Welcome back to my The Good Place binge watch. There will be SPOILERS for seasons 1 and 2. Season 2, like season 1, is made up of 13 half hour episodes.
Spoilers Ahead!
Season 1 ended with Eleanor realizing that she, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason were not in The Good Place afterlife. They were in The Bad Place, in a neighborhood specifically designed by demon Michael to make each of them miserable. Michael tells them that he plans on erasing their memories and starting again. Eleanor quickly leaves herself a note to “Find Chidi” and hides it in the all-knowing afterlife assistant, Janet.
The first reboot starts with new soulmates for each human or, in Chidi’s case, the choice between two. It fell apart on the first night. Eleanor found Chidi at the welcome party, and they realized where they were pretty quickly. This starts a sequence of multiple reboots, each time the humans catching on to where they actually were. There are many really funny montages in this part: the neighborhood signs have new pun names, and Eleanor has a string of soulmates (several demons in disguise, Tahani, and even a golden retriever who is probably a hellhound in disguise).
Fleeing to Mindy St. Clair’s medium place, Eleanor learns from Mindy what’s going on. Mindy tells them that she and the others have been rebooted hundreds of times and that they’ve sought help from Mindy on no fewer than 15 occasions. Mindy is also kind of a creep and has filmed Eleanor and Chidi on a previous visit having sex and telling each other “I love you.” This expression of love shakes Eleanor up more than anything. Being this open is not normal for her.
Back in the neighborhood, the demons have become restless. They’re sick of the reboots and want to go back to their old torture methods. The leader of the rebellion is Vicky, an ambitious attention seeker who played the role of “Real Eleanor” in season 1. She blackmails Michael with exposure to his boss if he doesn’t let her run the next reboot. That would be the end for Michael.
With nowhere else to turn, Michael offers a truce to the humans. If they play along, he’ll try to get them into the real Good Place. They agree to the plan as long as Michael agrees to study ethics with them. Janet is in on the plan, and after 802 reboots she’s “Probably the most advanced Janet in the universe.”
Humans had always been a hobby interest for Michael, and the more he spends time with them the closer he gets. He still tortures them on occasion, especially Chidi, after his lesson on the trolley problem. He makes a simulation where Chidi has to decide about running very real-looking people over. Eleanor calls him out. Michael also begins to understand mortality, which sends him into an existential crisis, which morphs into a classic mid-life crisis complete with an earring, tattoo, and red sports car. The gang eventually gives him the title of “honorary human.”
Janet is now more advanced than any other Janet. Her “social awareness and abilities” have increased to the point where she can tell lies when they help her friends. She can also fall in love and has retained feelings from her original version for Jason. Unfortunately for her, Jason and Tahani have started a relationship. Her distress causes Janet to glitch, which puts everyone at risk of discovery. Eleanor advises her to get herself a rebound guy. Janet creates Derek, a semi-formed new boyfriend, whose unpredictable behavior only increases the risk.
For the first time ever, Eleanor has people that she cares about. It brings out her leadership skills. At some point this season, Eleanor offers each of the other characters friendship and advice when they need it the most. She can still be rude, but she really tries hard to be a better person and, as she says, “The greatest thing someone can do is try their best.”
I find myself saying “Poor Chidi” a lot. He is a person who always wants to do the right thing. In all 802 versions, he never refuses to help Eleanor. He can’t even bring himself to lie to demons and has to think on his feet far more than he’s comfortable doing. Chidi has two moments of unusual decisiveness: the first is when he tells Michael to “Fork Off,” and the second is when he kisses Eleanor.
Tahani still craves attention. The demons plan a competing party to the one she’s planning, and she’s upset over her failure even when she knows it’s going to happen. Jason points out to her that she’s still being mean to him for no reason. Spending time with him helps Tahani begin to take herself less seriously and just have fun. She also becomes grateful for what she does have, especially Eleanor’s friendship.
And now we come to Jason. I love Jason – his goofy enthusiasm, his ridiculous stories, and the way his face lights up when Michael tells him about his new “best friend.” Of course, that friend is really a fire demon who won’t talk to Jason and also won’t leave him alone. He may not have grown as much as the others, but he “aced” an ethics assignment with a C-. Jason is always willing to share what he learned the hard way back in Florida, and sometimes that means knowing a well-timed Molotov cocktail can be the answer to your problems.
All was going smoothly until Michael’s boss shows up. His boss, Shawn, doesn’t know that there are more than 2 reboots. Michael has to keep him in the dark, but he leaves 1,200 clues for the humans to follow. They pick up on 4 of them, which is enough to figure out what needs to be done. Using Derek as a diversion, the humans hide out long enough for the demons to leave. Michael confesses that the humans’ only chance to get into The Good Place is to make a plea to the Judge, and the only way to get to the Judge is through a portal at the center of The Bad Place.
The humans disguise themselves as Bad Place workers, which means Mad Men style outfits. Can I point out how great all of them look dressed like this? They really need to sneak into Bad Place HQ more often. I know Jason says that wearing a suit reminds him of court dates, but it’s a good look. Janet pretends to be a Bad Place Janet, except that she can’t stop being helpful. After attempting to blend in, the humans make it to the portal with demons hot on their heels.
The Judge is surprised and friendly enough. She hasn’t had a trial since Mindy St Claire, and most of her contact with the real world is through TV binges. Reluctantly she agrees to hear their case and gives them each a test to see if they have indeed improved in the afterlife. Only Eleanor passes the test, but they agreed it was all four or nobody. Michael manages to convince the Judge that they need a more realistic test and to send them back to before each person died.
After surviving the accident that killed her the first time, Eleanor sets out to make herself a better person. She does well for the better part of a year before growing discouraged. A little advice from a friendly bartender (Michael) puts her on the track to find Chidi’s lecture about “What we owe to each other.” Eleanor seeks him out and asks for his help for the 803rd time.
What I love about this show is that it’s about how kindness and doing the right thing the best you can are really the most important things. Nothing is ever done in a sappy way; the sweetness is well mixed with the silly. Be true to yourself, be a good friend, and if you’ve ever wondered: stealing a loaf of bread to feed your starving family is -17 points.
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