael has no idea what/who he stole. And she's just forking with him and having a blast.

Edited by CherithCutestory
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Dots And Stripes

Dots And Stripes

Chidi running from the bees was my personal highlight. I enjoyed all of the random scenarios we saw in the reboots.

I was starting to worry about Eleanor and Chidi hating each other because I really enjoyed seeing the 4 bond last season. Of course I should have known the writers were one step ahead of me. 

I didn't think the demons would tolerate more reboots. I hope we get some more insight into that next week. I did think Michael would eventually work with the 4 but I didn't see that coming so soon. I'm excited to see how that alliance plays out. Eleanor and Michael being on the same side but not really trusting each other should be fun.

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thuganomics85

thuganomics85

Great seeing Mindy again.  Someone get that poor gal some cocaine!  I'm still hoping they'll get at least one appearance from Trevor on one of Adam Scott's off days from his new show.

I honestly was laughing throughout the entire opening act and all of Michael's failed "reboots."  It would take way too long to go over everything, but the highlights were the various pleas that Janet did whenever he rebooted/killed her (Hamilton tickets, Michael!  With Daveed Diggs!!!!), Tahani mocking Eleanor's sash and her response, Chidi still thinking almond milk is the reason he's there, them actually going there with a scenario where Tahani was Eleanor's "soulmate" (I really would not mind if they had an entire episode that flashed back to that scenario!), and the best of them all: freaking Jason of all people figuring out they were in The Bad Place and Michael sinking to an all time low when he heard that.  Ted Danson's reactions were perfection each time Michael's reboot came to an end.

But it looks like we've got the main arc now, which I confess I did not see coming, but it makes sense.  Michael is basically going to form an unholy alliance with Eleanor/Chidi/Tahani/Jason, because Vicky is now blackmailing him and making a power play.  I'm looking forward to it, because it means the main five will still interact a lot, but there should be some changes since they all will now know who Michael really is.  Plus, Vicky will hopefully keep sticking around as an antagonist. I have praise the main cast numerous times, but Tiya Sircar is really nailing this role.  

So, Eleanor and Chidi not only hook up in several of these reboots, but they even tell each other they love each other in one of them?  Interesting!  Curious to see if they'll be a real thing or not, since I do see chemistry there, but I also saw chemistry with Chidi/Tahani last season to (and, yes, Eleanor/Tahani.)  Of course, when it comes to romance, I'm still mainly rooting for Jason/Janet!

Only minor complaint is that so far it feels like Tahani hasn't done as much as the rest, but I'm sure she'll factor in later on.  Other then that, I'm really looking forward to seeing where this show goes this season.

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Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory

So how many tries was "The 2nd Attempt."  

I was rather surprised at how quickly things unraveled for Michael but then again not really.  Each attempt showed no matter how he changed things certain trends still happened.  Eleanor still searched out Chidi and despite themselves the group became friends and ultimately Eleanor (and in the ultimate low point for Michael Jason) figured out that they were in the Bad Place.  

One day Mindy will get her cocaine.  I just know it.   I am not sure I ship Eleanor and Chidi but watching them in bed together and watching Eleanor reaction and Mindy telling her that they have known each other for a long time makes for an interesting pairing.  How long have they known each other?  

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arc

arc

Michael’s powers of lying—at least lying to Shawn—must be phenomenal. While it’s likely no individual attempt has gone past 200 days, it’s been 802 attempts so far. They’ve been here for at least a few years. He must just be making up stuff to Shawn wholesale by now.

I like the Eleanor-Chidi ‘ship.

I couldn’t read all the plans they came up with at Mindy’s, but it’s interesting that they’ve apparently never thought about escaping to a real Good Place neighborhood rather than just the Medium Place.

This episode moved at breakneck pace, but I hope next we’ll start to really see how a Janet that’s been rebooted and thus upgraded hundreds of times is more advanced than version 1.0.

