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S02.E05: Existential Crisis


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1 hour ago, CouchTater said:

I would argue that seeing the dog get kicked into the sun last season (didn't we actually witness that? or am I misremembering?) was much "worse" than hearing about a dog that was left in a hot car 20 years ago.

Oh, we definitely saw that. He kicked Pevita's dog Teacup into the Sun.

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2 hours ago, arc said:

All y’all who are surprised are clearly not regularly watching Broad City.

Who does she play on Broad City? I watch it but I don't recognize her from there.

I've had an existential crisis or two, and I sure wish there were more remedies than weeping into plungers, debauchery, or stuffing it all down til it explodes.

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1 minute ago, possibilities said:

Who does she play on Broad City? I watch it but I don't recognize her from there.

D'Arcy Carden played one of the other trainers at Soulstice.

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Random thoughts:

My first thought at the ending was that the JaJa shippers would be mad.  But at least the Janet Superfans among them would have enjoyed Jeannette.

Next thought was:  "This is Ted Danson's Emmy submission episode".  He seemed to be having a blast playing both versions of Crisis Michael.

Sign me up for the Puppy Pit.  "Build a Real Bear" doesn't sound that appealing after hearing about the bear with two mouths.  I guess in a putative Good Place, it couldn't really turn into The Revenant...

8 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Tahani has made some two steps foward one step back breakthroughs.  She realizes that Vicki was able to torture her through party planning but then let Jason’s simple act of kindness land her in bed with him.  Tahani is more self aware at least.  

Her pride in her self-image as the primo party planner is a useful target for Vicki's torture.  But she did display her superior hospitality in putting her guests' enjoyment over her own ego by telling everyone to stay at Vicki's party.  And she was rewarded by getting the affirmation/acknowledgment  her parents always denied her from Jason, whose ineptitude at lying somehow serves to emphasize his sincere intent.  

I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see the morning-after chaos, but since that was supposed to be based upon Eleanor's bad behavior at the party, and we did get to see much Eleanor bad behavior, I don't know what it would be. Or have we skipped the welcome party with morning-after chaos and Gunnar's b-day is a different party?  (Darn, guess I'll have to re-watch for clarity...)

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13 hours ago, Blakeston said:

When Michael did "the Scream" after Chidi asked him to imagine a world with no Michael, I thought Michael was mocking him with a fake reaction.

I did too. I mean, his reaction was funny and led to a lot of great work from Ted Danson. But how can a demon that's existed for untold amounts of time and has a boss who likes to threaten him with destruction have never thought about the implications of non-existence before?

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I have mixed feelings on this episode, leaning heavily towards me not much liking it.

The jokes by and large were kind of broad and stupid. I audibly groaned at the bits about Michael turning into a cliche of the mid-life crisis of an American human male for example.

But Jeanette was total gold. Even the little subtle bits like how she held her head and looked vapid.

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On 10/13/2017 at 0:01 AM, Amarsir said:

This is the first episode since the first half of season 1 that feels like this show could last for years. At the pace we’d been going I thought plots would really have to convolute before long. But this demonstrates how the show is willing to slow down with a simple couple of ideas to explore character. That’s what they need if we’re going to have a long future.

I could have written the above, so I'm glad you did instead. This was the first episode of this season that I've just relaxed and enjoyed. They actually stayed in one world and showed what might happen in it!

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1 hour ago, Milburn Stone said:

I could have written the above, so I'm glad you did instead. This was the first episode of this season that I've just relaxed and enjoyed. They actually stayed in one world and showed what might happen in it!

The show needed to clear the board after the finale and instead of doing it in one snap of the finger it took its time to do it.   I actually saw the show taking its time by going fast to set up a new direction.  

Edited by Chaos Theory
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14 hours ago, ThoughtAFool said:

I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see the morning-after chaos, but since that was supposed to be based upon Eleanor's bad behavior at the party, and we did get to see much Eleanor bad behavior, I don't know what it would be. Or have we skipped the welcome party with morning-after chaos and Gunnar's b-day is a different party?  (Darn, guess I'll have to re-watch for clarity...)

