S03.E06: The Ballad of Donkey Doug

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Jason visits with some people from his past while Chidi gets help in resolving a problem.

Original air date: 10/25/18

[MrWhyt]

Donkey Doug! We needed more of the simone and eleanor simulation, for... science!

Edited October 26, 2018 by MrWhyt

[Panopticon]

Eleanor looked so ridiculously cute at the beginning of this episode. No wonder none of her exes ever got over her.

(And of course her mother faked her own death. Of course she did.)

Another fun episode after a slow start to the season.

[Mockingbird]

Janet’s embarrassment over having to walk and making Chidi and Eleanor look away as she exited the room was a season highlight. 

And I’d have taken every breakup better if I were handed a puppy at the time. 

[Dots And Stripes]

They saved Pill Boy from committing more crimes, but he’s still not doing good things for the right reasons. He thinks he needs to avoid crime because of some secret mission. He may not be losing as many points, but he’s not going to gain many either.

[Linny]

Well, Donkey Doug sure helps fill in some gaps to explain how Jason came to be. Rampant criminality with total disregard for the law combined with extremely shortsighted judgment makes for a sad picture, and I'm glad Jason recognized his time would be better spent helping Pillboi. Pillboi seems to have a good heart, at least judging from his interactions helping the elderly, and some extra nourishing and a gentle nudge in the right direction can absolutely make a difference in his future. And hey, he thinks he's working with NASA, it doesn't get much cooler than that.

Simone stayed awesome to the end. The actress just killed it in the simulations when imitating Eleanor and Janet. I appreciated that after her initial sting of rejection, Simone accepted that Chidi was sure of what he wanted and made peace with it. It was also helpful of Eleanor to point out that Simone has a full life that Chidi has been an important figure in, but he was never the defining piece.

I'm hard pressed to decide whether Randy "Macho Man" Savage International Airport or Tahani's timely dig on Elon Musk was my favorite minor detail in this one. Tahani reading a magazine article about her breakup with Larry Hemsworth was pretty great as well ("Larry Hemsworth Blows It Again," dude really can't catch a break).

Bing!

[phalange]

Donkey Doug being Jason's father explains so much about why Jason is the way he is. At least he...kinda did the right thing by "distracting" the police while Jason left. I love Jason going, "I hope not, but thanks" after his dad says one day he'll distract the cops for his own son. Clearly a love for Bortles runs in the family. Jason and Pillboi's handshake is art, honestly. 

Poor Janet having to make the "bing!" sound herself while on Earth. 

"Ya dumped!" made me lose it. At least it was amicable in the end.

Eleanor's parents really are the worst, aren't they? I thought Donkey Dad Doug was bad, but I think faking your own death takes the cake. 

[Sakura12]

12 minutes ago, phalange said:

Donkey Doug being Jason's father explains so much about why Jason is the way he is. At least he...kinda did the right thing by "distracting" the police while Jason left. I love Jason going, "I hope not, but thanks" after his dad says one day he'll distract the cops for his own son.

I liked it because maybe Jason's getting a little smarter or at least learning from being part of the cockroach soul squad. Meeting Jason's dad explains a lot.

I'll miss Simone. I loved Eleanor almost making out with her in the simulation. 

Poor Janet having to make her own dinging sounds. 

Eleanor's mother is the worst. Her upbringing explains a lot too. 

Also I forgot about Larry again. 

[Chaos Theory]

28 minutes ago, Dots And Stripes said:

They saved Pill Boy from committing more crimes, but he’s still not doing good things for the right reasons. He thinks he needs to avoid crime because of some secret mission. He may not be losing as many points, but he’s not going to gain many either.

But it’s a secret mission for the good guys so that puts points back on the board for him.  Plus he is kind to the people in the home.

i loved after all the exercises Chidi panicked and and dumped Simone like Eleanor would have.  Put then did the right thing and went back and told her as close to the truth as he could.

