The Good Place – The Answer

By starrymag | November 27, 2019

By: Ariba Bhuvad

 

 

The Judge (Maya Rudolph) is still trying to go through all the Janets (D’Arcy Carden), but while she’s doing that Michael (Ted Danson) is about to wake up Chidi (William Jackson Harper). However, he’s worried about it because Chidi has lived a whole life, 802 afterlives, a second life and so on and so forth. The concern is that the memories all go in the right place, so Michael decides to do a “factory reset” of Chidi and start from the very beginning. 

 

Michael begins to snap his fingers, but it starts to play out in slow motion as Chidi’s life begins to rewind as he sorts through his memories. It starts with him as a baby as his mother Ndeye (Sonya Eslie) and father Emeka (Noel Arthur) decide to name him Chidi. They ask the baby if he likes the name and he begins to cry as his mom points out he has a tummy ache (as an adult, Chidi gets a tummy ache whenever he’s asked to make a decision).

 

The memories move ahead to when Chidi is eight years old (Dax Rey) and overhears his parents arguing. The next morning he shows them a presentation he created with reasons as to why they should stay married. It happens to do the trick and helps them figure things out. At school he’s so excited to tell his friend Uzo (Che Tafari) that he’s proved once and for all you can always find the answer to any problem. 

 

The next memory we see of Chidi’s is him and his parents having dinner with his then-girlfriend, Allesandra (Tiana Okoye). His parents decide to share the story of how he saved their marriage after Allesandra asks if Chidi has always been this thoughtful. According to Chidi the argument he made for his parents’ marriage is why he got into philosophy. Chidi’s inability to make a decision turns Allesandra off about her and Chidi’s relationship and she breaks up with him. 

 

Next up on Chidi’s memory tour is when he presents his extremely long paper to Professor Radja (Oliver Muirhead). But Radja isn’t on board with it and gets frustrated when Chidi says he loves everything about his paper and can’t pick one thing about it. The bigger issue for Professor Radja is that Chidi’s writing isn’t emotional and emotions are what makes works of philosophy the best. In Chidi’s paper there are no heart or guts. 

 

Upset and sad, Chidi goes to speak with Uzo (Keston John) about his professor and breakup. Everyone has already pointed this out to Chidi, but Uzo says he has to learn to listen to other people. It then takes us to the day that Chidi died as the AC unit fell on his head. He arrives at The Good Place for the first time and Michael greets him. Meanwhile, in the present, Michael is still snapping in slow motion. 

 

As we saw Michael do initially, he gives Chidi a tour of The Good Place and introduces him to Janet. All Chidi really wants to know is there are soulmates in The Good Place. Michael tells him yes, he will meet his perfect match–Eleanor (Kristen Bell). 

 

The next memory is Janet and Jason’s (Manny Jacinto) wedding where Chidi is trying to make sense of how Janet and Jason made such a big decision without thinking too much. He wants to know who taught Jason to do this. Jason shares some amazing insight with his usual quirky comments, but he basically tells Chidi that you have to “lock things down whenever there is something dope.” If you think too much, you’ll miss opportunities, but this mindset isn’t something Chidi can even attempt. 

 

A series of Chidi’s memories at The Good Place are shown as he meets a number of different girls and attends a game night at Tahani’s (Jameela Jamil). His original partner, Esmeralda (Kate Berlant), was supposed to be his soulmate but her gothic and morbid behavior turned Chidi off, even though he planned on working through their drastic differences. Surprised by her confidence, Chidi asks Tahani how she has so much confidence to throw the parties she does. She says she’s built her confidence through her failures, but (again) Chidi doesn’t think that’s a way he could live his life, er afterlife. Before the night is over Eleanor asks Chidi if he can teach her about ethics because she really wants to learn. Later that night Eleanor kisses Chidi but he says he already has a soulmate, even though Eleanor points out that he’s not into Esmeralda at all. 

 

The memories of Chidi and Eleanor flash by right up until the moment they say goodbye. For the first time ever Chidi has made a decision and Michael asks him if he’s sure he wants to do it. Right before the big moment Chidi asks Michael if soulmates are real and he replies that he doesn’t think so but he doesn’t know. The soulmate thing was something Michael used to torture Chidi and that soulmates aren’t found–they’re made. He says people meet, get a good feeling and build a relationship. According to Michael, Chidi’s parents didn’t stay together because he convinced them. Chidi realizes it was because of the feeling his parents got when they saw him scared and Michael says he reminded them of what they already had. 

 

Finally, Chidi comes to the realization that life isn’t a puzzle that can be solved and be done. You have to solve it little by little every day. Before Michael wipes away Chidi’s memories, Chidi asks Janet for a pen and paper and writes a note. He tells her that if they ever meet again he wants her to give the note back to him. 

 

Finally, Michael snaps his fingers and Chidi wakes up. Everyone is worried about whether or not Chidi is okay. He reports that he’s great and suddenly realizes that there is a possibility that he’s been super annoying all this time. He thanks everyone for all they’ve done for him, but Eleanor interrupts to tell him that they have one hour to create a new afterlife and save humanity and they need him to do his “Chidi thing” and find the answer. Very unlike himself, Chidi says there isn’t just one answer, and that the journey is the destination. 

 

But before helping them Chidi asks Janet for the note back he gave her. We see that it says, “There is no ‘answer,’ but Eleanor is the answer.” How adorable is that?!