S02.E13: Somewhere Else

[ElectricBoogaloo]

SEASON FINALE!

Quote

Michael tries to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

[Ailianna]

The Above-Average Place?

[cpcathy]

Almost nothing keeps you guessing like this show.

[Kromm]

I've gone into detail in a Season 3 Anticipation/Wish/Spec thread, but I'll give a one-word version of the theory about where somewhere else could be here:

 

Earth.

 

There are some sub-theories under that though, and I think this episode would only be a setup for them, not actually explore them.

 

Or not. I've been right more than wrong in my past speculation on the show direction, but often the timeline and details are wrong.

[JessDVD]

1 hour ago, Kromm said:

I've gone into detail in a Season 3 Anticipation/Wish/Spec thread, but I'll give a one-word version of the theory about where somewhere else could be here:

 

Earth.

 

I'm sure the show will figure out a way to play whatever it is so I like it, as they have everything else, but I kind of feel like Earth would be lame... part of what I love about the show is seeing their imagined afterlife. If I want to see Earth, I can just look around me, or look on Google maps.

[Kromm]

9 hours ago, JessDVD said:

I'm sure the show will figure out a way to play whatever it is so I like it, as they have everything else, but I kind of feel like Earth would be lame... part of what I love about the show is seeing their imagined afterlife. If I want to see Earth, I can just look around me, or look on Google maps.

Sure. But nobody says they have to stay there a whole season. This show's MO is pulling the rug out quickly when needed, so just as they went through 800 or so reboots in one episode, I can also see them going through some Earthbound period and taking only the time it needs to not grow boring. Also, even if they were there a whole lifetime, this show feels no compulsion to operate in real time.

[cpcathy]

True, I automatically assumed any trip to Earth would be for a whole season, but even if it happens, NOT SO! We thought we were going to get reboots all this season and we were wrong.

[Chaos Theory]

My guess is that they will enter the real Good Place and find it empty.  The deeply rigid rules made it nearly impossible to get in.   The season will end with the group not sure what to do next.  Spend eternity alone in paradise or go back to the Bad Place where there are at least other people/demons and they understand the rules.

[CherithCutestory]

I remember that after the first two episodes (which aired together in one night) the network released a spoiler vid for episode 3 that had Chidi teaching Eleanor Ethics again. I love spoilers, myself, but I remember thinking what a HUGE spoiler that was. Because after the second episode there was no reason to think those two would get back together so soon.

Then the episode happened and that "spoiler" was like absolutely nothing. The actual episode had them reset about 800 times.

[scarynikki12]

There's too much discussion for an episode that hasn't aired yet.  If you want to speculate, feel free to do so in either of our speculation threads.  Episode thread discussion needs to begin when the episode has finished.

Also, no sneak peaks in episode threads. The Spoiler thread is the place for that discussion. 

[CaptainTightpants]

Eleanor held out on the good person journey way longer than I would have. As soon as the baby shower was mentioned it would have been butthole spiders for me!

[Roaster]

Sam Malone!

[rwlevin]

I thought Chidi spoke French.

[Dots And Stripes]

Ted Danson as a bartender again made me waaaay too happy! Cheers is an all time favorite. 

My other favorite thing was Eleanor pulling up Chidi's video and going to find him. Just like every other reboot, she finds Chidi. Doesn't Chidi speak French on Earth? I think the pilot established he spoke another language but everyone could understand each other in the Good Place (or really the fake Good Place).

[kirinan]

Just now, Roaster said:

Sam Malone!

Even the shirt looked like one of Sam's! That was a great idea.

[CofCinci]

Sting’s Desert Rose bar. I can’t even. 

Chidi and Eleanor aren’t real people — but damn, I was so happy for her to find him. 

[Michichick]

1 minute ago, rwlevin said:

I thought Chidi spoke French.

Yeah, I was going to post the same thing. I'm surprised they messed that up.

[DrScottie]

7 minutes ago, rwlevin said:

I thought Chidi spoke French.

He's a professor in Australia. His native language is French, but he would be using English to communicate to his students. 

Edited February 2, 2018 by DrScottie

[Linny]

This was not at all what I expected and I really missed the group interactions but I'm dying over: 

1) That kiss!! (Hot DAMN)

2) Michael bartending Sting's Desert Rosé bar (and hello, Sam Malone reference)

3) Eleanor picking up Michael's hint and following it straight to Chidi. My Eleanor/Chidi heart is so happy right now!

[Captain Carrot]

Damn, DrScottie beat me to it.

This may seem odd, because I really liked this episode. But, I think I'll have to watch the episode again just because it was so unexpected that I don't know what else to say about it.