This was a different party. Michael didn't erase their memories so there was no reason to reset them for former!RealEleanor's takeover. Michael is now reporting to her how the four are suffering from the punishments.  

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On 10/13/2017 at 0:55 PM, truebluesmoky said:

I didn't even think the dog story was supposed to be funny. I thought it was supposed to be completely over the top horrifying and another good reminder of why Eleanor ended up the way she is. I gasped and cringed when her mother told her that she would be annoyed with her if she was sad.

I agree and the show has always used being cruel to dogs as shorthand for evil. In retrospect it's the huge red flag for Michael. Kicking a dog is up there with the most evil things you can do. It was a big part of why Eleanor ended up in the Bad Place. Not just the overfeeding story but adopting and then returning dogs the next day (which makes sooo much sense in this context) was on her graph that Shawn displayed.

Eleanor's mom wasn't a lovable screw up. She was a genuinely horrible human being who Eleanor never questioned would end up in hell (mentioned in the first episode.) She's a person who tried to pick up her daughter's boyfriend at her father's funeral. She was such a negligent mother that a 14 year old girl was better off on her own and her mom didn't give a crap before she signed off on that arrangement. It also seemed like she constantly drove drunk (something Eleanor didn't do although the way she got rides  so she could drink was shady af.)

And she killed a dog. Because she's evil. And the show is not making any attempt to say otherwise. I don't think it was for laughs. Eleanor was a whip smart kid who had the potential to be a great person but she never really had a shot. That's not an excuse for the way she turned out. But it is an explanation.

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Count me in with those who think maybe Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani & Jason are getting the chance to redeem themselves to get in the "real" Good Place because their Earthly life circumstances (bad parents, mental hang ups, poor decisions, etc.) kept them from evolving in to genuinely good people. I can only imagine how different Eleanor & Tahani would be if they had supportive, loving families. Would Chidi not be so indecisive if his family were more nurturing? Would Jason not be so incredibly stupid (loveable, yes, but dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks stupid) if he had a different upbringing? It's kind of like the psychological nature vs. nurture scenario....

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And they each seem to be getting  specific things they lacked during life, from the others in the selected 4:  Tahani is getting appreciation from Jason, Eleanor is getting guidance from Chidi, Chidi is getting someone who calls him on his BS from Eleanor, and... I don't know what Jason is getting, actually. Maybe exposure to people who aren't stupid and oblivious?

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While reading this, I was eating an apple slice that was juicier than I thought, and a little of the juice went down the wrong way. Michael is right about our terrible design with the food tube being next to the breathing tube!  But on the other hand (heh) I'm typing this with my fingers, which are not useless sticks, so...

Edited by Jobiska
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I think Jason is also getting people who will return his loyalty.  He doesn't know it yet, but he's obviously got a lot of loyalty, and it appears from some of his dance crew stories that there was a lot of competition and betrayal in the 60 people.  I think Jason could have made better choices with people who gave him better examples, but also with people who supported his positive qualities.  I think we are going to see that happen for him, finally.

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I must've watched a different episode because I didn't like it at all....thought it was the worst episode thus far in the series. I was expecting Micheal and Eleonor to make a sarcastic comment once they finished their crisis/breakdown scene because the acting was so OTT.

Eleonor's mom is a horrible person and I hope we never see her again!

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9 hours ago, Ailianna said:

I think Jason is also getting people who will return his loyalty.  He doesn't know it yet, but he's obviously got a lot of loyalty, and it appears from some of his dance crew stories that there was a lot of competition and betrayal in the 60 people.  I think Jason could have made better choices with people who gave him better examples, but also with people who supported his positive qualities.  I think we are going to see that happen for him, finally.

