S02.E10: Best Self

[AlleC17]

This show is proof that creativity on TV is alive and well.  It is so different from anything else.  The character and actors are all perfect.  The writing is awesome.  Every week I find myself loving it more.  I originally started watching back when it debuted because I like KB, but now it is my favorite show.  I have no clue how they will handle what comes next and just look forward to the crazy, hilarious ride. 

[CinAZ]

14 minutes ago, DrScottie said:

It's in the Extended Cut. Janet's packed them food for their journey. 

Twizzlers for Jason, Shrimp for Eleanor (of course), hard-boiled eggs for Chidi (that large egg is just actually a container for four hard-boiled normal sized eggs), and Lord Vivian's vinegar drenched cuttlefish crisps for Tahani (unpickled, so she takes a pass on those). 

It also looks like there were some flowers and some napkins in there as well. 

Thank you!  I just watched the extended version. Too bad they couldn’t have aired it! I enjoyed the extra scenes.

[cpcathy]

It frustrates me that they can't keep in the extra scenes. Back in the pilot, Michael explains to Eleanor the whole "god" situation, after she asks. Basically, The Good Place doesn't have anything to do with heaven. It's in the extended scene of the pilot but not in the Netflix version.

[CaptainTightpants]

I wonder if Eleanor's parents will show up in the Bad Place? She mentions in the pilot episode that they are probably being used to torture each other. I've learned that every single line of dialogue has meaning in this show, so it wouldn't surprise me if they showed up. ANd I think it would be helpful for Chidi to understand where a lot of Eleanor's issues came from. 

And hopefully Eleanor's mom is being baked into a cake by a golden retriever as punishment for leaving Eleanor's dog in a hot car and murdering it!

[Big Mother]

That was so good, I was choked up most of the episode.

This show is the best thing on earth. Or heaven.

[Big Mother]

wouldnt it be so much easier for the foursome to escape to the medium place and wait there until Michael gets a new 'good place that is really the bad place' neighborhood to oversee and then transport the four of them into that neighborhood? He has the power to make the neighborhood into anything the foursome want.

[SoothingDave]

18 hours ago, Linny said:

Between calling out humans for only needing the emotions anger and confusion (absolutely true, most especially on Twitter)

I don't know what you mean, and it's making me mad!

[AuntTora]

13 hours ago, Charlesman said:

The neighborhood was a standard set at Universal Studios, the 'European square'. They're could probably re-dress it or any other blacklot location for the remaining episodes.
 

I was actually on the backlot tour a couple of years ago when it was set up with the yogurt shops. (It's where they stop for a bathroom break -- fun fact!) This was long before the show was on of course, and we were all -- what's with all these frozen yogurt shops!!?!

[CinAZ]

1 hour ago, CaptainTightpants said:

 

And hopefully Eleanor's mom is being baked into a cake by a golden retriever as punishment for leaving Eleanor's dog in a hot car and murdering it!

As the ‘mom’ of golden retrievers, I am completely convinced all Golden’s go immediately to the Good Place. They are what makes the Good Place good. (For me anyway)

But I agree with you on Eleanor’s mom, she better be getting an eternal beat down for the dog and hot car,, in Arizona.

[bunny]

Loved that the restaurant behind the balloon was called Luncheons and Dragons.

[DrScottie]

1 hour ago, bunny said:

Loved that the restaurant behind the balloon was called Luncheons and Dragons.

The Bad Place almost certainly has Dungeons and Dragons, but not the tabletop RPG. You are stuck in a dungeon and get eaten or burned by dragons on a repeated basis. 

1 hour ago, CinAZ said:

As the ‘mom’ of golden retrievers, I am completely convinced all Golden’s go immediately to the Good Place. They are what makes the Good Place good. (For me anyway)

I'm presuming Beagles are also welcome or perhaps they wait by the Rainbow Bridge, but they are getting in too. :) 

[Mabinogia]

I decided that my Good Place is an uncrowded Walt Disney World filled with puppies of all kinds, and my friend Jan's cookies always just baked and ready to eat. 