[Michichick]

2 minutes ago, Linny said:

This was not at all what I expected and I really missed the group interactions but I'm dying over: 

1) That kiss!! (Hot DAMN)

Hot diggity dog, even. :)

My heart feels warm and happy. I loved that episode. Seriously bummed to wait until fall for more.

[Panopticon]

Often I watch this show and I'm so impressed with the attention to detail (puns in background signs) and the sly integration of real philosophical debates and the consistency of character and all the rest.

But with this episode I just couldn't be as thoughtful as all that.

I too busy clapping when Chidi kissed Eleanor (and that look right when he decided to do it!). And cheering Eleanor on during her good person montage. And nostalgically cuddling into the Sam Malone cameo.

Love this show. Love.

[mammaM]

I FORKING LOVE THIS SHOW!!!!!!!!

Assorted ramblings:

Sam Malone at Sting's Dessert Rose Bar! 

The ticker tape machines!

Tahani and Eleanor's talk at the very beginning

Eleanor's friends haha haha haha haha

And Chidi's three hour talk

 

What am I gonna do til next year?

[JessDVD]

Eleanor: Chidi Anna... Kendrick.

I did miss the four but it looks like we'll get at least two back together in the fall.

[Mockingbird]

HOT DIGGITY DOG.

Did I want them to all come back to life? Not really. Was it great once they got there? Absolutely. 

Michael going full-on Sam Malone to push his Eleanor in the right direction was fantastic. The whole experiment once again showed his tremendous progress. He was willing to lose his friends--and to allow them to lose all memories of him--if if could save them. After last season's finale, I was so upset that we "lost" Michael. Now here I am, loving him a million times more than I ever did in version 1. And now we know that Michael ships Eleanor/Chidi.

Eleanor crossing oceans to find Chidi made my heart swell. And Chidi may have been speaking French in the afterlife, but most academics know at least two languages, and he'd have to know English to teach in Australia. He probably should have had an accent, but that's just nitpicking.  

Thanks for this absolute gift of a show, Schur and company. I can't wait to see where we go next.

[BobH]

I’m not sure about this.  Maybe there'll be some quick swerve at the beginning of season 3, because I don’t know if the gang getting re-acquainted on Earth works for very long. I also missed the rest of the cast in the second half.  Hate that it'll be something like 9 months before the next part.

[Panopticon]

10 minutes ago, rwlevin said:

I thought Chidi spoke French.

As much as I loved this episode, that bothered me a little. Yes, of course someone that educated, and that much of a citizen of the world, who taught in Australia and Hong Kong as well as Paris would speak English. But it always lingered for me that he chose to speak French in the afterlife. So when I imagined the humans ending up back on earth, I imagined something of a language barrier. An accent would have improved the scene for me... unless the actor just can't do a decent francophone-speaking-English accent, which is possible even for a fine actor.

But that's a nitpick in light of Eleanor making a beeline for Chidi in yet another reality. Aww.

[Erin]

I loved everything about this episode, even though I anticipated basically none of it. I have total trust in the writers at this point.

The basic story continues to be that they need each other, to become better. Purgatory is other people?

I'm so happy that Chidi got what he wished for in Best Self: meeting Eleanor when she knocked on his office door to ask about ethics/philosophy.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Erin

[Chaos Theory]

I really liked this.  It made sense that although Eleanor would WANT to be a good person in life all her friends were dirtbags like she was so actually being a good person for any length of time would be difficult.  Michael guiding Eleanor towards Chidi was a great first step and I thought it was a perfect way to end the season because Eleanor will always find Chidi and they make each other better.  

Ok here we go.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Chaos Theory

[tennisgurl]

Ted Danson playing a bartender! I see you, show. I see you. Its amazing how much Michael has grown, and how he actually seemed quite wise in that scene. Even more so than when we thought he was an actual angel. Everyone can do better, even million year old demons in bow ties! 

I didn't at all see it coming that they might give the humans a second chance, but I am interested in seeing where this goes. My heart grew three sizes when Eleanor watched Chidis speech, and when she flew across the world to see him. I think we might actually be getting closer to the greater point of the show, that people always have the capability to grow and change for the better, and that we need other people to be our best selves. We`re all in this together #highschoolmusical

I will miss this show so forking much over break!

[CofCinci]

Buddies, what did you all think of the comment Janet made that she’s not a Janet anymore....  they’ll definitely come back to that again. 

[DrScottie]

7 minutes ago, CofCinci said:

Buddies, what did you all think of the comment Janet made that she’s not a Janet anymore....  they’ll definitely come back to that again. 