It seems in those stories that he is the one who betrayed people, though. He is the one who framed his buddy's girlfriend because his friend might move away. Then slashed his tires for daring to challenge him to dance off based on what he did. Jason was the one who did a shirty thing to his friend and then slashed his friends tires for daring to challenge him on it.

And Pill Boy was loyal to him to the end. And he got him arrested through the world's dumbest plan.

Edited by CherithCutestory
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3 hours ago, looksee said:

I must've watched a different episode because I didn't like it at all....thought it was the worst episode thus far in the series. I was expecting Micheal and Eleonor to make a sarcastic comment once they finished their crisis/breakdown scene because the acting was so OTT.

Eleonor's mom is a horrible person and I hope we never see her again!

As per my post, I didn't like much of this episode either, with the most notable exception of Jeanette. All of the Michael stuff was OTT as you say. I didn't think the Eleanor stuff was quite as bad, mostly because unlike Michael's existential crisis puzzlingly being played like a cliched human male mid-life crisis, the Eleanor stuff, the flashbacks at least, seemed to have a larger purpose in teaching us why Eleanor is like she is. Tahani's B-plot wasn't totally worthless either, I guess, but I think there could have been more to her self-realization that she's shallow, mostly because even though she doesn't remember it, we the viewers have seen this kind of revelation from her before. So doing it again, we needed a better payoff than her winding up in bed with the universes' stupidest human being. 

The writer of this episode is one who only wrote one episode last season, and the strange thing is I thought it was one of the funniest (the one with the "Pobody's Nerfect" T-shirt and the safe installer who looked and sounded like a lost Mario Brother--both really silly jokes but unlike the Michael's crisis stuff in this episode they worked).

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I'm not saying Jason was some wonder of faithfulness.  Just that he has the capacity for great loyalty, and he's finally going to get some examples to model his behavior after and be able to live up to that better part of himself.

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"I don't eat"- Jannette

"She's the perfect woman!"- Michael.


That had me on the floor.  "How many quarterbacks are in a home run" or something like that... gold, Jerry, pure gold (to mix metaphors).  And Vicky sure looked cute in that party outfit, had to make a mental note to copy her demonic style.

And the "Chinese for Japan" was spot on.  I studied Japanese in college 20 years ago, when getting kanji tattoos were really REALLY popular.  I remember when my friends who I roomed with came to visit me in SF and we went to a local tattoo shop to get a piercing. They saw the kanji with the "translations" and were horrified.  It made me snicker to think who had permanently inked themselves "no regerts".

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On 10/12/2017 at 9:24 PM, Linny said:

I love this show like crazy, but I reaaally didn't like the story about the dog dying in the hot car. I know it exhibited how callous Eleanor's mom was, but I didn't find that one bit funny.

I appreciated Eleanor's offer to get Michael cool ranch babies, because fuck yes, cool ranch flavor is the best. And the fact that the demons' idea for a fantastic party included a Build a Real Bear Workshop was amazing. Vicky drives me crazy but I'll admit her party was pretty kickass.

If Michael eating a cool ranch baby is funny, a dog dying in a hot car is funny. Considering neither is real, they are both pretty funny.

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5 hours ago, Jack Kerouac said:

If Michael eating a cool ranch baby is funny, a dog dying in a hot car is funny. Considering neither is real, they are both pretty funny.

I see your point, but I disagree. The distinction is that no one eats babies (cool ranch flavor or otherwise), so it's the absurdity of that suggestion that makes the joke work for me. But dogs dying in hot cars due to their owner's negligence is a very real, very prevalent crime, which is why that joke fell flat for me. 

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5 minutes ago, Linny said:

which is why that joke fell flat for me. 

I don't think it was actually a joke. Not every single thing on the show is meant to be a joke. It was used to show what a horribly human being Eleanor's mother was. And it succeeded. 

The Cool Ranch Baby was hilarious though. (and I really wouldn't be surprised if there were people at some point in history who ate babies. Cannibals are real. Horrifying and beyond my comprehension (except the Donner Party, I kind of get why they did it), but real).

