(no subject)

[shadowkat]

1. Had several bad weeks in a row so scheduled a massage with my reflexologist/massage therapist...
between the bad back, vertigo, hip, leg cramp, and stress...

I'm basically worried about everything. So ...meditated, did yoga, watched soap opera, had Udi's gluten free pizza, watercress/radish/cucumber salad, vodka tonic, Rittersport coconut filled milk chocolate, and watched The Good Place.

The Good Place is my favorite show on at the moment, and I've joined a FB discussion group to talk about it.

Me: You should watch the Good Place, it's a great satire on metaphysics and philosophy.
Friend: I'm not sure I can handle a satire on metaphysics and philosophy.
Me: I'm admittedly a nerd.

2. The Good Place - Season 2 -- The All Knowing Burrito

Eh, impossible to discuss without spoilers.

I found it hilarious in places. It and Lucifer are the only television series that consistently make me laugh out loud and hard.

I'm playing with it on FB, because no one on my flist appears to be really into it. So not sure it's worth talking about here?

This season is amazing...not a bad episode in the lot. Almost want to buy the DVDs so I can re-watch, although also possible via streaming.


And this episode was a lovely palate cleanser -- it got rid of all of the crap that's been bugging me all day long.



Best lines?

* Jason: A Burrito let's eat it!
Chidi: Wait a minute the burrito might be a test...
Eleanor: It's probably just a burrito -
Jason: So do we share it? Is that the test?
Eleanor: No, wait -- Chidi might be right. It could be the judge. I've seen stranger things since I've been here.
Tahani: It's not the Judge. Judges wear long silky robes and powdered whigs
Eleanor: All Knowing Burrito, we've come here to-
Judge pops up in long silkly black robes: No, it's just a burrito. I'm the judge.

* Shawn sentences Michael to an eternity in a bare room with just New Yorker magazines.
Michael: But I don't read the New Yorker.
Shawn: And they will keep coming.. Bwhahaha.

[Not to worry, Janet frees him. And leaves Shawn locked in the room with the New Yorkers.]

I love this. My father has a stack of unread New Yorkers. It's like you mean to read them, and never quite do, and they keep coming. He cancelled his subscription, but yet they continue.

* Chidi: I failed?
Judge Jen: You took 82 minutes to choose a hat.
Chidi: But at least I chose the right hat.
Judge Jen: There is no right or wrong hat. They are just hats!

* Jason: So we can just take a nap on our way back, get a good rest, and then come back her and try again tomorrow.
Eleanor: Jason, I love that you only appear get 20% of what is going on.
Jason: Thank you.

Hee Hee.

Also the did the door leads to the same room gag rather well -- classic farce.

Loved the tests...the guys tests were rather simplestic -- Chidi had to choose between hats, Jason resist his impulse to play video games. While Tahani and Eleanor had the more ethical and difficult tasks...Tahani resist her impulse to know what people were saying about her, and Eleanor to choose to not save her self over her friends.

One seemingly petty/mundane, the other much more weighty.

There's so much to this series.



I don't see myself writing meta on the series, don't have the head space. So FB works better.

Comments

[dlgood]

I actually like that Chidi's test is so mundane. Chidi, if there are obvious consequences, seems to be able to ponder moral choices. He might be incredibly pained, but has good impulses. His problem has been that he treats every choice as if it is an agonizing moral test. And is so deep within his own head that he is utterly blind to the effect that has on other people. That's why he was in "The Bad Place" to begin with. And forgets, in part because he's in his own head and also because Eleanor treats him like he belongs in The Good Place.

If you give him the kind of test Tahani or Eleanor had, he'd have passed them. His challenge was to recognize when is decision wasn't weighted and act accordingly.

We also get a demonstration - Eleanor has learned and grown through her connections to the group, enough to do well on her own. (In life, she rejected others and tried to do all things alone...) but also won't go without the group.

It's Chidi who hasn't yet learned enough from the person we were set up to believe was his student.

[shadowkat]

I like this analysis a lot. Thank you.

Read a review that felt the Chidi and Jason tests were lame, but I thought they were rather fascinating insights into the characters.

His problem has been that he treats every choice as if it is an agonizing moral test. And is so deep within his own head that he is utterly blind to the effect that has on other people. That's why he was in "The Bad Place" to begin with.

He can't stop overthinking or obsessing over choices. He sees all the variables but often loses the correct answer. It's notable that he couldn't figure out the answer to the trolley problem...and Michael who feels like the evil male version of Eleanor, took him through every single one, and much like Eleanor is the one who figures it out.

