What I’m Watching: The Good Place

The Good Place: Season 3, Episode 3 “The Brainy Bunch” (B+)

I found myself flashing back to some of the attempted methods employed by Michael to drive Eleanor crazy back when he was still a bad guy, doing things to set her off as much as humanly possible. Trevor did his very best to accomplish the same, giving her nickname after nickname and bringing her to what she accurately described as the worst bar in the world. He had an even easier time with Chidi by suggesting to him that fraternizing with his subjects was a bold choice, which of course reminded him that he had reason to fret about meddling with his experiment. As Michael has emphasized, it’s Chidi’s relationship with Eleanor that’s most central to their success, and Eleanor expressing that she had thought that they were becoming friends was sweet, though she undid most of that sentimentality when she told Chidi that his sprawling, delirious apology could have been sent in a simple text. I love that Jason and Tahani really are right for each other too, with Jason describing Tahani as fancy and eagerly acknowledging that she doesn’t know most of the words she says. Michael dressing like Dick Tracy and failing at his comebacks was fun, and I love that the three of them were summoned by the Doorman to face the very angry and flamboyant judge. Trevor’s out of the picture for the moment, and Michael and Janet had just enough distractions to allow themselves to jump back onto Earth, which should prove fun while it lasts.