[albinerhawk]

45 minutes ago, Dots And Stripes said:

They saved Pill Boy from committing more crimes, but he’s still not doing good things for the right reasons. He thinks he needs to avoid crime because of some secret mission. He may not be losing as many points, but he’s not going to gain many either.

I was thinking this at first too, but then again Pillboi believes he's working for the greater good. So his actions are good as are his motivations...even if they don't exactly align. He does have a choice. He can either work for the greater good as a spy for NASA or he can return to crime.

[CCTC]

Unpopular opinion - but for me Jason is better as a less is more character.  He is funny in small doses, but if I had to choose one character to leave the show - he would be it.  I would be ok with minimal Jason-centric episodes.

Chidi does stressed out and flummoxed very well.

[ChiCricket]

 I don't get into the big philosophical stuff like you guys do ? but it's driving me nuts wondering what is on Simone's arm. Those can't be wrist piercings, right?

Edited October 26, 2018 by ChiCricket

[PityFree]

I predict that Donkey Doug's sacrifice of himself to save Jason will be a factor in his being able to go to the Good Place eventually.

 

Also nice Flula Borg cameo as the waiter at the tea shop!

[tennisgurl]

Poor Larry Hemsworth. Its hard to be a lowly super attractive pediatric surgeon. 

Loved getting to see Jason's father, it definitely explains a lot more about how he is the way he is. Jason would probably always be a bit...not the sharpest tool in the shed, but it seems like his constant law breaking and more self centered tendencies is stuff he picked up from Donkey Doug. While Donkey Doug might have taken some wrap for Jason (like my father did before him, and his father before him...) they really were probably better off trying to save Pillboi, as his dad really is probably too far gone. He seems to be basically a kind person, and running with a better crowd, thinking that he is doing something really good and exciting, could get him back on the right path. 

Simone is still super awesome, even in a breakup. Of course Chidi would go through a billion break up scenarios, and then just flail about awkwardly in the actual breakup. Glad that they still ended on a good note. Maybe if she and Chidi never find each other again, she and Eleanor...

Eleanor's parents really are just awful. The whole show is a really interesting look at how much parents do and do not affect their kids and how they grow up.

[Dots And Stripes]

15 minutes ago, albinerhawk said:

I was thinking this at first too, but then again Pillboi believes he's working for the greater good. So his actions are good as are his motivations...even if they don't exactly align. He does have a choice. He can either work for the greater good as a spy for NASA or he can return to crime.

Tahanni always thought she was doing her charity for the greater good even though she was really doing it for her own vanity. Same thing here for Pillboi. He’s not really doing to good deeds for pure reasons.

[DeLurker]

1 hour ago, phalange said:

Poor Janet having to make the "bing!" sound herself while on Earth. 

I thought that was adorable.  Janet is adorable.

9 minutes ago, PityFree said:

Also nice Flula Borg cameo as the waiter at the tea shop!

Thank you!  I knew I recognized him, but couldn’t come up with a name!

I love how they made Jason the the bright one in comparison to his Jax group.  The Pillboi hug was dope!

[Amarsir]

23 minutes ago, CCTC said:

Unpopular opinion - but for me Jason is better as a less is more character.  He is funny in small doses, but if I had to choose one character to leave the show - he would be it.  I would be ok with minimal Jason-centric episodes.

I get that. But he has been pretty minimal in most episodes for the last season and a half so I think it's fair to give him half the plot for this one. 

On another note, Tahani and Chidi had relationships for the last year but Eleanor is in dire need of one. 

[festivus]

I love that Donkey Doug turned out to be Jason's dad. Wasn't he the first one to leave the 40 person dance crew in the first episode? That makes it even funnier. That being said, I don't really need to see him again. Dumb characters are not my thing. Jason only gets away with it because he's so sweet under the dumbness.

[DrScottie]

33 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Eleanor's parents really are just awful. The whole show is a really interesting look at how much parents do and do not affect their kids and how they grow up.

That's a very good point. We already knew the estranged relationship Tahani had with her parents. We found out about Jason and Donkey Doug in this episode. Next week, it's Eleanor against her mother whom we already saw how nasty she was back then. Will Chidi's parents factor in? 