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AnnaRose

AnnaRose

(edited)

Holy forking shirtballs, that was amazing!  Funniest episode yet.  So many hilarious bits, and most of them have been mentioned already.  I think my favorites may have been when Eleanor overhears Michael in his office, and the time when Michaels is drinking and blubbering about his fat thighs from his stress eating... while Eleanor is sitting right there.  And of course when Jason(!) figures it out, causing Michael to hit the rock bottom of failure.  And Janet, begging for her life in various amusing ways and then face planting in the sand each time.  All of it - so funny!

I can't wait to see what happens next.

Edited by AnnaRose
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Dots And Stripes

Dots And Stripes

15 minutes ago, arc said:

I couldn’t read all the plans they came up with at Mindy’s, but it’s interesting that they’ve apparently never thought about escaping to a real Good Place neighborhood rather than just the Medium Place.

This episode moved at breakneck pace, but I hope next we’ll start to really see how a Janet that’s been rebooted and thus upgraded hundreds of times is more advanced than version 1.0.

I assume they've thought of going to the Good Place. I see a few obstacles. One is that Janet is keeps suggesting the Medium Place. Also, if they really are supposed to be in the Bad Place (that may be a big if), the Good Place would likely have to send them back to the bad place. It seems Eleanor keeps deciding to go back to the Bad Place, often because she wants to help the others or thinks she can beat Michael. I do think they'll probably start trying to figure out how to get to and stay in the Good Place at some point. We just go through too much plot for that not to be an option.

Yeah I was wondering about Janet. She should be gaining new abilities. She should also be booting up slowly and thus annoying Michael with her uselessness.

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arc

arc

1 minute ago, Dots And Stripes said:

She should also be booting up slowly and thus annoying Michael with her uselessness.

I figure that could be happening offscreen. There could be a pause while Janet reboots where the humans are just kept in a sort of coma. The neighborhood remodeling itself can probably be done instantaneously, but Michael probably needs downtime to redesign the place between attempts anyways.

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DrScottie

DrScottie

59 minutes ago, CaptainTightpants said:

Also, I hated Vicky ever since she showed up as RealEleanor in season 1. So I am in no way surprised that she has gone full-on queen bitch. I hope that Team Michael & the 4 humans utterly destroy her! 

It's so obvious in retrospect that she wasn't who she was supposed to be. Two Eleanor Shellstrops in the exact same accident at the same time. Shellstrop is not exactly a common name. An Eleanor on the other side of the world died in the same instant is more plausible. On the date with Trevor, Chidi, and the two Eleanors, she said that she learned English from watching Seinfeld. She used the phrase, yada, yada, yada, which is when you skip all the unpleasant aspects of a story. She never gets upset and even tries to help her stay despite Eleanor and Tahani professing their love for her soulmate. Well, Tahani actually told Chidi that he loved her. It's only when Eleanor figured it out that she finally cracked. She enjoyed being the star. 

So why didn't they figure that out? It reminds me of a quote from the "Truman Show."

"We accept the reality of the world with which we're presented. It's as simple as that."

At that point, they had little real reason to doubt it was the Good Place (except Jason, I suppose) so they overlooked all of those inconsistencies like denying people generally regarded as saintly (Florence Nightingale, etc.) and the other somewhat petty ways to disqualify a spot there. Tahani and Chidi certainly seemed like the type of people were supposed to be there. Trevor coming from a different area reinforced that idea that the "Bad Place" was somewhere else along with Vicki's descriptions of it. It was Michael's first attempt and the bad events were because of Eleanor's actions and Jason's love for Ariana Grande was why "Break Free" was playing in the background during the original cataclysm They were the ones who knew they shouldn't be there. 
 

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katalizt

katalizt

(edited)

Last week I found the episodes slightly choppy with the way they went through the day from each person's point of view, but it was still interesting to see each story and I figured it was just a way to get to attempt 3 for the rest of the season... But then tonight they start forwarding through hundreds of attempts. It felt like the story wasn't going anywhere, and it makes last week's feel slightly pointless because it didn't set up the season at all.

I mean the failed attempts montage was in itself very funny ("Jason figured it out?") I did like the second half of tonight's episode, with everything they discovered at Mindy's house, and I like the alliance proposal that we got left with, but I just think the show could've gotten there by the end of the second episode instead of the third. 

