The Good Place [edited title]

[HowSoonIsThen]

Only started watching this show fairly recently but have now caught up to the latest episode. I’m really liking it, though thought it was a Netflix show so got a bit of a rude awakening when I realised I’d have to wait a week between episodes now (what is this, the dark ages?).

So… they’ve all been told they’re going to the Bad Place no matter what. Despite that, they’ve continued to (or at least tried to) do good even though they believe it will be of no eternal benefit to them. Surely this will get them a lot of good points? Unless I’m mistaken, it’s not knowing about the Bad Place per se that has doomed them. It’s the fact that their actions would likely only be done with the intention of avoiding it. But that has been subverted now that they think hell is inevitable.

And I like Jason, but the stupidity can be too much at times. The worst is when he’s stupid and selfish, though, like back in season 1 when he didn’t want to return to the fake Good Place even though he thought the other Chidi and Tahani would be sent to the Bad Place if he didn’t. At least now he seems more stupid but kind hearted.

[Bryan_Ekers]

@EllisDee

I guess it stands out because they’re both the only Asian character on their respective shows.

If Jason counts as Asian, why doesn’t Tahani? Each of them seems thoroughly assimilated in the cultures of their countries of birth, as are their parents, so I gather each are at least two generations removed from Asia. Couldn’t you just describe Jason as “American” and Tahani as “British”?

[Darren_Garrison]

@Bryan_Ekers

If Jason counts as Asian, why doesn’t Tahani?

Because when Americans say “Asian” what we mean is people from the countries where people “look” Chinese/Japanese, ect.–the set of traits that in old racist terms is called “mongoloid”, not all people from the continent of Asia. But I’m sure that you already knew that.

[alphaboi867]

@Folacin

…The whole thing could just be a filtering system to find the 1% or whatever that matches the demon/angels definition of good, who are then processed into new beings (or jackets, who knows)…

That the system is depend on humans not knowing anything about it (or even what constitutes “good” or “bad” behavior) strongly suggests it’s a just a system to screen people according to personality traits; rewarding/punishing people is just a side effect.

[EllisDee]

@Bryan_Ekers

If Jason counts as Asian, why doesn’t Tahani? Each of them seems thoroughly assimilated in the cultures of their countries of birth, as are their parents, so I gather each are at least two generations removed from Asia. Couldn’t you just describe Jason as “American” and Tahani as “British”?

Jameela Jamil is of Indian descent. During the Apu controversy from the Simpsons, people of Indian descent pointed out how as kids they would be teased by other kids doing the Apu accent. Manny Jacinto was born in the Philippines, and he almost certainly wasn’t teased with the Apu accent because he’s not of Indian descent.

Americans used to say Oriental, but that term was abandoned as offensive decades ago, so now we say Asian instead. When referring to people of Indian descent in the context of racial stereotyping, we (or at least I) would say Indian, not Asian.

I mentioned this a few posts up when talking about that article about Asian Bros, where it seemed like a reach to include Ravi from iZombie because Ravi is of Indian descent.

[GuanoLad]

The Asian continent stretches from the Middle East all the way to China, Korea, and Japan, south to India, Sri Lanka, and all the way to Malaysia, stopping short of Australia and Polynesia.

What you call Asian is now commonly referred to as East Asian, people of the Philippines etc are South East Asian, and people of India and Pakistan etc are South Asian.

[DavidwithanR]

It’s always potentially confusing to call someone “Asian” because they could legitimately be called that if they’re from (among many others) Israel, India, Cambodia, or Siberia.

[Bryan_Ekers]

“…also, there’ll be different varieties that will all hate each other for some reason.”

[Johnny_Ecks]

I just had a great idea for the next episode- Eleanor tracks down her mom and discovers that she’s now a saint. Turned her life around, works selflessly for others, and is most certainly on her way to the good place. Wouldn’t that be a kick in the teeth?

[DKW]

Maybe I should have clarified…when I made that list, I was referring to my entire TV and movie history, not just explicitly afterlife-related shows. (I did watch some of Touched by an Angel but don’t remember anything other than that she was weirdly reluctant to do things that wouldn’t harm her in the slightest.) That includes specific episodes of things like Garfield and Friends, The Simpsons, and The PJs, various Vocaloid videos, and South Park Bigger Longer and Uncut. Mostly I find it really rare to see the subject handled in a way that isn’t heavy-handed and unsatisfying. Swear to Suika I’ve seen that dumb “clerical error” gag at least four times…

I like that the story is moving along and there’s a renewed sense of purpose, and it’s nice to see Michael and Janet continue to adapt to their new reality. However, it seems to be in “three steps forward, two steps back” mode. Chidi’s breakup, while it had some funny moments, came across as completely forced. If it were predicated on what’s been established to be his big failing, i.e. his incredible indecisiveness, it’d make sense, but we’re suppose to believe, with no evidence shown, that he’s really bad at keeping a secret and will blurt it out and doom her at some point if they stay together. The whole bit was Donkey Doug was good…not fantastic, but good…but doesn’t he lose bigtime points for the attempted theft anyway?

