TL;DR – A strong follow up at the start of the season with some really powerful moments.  

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Review –

We continue our look at the final chance to save humankind and … well … it’s not been going well so far. With the clock both figuratively and literally running out for both the character and us the viewers it makes even the smallest set back feel larger and that is only the first few minutes.

So to set the scene, at the end of Part 1, we got a bit of a reset with The Bad Place’s mole being discovered. However, all the problems still remain, Simone (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) still thinks this is all the figment of her imagination and is acting accordingly with chaotic abandon. Also Brent (Ben Koldyke) is a mediocre white man from privilege, so of course he thinks the world revolved around him. It is a tough nut to crack but at least Eleanor (Kristen Bell) has the backing of the team … right … Just a reminder that we will be looking at the episode at the whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

I like that we are seeing Season Four mirror Season One in many ways, but with a different heart behind it. When you go back and watch that first season there are hints that everything is not what it seems. With the torture being there right from the start, I mean who would ever knowingly want to love in a house with clown paintings. We get those hints here, with the disaster morning at play, but the heart behind them is different. There is, of course, the looming threat of the end of humankind, but also the underlying push that Eleanor is desperately trying to keep things together.

There is an interesting undercurrent of manipulation throughout this episode, but manipulation for good, I mean can manipulation ever actually be good? But I think that is a Chidi (William Jackson Harper) question. Eleanor is manipulating Brent into being a better person through lying that there is a The Best Place. Michael (Ted Danson) is manipulated Eleanor by pretending to have the nervous breakdown to force her to step up. Janet (D’Arcy Carden) is, well actually no, Janet has been the one straight shooter but like that Blake Bortles pile on was uncalled for.

But all of this led to one of the great moments of the show so far with Michael having to rally Eleanor and she reveals that she is at her lowest place and is just ‘A girl from Arizona’. Here Michael reminds her of her tenacity, her strength of will, her annoyingness of always working it out. It is a moment that shows just how far their friendship has grown because he knows the cost of asking her to do what she has to do, but he also knows no one else can do it.

In the end, this was another solid episode of The Good Place. It had some really emotional moments, some laughs, and just when you were not expecting it some philosophy. Though looking back, I do think this would have worked better as one whole episode rather than a two-parter.        

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you seen Season Three of The Good Place yet?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.    

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Good Place
Directed by – Drew Goddard
Written by – Andrew Law & Kassia Miller
Created by – Michael Schur
Starring in Season 4 – Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, Manny Jacinto, D’Arcy Carden & Ted Danson with Kirby Howell-Baptiste & Deb Hiett