I'm sure that's the case. 

I felt a little sorry for Tahani. She didn't have someone who loved her there. Eleanor is attracted to her, but she definitely loves Chidi. 

Edited February 2, 2018 by DrScottie

[Guest]

I'm not 100% sure of my memory, but it didn't seem like the ticker tape was running for everyone.  Michael was reading one and Janet was reading another, I think.  That makes me wonder if there are going to be resets.  Like everyone will get a version where they are pushed and once the become a good person without the promise of a reward and find the others it resets until everyone passes the test.

I do think the comment that "its only four people"  is going to come back into play later on.  There is going to be some bonkers consequence of running this test to see if someone bad can become good with a little push. 

[zibnchy]

I think it is time to crowdfund some money to throw at this cast (and crew). Enough money so they will make 52 shows per year. So we never need to be without them.

I'm kind of eager to see Jason back on earth. I'm sure Blake Bortles will be glad to have his #1 fan back.

Wasn't wild about the Back to Earth plot but I trust the show. Also, more Maya Rudolph please.

[Erin]

3 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

I do think the comment that "its only four people"  is going to come back into play later on.  There is going to be some bonkers consequence of running this test to see if someone bad can become good with a little push. 

Yeah, it's only four people now, but what if it works? What does that say about the potential of other people who are being sent to TBP? Maybe they'll deal with that in season 4. 

[DrScottie]

2 minutes ago, zibnchy said:

I think it is time to crowdfund some money to throw at this cast (and crew). Enough money so they will make 52 shows per year. So we never need to be without them.

It's a nice idea, but I doubt they could sustain this level of excellence on a weekly basis with no break. 

[TheOtherOne]

As usual, the show managed to surprise me. That wasn't at all what I was expecting, and I have no idea what happens next. Can't wait to find out though. (And really hope the rest of the characters aren't sidelined as much as they were here. Those first few minutes to cover so much felt really rushed.)

Kind of funny though that they've finally arrived at the original premise they first released for the show two years ago, which seemed like misdirection when the show finally debuted.

Quote

Good Place, which NBC ordered to series last summer based on a pitch, centers on Eleanor (Bell), a woman from New Jersey who comes to realize that she hasn’t been a very good person. She decides to turn over a new leaf by learning what it actually means to be “good” or “bad,” and then trying to make up for her past behavior. Danson plays Michael, who, through an unlikely set of circumstances, comes to be Eleanor’s guide through her self-designed self-improvement course.

Other than the New Jersey part, that's pretty close to where we are.

Edited February 2, 2018 by TheOtherOne

[Dots And Stripes]

With everything else that happened I almost forgot that Janet declared her love for Jason! And she's not just a Janet anymore!

[tennisgurl]

You know, when this season started, I thought they were doing a take off of No Exit, with the Hell is Other People punishment that Michael cooked up. Then I thought that they had just used that as a start of the season, and were giving it up and moving on. But now, I think they might still be doing No Exit...its just that its the other side of the coin. People can torture and bring out the worst in each other, BUT people can also help and bring out the best in each other. So while Hell is other people, maybe Heaven is too? 

Edited February 2, 2018 by tennisgurl

[BBG]

1 hour ago, rwlevin said:

I thought Chidi spoke French.

I don't think they're back on Earth, but on 'Earth', essentially a neighbourhood that's basically the world at the time they died.  This could be the reason that Chidi speaks unaccented English.  

Okay, so it's a reach.

Edited February 2, 2018 by BBG

[Arynm]

I agree. Was it really Earth or was it an approximation of earth? Sort of a test to see what they really are made of. I liked that Michael and Janet were watching two of that tapes more than the others, I wonder who the other was, other than Eleanor. Maybe Janet was watching Jason?

[wingster55]

Quote

I don't think they're back on Earth, but on 'Earth', essentially a neighbourhood that's basically the world at the time they died.  This could be the reason that Chidi speaks unaccented English.  

^ I was just about to post that. It's not "real" so Chidi speaks English. 

Tahani and Eleanor's conversation was great but it rang kinda false as we haven't seen them together all season that much. In fact we haven't seen her with Chidi either which annoys me as I liked their dynamic ins eason 1 too...instead they stuffed her as the third wheel of Jason and Janet's story (which, now Jason loves her? He barely had any scenes with her this year). It's annoying that they essentially dropped the WOC from the s1 triangle and made it just the white woman's love story. I'm actually quite angry about this. 