Edited by katalizt
Correcting Autocorrect
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Traveller519

Traveller519

(edited)

A "Busty Alexa" sounds like a sexual maneuver. Updating your calendar while receiving some second base attention perhaps?

Such excellent writing to burn through the reboot storyline in the first two weeks of the show's return. That wasn't going to go anywhere if they dragged it out, but this was the way to keep the show fresh. I thought after catching the smoking demons they were going to resolve to let it all play out, since this version of The Bad Place was better than the normal option, but I like this Dance Crew option.

Edited by Traveller519
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Miles

Miles

48 minutes ago, arc said:

I couldn’t read all the plans they came up with at Mindy’s, but it’s interesting that they’ve apparently never thought about escaping to a real Good Place neighborhood rather than just the Medium Place.

That's a good point. The last time they didn't try because they thought they were already in the good place, but now. I'm just going to assume that they did try at some point and the good place wouldn't let them in.

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Charlesman

Charlesman

(edited)

Great episode. Had me laughing the whole time. The food puns were stellar. 'Sometimes you walk in on me when I'm masturbating. Sometimes I walk in on you when I'm masturbating.' I lost it. 

The only thing I missed was Janet's "Attention: I have been murdered." alarm. Just once, I would have peed my couch laughing. 

Edited by Charlesman
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Anisky

Anisky

(edited)

I love that the writers are really aware of what it means that this show is set in the *afterlife* and that the story has all the space of a literal eternity to unfold in. 

After playing on our expectations about sitcom tropes and structure in order to hide the big twist in place sight in Season 1, now they're having fun breaking our expectations about plot structure (especially its speed). And why not? Literally millions of years could pass, and it will still, functionally, be an infinitesimally small fraction-of-a-percent of the available storytelling space. 

It's fun to see writers really exploring all the possibilities of their setting. Especially when they go in unusual and unexpected directions! 

 

EDIT: Also, in all the time they never thought to write "Bring Mindy some cocaine" on a piece of paper and stick it into Janet's mouth when they're about to be memory wiped? Rude!!

Edited by Anisky
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arc

arc

1 hour ago, Anisky said:

 

EDIT: Also, in all the time they never thought to write "Bring Mindy some cocaine" on a piece of paper and stick it into Janet's mouth when they're about to be memory wiped? Rude!!

They'd need a new trick because (as per the end of the season premiere) Michael now knows that one and checks for it. Except when he's being sloppy, like forgetting to close the door before Eleanor's orientation starts.

If you like the food puns, check out Megan Amran's abridged list of what she handed in with her first draft.

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eXiled

eXiled

Can't Janet get ANYTHING, though? She brought Chidi and Eleanor various objects/things. Wasn't she the one who outfitted Jason's budhole? Why can't she conjure up some cocaine for Mindy? Of course, since Mindy is in the Medium Place, perhaps her coke wouldn't even get her high. Or maybe she'd have a bad trip instead of a cocaine buzz.

Seeing Eleanor and Chidi in bed was sweet and delightful. Yet I remain loyal to my Eleanor/Tahani ship. Thank you, Show, for giving me a glimpse of my one true soul mates. I hope there is more to come. I also look forward to more Janet/Jason -- they're perfect together. Throw in Michael/Vicki for some added spice (I can see her being attracted to a powerful man, even in this case, the man is a bit of a bumbling dork). I love this show.

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Amarsir

Amarsir

I had a feeling we'd get to a point where Michael and the humans team up. But, like, by the end of the season. Not episode 3.  Also I thought the reset last week was so the show could move more slowly. Clearly called that wrong.

I think they did a good job establishing that resets = bad for Michael. In a vacuum, you'd have to say a short-term torture that resets is still a pretty good torture. Black Mirror certainly investigated this. But they've taken that off the table, not only because Sean isn't having it but also the demon workers. Of course it was predicted that they'd figure it out in about 10,000 years, at which point Michael would make a report and presumably the plan would be replicated. So he can't simply collude with them forever either. But I guess the show won't get to that 10,000 year mark for at least a couple more episodes.

Since Mindy is both real and external, that does present a couple questions. As @arc wondered, what happens if they try escaping to a real Good Place? But also, what was the deal with Trevor and the Bad Place that he represented? How many times has he been involved, and is he cool with resets too? 