I do get what you are saying, about the difference between things that happen vs thinks that seem completely out there, but I just don't think the show expected us to be cracking up at that part. I think they wanted us to feel very bad for Eleanor. I did. As sister to two adorable puppies (who I'm convinced my mother loves more than me) I teared up a little at that scene honestly. I am very easily choked up at animal cruelty. 

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Tahani's parties all look like fundraisers thrown by Rory Gilmore: a slight mention of a theme, but mostly a dinner party. The way she talked about the 2008 fundraiser made it sound like party was going to be the craziest, most awesome party ever and it was just tablecloths and balloons. I know she can't compete with magic (Or maybe she could have. Maybe Janet can bring you a unicorn if you ask.), but there was nothing interesting at all at her party. Michael at least got a pinata. What did Greg get? Gold balloons? Lame. The demon party had a bunch different things to do and it was based on the guest of honor's actual interests. Did Tahani even talk to the guy before throwing his party? 

Are we supposed to think that this is the first time Tahani and Jason have slept together? They've been through 803 lives together. Eleanor and Chidi have been together in 8 of those lives that we know of so maybe Tahani and Jason have been together previously too. The comment about how great the sex was could be nod to this. They have great sex because they've been hooking up for the last 250 years and they subconsciously know how to please each other.

Edited by Rockstar99435
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1 hour ago, possibilities said:

Was it really only 8 out of 803? That actually makes it seem way less significant. Hmmn.

I think that's the times when they were at Mindy's house.  Get that woman some cocaine! 

Eleanor and Janet have been to Mindy's 15 times and Chidi wasn't there for all of them. So, it's at least half the times they went to Mindy's. It's quite likely they've been intimate in the clown house too. 

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10 hours ago, Rockstar99435 said:

Tahani's parties all look like fundraisers thrown by Rory Gilmore: a slight mention of a theme, but mostly a dinner party. The way she talked about the 2008 fundraiser made it sound like party was going to be the craziest, most awesome party ever and it was just tablecloths and balloons. I know she can't compete with magic (Or maybe she could have. Maybe Janet can bring you a unicorn if you ask.), but there was nothing interesting at all at her party. Michael at least got a pinata. What did Greg get? Gold balloons? Lame. The demon party had a bunch different things to do and it was based on the guest of honor's actual interests. Did Tahani even talk to the guy before throwing his party? 

Yeah that bothered me too. I don’t know what we were supposed to think was good about hers. It got me to wonder if maybe her parties on Earth were weak and she just thought they were good when everyone came out for charity. Or maybe it’s all about who comes, and there’s no celebrities in The Good Place. We do know she gets the jumbo shrimp that Eleanor loves, but other than that we haven’t seen much.

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15 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I don't think it was actually a joke.

I thought the horrible explanation of the Rainbow Bridge was supposed to be a joke, but I agree that the dog dying in the car was just to show how awful Eleanor's mother was.

I love dogs...my face actually hurt from crying during My Dog Skip & I hug my dog & tell her I love her about 100 times a day, yet I still can't help but laugh at the way Ted Danson says "Nice try, puppy!" before he kicks Teacup into the sun.  I guess I forgave him because he did get her back!

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1 hour ago, ByTor said:

I thought the horrible explanation of the Rainbow Bridge was supposed to be a joke

Yeah, that was an attempt at humor that failed for me. I don't tend to find that level of horrible parenting schtick funny though. Just not my humor.
 

"Nice try puppy" OTOH, is pretty forking funny to me. It's funny because I never really thought much either way about Ted Danson. He was just there, not a favorite (though I loved Cheers) didn't dislike him, but I never realized just how good he is until this show. His timing, his delivery as Michael, they are just perfect. I cannot imagine any other person playing that role.

