The Good Place 2×10 – Best Self

Another week, another gamechanger. When will this show ever let up?

We’re in the final stretch of The Good Place‘s absolutely stellar sophomore season, and the show just keeps going from strength to strength. Best Self is more of a low-key conversational hour that sets the stage for the season’s final hours, and yet it’s still immensely lovable and clever.

I honestly can’t believe the gang’s infamous neighborhood is now gone (notice how it dissolved into a bunch of pixels in the hour’s closing moments).  The team is now on their way to The Bad Place (and I’m so curious to see how the show’s budget will pull THAT one off) so they can plead their case to the infamous judge who previously ruled in Mindy St. Claire’s favor. It’s this willingness to upend the status quo on a weekly basis that makes The Good Place so darn impressive and confident. Shows like Suits should take note; it pays to change things up a bit instead of playing the same story and character beats for years and years.

How great was the whole balloon shebang? Of course it ended being another ploy by Michael, but it provided incredible insight into our characters’ minds after so many “reboots”.  The interesting thing is how interlinked everybody is – after Chidi managed to turn his red light into green, Eleanor struggled with her own anxieties and doubts. Each of the show’s characters are so carefully detailed and drawn, that all these crazy hijinks feel strangely believable and true to the show’s world.

Bits & Places

– Tahani breaks up with Jason and it’s the most hilarious exchange ever made (see below).

– The human starter kit that Michael receives includes: car keys (to lose), bandaids, a stress ball with a dumb corporate logo, and a useless Dr.Oz stress book. Beyond epic.

– Did anybody else get season finale vibes as everybody danced together? It kind of felt like their last night on Earth.

– Eleanor imitating Tahani was just priceless.

– Michael turns Bad Janet into a ball with that paperclip trick we learned about a while ago. Top-notch continuity as always.

Heavenly Quips

Michael: Now getting to the Good Place is pretty tricky. There’s no train to catch. I have to design a complicated, unique, transportation vehicle.
Jason: Is it Optimus Prime?
Michael: What?
Jason: I can’t believe we get to ride a real-life Optimus Prime. I call right nipple! That’s shotgun on Optimus Prime.

Michael: Forgot to log in first. Gotta answer my security question. What was the name of your childhood pet? Korzoth, the ten-headed dog-spider.

Michael: Kissing is gross. You just mash your food holes together.

Tahani: I propose that everyone who was green go ahead and board the magic balloon, and set out to the Good Place. Sort of like an advance team. We’ll put our names in or book a table. However it works.

Michael: I’m having this feeling where what is it called? You know, where you you did a thing and you’re sad after it? After-sad? You humans have so many emotions! You only need two: Anger and confusion!

Tahani: You know my whole life, whenever I encountered any obstacles, I would simply say, “I would like to speak to a manager.” But in our relationship, there was no manager. There was no one who could fix this for me except me.
Jason: My mom was a manager at a pet store. Does that help?
Tahani: No, and please don’t launch into one of your long stories-
Jason: She got fired after I
Tahani: Please, no.
Jason:: Robbed the pet store where she worked.
Tahani: Please, please, Jason.
Jason: We actually – robbed it together.
Tahani: No, no, no.
Jason: Long story short, it was all a dream.
Tahani: Thank you, Jason, for making this moment a little easier for me.

Tahani: Oh, and to Eleanor, our unofficial leader. You pack a lot of heart and grit into that diminutive frame. Like a scrappy little auto mechanic.

Tahani: And to Janet, the best robot.
Janet: Not a robot.
Tahani: Girl.
Janet: Not a girl.
Eleanor: And straight up hottie.
Janet: I am attractive, yes.
Tahani: Any of us could have ever asked for.

Eleanor: I mean, look at us. A self-obsessed socialite, a ridiculous giraffe, an absurd British aristocrat, a narcissistic attention seeker.
Tahani: Are these all me?
Eleanor: Yes.

Sean: (via text) Sending train first thing tomorrow. Humans will be captured and tortured soup. Sorry. Autocorrect. Soon. Although weirdly, I did just finish turning someone into soup. So random.Okay. Bye.

Eleanor: What do you guys think the Bad Place is going to be for you?
Jason: I’ll probably go to a Skrillex concert. And I’ll be waiting for the bass drop, and it it’ll never come.

Michael: All I’ve ever really wanted was to know what it feels like to be human, and now we’re going to do the most human thing of all: attempt something futile with a ton of unearned confidence and fail spectacularly!

Eleanor: This was your life’s work. Are you okay with leaving the fake Good Place behind?
Michael: As long as I’m with you guys, I’m always in the fake Good Place.
Eleanor: That doesn’t sound as nice as you think it does.
Michael: The real Bad Place was the friends we made along the way.
Eleanor: Nope. Still nonsense. One more try.
Michael: In a way, the Good Place was inside the Bad Place all along?
Eleanor: You know what? That’s technically true. I’m gonna give it to you.
Michael: I just made an aphorism.

Conclusion
Ridiculously clever and terrifically acted, Best Self is another excellent hour from a show that just won’t let up.

Nad Rating
A