the worst part was the way christinia and william just straightforwardly monologued to explain their entire story arc over the situation. it's such bad writing. they couldn't find a way to organically explain it. william's thing didn't even need to explained, it was obvious what had happened to him. they don't trust their own viewers so they spell everything out and have zero subtext.
meh. i genuinely think the writers have no idea what they're doing. there's a lot of "big moments" but i have no emotional attachment to them at this point. how do all the hosts feel about hale telling them to transcend? we haven't gotten nearly enough insight into how the hosts view this world, hell we don't even have a single host character to relate to in that aspect besides maybe william. everything happens because bernard magically saw it happen in his supersim. there's no explanation for why the world can't be saved, we just know it can't. we were wondering what was going on with christina, knowing this show would give some kind of twist, and there it is, she's "not real"... uh... okay? was i supposed to drop my jaw in awe? so what's the explanation for the people she interacted with earlier? why was hale visiting her? i guess that's a remaining mystery for the finale. i really don't care anymore...
Brilliant. Janet has been stealing the show right from the start, and always excels when given focus. This concept was hilarious, and especially funny that it was used to further the Eleanor/Chidi romance plot, which culminated in a really sweet moment. The show's overall plot is interesting here, it's a bit hard to believe that apparently The Good Place (and the whole afterlife system) has apparently been fucked up (more than it already seemed to be) for 500+ years without anyone noticing. Not gonna lie, I was really expecting/hoping for Simone to walk in at the end.
We're so used to the protagonist always winning in TV shows, it was surprising and hard to watch when Mike not only failed, but was repeatedly humiliated and then criticized by both of the senior lawyers. I kept having hope that things would work out, and the episode made you relate to the crushing defeat. I guess the lesson is what Mike says - that it's not about winning, it's about retaining your humanity and doing the right thing. Small consolation though when the "human" issue with Rachel was only the final in a long string of mistakes. But I guess the episode made me feel things, so it did it's job.
I have to admit, I was really confused during most of this. I don't get what Camille's plan was...? She realized her mom was the killer and was making Amma sick? So she went home and... pretended to be sick? So that her mom would poison her? And then she hoped she could get a message to Richard to come help? Or... what? Why didn't she... do... something else?
That aside, it was a pretty chilling climactic sequence and nice to have a final "confrontation" sort of, though I guess they don't really resolve much and we don't really get to hear from Adora. But I guess that makes sense since she's super repressed. Not much resolution for Camille and Richard either, but that also makes sense since their relationship never had anywhere to go. Nice to see a show take its time to have a proper ending though, nice little epilogue. I guess Amma is actually the killer in the end, so what does that mean for Adora...? She was guilty of killing her daughter and making her kids sick, but not of the other crimes? What's Amma's motive, other than just being messed up? Eh.
I didn't like this show very much, the style wasn't for me, and I couldn't relate to the characters.
I've never been a huge fan of Jason's over-the-top unrealistic low intelligence, so I wasn't super into that family plot (Though Tahani's incredulous reactions were on-point), but I thought Chidi's half of the episode was hilarious. The VR scenario montage was great, and they took full advantage of the possibilities by having Eleanor involve herself on both sides. A sort of sad thing to realize is that, if this Simone recreation was perfectly accurate, then it means she would genuinely have agreed to marry him. I really hope she returns, in just a handful of episodes she feels like such an integral part of the show. Human Janet is amazing and I loved the awkward bing section at the start of the episode.
way too one the nose, i just cannot take this season seriously. this was blatantly about amazon and various other political issues. the problem is the show isn't able to portray this situation with nuance - the doctor doesn't actually have to take a stance on corporations and automation, because she is given an extremist over the top villain who takes things way too far to the point where they are no longer a good representation of their side of the issue, and then she gets to fly away without having actual done anything to help "the 10%" who are stuck working meaningless monotonous jobs 40 hours a week.
its insane that elizabeth is literally training paige to be an agent while still trying to pretend like they don't ever do bad things. this was always the issue even back in season 3 - paige is not okay with murdering people or sleeping with people... even though she's older now i have a hard time believing this is a good plan, and hard to see why elizabeth thinks it is. wasn't she ready to retire at the end of last season? but she still wants paige to do this...?
oh god... the whole sequence with martha and the bug. i feel like i'm finally getting the pay off and plot movement that i've been waiting for since season 1 ended. things are happening. i know the two main characters can't ever die or get in trouble, but anyone else definitely can since side characters basically show up, appear in 3-4 episodes, and then die. i don't want martha to die.
it's hitting me sort of the same way nina hit me last episode that i actually like martha. we've gotten so used to her and her role in the story, but man, poor woman. she really does not deserve this.
she didn't realize how much danger she was in with phil, but she did her best. he could've literally put a bullet in her head the moment he sensed something was wrong. i thought he might. he still might. i think it'd be sort of tragic, but fitting, if after everything, the moment he realized martha's no longer his pawn, he just snaps her necks and unceremoniously offs her. because she means nothing to him.
but she survived the episode and honestly i hope she survives a lot longer and helps take phillip down, because she kind of deserves it...