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1 hour ago, ByTor said:

yet I still can't help but laugh at the way Ted Danson says "Nice try, puppy!" before he kicks Teacup into the sun.  I guess I forgave him because he did get her back!

Initially that upset me, but, after the big reveal at the end, I realized that Teacup is just another demon punching a time clock. Just like the unicorns, giraffes, and falling shrimp (and I assume the dolphins Jason rode, although we never saw them).

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49 minutes ago, Loandbehold said:

Initially that upset me, but, after the big reveal at the end, I realized that Teacup is just another demon punching a time clock.

As you said, we didn't know the big reveal yet, so I figured he saw Teacup as something that just popped up as an anomaly & not actually a real dog, because she showed up after he was talking about how bad things could go in the neighborhood if even one blade of grass is out of order.

LOL since you pointed out that Teacup probably is another demon, I would have liked to see Todd say something about how it's more uncomfortable to wear a dog suit instead of a human suit :)

Edited by ByTor
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12 hours ago, possibilities said:

Was it really only 8 out of 803? That actually makes it seem way less significant. Hmmn.

 

10 hours ago, DrScottie said:

I think that's the times when they were at Mindy's house.  Get that woman some cocaine! 

Eleanor and Janet have been to Mindy's 15 times and Chidi wasn't there for all of them. So, it's at least half the times they went to Mindy's. It's quite likely they've been intimate in the clown house too. 

Exactly. Eleanor and Chidi may have been together over 100 times, but we (and they) have no way of knowing because of the memory wipes.

I was actually more surprised by the idea that Eleanor and the others only thought about going to the medium place 15 times out of 800. Sure, some of those lives were really short, but I would've assumed they'd head over there at least a third of the times.

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2 hours ago, Rockstar99435 said:

 

Exactly. Eleanor and Chidi may have been together over 100 times, but we (and they) have no way of knowing because of the memory wipes.

I was actually more surprised by the idea that Eleanor and the others only thought about going to the medium place 15 times out of 800. Sure, some of those lives were really short, but I would've assumed they'd head over there at least a third of the times.

And, fwiw, one of the few timelines we got a slightly longer look at Chidi was upset when Eleanor said she was starting to like her soulmate (and then he did that spoken word jazz opera...) So I think overall we are being lead to believe that feelings developed more often than not. Whether or not they were acted on is a different story.

That being said I'm sure their are timelines where Chidi and Tahani have sex. And ones where Eleanor and Tahani have sex. And, definitely, ones where Eleanor and Jason have sex. But not most of the times.

I'm not surprised they only went 15 times though. Eleanor found out by accident the first time because Janet was running away with Jason. And the final time it was because they asked after finding out they were in the Bad Place but Michael not being present.

But Eleanor is smart but has zero impulse control. Usually just blurts it out and game over. Only 14 times or so did she keep quiet long enough to ask Janet for help. Which seems right to me.

Edited by CherithCutestory
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the dog joke was only funny because of timing... the bad news is... the worse news is... the even worse news is.... it's old schtick. and it was horrifying and we saw the little girl's face.

Then it ended with bring  mommy a nice bottle of whie.

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7 hours ago, Loandbehold said:

Initially that upset me, but, after the big reveal at the end, I realized that Teacup is just another demon punching a time clock. 

That's slightly racist. :)

That reminds me, does anyone think that line from Michael - "That's not quite what we are" - might have been a hint? It could just be a dismissal, as a way of saying "None of the religions were right so none of their terms apply". But maybe it means there's more to them than punishing bad humans with evil things.

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On 10/16/2017 at 1:48 PM, Jack Kerouac said:

If Michael eating a cool ranch baby is funny, a dog dying in a hot car is funny. Considering neither is real, they are both pretty funny.

Had it been fiction, the assassination of Anwar Sadat would have been funny. He was reviewing a parade, when one of the brigades in it, stopped, saluted, then opened fire, before continuing it's goosestepping.

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On 10/12/2017 at 11:57 PM, GaT said:

The whole toothbrush scene with Eleanor crying into the toilet plunger killed me. In a really good way.