We don’t have the whole story, and to Mike Schur’s credit, the exact nature of the system is still largely a mystery. I have faith (no pun intended! :)) that the grand scheme of things will make sense in the end.

Oh, and Janet can “bing” all she wants. She’s the lynchpin of the whole operation; she’s earned the right to have her little quirks.

Folacin - Who says that there isn’t work in Heaven? If you’re read though the bible, heck, if you’ve read through the breath of fictional works about them, angels come across as a pretty busy bunch. What’s the alternative, anyway, reincarnation? Pretty sure that never made it to canon.

Ellis Dee - Interesting article on Jason Mendoza. Never pegged him as Asian, although I suppose that’s why his short-lived alter ego was a Tibetan monk. Hey, it’s like any other kind of social progress: Every little bit counts.

Mendoza strikes me as the kind of poor fool who simply fails to recognize certain things as bad. Crime, leading friends astray, selling shoddy products. What would really be great character development for him would be to gradually realize this fact, get his moral compass corrected, and thus become a lot more effective as a saver of souls. Donkey’s sacrifice seems to be the first push in that direction. Here’s hoping.

[Inner_Stickler]

@Johnny_Ecks

I just had a great idea for the next episode- Eleanor tracks down her mom and discovers that she’s now a saint. Turned her life around, works selflessly for others, and is most certainly on her way to the good place. Wouldn’t that be a kick in the teeth?

Yeah, it probably would.

[Taber]

@Dewey_Finn

I think it’s interesting that three of the four humans are very international. Tahani was born in Pakistan, raised in the UK and schooled in France. Chidi was born in Nigeria, raised in Senegal and, I think, taught in the US and/or Australia (I can’t remember). Jason’s ethnicity is unspecified, but the actor was born in the Philippines and raised in Canada. Eleanor seems to have the simplest background of any of them.

I thought Jason was Filipino. I remember a line from season one that was something like “Everyone keeps calling me Chinese. I’m Filipino, the afterlife is racist.”

[Mr_Shine]

New Episode “A Fractured Inheritance”

Based on the ending to this episode, my guess is this is where the Soul Squad finally get to remember everything that happened to them in all previous iterations.

[Dewey_Finn]

@Taber

@Dewey_Finn

I think it’s interesting that three of the four humans are very international. Tahani was born in Pakistan, raised in the UK and schooled in France. Chidi was born in Nigeria, raised in Senegal and, I think, taught in the US and/or Australia (I can’t remember). Jason’s ethnicity is unspecified, but the actor was born in the Philippines and raised in Canada. Eleanor seems to have the simplest background of any of them.

I thought Jason was Filipino. I remember a line from season one that was something like “Everyone keeps calling me Chinese. I’m Filipino, the afterlife is racist.”

He might be; I can’t remember. (I pulled the details I provided from the Wikipedia article.) It would make sense to make the character’s ethnicity match the actor’s.

[USCDiver]

@Mr_Shine

New Episode “A Fractured Inheritance”

Based on the ending to this episode, my guess is this is where the Soul Squad finally get to remember everything that happened to them in all previous iterations.

My dang DVR cut off the last few seconds again! What happened after Michael told Eleanor that she’d loved Chidi?

[Mr_Shine]

@USCDiver

My dang DVR cut off the last few seconds again! What happened after Michael told Eleanor that she’d loved Chidi?

Nothing much. Michael suggests “listening to a podcast, maybe” whilst Eleanor stares at him with a deer in the headlights look.

[Darren_Garrison]

@Mr_Shine

New Episode “A Fractured Inheritance”

Based on the ending to this episode, my guess is this is where the Soul Squad finally get to remember everything that happened to them in all previous iterations.

While I’m hoping that happens eventually, I don’t think that Michael or Janet has the power to cause that on Earth.

[Bryan_Ekers]

I just hope it doesn’t turn out that Eleanor and Chidi really are “soulmates” or whatever. That’d be lame. I like this fictional universe capricious, bureaucratic and random.

[Tamerlane]

@Bryan_Ekers

I just hope it doesn’t turn out that Eleanor and Chidi really are “soulmates” or whatever. That’d be lame. I like this fictional universe capricious, bureaucratic and random.

Yeah. Besides everyone knows it is Eleanor and Tahani who are the actual soulmates :).

[Banquet_Bear]

…I liked that episode so much I immediately rewatched it, and now its the next day and I might rewatch it again. It was just nice. I need more nice right now.