Take Three: The Good Place

The Good Place: Season 1, Episode 4 “Jason Mendoza” (B+)

I have to say – I’m really glad that Jianyu is talking since Jason Mendoza really is a fantastic character. It turns out he is not that smart at all, and his first few answers when Eleanor asked him what he did were pretty hilarious. Finding out that he knew that she didn’t belong there because she explicitly said those words to him when she was drunk wasn’t a great moment for her, but he managed to prove just how unintelligent he was by accidentally saying “I’m cool” when Tahani asked him how he was and then deciding that the first thing he wanted to say to all the people in the Good Place had to do with delicious wings he once ate. His “bud hole” for him and his buds was another priceless line, and I laughed out loud when he walked in determined to learn about “ethnics.” Naturally, Eleanor’s favorite meal would have been a hunger strike, but there wasn’t too much emphasis placed on that since Jason took the focus for the majority of the episode. We did still get to see Tahani planning a party and Michael getting excited to try suspenders for the first time. Offering to do everything in his power aside from giving Jianyu a second mouth to help him talk was a sweet gesture that represents Michael’s imperfect grasp on what being human is. The sinkhole that Eleanor created seems to be getting much bigger and more threatening, suggesting that Jason speaking and being Jason is not good for this place.