[AllyB]

4 hours ago, CaptainTightpants said:

I've learned that every single line of dialogue has meaning in this show,

In that case I wonder if Michael's aphorism at the end was in fact the truth. The Good Place was inside the Bad Place all along. Perhaps there is no Bad Place, just a place where people can still change and grow after their deaths. And sometimes that means fooling them for centuries while they work through their issues. And the demons are mostly not in on this but can in fact grow and change too if the circumstances are right.

[Dots And Stripes]

3 hours ago, Big Mother said:

wouldnt it be so much easier for the foursome to escape to the medium place and wait there until Michael gets a new 'good place that is really the bad place' neighborhood to oversee and then transport the four of them into that neighborhood? He has the power to make the neighborhood into anything the foursome want.

If I recall, Shawn thought they were escaping to the Medium Place and chased after them. Either he or Michael said that Shawn would be able to get the humans if they went to Medium Place.

[Wandering Snark]

I loved that we got both good and bad Janet time in this one. Bad Janet is still perfect and must be so fun to play. As for 'our' Janet, we had another great moment that just popped into my head and made me laugh. When they were toasting Janet as 'the best... robot?' Janet: 'Not a robot.' 'Okay best girl..' Janet: 'Not a girl.' The timing was perfect.

[Lugal]

I have to admire a show that had it's main characters basically standing around and talking for most of the episode and its still one of their best.

[AnnaRose]

7 hours ago, CinAZ said:

I am wondering how many seasons  it will and should continue. Some shows are perfect in a limited run. This seems like one of those. They won’t be able to nail Kristen Bell down for a weekly sitcom situation. 

Didn't Michael Shur say that they had it planned out for three seasons and didn't plan to continue past that?  Or am I thinking of something else?

[Mabinogia]

As much as I want to spend forever with these characters, I hope that he sticks to his plan. There is nothing worse than a wonderful show dying a slow and painful death. 

[xtwheeler]

On 1/11/2018 at 6:33 PM, Panopticon said:

Eleanor wants to know what happened with the reboot that resulted in Chidi falling in love with her. Michael's first thought is to tell her about the kabob restaurants. I love this show.

How on earth a place dedicated to torture could feature food on sticks I will never know. That's the definition of paradise.

Quoting DrScottie, "the Judge (a non-denominational entity of superior power, I'm guessing)"

So, Oprah?

Edited January 13, 2018 by xtwheeler

[DrScottie]

2 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

As much as I want to spend forever with these characters, I hope that he sticks to his plan. There is nothing worse than a wonderful show dying a slow and painful death. 

Are you referring the abomination of padding, filler episodes, and downer ending that How I Met Your Mother turned into in its final seasons? 

I have confidence in Michael Schur to end the show the right way. The last season of Parks and Recreation was so well done. 

1 hour ago, xtwheeler said:

.How on earth a place dedicated to torture could feature food on sticks I will never know. That's the definition of paradise.

Quoting DrScottie, "the Judge (a non-denominational entity of superior power, I'mguessing)"

So, Oprah?

It's not the food on sticks that's the issue. I could eat that every day. It's what they might do with the sticks afterwards that's the problem. There's a lot of torture possibilities there. 

I wasn't necessarily thinking of Oprah, but I suppose she'd qualify. 

Edited January 13, 2018 by DrScottie

[Anela]

I loved it! I'm going to watch it again, because I was distracted, but I was also thinking this season is even better than last year. 

[SopranoKris]

My only dilemma is that there are only a handful of shows left this season. If the show was only intended to run for 3 seasons, I'm going to be so sad to see it go. I'm sure they'll do a wonderful job of wrapping it all together, but I sure have enjoyed every minute of this show so far. One of the bright spots of my week :)

[Wandering Snark]

Don't forget that even the food on sticks were on sticks...

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I love that this show is smart, funny, and not afraid to challenge itself (as opposed to resting on its laurels and churning out similar episodes week after week), but one of the other things I really love is that the writers never forget who these characters are. I'm not just talking about superficial continuity either (although the lack thereof on other shows drives me crazy!). That's why moments like Eleanor high fiving Jason for his 69/420 comment, which are inconsequential to the plot, really land. It's not just in character for Jason, but it's so Eleanor, a self described garbage person, to reward him for that kind of comment.