Edited October 26, 2018 by DrScottie

[jmonique]

This episode further illustrated why I've always been more onboard with Jason/Tahani than Jason/Janet. 
Jason and Janet just happened: "You know what? I think I love you, girl." There wasn't much build-up beyond the two of them being nice to one another, and largely since the end of the first season, it's just been Janet crushing and now creepily obsessing over Jason.

Jason and Tahani, on the other hand, legitimately found each other attractive and worked on their relationship in S2. They made each other better and more tolerable, and even though they claim to be in a platonic marriage at the moment, Jason proudly introducing her as his wife, and Tahani emphasizing that when turning down her father-in-law's come on made me take notice. Tahani's ongoing support for Jason and her new in-law, and Jason declaring her "wifey" at the airport makes me hope that eventually the writers will drop Janet's obsession.

[chaifan]

25 minutes ago, festivus said:

I love that Donkey Doug turned out to be Jason's dad. Wasn't he the first one to leave the 40 person dance crew in the first episode? That makes it even funnier. That being said, I don't really need to see him again. Dumb characters are not my thing. Jason only gets away with it because he's so sweet under the dumbness.

I liked the story line of saving Jason's dad, but Donkey Doug was just way too annoying for me.  After about 2 minutes on scene I was done with him. 

I loved the breakup simulator!  Life would be so much better if something like that really existed.  Loved the fake out with Eleanor as Simone. 

I hope Simone isn't really gone.  I'm going to miss her.

[Dots And Stripes]

I liked bits of tonight’s episode (Tahani reacting to finding out who Donkey Doug is, Janet providing her own sound effects, Eleanor taking over Simone’s part of the simulator), butthe plot didn’t really work for me. Too much felt like it was unexplained or like it didn’t fit. It felt forced. I had a similar feeling about the brainy bunch experiment.

[tennisgurl]

Honestly, if someone broke up with me and let me pet a puppy at the same time, I would feel a bit better. 

[VCRTracking]

Loved both the Donkey Doug and the breakup simulator plots.

I will never get tired of Mike Schur shows making fun of Florida.

Tahani realizing Elon Musk is a creep wondering what she saw in him made me laugh.

[Traveller519]

Gahhhhhh, Janet is so forking adorable!!! *Bing!*

I'm glad she took some time to "glitch" the simulator for her own benefit. And DAMN RIGHT non of Elenore's ex's are over her!

Despite loving the show's frentic pace, I enjoyed the slower episode. It was nice to dig into Jason's backstory a bit and reveal that he has become a better person. That trip to the Randy "Macho Man" Savage airport was good for him.

[shoregirl]

[possibilities]

The thing about Pillboi is that he could go back to robbery if he wanted to. He's choosing to start over and do good and not get a lot of praise for it, either. If he thought it was boring and stupid, he could ditch his "mission" and go "have fun" with Donkey Doug any time he wants to. If he chooses not to, that says something about him.

[GaT]

Just not feeling this season, I'm mostly bored.

When did Jason & Tahani get married?

[CatWarmer]

The way Michael's face lit up when he saw the monster truck - fantastic.

[Dowel Jones]

3 hours ago, PityFree said:

I predict that Donkey Doug's sacrifice of himself to save Jason will be a factor in his being able to go to the Good Place eventually.

Of course, if he goes to the Bad Place, it will be difficult to tell who is being tortured more; the demons or Doug.

[bros402]

Janet going "Bing!" had me laughing hard

I think next episode will be good - Eleanor seeing her horrible mother.

 

1 hour ago, GaT said:

Just not feeling this season, I'm mostly bored.

When did Jason & Tahani get married?

Off screen last episode - so Jason can get half of Tahani's money despite being a Floridian

[Winston Wolfe]

1 hour ago, bros402 said:

  3 hours ago, GaT said:

Just not feeling this season, I'm mostly bored.

