The Good Place – Help Is Other People

By starrymag | November 13, 2019

By: Ariba Bhuvad

 

 

Eleanor (Kristen Bell) plays a PSA-type video that she wants to show everyone in The Good Place to celebrate their first year. It’s extremely cheesy and encourages everyone to do as many amazing deeds as they can before the clock hits midnight. Basically, she gives away the experiment, so Michael (Ted Danson) suggests that they play the video minus everything Eleanor implied about the experiment before the party later that night. 

 

Tahani (Jameela Jamil) wants the theme to be “One Year Down, Infinity To Go” with a London black tie dress code. Meanwhile, Janet (D’Arcy Carden) warns everyone what will happen as she resets at midnight, a/k/a violently eating Janet babies.

 

Eleanor says that they will have John (Brandon Scott Jones), Brent (Benjamin Koldyke), Chidi (William Jackson Harper) and Simone (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) make toasts about each other. They will say nice things about one another and it’ll set the stage for some positivity. Michael wants to do human magic at the party as “The Magnificent Dr. Presto,” but Eleanor shuts down the idea because they’re in The Good Place where they have actual magic. 

 

Brent shows up with a tuxedo in a can to get ready for the party while Chidi, Simone, John, Jason (Manny Jacinto) and Tahani all gather together to go to the party as a group. However, Simone reveals that she has been making observations for months and that there is something wrong in the neighborhood. Whatever is going on involves the people in the room and she’s onto them. 

 

Back in Eleanor’s office she’s panicking as the experiment is getting close to the end and asks Janet if she can check the “magic scoreboard.” She tries to but Janet comes back all frazzled and electrocuted, so that clearly didn’t work out. All Eleanor wants is one sign that Brent has improved, but it hasn’t happened yet and she’s afraid they will lose everything they tried to work on this past year. 

 

Simone reveals she has been suspicious since day one and has been collecting data and evidence since then, but didn’t tell Chidi. She knows that Eleanor and Michael are up to something and it seems to only be focused on the six of them because they’re the only ones they ever spend time with. John finds it difficult to keep the Jason secret and divulges that Jianyu is actually Jason and he can talk. Simone is disappointed to learn that Chidi knew and didn’t tell her, but it looks like they’re even now. 

 

After Chidi asks Simone what her theory is she says that she doesn’t think this is The Good Place and that it’s all some experiment. Tahani steps in to try and say that it’s perfect in The Good Place and nothing is going on. Unfortunately, Simone is not convinced and believes Jason is proof that something is wrong. Brent quickly agrees, but only because he thinks there is somewhere called “The Best Place.” Of course, Brent being the person he is, Simone points out that there is no way he of all people could get into a place like that. Brent doesn’t get it. 

 

With the party to attend, Tahani says they should go and enjoy themselves, but Simone wants to figure out what is going on. She tells everyone else to go to the party while she and Chidi go on a special mission. At the party Tahani and Jason tell Eleanor what is going on with Simone’s suspicions. 

 

Meanwhile, Simone and Chidi are trying to find any evidence to prove Simone’s claims but aren’t able to find anything. Given that Chidi is trying to be supportive of Eleanor, Simone asks him why and it’s then he reveals what Eleanor told him about soulmates. Sadly for Chidi, Simone doesn’t believe in soulmates and doesn’t think they are ones to each other. She also finds it suspicious that Eleanor only told Chidi, and not the both of them. Finally, they find something when Simone discovers a whiteboard with pictures of Brent, Chidi, Simone and John on it. 

 

At the party Eleanor agrees to let Michael do his magic act but the audience isn’t very excited about it. Simone and Chidi show up to say they found the whiteboard but it’s still not hard proof of anything. Chidi is reluctant to take any action and Brent doesn’t really care to take any drastic measures either. Michael; however, has one last ditch effort plan and asks Brent to be his volunteer in the magic act. He asks Brent to take off his watch and put it into the top hat. A he does the ground starts shaking and a huge hole opens that Brent falls in.

 

While Eleanor, Jason, Tahani, Janet and Michael scurry off, Eleanor asks Simone, Chidi, and John to look after Brent and help him. Simone and John don’t want to help Brent, but Chidi says he wants to stay back. Back at the office Eleanor and Michael are worried about this last effort, but Jason makes solid points about how it’s better to try for something then do nothing at all. The hope is that the group will work together to help Brent out. 

 

Michael begins to doubt if they did the right thing or if Brent was the right choice. Eleanor thinks he was because he’s horrible and not a good person, so if the group actually helps they’ll get more points. 

 

While Simone and John stand around Chidi tries to make a long rope to pull Brent out of the hole. Simone wants Chidi to come with her because they gave Brent many chances to be better but he never improved. Ultimately, Chidi decides to stay back so Simone and John drive off leaving him behind. At first Eleanor thinks that the group worked together to save Brent, but as they come to learn Chidi fell into the hole trying to help Brent. Clearly the group did not bond, but Eleanor is not ready to give up yet. She has still one last move.

 

Eleanor brings Chidi and Brent into the office and the two begin fighting because Chidi said Simone and John tried to give Brent a chance, but he made it impossible. Brent just thinks everyone got jealous because he is going to The Best Place. Chidi gets angry and attempts to tell him that no such place exists and that they are being tortured because they are in The Bad Place.

 

Eleanor and Michael start cackling and ask Chidi how he figured it out, going along with what he said. They tell Brent and Chidi that they will now be taken to the actual Bad Place and Brent begins to freak out saying Chidi is his only real friend. But Chidi reminds him that Brent doesn’t care about people and is a bad person. In the other room Eleanor is really hoping this one last attempt will push Brent to do something nice as he is cornered. Unfortunately, just as Brent says sorry both him and Chidi freeze because the experiment ends. 

 

Janet shows up with drinks on cue, just as promised, to which Eleanor says, “It’s zero o’clock somewhere.” She then drinks out of the pitcher of drinks.