The Good Place is perhaps the smartest sit-com ever. Even ignoring the weekly ethics lessons and the constant curveballs, The Good Place is smart because when it writes itself into a corner, where other shows would cheaply revert to the status-quo, The Good Place tears down both walls and gets rid of the corner all together. It is unfortunate then that this fourth and final season feels like its scrounging for stories to tell. The script is as tight and punchy as ever but there’s a feeling that there isn’t actually much more to tell. This episode concludes in such a way that it feels like it should be the finale. Would it be a good finale? No. But I’m not sure how much more there is to tell or if this episode was even that worth telling to begin with.
The episode follows Michael, Janet and Tahani as they try to teach the bad place architects how to create these new episodes and Chidi, Jason and Eleanor as they deal with their insecurities in their relationships. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good episode. It’s a pretty good Good Place episode too. There’s a solid theme of inadequacy throughout so it’s not like it’s just slapped together. But where other, better episodes of The Good Place would tie the themes together and the story and have everything in the episode really connected and then rip the rug out of the audience’s feet, this episode only connects the themes. Michael’s story and Eleanor’s story feel like they’re operating completely separately, and then their “big cliffhanger” is kind-of, not really gripping. Just like last week, it feels like the writers wrote a fine episode and then just added a weak twist because that’s what the show is known for now. Last weeks cliffhanger was that Chidi was “just the idea guy”, and this weeks cliffhanger is better, but not by much.
That being said, there are still some great Good Place moments, seeing Michael and gang’s cringy instructional video was great and the various failed ways of testing Tahani including a chainsaw bear and a smaller, more relatable chainsaw bear is comedy gold. It just feels like there could be more. But The Good Place has proved me wrong before.
Personal Rating: 8/10
Enjoyment: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ☆
Depth: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ☆
Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ☆ ☆
Comedy: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tension: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Acting: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ☆
Directing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ☆ ☆
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