Edited February 2, 2018 by wingster55

[TheOtherOne]

5 minutes ago, BBG said:

I don't think they're back on Earth, but on 'Earth', essentially a neighbourhood that's basically the world at the time they died.  This could be the reason that Chidi speaks unaccented English.  

Okay, so it's a reach.

I actually agree with you. I was going to make the same comment. I don't think they're alive or back on earth--could the judge really bring four people back to life and send them back to the time when they died? Wouldn't that have a ripple effect on all the other people they came in contact with, who may have died and been judged in all the time our four were in the fake good place?

Makes more sense that this is a simulation. Michael popping through those doors Gen used to create their test in order to see Eleanor kind of points that way, to me. And I'd like to believe the lack-of-an-accent issue is a clue, not a continuity error. The show seems too well thought-out for that.

[Rinaldo]

1 hour ago, rwlevin said:

I thought Chidi spoke French.

It's his original language, so he spoke it in the GoodBad Place, but he's been in Australia for a long time now, and is brilliant enough to have absorbed English without an accent (without even a strong Australian accent, because he's cosmopolitan and all).

1 hour ago, BobH said:

I’m not sure about this.  Maybe there'll be some quick swerve at the beginning of season 3, because I don’t know if the gang getting re-acquainted on Earth works for very long.

Haven't we learned by now not to have worries like this about the show? So many times they've completely changed the premise of the show, I've thought "how is this going to work?" and then they completely surpassed my expectations. So I've stopped predicting. As you said, we don't know. And I love it that way.

39 minutes ago, zibnchy said:

I think it is time to crowdfund some money to throw at this cast (and crew). Enough money so they will make 52 shows per year.

I understand that this was meant in a spirit of fun and fandom (which I share) -- we'll all miss it terribly for 9 months. But to descend to the realistic: Schur & company have always been definite that 13 half-hours a year is all they want to make, no more. Before its premiere, he explained that even if it were a big hit (yeah, I know) and they were offered a back 9 or an extra 3 or whatever, they would decline and stick with their plan. And it makes sense: Aside from the seasons being too tightly plotted to allow for expansion, they probably couldn't obtain Ted Danson and Kristin Bell for longer commitments than this.

[thuganomics85]

Hot diggity dog, indeed!

Once again, I didn't predict which direction they were going to go in, but color me intrigued.  The foursome have now either been sent back to Earth or a representation of it, and now they will be "judged" to see if their time in the Bad Place has helped them improved.  Crafty, Michael!

I was disappointed that Chidi/Tahani/Jason pretty much disappeared after the twist, but I enjoyed following Eleanor and seeing how she has both changed, but still the same in some ways, after voiding the death by shopping carts.  I'm glad that she actually did make synthetic improvements at first and really was trying, but the more she got knock back down by being good, the more she regressed.  I think that is realistic for someone like her.  Kristen Bell did an excellent job with all of her scenes.  But now that she's got a pep talk and guidance from Sam... err, I mean, Michael pretending to be a bartender, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing her reunite with Chidi, and hopefully get to Tahani and Jason soon.

Aww, Janet and Jason love each other, again!  And Chidi finally kisses Eleanor again, too.  That just leaves out poor Tahani, but at least she and Eleanor are mates now (that British for friends, y'all!)

I do wonder if Chidi not speaking French was a recon, or if they just want us to believe he was speaking English for that particular speech.  Also, he should totally change his last name to "Anna Kendrick."

Hopefully the wait for next season won't feel too long.  This is easily become one of my favorite new shows.  Can't wait to see the gang in nine or so months!

[BoogieBurns]

Chidi hasn’t spoken French in any flashbacks. Even when he filibustered recess and dropped the ball as Best Man. 

[ally862]

I liked the episode but the only thing I was disappointed by is that I I read an article with someone from the show who said the last 5 minutes wouldn't be as shocking as last season's but it would be shopping. I was surprised earlier when they got the chance to try again but once they were sent back, or were they were sent, I fully expected Eleanor to find Chidi so the last 5 minutes weren't surlrising to me.

Edited February 2, 2018 by ally862

[DrSpaceman73]

I love the show, but I am not sure about this twist. 

I am assuming the 4 of them will all end up together somehow and I hope it doesn't take long. 

I too wonder if this is really them alive again or if this is some type of simulation.  Probably a simulation. 

[Galileo908]

Hot diggity dog, I need more!

I really wanted to see what became of the other three, but when Chidi showed up in Eleanor's life, I feel like they're all in the same place. I'm also leaning on simulation (run by the great ticker tape machines).

Ted Danson behind a bar? I see what you did there.

[arc]

Quibble: in s01e02, Tahani offhanded said her godmother was Diana, a princess of something.