I continue to be super impressed and love this show so much.
Yeah, that’s what she said. She doesn’t remember Chidi, just the name.
There was a digital only release, The Selection, of six 2-3 minute parts. It’s the story of how Shawn and his minions selected the bad place candidates for this seasons main arc. I thought it was really funny.
All six episodes are available on The Good Place’s Youtube channel for those that want to check it out.
And of course they were uploaded in the wrong order. Because demons. 
In one of the street scenes there was a restaurant in the background, it looked like Lasagne something but I couldn’t read the entire name. Did anyone catch it? I assume it was another one of their joke restaurant names.
IIRC, Lasagne Come Out Tomorrow. That one took me a moment to unpick, but I did laugh.
Much better if you sing it 
There is something that I need to get off my chest: you’re all ungrateful ash-faces who can shove your fat grumps all the way up your snork-box.
Episode 2: A Girl from Arizona part 2
They got Brent to start acting better with the idea of The Best Place, but doesn’t that invalidate any improvement based on the concept of “moral dessert”? The same problem that got the Soul Squad disqualified for the Good Place themselves?
Also, I think we can assume we still have the real Michael - no way Vicki in a Michael skin suit is that good an actor.
Yes and discussed. Idea is that like her he can fake it til he makes it. That she began just pretending but then began doing to to good for real.
This one seemed a bit lacking to me. I’m hoping it ramps up some more.
Brand name on the giant golf balls during the chaos sequence: Entitleist
I watched it yesterday via Apple TV – I bought a season pass for S4, and it’s included – and agree. Worth seeing. 
The whole thing is about 14 minutes long.
Ooh, that’s good.
The next question is: how do they get the other two (or even the other three) to believe that they need to engage in a course of self-improvement?
I’m not sure they are going to get there. Right now the show seems set on a predictable, straightforward course - which means that we are due for a massive shift in direction. The only thing predictable about this show is that it is unpredictable.
Although I did see that the book Chidi summoned was going to bop him in the head from a mile away - which is more than Chidi saw.
I am thinking that the neighborhood setup will turn out to not be the right environment for improvement. Three of the original four showed only marginal improvement, at least in the final reboot of the old neighborhood - remember that three of them failed the comically simple tests the judge set up (while Eleanor passed her much more difficult test). They all made much more progress when back on earth having confronted their near-death experiences - to the point when they agreed to try to save others when they were doomed to the bad place by discovering the “moral dessert”.
After all, the root cause of the dysfunctional afterlife is the exponential increase in unintended consequences from otherwise well-intentioned actions. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” turns out to be true.
My opinion was that the season got off to a rocky start with an episode that was kind of all over the place.
But they got their mojo back in a big way with episode 2. Much better focus, with clear stakes and consequences, forward-moving plot, great laughs balanced with poignancy, and some excellent character moments.
If the rest of the final season continues this strong, it’s going to be a fantastic finish!
I agree. I immediately thought Michael was switched when he went on the train. Otherwise that whole scene with the fake human was of no use. I have watched the Michael scenes closely, but there does not seem to be any hint he is switched, and he seems much more thoughtful than a switched Michael would be. So no prediction, but something is up.
It also struck me as funny that Michael would go into “enemy territory”, which is the train from the bad place, to deliver the prisoner. I would just expect that people from the train would come out to escort the prisoner onto the train.
How about this scenario: Michael was switched, Vicki in a Michael suit is taking Michaels place, using her love of acting(remember that playing a bigger part was her main motivation in season one) and hundreds of years observing Michael to blend in perfectly. Ultimately, by imitating him she has the same moral epiphany he did, and ultimately saves humanity by demonstrating to the judge that anyone can change.
Could be, as I said something is up. But Vicki observed the bad Michael for 800 years, and was not really there to see him become good. Plus her mannerisms where exaggerated when she was in the Michael suit. So if she is pulling it off, she is doing great, lol.
Episode 3: Chillaxing
Right on cue, some deathlike guy coming to presumably upend the plot and start it in a new direction. Eleanor getting to like torturing Chidi isn’t looking good for the results of the original group. I loved Jason being “useness”
John+Tahini was not fun at all, I didn’t enjoy any of their interaction, I get they’re going for “enjoyable annoying” but John is just “annoying annoying”