After Eleanor’s dramatic confession in “The Eternal Shriek”, episode 8 jumped into answering the question of what should happen to Eleanor. Because New Janet is unable to locate Eleanor’s file, Michael tires to assess where she belongs. Using a lie detector, Michael proceeds to question her about her life on earth as well as the identity of Janet’s killer. New Janet eventually locates Eleanor’s file and, after going through it, Michael calls The Bad Place to come get her. Michael allows Eleanor to say goodbye to everybody, which she uses as an opportunity to apologize to everyone for lying. Chidi then admits to Michael that he killed Janet and has been teaching Eleanor, inspiring Michael to let her stay. Trevor, one of the leaders of The Bad Place, then reveals that the Eleanor who is supposed to be in The Good Place has actually been in The Bad Place with him.
The best thing about having an entire episode dedicated to the question of “where does Eleanor belong” is that the characters (and viewers) were able to take a breath and examine the progress she’s made. At the beginning of the series, Eleanor was the worst. She was hilarious, but also kind of the worst. Over time, however, she has put in real effort to be a better person to the point where she is casually quoting Kant in her conversations. As a viewer, it was really important for me to have a check in and think about if she has actually made progress, especially at such a pivotal turning point in the season where it is unclear where she is going to end up. Not only am I even more invested in Eleanor after this, but after spending this episode examining her growth, I feel confident that, although she isn’t the most saintly person out there, she doesn’t deserve to be in The Bad Place.
My other favorite part of this episode was the pay off of all of the genuine relationships Eleanor has built while in The Good Place. The scene where she said goodbye to everyone was funny, emotional, and, mostly importantly, totally earned. The writers weren’t just trying to make her departure difficult for the sake of playing with our emotions, they were leaning into the amazing and real relationships that have grown throughout the last 8 episode among all of these characters. It was especially moving to see Tahani, who wanted to hate Eleanor so much, unable to sabotage her. Their dynamic has always been such a funny addition to the series, but it was just as wonderful to see their genuine side as well.
Now, let’s move on to the cliffhanger. Of course, right when I thought it was going to work out, the real Eleanor (who was clearly not pleased with her stint in The Bad Place) shows up.
The Good Place has always been great at wrestling with questions of morals and ethics and this development is no exception. It is no longer just about deciding if Eleanor gets to stay in The Good Place, but also about how this affects the Eleanor who isn’t supposed to be in The Bad Place. Speaking of The Bad Place, Adam Scott was just plain awesome as Trevor. I’m excited to see what else the writers have in store for him because even though he was only in this episode for a few minutes, he was such an awesome and hilarious addition.
In terms of looking towards the future with only 5 (!) episodes left this season, I have three main thoughts:
1. How were the two Eleanors mixed up? Michael asked Trevor how this happened, which indicates that not even the group(s) in charge know what is going on. I really hope this is answered sooner rather than later because I am dying to know.
2. Eleanor has spent the entire season talking about how she deserves to be in a medium place. The writers have mentioned it so many times that I’m thinking there is a medium place and Eleanor is going to end up there.
3. What is The Bad Place like?! We got a brief description but I want to see it!
Overall Grade:
A-. Awesome storyline development. The only negative for me was that it wasn't quite as funny as the previous episode.
Favorite Quotes:
Eleanor: Kant would say that lying in any scenario is wrong, so if Michael asks you if you killed Janet, you should say “yes.” On the other hand, snitches do get stitches.
Jason/Jianyu: That is true. I read that once on the back of my boy Peanut’s tricep.
Tahani: People are just drawn to me. You know, one of my shiest friends - I won’t say his name to preserve his privacy - but he found my presence so comforting that he asked me to co-host his TV show, “Anderson Cooper 360.”
The entire string of questions Michael asks Eleanor to figure out if she is a bad person. I just about lost it when he got to questions about
The Bachelor.
Jump down to the comments and let me know where you think Eleanor is going to end up!
About the Author - Doug Greer
Doug Greer is a TV obsessed Leo from the Bay Area. His TV origin story begins in 7th grade, when his friend lent him her Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs and 144 episodes (and 9 days) later, he was hooked for life. All time favorites include (but most certaintly not limited to) everything Joss Whedon, Charmed, The 100, Nikita, Battlestar, and anything with a laugh track. More recently, Doug produced and help write a webseries for The CW called CW FanTalk and also produced webseries for actors such as AnnaLynne McCord and John Lehr. For the 2016-2017 season, Doug will be reviewing 2 Broke Girls and The Good Place.