Edited January 13, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo
Forgot a word!

[Mabinogia]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

one of the other things I really love is that the writers never forget who these characters are.

I completely agree. I have yet to see a moment where I thought, so and so wouldn't say that, they just put that there to drive the plot. Even Eleanor, the original disbeliever, being the one to trust Michael makes so much sense now because she has been his biggest confidant. She gets him in a way the others don't because they haven't seen him as vulnerable as she has. 

This show, these characters, are just so beautifully woven into the most unexpected tapestry of humor and heart. 

This production team should teach classes in how to make a show because they got it right. 

[chaifan]

22 hours ago, chaifan said:

Oh, and as others have noted above, I also saw strong Wizard of Oz parallels.  I was actually hoping someone would have been in a blue & white gingham checked shirt/skirt/tie/whatever, or at least carrying a basket.  Maybe that's just too obvious.

I need to pay better attention... on rewatching, as others have pointed out Janet is carrying a basket.  But she's also wearing a shirt, though while isn't quite gingham check, is relatively close. 

[ByTor]

On 1/11/2018 at 10:56 PM, Dots And Stripes said:

Who will play the judge? I nominate Amy Poehler.

*shudder* that woman really would make it a Bad Place.

23 hours ago, chaifan said:

I also saw strong Wizard of Oz parallels.  I was actually hoping someone would have been in a blue & white gingham checked shirt/skirt/tie/whatever, or at least carrying a basket. 

Containing Teacup as Toto.

[Loandbehold]

22 hours ago, Wandering Snark said:

I loved that we got both good and bad Janet time in this one. Bad Janet is still perfect and must be so fun to play. As for 'our' Janet, we had another great moment that just popped into my head and made me laugh. When they were toasting Janet as 'the best... robot?' Janet: 'Not a robot.' 'Okay best girl..' Janet: 'Not a girl.' The timing was perfect.

Reason No. 666 why D'Arcy Carden deserves an Emmy (and all the other awards).

[shantown]

Lorde's "Green Light" is one of my favorite songs to dance it out to, so I loved that scene. Even more appropriate since they had been "waiting for that green light."

[Big Mother]

I only watched this on hulu so I saw the extended scenes in teh first place!

[Winston Wolfe]

So funny that this week's episode touched upon my question to the Board about which character had grown the most.  Based on how quickly Eleanor tried to talk Chidi down after he "red-lighted" the phony scale, it has to be her.  Btw, Michael, reformed demon or not, really does seem to like screwing with Chidi the most for some reason. 

The subtle, nuanced acting from Kristen Bell and Ted Danson has been a joy to behold.  Ellie's sad expression after Chidi's "maybe we'll have real soulmates in the actual Good Place," was fantastic.

If this show only lasts three seasons, I'm sadly ok with that.  Difficult to sustain this kind of excellence for much longer than that, with some exceptions (Fraser, Mary Tyler Moore and All in the Family, to name a handful).

[stinkogingko]

Eleanor’s unrequited love for Chidi breaks my heart. Otherwise this was hilarious and surprising as usual. 

[twoods]

14 minutes ago, stinkogingko said:

Eleanor’s unrequited love for Chidi breaks my heart. Otherwise this was hilarious and surprising as usual. 

Yeah, my shipper heart breaks a little more every episode.

Bortles and the Jags are one step away from the Super Bowl! I wonder how the writers will sneak that in.

[Loandbehold]

9 minutes ago, twoods said:

Bortles and the Jags are one step away from the Super Bowl! I wonder how the writers will sneak that in.

Well, with some judicious editing, I guess The Bad Place could freeze over.

[OtterMommy]

1 hour ago, twoods said:

Yeah, my shipper heart breaks a little more every episode.

Bortles and the Jags are one step away from the Super Bowl! I wonder how the writers will sneak that in.

