Season 1 Rewatch: 1x01 "Everything is Fine"

[sorchasilver]

Welcome to our first rewatch post! I’m really looking forward to rewatching the show, and having the opportunity to discuss it with you. Watch the episode at a time that works for you, and come join us in the comments.

Writer(s): Michael Schur
Director: Drew Goddard
Originally aired: September 19th, 2016

Synopsis:
Newly-deceased Eleanor Shellstrop is sent to the Good Place but only by mistake; Eleanor is determined to become a better person in her afterlife with help from friends Chidi and Janet.

Memorable Quote:
Chidi Anagonye: Well, I've narrowed it down to two possibilities: yes and no.

Useful Links:
Episode Transcript
IMDb entry

ETA: As this is a rewatch, references to future episodes is fine.

Comments

[executrix]

Thanks for the reply!

Later on we see him teaching in Australia, not, e.g., the Sorbonne (...although it is an alternate universe...)

They wouldn't really need a universal translator though, because there are actually only four people involved, three of whom are native English speakers. Everyone else is a demon, and most of the demons don't even talk to Team Cockroach, they;re just in crowd scenes and could be saying the demonic equivalent of "Rhubarb, rhubarb."

Of course Janet speaks English--she speaks all languages, including dialects once spoken by 232 people the last of whom has died off! I'm imagining some kind of programming that teach human languages to Michael, Shawn, Vicky, and anyone else with contact with humans.

We only have Michael's word for it that there *are* any other neighborhoods (or for that matter a real Good Place or Bad Place); all we see is this neighborhood and the Medium Place. And Michael is not exactly the most reliable of narrators--apart from being a guy who kicks a dog into the sun in the very first episode.

[enemyofperfect]

Don't we at least have the evidence of the Good Janet storage facility, though? And I'm pretty sure Shawn has had interactions with Michael -- with no humans observing -- that confirm the existence of both Good and Bad Places. Unless you think it's going to get really meta and reveal that they've been acting purely to fool the viewers, which, I guess with this show you never know...

[executrix]

We definitely see lots of Good Janets, although maybe they just wear out quickly--rebooting looks pretty brutal!