I think he gets a bit lost in his thoughts or rather they take over. And unlike Eleanor, he doesn't trust his gut. Like you state, he lives in his head.

It's Chidi who hasn't yet learned enough from the person we were set up to believe was his student.

This hadn't occurred to me. I think it's true. Chidi isn't just in the Bad Place because of what you state above, he's also there as a result of his ego...he doesn't think he has anything to learn.

Tahani has a similar issue, she sees herself as superior. She didn't think she had anything to learn.

Chidi's greatest flaw is his inability to step outside of himself.

[dlgood]

Chidi is literally the most navel-gazing academic of all time. Maybe this version of Chidi doesn't remember what Michael told him last year, that he made his friends miserable and died because he would not make choices. It's not merely that he can't trust his gut - but that he won't act like he lives in the world.

I don't think Tahani believes herself superior - or she does, but she doesn't. She's very privileged and class-conscious, but she's also deeply insecure. Quite a bit of her 'superiority' is compensation. This is why being paired with Jason has helped her so much. Because Jason is too ignorant and unconcerned to care about the social status that means so much to her she can learn that people can actually like her without caring about status. And she can see that the status envy she felt toward her sister was hollow. Jason is literally a nobody, but he is a person with value.

In life, it never occurred to Tahani that she could live without her parents approval or that she didn't have to measure herself against her sister. She never had to play the game, but she was too weak not to. She failed her test, but at least now she knows that. This was her break through.

Jason, OTOH, was too dumb for it to occur that he didn't have to play. I don't know how he overcomes his shallowness/dumbness.

[shadowkat]

Maybe this version of Chidi doesn't remember what Michael told him last year, that he made his friends miserable and died because he would not make choices. It's not merely that he can't trust his gut - but that he won't act like he lives in the world.

No, none of the characters remember anything from last season. If it wasn't said this season...it's a wash for them.

He didn't remember having sex with Eleanor and that was in the first episode of this season.

She's very privileged and class-conscious, but she's also deeply insecure. Quite a bit of her 'superiority' is compensation.

Ironically, superiority complex is often a direct result of inferiority complex.

Although other than that, I think we generally agree. Actually we may agree on the above as well...I just tend to think of people who view themselves as superior as having an inferiority complex. But maybe you said that, and I misread it. Which is more than possible.

Jason, OTOH, was too dumb for it to occur that he didn't have to play. I don't know how he overcomes his shallowness/dumbness.

I'm not sure about Jason. Someone on FB wondered if he could read and write.

They haven't developed the character well.

[yourlibrarian]

I just watched this episode yesterday. I agree that the show has yet to turn out a dull episode. I just recommended it to a friend yesterday, she watched the pilot, laughed hard and said she was going to continue with it so let's see.

He cancelled his subscription, but yet they continue.

*snort* And yet it's a mystery why print publications are struggling
financially...

Judge Jen: There is no right or wrong hat. They are just hats!

Yes, that bit made me laugh too. And good on Eleanor to realize she was with fake Chidi. That's true about the women's versus the men's tests.

I loved the reveal that Bad Janet was actually Good Janet becoming successful at subterfuge! Speaking of, I just posted some recs here https://recs.dreamwidth.org/495042.html which include a vid focused on Janet.

[shadowkat]

Thanks for the Rec, but can't watch any of the vids, since not a subscriber -- so no password.

I think the show takes a while to grab some people. It took a while to grab me, I didn't appreciate it fully until I saw the spoiler and went back to rewatch. Because in S1, it looks like a run-of-a-mill satirical show about heaven. With Eleanor and Jason trying to escape hell.

But, it's actually a lot more than that. Reminds me of Buffy in a way, you don't realize what's going on with it, until you stay with it for a bit. It's a show that rewards the viewer who sticks it out.

[yourlibrarian]

The password is right above the vid screen, it's "cactus"

I agree about S1. The friend who's just started watching is a few episodes in and still only sees it as a comedy.

[shadowkat]

It's not until the twist that ...well, it becomes interesting. The twist apparently shocked the cast, well except Ted Dansen, who knew about it.

[cookiegirl]

I loved this episode too. Especially the burrito bit :D And I really loved the part where the judge was going to reveal that Eleanor had actually passed her test, but Eleanor stopped her and pretended that she had failed as well so that the others wouldn't feel guilty about her staying behind with them. It really shows how far she's come <3

[shadowkat]

Also interesting that they show she's come the furthest of the four, since the show has spent the most time on her character and hers is the most developed. Nice corollary there.