Season 4 Episode 06: A Chip Driver Mystery

[enemyofperfect]

Another week, another episode! If you've got thoughts, feelings, questions, and/or Derek, let us know in the comments -- episode spoilers enthusiastically welcome!

Comments

[beer_good_foamy]

Sssssso what are the odds of the NBC merch department having actual copies of Six Feet Under Par for sale? Asking for a friend who loves aggressively bad novels.

[yourlibrarian]

I kept wondering if that whole bit was a take on fans and fanfic.

[erinptah]

I figure it was just a shot at Clive Cussler-type novels.

[author_by_night]

Wow, they really Went There this episode, even more than usual. I let out an audible gasp when they mentioned anti-vax moms! (Seriously though folks, vaccinate your kids.)

I'm glad that they had Simone object to being silenced. So often women, especially women of color, are told to just "let it go." Or "be tactful about it." And sure, I think that sometimes people are a bit like pre-death Eleanor - that is, go into everything ready for a fight, and that's not going to benefit everybody. But while Simone's response wasn't the best for the experiment, it was best for her.

I would like to see Brent improve, though. Maybe he should spend more time with Tahani? I think they're actually two sides of the same coin in certain ways - both come from very privileged backgrounds, yet they approached their privilege in different if still hypocritical ways. Tahani tried to help people, but to fulfill her need for attention more than true piety;* Brent believes he's just better than everyone.

*And frankly, I think this is a huge problem across the board. I've had so many conversations with people who claimed to be LOVE FOR THE WORLD, only to be cussed out and called a bitch when I pointed out the flaws in their methods. They didn't care about helping other people, they wanted to feel good and look good.

[yourlibrarian]

As someone who just got two vaccines this morning, hear hear.

That's an interesting point about Tahani and Brett, though I wonder if that very similarity makes it more difficult for her to be effective. Although I imagine after being depicted in his book she probably doesn't feel at all connected to his experience.

[erinptah]

I kinda wanted Eleanor's explanation to Simone to be "you're having a certain kind of fun drinking with a friend and mutually tearing this book apart, right? You couldn't have that in the Good Place without someone like him to provide it."

Although with Simone, any hint of "Brent didn't actually earn his way into the Good Place" and it wouldn't be long before she started wondering "who else among us didn't earn it, and is this really the Good Place at all?"

I think Tahani's approach is different enough that it wouldn't help Brent. She had this underlying inferiority complex from being pitted against her sister, so when she was confronted with a personal failing, she reacted by thinking "that must be justified, I didn't work hard enough, I shall do twice as much next time." (Thus season-1 Michael torturing her with "you're the lowest on the point-totals list, so your whole life fell short, in a no-longer-fixable way.")

Whereas when Brent is confronted with a personal failing, he reacts by thinking "that doesn't make sense, I'm great in every way, some external cause must be rigged against me." And then he lashes out at the nearest convenient target.

...also, Brent being Brent, he would dismiss any insights from Tahani as "you just don't understand the white male perspective." Michael is the one with the best chance of getting through to him (in spite of being secretly a six-thousand-foot fire squid). I liked that this episode explored that a bit.

[enemyofperfect]

I completely agree, I'm so glad Simone got to speak out and be vindicated! Whether or not coddling Brent's ego is actually the best way to help him improve, it was wildly unfair of Eleanor to ask Simone to be part of that process. Even when Simone literally thought no one she interacted with was real, she wasn't as hurtful as Brent routinely is. And unlike the original four, she never signed up to reform bigoted ashholes in the afterlife!

[yourlibrarian]

I found it interesting how Chidi was able to slip into a team role when Jason's cover is blown.

The framing story with Bad Janet was an interesting choice. I figured Michael would let her go at the end, but didn't think about her taking the book with her. I wonder what that might lead to.

It was good to get that scene between Tahani and Simone because I don't think they've had one yet? However when they did the awards at the end, I was interested that Eleanor gave it to Jason. Not that he hasn't done some great things this season but I'm still waiting for her to have her moment.

[enemyofperfect]

I know I'm crossing my fingers for some demons to be intrigued by this idea of "being better"!

It's a quiet moment, but I was really proud of Tahani for how gracefully she set aside her disappointment over not winning either award. She's really made so much progress as a person. I just want the show to give her a little more love!

[enemyofperfect]

So, it was really nice to see this episode confront the fact that Brent is a deeply terrible person as he stands right now. They were really clear about how distorted his view of any criticism against him is, too. I have no idea how they're going to find a way to redeem him, but it's nice to get some recognition of how badly he needs it!

Meanwhile, I'm just so amazed? That Chidi punched him??? Obviously Brent started the altercation by shoving Chidi, but I'm still so astonished that Chidi finished it! Eleanor said everyone lost points in that interaction, but I wonder. Chidi struggles with confidence and spontaneity, but here, he was able to act on impulse to defend himself. Is that really an entirely bad thing?

On a lighter note, I just really loved Michael's socks.