I think the season is over before the Super Bowl so, if that does happen, they'll have time to work it in to season 3.

[Omeletsmom]

I am watching the Vikings/Saints game.  They were talking about the Jags/Steelers game at halftime and I cracked up every time they mentioned Bortles.  OmeletsDad was very confused.

[Mabinogia]

32 minutes ago, Omeletsmom said:

They were talking about the Jags/Steelers game at halftime and I cracked up every time they mentioned Bortles. 

I would die if they, just once, called him Derek Bortles.

[Notwisconsin]

As to the Jags, the PTB said that they had taken it into consideration. Also, you have to remember that it may be 2345 back on earth, so who knows if anyone remembers?

[Enginerd]

It's the little details that make this show so awesome...like Jason drinking wine out of a red Solo cup when everyone else has wine glasses, and Tahani changing into a ballooning outfit.

[Mabinogia]

It is so Tahani to have a ballooning outfit. I loved it, BTW. And yes, this show has such great attention to detail and knows it's characters so well. This is not one of those shows were they could have Tahani say one of Eleanor's lines, they could never give Chidi one of Jason's storylines. I also love the blend of personalities they are each so distinct and work so well together. 

[Isazouzi]

You guys are so good! I hadn't noticed Tahani changed outfits, I had to go and rewatch! I wonder how many details we miss on first viewing.

[Ailianna]

If you have access to Hulu then the extended episodes are worth it.  The little cut bits are usually small character moments that are really fun for fans to enjoy and show how unique these characters are.

[BobH]

Do the dvds have the extended bits, either as part of the episodes or as deleted scenes?  I’ve been trying to decide if I should buy season one now or wait for a complete series set.

[cpcathy]

1 hour ago, BobH said:

Do the dvds have the extended bits, either as part of the episodes or as deleted scenes?  I’ve been trying to decide if I should buy season one now or wait for a complete series set.

This is a great question.

I watched the extended episode on NBC.com, the extra bits here seemed more important than in other episodes. Tahani and her ballooning outfit, Janet's reveal of the food in her basket, extra lines of Chidi and Eleanor's conversation.

[Fukui San]

On 1/14/2018 at 8:10 PM, Notwisconsin said:

As to the Jags, the PTB said that they had taken it into consideration. Also, you have to remember that it may be 2345 back on earth, so who knows if anyone remembers?

I hope Manny Jacinto gets adopted by the real-life Jags as a good luck charm.

[HurricaneVal]

"69...420..."  I love Jason!  But I really miss Jianyou.  Manny Jacinto just knocked it out of the park with silent deadpan humor when he was being Jianyu...

[Affogato]

On 1/12/2018 at 11:48 PM, DrScottie said:

 

I wasn't necessarily thinking of Oprah, but I suppose she'd qualify. 

And she might take the part!

[DrScottie]

17 hours ago, BobH said:

Do the dvds have the extended bits, either as part of the episodes or as deleted scenes?  I’ve been trying to decide if I should buy season one now or wait for a complete series set.

I own the set. The episodes are extended with the scenes incorporated. It also has audio commentaries for the pilot and finale episodes. 

There are bonus features too. Some of them can be found online already. There's a brief look at visual effects and the gag reel. Also, there's the table read from the Mindy St. Clair episode. 

[Matt K]

I wonder if the real bad place is similar to the Hell in "Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell".  Essentially a bunch of bored demons half-hardheartedly torturing a bunch of bored humans (because it get old after a while and they have eternity). 

 

15 hours ago, DrScottie said:

I own the set. The episodes are extended with the scenes incorporated. It also has audio commentaries for the pilot and finale episodes. 

There are bonus features too. Some of them can be found online already. There's a brief look at visual effects and the gag reel. Also, there's the table read from the Mindy St. Clair episode. 

I know this wasn't directed to me (since I haven't posted yet) but thanks for that info, Now I really need to get those DVD's.

[Milburn Stone]

On 1/12/2018 at 0:27 PM, DrScottie said:

It's in the Extended Cut.

Is the Extended Cut what one will see by waiting for the next day and watching it on Hulu?