Yeah, this was the first Good Place episode that I've ever felt "meh" about.  I'm chalking it up to the law of averages catching up with it and guessing that the show will be back to awesome-ness next week.

[thuganomics85]

Donkey Doug was actually Jason's father this entire time!  That totally makes sense for Jason, actually.  Definitely explains why Jason became who he is now, although at least Doug kind of did the right thing by letting himself get arrested so that Jason't didn't.  And yell "Bortles", of course.  Those Mendozas really do love their Jacksonville Jaguars' quarterback!  I did like how it ended up being Pillboi that they saved, since they realized Doug was a lost cause.

The montage of Chidi breaking up with "Simone" was great.  As was Eleanor pretending to be Simone and then starting to fall for her as well.  I do hope this isn't the end for the character.

Oh, Larry!  You can never win, can you, buddy?

Poor Janet having to do her own dings!

Ted Danson was killing it with the facial expressions tonight.  Michael's reaction to hearing that Doug used to unscramble porn for Jason when he was in third grade and his reaction to Jason and Pillboi's handshake made me laugh just as hard as some of the actual lines.

So, now it looks like Tahani is going to try and save her parents, while Eleanor is off to hunt down her mother, who apparently faked her death.  And it made me realize that despite Donkey Doug being... well, Donkey Doug, I still all those other parents are the worst.

[NUguy514]

I loved this episode, I'm loving this season just as much as the first two, and my cold, dead heart is warm and snuggly after every episode.  I'm turning into such a sap.  Damn you, The Good Place, damn you! *shakes fist angrily

[arc]

I liked this episode a lot. I do hope that they can pull back a bit on the Florida/Jacksonville stuff and I do assume they were taking this episode to blow it all out while they could. Because that was a lot. That said, I loved the Bigfoot cab.

And the VR thing was highly implausible but hey, it gave this time on Earth a bit of the supernatural stuff that makes this show feel like itself, so I'll overlook it.

Jason and Pillboi's handshake goes into the hall of fame for TV handshakes, along with some classic Turk and JD routines (from Scrubs) and Abby and the Bed Bath & Beyond employees (from Broad City).

Edited October 26, 2018 by arc

[Notwisconsin]

8 hours ago, PityFree said:

I predict that Donkey Doug's sacrifice of himself to save Jason will be a factor in his being able to go to the Good Place eventually.

Nope. At the end of "Big" Tom Hanks tells Elizabeth Perkins  "I have a million reasons to go but only one to stay..." before leaving her. Donkey Doug did one nice thing and a million bad ones. It doesn't work that way, or Tahani would have been in heaven had she been hit by a bus the day before. The "Touched by an Angel" stuff was better than I expected but not much. However, the simulation scenes were as good as anything in Season 2.

[PityFree]

2 hours ago, Notwisconsin said:

Nope. At the end of "Big" Tom Hanks tells Elizabeth Perkins  "I have a million reasons to go but only one to stay..." before leaving her. Donkey Doug did one nice thing and a million bad ones. It doesn't work that way, or Tahani would have been in heaven had she been hit by a bus the day before. The "Touched by an Angel" stuff was better than I expected but not much. However, the simulation scenes were as good as anything in Season 2.

I am not saying that Donkey Doug’s sacrifice would get him into the good place under the current system.  Under the current system almost no one gets in a good place for anything they do.  I am saying that in the future on the show, the sacrifice will come up as a point in his favor. I think the Soul Squad will challenge the current point system and that when they do, things like Donkey Doug’s sacrifice will matter.

Edited October 26, 2018 by PityFree
Because donkey is not spelled dunkee

[bethy]

9 hours ago, phalange said:

I love Jason going, "I hope not, but thanks" after his dad says one day he'll distract the cops for his own son.

I did, too. It seemed like a significant moment for Jason, to me. That he realized he didn't want to be his dad moving forward. 

[ClareWalks]

1 hour ago, PityFree said:

I am not saying that Dunkee Doug’s sacrifice would get him into the good place under the current system.  Under the current system almost no one gets in a good place for anything they do.  I am saying that in the future on the show, the sacrifice will come up as a point in his favor. I think the Soul Squad will challenge the current point system and that when they do, things like Dunkee Doug’s sacrifice will matter.

