The Good Place | S04E02 | "A Girl From Arizona, Part 2" | OAD 10/3/2019

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Oh wow. This episode was so good that I almost don't know how to talk about it. If the rest of the series is at this level, we're really in for something amazing.

This one had everything I come to the show for: dumb jokes, sophisticated comedy, incredible production values, genuine emotion, a smart story, and a tidy philosophy lesson as the cherry on top.

Examples:

Dumb joke: The book hitting Chidi in the head was completely telegraphed but that doesn't mean it wasn't awesome.

Sophisticated comedy: Janet figuring that she can't hurt Jason any worse than she already has, and thus choosing to tell him about Blake Bortles, works both as a wonderfully clever way to pay off a series-long joke and also hilarious way to kick him while he's down.

Incredible production values: I mean, the whole Princeton riot scene. Everything about it. For the second time in four years, they custom-made all those costumes, not to mention the density of the special effects. All for a 30-second scene. Amazing. (I could have easily picked the "This Was Your Life" set.)

Genuine emotion: That scene on the couch between Michael and Eleanor. Good gracious, was that good. I was agog at what Danson was doing there, and Bell was just so good. One of the best scenes of the entire series.

Smart story: Eleanor's plans to put Trent and Simone on the right path have risks, but they are also completely logical based on everything we know. Really clever resolution to the problems with those characters that the premiere set up.

Philosophy lesson: Chidi's talk about solipsism was the note-perfect antidote to Simone's behavior, and also interesting in its own right. I loved that scene, too.

I'll be watching this episode again, at least once more.

 

Are you sure?

Are you sure?

 

Remember that the whole reason Chidi's memory was erased was because with Simone, his ex, there, he felt his knowledge of the situation they were in would lead him to inadvertently tip her off and thus invalidate the experiment, dooming humanity. As a result, the very last thing the Soul Squad wants to do is give Chidi his memory back. The whole reason this is so hard for Eleanor, of course, is that she does remember, still loves him even though he is oblivious to it, and now even has to steer him into a possible new relationship with Simone.

Eleanor and Chidi have fallen in love hundreds of times previously, so I think we are all expecting them to find their way back to each other before this is all over. But that is separate from the experiment, which might even be jeopardized by them doing that.

 

I’ve bought the first three seasons on ITunes, and it’s just the episodes. There’s got to be a ton of terrific bonus stuff they could package into a full-series box set. Which would pose a conundrum for me, but I bet it would be so worth it.

 

They routinely do release extended versions of each episode online after the broadcast airings. Interesting that those versions are finding their way into the streaming services and not just on nbc.com. I've not actually watched any of the iTunes episodes yet since I watch the show when it airs. I just knew this was one I wanted to own and will re-watch in the future.