Appreciation for Eleanor mis-stating Chidi's name as both "Cheeto" and "Chili". Resetting like that must be fun for the writers, because if they have a good joke that doesn't quite fit in the story, they can fit it in on the next go around.

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chaifan

chaifan

9 hours ago, arc said:

Michael’s powers of lying—at least lying to Shawn—must be phenomenal. While it’s likely no individual attempt has gone past 200 days, it’s been 802 attempts so far. They’ve been here for at least a few years. He must just be making up stuff to Shawn wholesale by now.

 

Maybe it is a few years, but you have to remember - it's a few years within a span of eternity.  So Shawn showing up to check in on things would be like your boss checking in with you on the first day of a project at, say 9:17am.

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Milburn Stone

Milburn Stone

8 hours ago, possibilities said:

Michael uses a reel to reel recorder!

Unlike @Dowel Jones, I interpreted this as Michael Schur's statement that analog rules! After all, even though it's the Bad Place, it is an advanced cosmos where any technology is possible. So I thought the joke was that when you can have your choice of anything, nothing comes close to a Teac 4-track reel-to-reel tape recorder. (Except a Revox, which is better, but a Teac reads faster in a wide shot.)

(The branding was disguised in the closeup, but it looked exactly like a Teac I used to own.)

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CherithCutestory

CherithCutestory

(edited)
Quote

Can't Janet get ANYTHING, though? She brought Chidi and Eleanor various objects/things. Wasn't she the one who outfitted Jason's budhole? Why can't she conjure up some cocaine for Mindy?

Her powers don't work in the Medium Place. Last season she had to walk somewhere for the first time when they got there. It got old fast. (For her not for me.)

Quote

Seeing Eleanor and Chidi in bed was sweet and delightful. Yet I remain loyal to my Eleanor/Tahani ship.

I say throw all three together in a relationship. It could actually work on this show.

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I couldn’t read all the plans they came up with at Mindy’s, but it’s interesting that they’ve apparently never thought about escaping to a real Good Place neighborhood rather than just the Medium Place.

I think the issue is then what? They go to the Good Place and people/angels will notice people who don't belong. With Mindy she is alone and bored so she will always let them come in. Even if she gets annoyed with it.

Although, maybe the folks in the Real Good Place will be too polite to ask.

Quote

EDIT: Also, in all the time they never thought to write "Bring Mindy some cocaine" on a piece of paper and stick it into Janet's mouth when they're about to be memory wiped? Rude!!

Stuff like THIS is why they are in the Bad Place! So selfish.

Quote

 

Someone get that poor gal some cocaine! 

 

Mindy + Cocaine is my OTP!

Edited by CherithCutestory
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Danny Franks

Danny Franks

I'm really enjoying Ten Danson playing the incompetent bureaucrat. In the first season, it was endearing because you thought he meant well, in this season it's just funny because he's an asshole, but a useless one. Still really enjoying Eleanor/Denise/Vicky. I'm glad she's still a part of the show, and she's really shining as the bitter, unsatisfied employee. Not so much with the Australian accent, though.

I suppose them teaming up with Michael is the only short-term answer to stopping the reboots, so I'm glad it's happened, although  I'd love to see what Vicky's version of the Bad Place is.

"Three hour spoken word jazz opera"? Just kill me now. Not at all surprising that Eleanor immediately realised she wasn't in the Good Place.

I want... no, need to see more of Tahani as Eleanor's soulmate. They keep dropping in casual remarks about how hot Eleanor finds her, and I know it's queerbaiting, but I want more. I'd also like to see more of the Golden Retriever soulmate, because who wouldn't want that? I'd also just like more Tahani, full stop.

On the other hand, I'm simply not buying Eleanor/Chidi. As friends, they're great, but the sexual tension is non-existent, as far as I can see. The idea of them as a couple is interesting, but I don't think it works. Mindy's right, them saying "I love you" was like anti-porn. Just felt so flat, which I don't think it was supposed to.

Eleanor is right about clam chowder, too. Nasty stuff.

As for alternate names for Chidi, I think "Chibi" was my favourite.

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