I was thinking the same thing, that they are picking the wrong people to save because they have zero chance of getting enough points to get into the Good Place, but if they change the points system it will make sense. Or make a really big Cincinnati Medium Place for people.

[albinerhawk]

2 hours ago, Notwisconsin said:

Nope. At the end of "Big" Tom Hanks tells Elizabeth Perkins  "I have a million reasons to go but only one to stay..." before leaving her. Donkey Doug did one nice thing and a million bad ones. It doesn't work that way, or Tahani would have been in heaven had she been hit by a bus the day before. The "Touched by an Angel" stuff was better than I expected but not much. However, the simulation scenes were as good as anything in Season 2.

Knowing this show, I expect that we won't see the "Touched by an Angel" stuff for too long before we end up twisting everything up and on to the next stage.

[Helena Dax]

1 hour ago, ClareWalks said:

I was thinking the same thing, that they are picking the wrong people to save because they have zero chance of getting enough points to get into the Good Place, but if they change the points system it will make sense. Or make a really big Cincinnati Medium Place for people.

I was thinking the same thing. Even if Pillboi is able to spend his days helping the elderly and away from crime, so what. Florence Nightingale didn't make the cut; with the system as it is, being sent into the Good Place is almost impossible. However, I think their selfless actions are helping them. Not enough. though. I mean, it's the points system what must be changed. That should be their goal.

Also, if the people in the Good Place are really good people, how can they live with themselves knowing that the 99'99% of the world population is being endlessly tortured? I know I couldn't and I'm not good enough to get into the Good Place.

[BoogieBurns]

11 hours ago, ChiCricket said:

 I don't get into the big philosophical stuff like you guys do ? but it's driving me nuts wondering what is on Simone's arm. Those can't be wrist piercings, right?

Well, Simone is played by a black woman. Black people don't scar the same way as other races, we have raised scars called keloids. Assuming she didn't request to have them covered, they are just a product of the actress being a person who may have fallen at some point in her life. But as always, I never underestimate Mike Schur and still think (regardless of her scar location) that Kirby's character is supernatural. 

[morgan]

Janet’s “bing” had me laughing so hard.  As a kid my friends and I used to play Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie” and used to do something very similar as we twitched our noses or went from our bottle to different places.   So funny to see Janet doing the same thing!

[sadiegirl]

35 minutes ago, BoogieBurns said:

Well, Simone is played by a black woman. Black people don't scar the same way as other races, we have raised scars called keloids. Assuming she didn't request to have them covered, they are just a product of the actress being a person who may have fallen at some point in her life. But as always, I never underestimate Mike Schur and still think (regardless of her scar location) that Kirby's character is supernatural. 

I watched specifically to check her arm. She's wearing a bracelet. The chain part is hard to see and the circles we do see are just part of the design.

[taragel]

The casting for Jason's father was so spot-on. The voice/cadence matching just killed me, and him going out with the family war cry of Bortles! was perfect. I hope that wasn't the last of Simone we saw, as she was a great addition, but I imagine it might be for now. Maybe she'll be back in the future though.

I wonder how long this particular reset will last. Next week will be Tahani and Eleanor's parental units, I guess. And then what? At some point I imagine we'll check in with Shawn, Trevor, and/or Judge Gen? Love how unpredictable this show is.

[companionenvy]

47 minutes ago, Helena Dax said:

I was thinking the same thing. Even if Pillboi is able to spend his days helping the elderly and away from crime, so what. Florence Nightingale didn't make the cut; with the system as it is, being sent into the Good Place is almost impossible. However, I think their selfless actions are helping them. Not enough. though. I mean, it's the points system what must be changed. That should be their goal.

Also, if the people in the Good Place are really good people, how can they live with themselves knowing that the 99'99% of the world population is being endlessly tortured? I know I couldn't and I'm not good enough to get into the Good Place.

