Season 4 Episode 07: Help Is Other People

[enemyofperfect]

Speaking personally, I love this episode title and I can't wait to see what they'll do with it. Once you've watched the episode and found out, comment here with all your reactions, spoilery and otherwise!

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

We continue to have insightful Jason!

Tahani also got a little more to do this time around, attempting to deflect attention from Simone's revelation with her whiteboard. "I know Sting!" made us laugh.

I was also feeling sorry for Michael given Eleanor's reactions, but I'm glad they managed to make his magic work for them.

One thing that I was thinking about though is that, since his memory was wiped, all of Chidi's progress should have been wiped out. He seems to have recovered it awfully well in this experiment given that he's been awfully decisive and we've seen a decided lack of stomach aches.

I was amused by "the most boring breakup ever" but also felt sorry for his disappointment in not having a soul mate. But I think that it did make something clear, which is that while in the first experiment he and Eleanor were both told that they were soulmates, both apparently also felt the need for someone else. Whereas it's less that Simone doesn't believe in soulmates as much as she doesn't feel that gap in herself that they did. She seems very much "on her own" in the neighborhood, roped into being with others more because the team manipulates her into doing it than because she feels the need. This independence also allows her to assume that it's all in her mind for the first few weeks and later for her to step back and observe everything that's going on.

I have my doubts that Brent is actually going to apologize for his own behavior, but I'm guessing that cutting him off at that moment will result in a hung jury sort of situation and there may be yet another reboot.

[erinptah]

I think it makes sense for Chidi to have regained his development by this point.

It's been a year. He thinks he's in Heaven, which settles his anxieties over "was I doing the right thing on Earth" and doesn't create a whole lot of "am I doing the right thing now." The Jason reveal stressed him out, but it seems like they've fallen into a good routine, and the longer they go without being "caught", the less he has to worry about it.

Plus he's had Eleanor dropping in to say inspirational things that she knows will help him get more confident, and he's had a stable romance that he still hasn't screwed up by doing anything wrong (and might think he can't screw up, since they're "soulmates"), which sure doesn't hurt.

Good points about Simone's bedrock independence, which ties in to why she works with Chidi so well. She enjoys his company and appreciates the nice things he does, but she doesn't depend on him for anything, so it's very hard for him to let her down.

Maybe Brent will end up in his own Medium Place. But not in Mindy St. Claire's neighborhood, because I can't see that ending well...

[enemyofperfect]

Seconding erinptah that you make an awesome point about Simone's independence!

And I agree, I'm far from sure that Brent was going to give a real apology this time. I mean, I'd be happy to be wrong, but from everything we've seen from him so far, another fauxpology seems much more likely.

Insightful Jason really is fun. I'm just crossing my fingers that Tahani gets her moment too!