It was simultaneously hilarious and hit a little too close to home. When I was doing fertility treatments, I was definitely that girl. 

On 10/13/2017 at 0:06 PM, Xantar said:

I think it's perfectly valid to react to the dog story with horror. Not everything on the show has to be (or is supposed to be) funny. There is genuine character development and pathos, and the story takes on really big issues of morality.

I'm actually thinking that Eleanor's mom being such a horrible person is going to be a major plot point. If Eleanor was so severely messed up by her upbringing and never learned how to truly love and trust, then how responsible is she for the fact that she turned out to be a selfish asshat? Does she really belong in The Bad Place? 

I think we keep coming back to: do these characters really belong in the Bad Place?, and this was one of the scenes that brought it home. Eleanor can talk about her crappy upbringing all she wants, but to actually see this woman who truly did not care after killing her kid's dog gave us some context for Eleanor's awfulness. In the end, I suspect the reason we have these characters in the experiment, is that they would have hand picked people that would be susceptible to soft torture. Michael was probably given the hell rejects. Not a juicy murderer. Just a generally not amazing person. I also think it is what works about this show. We are rooting for these characters because we can identify with them. 

I loved this episode. I am still not convinced that Michael isn't just forking with everyone, which honestly makes the show more enjoyable. I loved the party competition. Of course Tahani threw a tasteful soiree with classy decorations and upscale food rather than a blowout. I felt so bad for her when she saw the other party. Personally, I would need about ten minutes in the puppy pit. 

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I can empathize with Tahani, I too have gotten revved up about throwing a party only to have a single guest show up. That sweet spot between invitees saying "sorry, I already made plans" and forgetting that they made plans to attend my event has always eluded me.

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Goddam millennials... don't know anything about torturing mortals.

Love "Build a real bear!"

I get it was a gag, but why exactly did Eleanor have to buy the plunger? It's designed for unblocking sinks/toilets, a few tears are scarcely going to reduce its functionality. Nor, given what we've seen of her life, unless the toothbrush family so undermined her self confidence, do I believe she actually did pay for it (though she didn't say that she had).

Although I would have found mortal Jason absolute torture to live with IRL, I think "post mortal" Jason/Jian-Yu is really rather sweet. And he's apparently a satisfactory lover who knows how to make cereal!

I find it interesting that "Real Eleanor" despite wanting to replace Michael is fully bought in to his vision for torturing mortals. Her plan (which worked!) was to undermine Tahani's self confidence by hitting her where it hurt - her ability to plan a party. Although:

On ‎10‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 4:50 AM, Rockstar99435 said:

Tahani's parties all look like fundraisers thrown by Rory Gilmore: a slight mention of a theme, but mostly a dinner party. The way she talked about the 2008 fundraiser made it sound like party was going to be the craziest, most awesome party ever and it was just tablecloths and balloons.

Absolutely! She didn't even try to make use of the inherently magical properties of the (Not) Good Place. Good party planners (even mortal ones) come up with new ideas, don't just duplicate old ones. Sure, the magic would fail at an awkward time and the unicorn would unexpectedly explode, but she didn't even try.

On ‎10‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 2:08 AM, Mockingbird said:

If Michael’s not forking with Eleanor and Chidi, this show is again progressing with their relationship so much more quickly than I imagined it would.

I was actually expecting a "Gotcha!" from Michael after his collapse, but mid-life (mid-eternity?) Michael was even funnier.

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4 hours ago, John Potts said:

I get it was a gag, but why exactly did Eleanor have to buy the plunger?

I'm still trying to figure out why she was crying into a plunger.

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Damn. Janet looked amazing as "Jeanette." Do you think they added padding or is that her real figure?

Mid-life crisis Michael is HILARIOUS.

OK. This Tahani/Jason thing doesn't really interest me but I'm willing to see where they go with it.

Edited by aradia22
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