This might give credence to the theory that Michael is engineering this whole thing specifically to get the other members of Team Cockaroach into TGP after all. It doesn't make a ton of sense to think that they can get someone like Pill Boi - or frankly, almost anyone - into TGP, but theoretically, as long as they don't know there's a chance of redemption for them, working to save others while knowing that you yourself are damned would, actually, seem to constitute Good Place-worthy levels of selflessness.

I don't actually believe this, however, largely because the same complaint - almost no one gets into TGP anyway, so it seems fruitless trying to "help" someone get in -- could have been lodged against Michael's original agreement with Gen; even if our foursome became better people through these little pushes from Michael, it is hard to see them racking up the point total that is apparently required for admission. So really, I think it is a matter of Michael not yet having totally grasped just how corrupt the whole system is; the problem isn't simply that people who may still have the potential for good are being damned, but that the threshold for what is considered "good" is so damn high.

I liked the episode a lot. Jason is an over the top character, but I think the reality of TGP is one that can accommodate that level of absurdity, so I was able to enjoy this spotlight into his utterly ridiculous life. The fact that the oft-mentioned Donkey Doug is his father was perfect. But, as usual, the show, even at its broadest, leaves room for some legitimate emotion; Donkey Doug's willingness to sacrifice himself for Jason was sweet, in its own way, and Jason's ability to recognize his father's own limitations shows some real growth on his part.

Echoing those who think - and hope -- we haven't seen the last of Simone, though I can't figure out what role I want her to be playing. I think it would be too easy to make her a GP rep, but I'm wondering if she wasn't created as part of some other power's intervention into Michael's experiment, even if she herself is unaware of it. She reminds me a little too much of the fake soulmate candidate Michael created for Chidi in his first reboot to think it is just a coincidence that Chidi met a person who seems so perfect for him so soon after being saved. I also can't help but recall a (pretty forgettable) movie from years back where an AI-generated character was named "Simone" as a play on the words "simulation one." Another possibility is that Simone is just an ordinary muggle, one whose role is to be a person who actually does prove worthy of the GP under the current system, setting up the potential for the gang to encounter her again when they invariably wind up taking a trip there. 

[BoogieBurns]

42 minutes ago, sadiegirl said:

I watched specifically to check her arm. She's wearing a bracelet. The chain part is hard to see and the circles we do see are just part of the design.

Her upper arm has a similar scar, but I believe you. I can't see the bracelet at all, but I haven't watched for it.

Manny was so attractive this episode I kept forgetting to watch the show. I just stared at his chiseled face and kept having to rewind. This is a good looking cast, for sure.

Edited October 26, 2018 by BoogieBurns
one more thing

[DoubleUTeeEff]

Jason and Pillboi sobbing while executing that ridiculously elaborate handshake/hug was my favorite part of this episode hands down, no pun intended.

It seems that Jason has learned the lesson that you can't help people who don't want to be helped--like his dad. I wonder if Eleanor will learn the same lesson with her mother. 

[ClareWalks]

9 minutes ago, DoubleUTeeEff said:

Jason and Pillboi sobbing while executing that ridiculously elaborate handshake/hug was my favorite part of this episode hands down, no pun intended.

That was so flawless. Sometimes I see something on TV that is so hysterical that I cannot believe the actors didn't break, and that was one of those scenes.

[Amarsir]

2 hours ago, Helena Dax said:

Also, if the people in the Good Place are really good people, how can they live with themselves knowing that the 99'99% of the world population is being endlessly tortured? I know I couldn't and I'm not good enough to get into the Good Place.

That's one of the two things that bugged me since season one. Why would good people not be constantly horrified by the existence of a place full of torture and working to change it? Of course then the twist did pretty much explain it at least for that neighborhood.

The other thing is that no one in the afterlife seems very concerned with the people they left on Earth. It seems like "I wonder how friends are doing and if I'll ever see them again is something most people would go through. I understand it's not great for TV but Chidi should have at least once asked about them.