This episode was fantastic! But super painful to watch.
I actually think this episode was super interesting for Piper's development, in a sort of paradoxical way. She actually starts taking steps towards being a better person and trying to take responsibility for herself, and yet by the end of the episode she ends up coming across as more pathetic than ever to her boyfriend - who has no idea what she's going through (it's an excuse sort of, but it's true) and who doesn't realize that her ability to actually tell him the truth and admit she cheated is actually somehow a big step for her.
I think this sort of paradox was intended by the writers... the episode has a theme of good coming along with bad, with the whole radio interview scene itself having some horrible things said, and then also having super uplifting stuff said. And the memorial scene where the characters flow back and forth between happy reminiscing/relaxing, and sadness.
The other interesting thing with Piper this episode is just reinforcing how she's not able to try to understand others - she wants to do the memorial her way, but then when the group actually has an impromptu memorial, she's not there for it. (at first) She does start to try to relate to Suzanne which makes the betrayal later super painful.
The other painful part is the plot with the guard and his pregnant girlfriend. It's actually so uncomfortable what she is doing here - and as a viewer I don't even have any sense of "maybe this'll work out and there'll be a happy ending" because my god, there can't be. There's no way this goes well. This is doomed to failure. They have no good options. Pretty sad. But maybe there'll be a happy ending anyway.... because it's a TV show... and TV shows do that...? I really... don't think so... but we'll see...
This was a good episode! I felt really bad for the woman falsely accused of insider trading. I was happy that Mike took her side - it's cool how he has a conscience despite all the lying. I love Gina Torres, her awkwardness at being forced to go out with Louis was hilarious. The ending felt a bit forced with Rachel figuring everything out and getting mad.
I liked the flashback story about the girl in the clinic who kills herself. I find the dynamic between the main character and the detective is getting a bit repetitive - him always saying he won't tell her anything, her saying "okay I won't ask" and then immediately trying to drill him for more. The mother is starting to really annoy me - her insistence that Camille not be allowed to do a single aspect of her job under any circumstances is frustrating, and I don't relate to her enough to get past that. I like Camille's relationship with her sister, but her sister was a total jerk to her and I again don't feel like I have enough redeeming qualities to care about her despite that.
i wasn't a fan of the whole "let me lie here choking to death on my own blood as i monologue about my motivations and various plot twists" thing. contrived imo. larek just not an interesting villain and doesn't add anything compelling to the story.
oh man, when there were 5 minutes left in the episode, i was SURE it was gonna end on some sort of big dangerous hook for the next season, i thought for sure paige was gonna find something in the basement. i guess she didn't but she felt something was off nevertheless... that's the fun part about a show like this (and breaking bad did the same thing), you're gonna get to have so many satisfying pay off moments when certain characters learn the truth. it's hard to imagine getting there.
i like the part where the russian guy tells Nina they want to recruit Stan, and says that it'll work because he is weak. It sort of clicked into place a theme that I think the season has probably been trying to show but that I never thought much about, which is the idea that anyone can be persuaded to join any cause, if they feel like it gives them a sense of purpose. it doesn't make any difference what side a person is on, they just want to feel like they have a community, and allies, and a home. that's why someone like gregory was able to feel good about working for spies. is it possible to convert stan? maybe. it's possible for the americans to convert phil and elizabeth too if they take advantage of the fact that they just want love and to support their kids.
man, things really feel like they are closing in. i mean, i guess all the fbi has is a few sketches and testimonies, but it feels like being a covert agent like this is the sort of thing where once people start to get an inkling of it, they will eventually find you.
and the marriage to martha also feels like it's getting so hard to maintain! it all feels insanely risky
but of course i know there's 5 more seasons. still, hard to imagine things going smoothly...
i'm kind of glad nina is turning back on the americans... stan deserves it, and she has the power in that relationship now so she can use him. good for her.
very cool. i like how every plot arc intertwined in this episode, and in a very "dramatic irony" type way where characters unfortunately had no idea what was going on or why they were involved in things.
