What I’m Watching: The Good Place

The Good Place: Season 2, Episode 10 “Best Self” (B+)

It’s nice to know that this show is able to focus on just its six main characters with no one else around and still function just as well, and it’s crazy to think that there was a point at which we thought that everyone in this “good place” was human except for Michael and Janet. It’s also reassuring to get more confirmation that Michael isn’t up to no good, he’s just stalling for time as he tries to figure out a way to get them to the real good place, somewhere that I can’t imagine will just welcome them in with open arms given their history and the fact that Michael is a demon. The surprisingly functional detector of one’s best self was a great opportunity for some intense verbalized self-reflection, with Chidi concerned that he could have been better at one point and then Eleanor realizing that she too wasn’t as good as she could be. Ultimately, they reached a wonderful point, giving Michael a human starter kit with useless things like car keys to lose and Eleanor still keeping herself entertained by hurling eight insults in Tahani’s direction just for the fun of it. Taking the train together to the real bad place so that they could travel through it and somehow appeal to a judge (demonic or otherwise, I’m not sure) that they’ve become good should be an interesting journey, and I’m curious to see if they’ll make it there before the end of the season, with unknown obstacles sure to come.