Season 4 Episode 12: Patty

[enemyofperfect]

We're so close to the end of the series, and I'm not ready, but I'm also really looking forward to tonight's episode! Whenever you get a chance to watch it, please share all your episode reactions with us in the comments right here. Spoilers and speculation welcome!

Comments

[erinptah]

My thoughts are similar to your thoughts! It started out exciting, and then kinda went off the rails.

As of a couple episodes ago, our heroes had had literal years to ponder the question of "how would we rework the points system and redesign the Bad Place," and they were still scrambling to put together a proposal at the last minute.

Now they're faced with the challenge of redesigning the Good Place, and they supposedly just...whip out the best solution on their first day?

And then immediately put it into action, no design challenges for Janet, no need for approval from the Judge, no nothing?

And I do actually believe the premise that infinite time is Too Long. A human mind who's put through that will eventually reach the point where what they genuinely want, and need, and deserve, is to Stop and Rest. (I wrote a Wizard of Oz fic about that once...)

But I don't think the episode built up to "any of these characters have reached that point" in a convincing way. Especially not when, you're right, there are all these other changes they could've tried first!

One more to add: if "choose to peacefully shut down your system" was the solution these souls were looking for, wouldn't they have been...asleep?

Simulated sleep is still an option in the real Good Place, right? Snuggle up in a nice fluffy bed, turn on some soothing music and switch off the lights, then have Janet give you something that puts you to sleep indefinitely. You're covered! You can do it with the already-existing Good Place mechanics, no need to wait for someone to change the rules and then take your chances on metaphysical mystery doors. You can even include directions like "wake me up if so-and-so happens," so there's no risk of missing something cool in the future because you're too permanently-discorporated to experience it.

...on a totally different note, I'm still disappointed that none of the characters have spent a thought on Simone, Brent, and Catty Gay Blogger The Writers Never Did Anything With. They'll probably get something in the finale, but it's a missed opportunity that we haven't gotten any follow-up already (or, better yet, get them on-screen reacting in person to the post-experiment fallout).

[enemyofperfect]

I could definitely believe either way about infinity and the human mind. It's beyond my ability to imagine, and people's intuitions about it differ enough that I could even buy that the answer varies from person to person. But I love your thought about sleep as a less final alternative, and one already available to them at that! It's so obvious now that you've pointed it out, too.

And ugh, I so much wish we could have had Simone in this episode. She's a literal brain scientist, she would definitely have had some thoughts to add to the discussion!

[thatwasjustadream]

I thought it was just me having missed something - those characters truly just did go away, didn't they?

It's not unusual for a show to trip on itself trying to wrap things up, and that's what this whole season kind of feels like to me. :\

[erinptah]

Yeah, that last line sums up my feelings pretty well.