i like the flashbacks to amador so i get one last chance to appreciate what a wonderful person and friend he was with his neverending talk of life being all about pussy, meanwhile his attempts to stalk and harass a woman at his workplace is getting people killed. what a great guy! i understand that stan is loyal and stuff but man it's hard to imagine actually respecting amador
Better than the previous ep. I liked Camille's scenes with the murder suspect dude. I thought it was sweet. There's something nice about two people being totally honest with each other, admitting how fucked up they are. I liked the fight she has with the detective after as well. I have to be honest I have no clue what's going on with Jackie and Adora and the medical records. So Adora is more fucked up than we thought? And she purposefully made her daughter sick...? Or something...? And Jackie knew...? And this means Adora is the killer...? I don't really get it...
Fantastic episode, totally thrilling!
I found it interesting how the conflict between America and Russia here was really representative of lots of types of conflict that happen. "We didn't do anything, BUT they will assume we did and attack us, so they are awful!" A lot of conflicts in life can be sparked by people assuming ill intent in others and then reacting as if they did the hypothetical thing you're imagining they'd do.
Stan is totally going to fall in love with his asset, right...? lol. She was having none of it though. I'd love to see an awkward one-sided thing. Also why did his partner not radio him when he sensed they were being followed?!
Also how does this last, what, 6 seasons? Phil was ready to defect, like, yesterday.
Bored by this episode. Still think Joe is really pathetic and not sure if that's supposed to be the point or not. Cameron is sort of interesting but I think it's just because the actress is really watchable, I don't care much about her going to a drug party to try to get over whatever the coding equivalent of writer's block is. Gordon's struggle is sort of relateable. His wife is the best character, I like her a lot.
I feel like I've seen the "Main Character thinks that Side-character is faking being reformed and insists they're still awful, but is proved wrong" plot so many times, but this was a good execution of it. Eleanor's monologue where she admits that she can't handle the idea that her mom became good for someone else was a bit "this is a TV show so i need to explain my feelings without subtext" but it was still quite sad. I loved the dude who Eleanor's mom is dating, he was hilarious, and my favourite line was probably when Michael said "we lived in the same wink neighbourhood" and the dude said "wow what a funny way to say a totally normal thing". Tahani's plot was really sweet, and there was great work from the writers to have Jason talk about the boob art since it was going to become very relevant later. The climax where they hugged was really sweet and I loved the use of the word "wankers" to show that they were being less "uptight" than usual.
I thought this was a brilliant ending! Satisfying to watch her husband completely break down, was quite pitiful and somehow even moving, especially combined with the flashback scenes of happier times. Loved the post-partum depression segment. My only slight issue is that they really foreshadowed death, and no one died. I feel this show is clearly inspired by greek tragedy, it was a bit anticlimactic that no one died, even if I'm glad they didn't.
very disappointing. i feel like this show just doesn't know how to resolve its plotlines after it puts characters in danger. that was such a cheap solution - we are really meant to believe they can get everyone to turn their votes just from saying their theory once, with no one even looking at any proof, from the guy who just admitted he was on drugs???? we have zero insight into how these partners think or why they voted against jessica before. it's all very bad writing, sad because the setup is otherwise very good.
and the cheap romance hooks are also getting annoying. donna returning was also completely unearned, i mean there were basically no consequences for her and it was super easy to get her back? jessica barely seemed to care.
ok, i was worried that i was maybe missing something when i didn't like season 2 as much as season 1, but this season is finally delivering on everything that i was waiting for when season 1 ended
season 2 maintained the status quo so much. things were happening, but nothing was really moving forward, and the plot was so focused on mechanical details about stealth planes and the boring villain guy, and w/e
i feel there are real stakes again now - whenever there's a scene like the one of phillip swapping the tapes in the briefcase, you really feel like something could go wrong. it's super intense.
