IsThe Good Placejust better when everyones dead?
The resurrection trip to Earth is over.
Death isnt the problem, though.
Credit: Colleen Hayes/NBC
The problem is that theyve fled to a place beyond places: Janets Void.
Something got bonzered in the dimensional shift, and all the recent humans look exactly like Janet.
This playful conceit turns Janet(s) into a grand showcase for DArcy Carden.
Carden as Jason Mendoza, capturing Manny Jacintos holy-fool dudely dopiness with laser-printer specificity.
Carden as Tahani Al-Jami, channeling Jameela Jamils blissful aristocratic ignorance with aplomb.
Carden as Eleanor Shellstrop, really sellingKristen BellsArizona-trashbag noble sleaze.
Carden as Chidi Anagonye, wearing glasses and lecturing.
(William Jackson Harpers playing the cerebral everydude, thats a tough impression to nail!)
Chidi has a very Chidi-ish reaction to the news that he and Eleanor fell in love untold reboots ago.
Janet-Chidi explains this to his Janet-pals with a complicated whiteboard lecture.
Cardens multiple performances in these scenes are delightful, but the fun really starts when the problems begin.
Eleanors conversation with Chidi initiates an exterior and interior breakdown.
Shes losing track of her own being.
Is she even really Eleanor after all these reboots?
She doesnt evenlooklike Eleanor anymore!
Its the particular existential confusion philosophers describe as That Feeling You Get From WatchingPrimer.
The solution is love, the fifth element.
And yet, the Chidi-Eleanor drama can only be a sideshow.
The freaky stuff is happening in Accounting.
NEXT PAGE: Allegory, screech!
They want to find out justhowpeople get into the Good Place.
What could this mean?
IfDougsnot allowed in, what hope do the rest of us have?
Michael asks a more penetrating question: Whens the last timeanyonegot into the Good Place?
Answer: Centuries ago.
In some ways, this is the wildest plot turnThe Good Placehas introduced yet.
Its one thing to say, like, The characters youve grown to love are actually in Hell.
All season long, Ive been anticipatingsomethinglike this.
(Not for nothing, two-thirds of the cast were semi-amnesiac for a few episodes there.)
This has been frustrating, though I respect thatThe Good Placegave Janet an opportunity to explain the higher purpose.
Has the Bad Place been secretly pushing most of humanity downwards for the last few centuries?
Or is there some even-weirder revelation looming?
I havent always grooved onto this season, but Janet(s) pointed in a fearsome new direction.