I LOVE how they handled the paige plot. there's been so many "will she find out" build ups that never really went anywhere, and you'd think that when paige finds out it'd be super built up to - but it just comes out of nowhere. things were going okay with her. you think her plot this episode will just be about going to kenya. henry gets a subplot which makes it seem like nothing major is gonna happen with the kids this episode. phil and elizabeth had so many debates about how to go about telling her, when the right time is, how to build up to it, etc. but then it just happens, and they're still not ready for it. great stuff.
and the situation with the defector is reminding me of season 1 and how many "mixed wires" plots it had, where various characters are all entangled in the same situation and ironically have no idea how their actions are affecting others. i do feel she's a bit underused, she really hasn't gotten much focus at all, so i think they could've done more to build up this plot, but it's interesting they finally decided to reveal it. i love how the new russian woman was in on it when oleg tried to get the info from her, lol.
my favourite of the season so far, probably my favourite of all of post-season 2
i'm actually starting to sort of like kimmi as a character. it's easy to see why phillip doesn't want to sleep with her. i almost wonder if my suspension of disbelief is stretched that she'd actually start praying instead of having sex, but it's a nice "feel-good" solution, so i'll take it.
i wasn't sure how i felt about the paige plot, it felt like the show was forcing it a bit since i never would have thought either parent would go for it. but i'm starting to respect elizabeth's PoV and seeing how it makes sense.
the scene where nina's prison roommate got dragged off was actually chilling though. highlight of the ep for me. the more the show goes on the more i realize how much i like nina as a character, because, like, we're 3 seasons in and i still don't think i know anything about her. and that's the point. which of her feelings are real? which are lies? who does she truly love? what is she living for right now? what does she want? i don't know the answers. and i'm not sure she does either. she probably doesn't. how much of what she told the other girl was true? i think most of it, almost all of it. but she just used the truth for a purpose... good stuff!
god i'm used to tv shows mixing their super serious drama plots with their side romance plots but there's something so delightfully absurd about the way this show weaves super serious spy drama with romance, like "you helped me kidnap and murder a cia agent in an abandoned basement so now i'm sad that you're getting an apartment instead of moving back in"
lovely to see stan's wife finally blow up on him like he deserves
i feel like nina is in the same position as gregory last episode where she really just has nothing to look forward to anymore regardless of if things work or don't work, and she may behave in the same way, no longer valuing her life and just wanting to go out on her own terms.
fantastic! the climactic scene with gregory in the apartment was super intense, wow, keri russel nailed that scene!
gregory as a character is super interesting because he's just clearly such an honorable and good person, and yet is doing bad things. i don't even think its unrealistic, i'm sure people like that exist. anyone, even the people with the highest morals, can be misguided.
it's very understandable to not want to go relocate your life to russia... even if you're devoted to their cause, i have to imagine his reaction was the normal one...
it's very interesting that elizabeth is struggling right now with how following your cause is more important than love, and even the other man who she does love, they love each other because they were so dedicated to their cause, and with the choice he made, he sort of reinforced to her that love gets in the way
also omg stan is so awful, using his poor wife as a sounding board for things he wishes he could take about with his mistress.
wow, season 2 is so much fun! if you had told me during season 1 that the show would become primarily about donna and cameron running an online gaming company while joe is a disconnected sideplot, i'd never have believed you!
gordon is rich now but he still needed to hold on to his ability to be incredibly embarassing so he's got a cocaine addiction, which is, as usual, just painful to watch
the hacker guy felt a bit forced to me, like a plot device more than a character with understandable motivations. it's also feeling a bit forced how donna continually forgives cameron for absolutely everything, her patience is insane there. i do like how cameron repeatedly lies to or treats donna the same way gordon did - it's funny cameron and gordon are so alike (typical when two people clash so strongly)
very cool start to season 2! such a different vibe from the first one. loving the focus on donna and her whole plot with cameron. new and improved joe too, i'm already getting more of a sense of character from him now that he's not putting on a weird fake-charismatic persona.
Fantastic! Loved the humour in this episode
I find it sort of interesting that the premise of season 1 was "The Good Place was so obnoxiously over the top good that it was actually bad" and it was ultimately on purpose because of the twist, but this is apparently the real good place and its actually still over the top good to the point of being horrible. I wonder if they're going anywhere with that, or if it's just that it was convenient to reuse that joke.
Very blatant commentary on humanity and the way the world works nowadays, lol. But fair.
Good episode!
I like how the first scene with the racketball game is foreshadowing how the series will go. Stan will keep wearing Phillip down until he makes a mistake - but Phillip will ultimately find a way to stab Stan in the back. Not sure if the foreshadowing continues with Stan having to take a phonecall and leave, But Phillip saying "I'll get a win any way I can" is sort of foreshadowing as well, except it's not true? He's on the path to giving in to his emotions and letting wins slip away...
I thought there was gonna be a gunshot immediately after the wife got in the van, honestly. Still sad though... Can't tell if Phil and Elizabeth knew what was going to happen...? But surely they would... I think it makes sense. They have these emotional struggles but ultimately they can't let themselves be swayed by it. Yet.
