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The Good Place, S2 finale
I was discussing the The Good Place S2 season finale with ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wendelah1, and finally I figured maybe I should just post about it.
The interesting thing about the season finale is that I loved it, I really really did, but I didn't enjoy quite a large section of it.
I liked watching The Good Place in the beginning because of the whimisical and zany (and hilarious) nature of the afterlife. But I kept with it because of the relationships between the characters. At this point I'm watching it for the characters and only secondarily for the whimsy.
I felt like the finale was in part forcing us (well, at least, those viewers like me) into that realization. As Michael said (how much do I adore Michael), the Bad Place is the friends you made along the way. So even if you're not in the Bad/Good Place -- even if the whimsy is entirely gone -- and there was as bit in this episode, but not very much -- it's what we mean to one another, it's how we matter to one another, that carries us through.
That brings me to what I didn't like -- I didn't like the Earth scenes, I didn't start out watching this show for those! I hated the parts where Eleanor started backsliding -- I am so invested at this point in Eleanor becoming a better person that those parts I had a really hard time with, and I actually had to look away from the screen. (Also, I felt like there was a meta-point about Earth itself being Hell. At least the Bad Place had amusing bits. Eleanor's life with her roommates was pretty hellish and not very amusing at all. Though I appreciated the meta, I didn't like actually watching it.)
What I absolutely adored: MICHAEL AND ELEANOR. Everything about them. I don't ship them in the traditional sense, but Eleanor&Michael being demonic BFF's is basically my OTP for this show -- they just get each other so well. "Hot diggity dog!" (AWWWW. He ships 'em!) That little bit where Michael sort of shoved Chidi's ticker tape aside (poor Chidi) and went to stare intently at Eleanor's gave me ALL THE FEELINGS.
But more than anything else, I absolutely loved that just as in the end of S1 and all the reboots of the first seasons of S2 it was the Eleanor-Chidi connection that got them through it, here, that's what it is too. AND MICHAEL TOTALLY GOT THAT. When he interfered, he interfered to push her to find Chidi. I have ALL THE FEELINGS about that, not just that he did that but that Michael himself did that, that all those reboots internalized in him that the key really is what we owe to each other, and what Eleanor and Chidi mean to each other. MICHAEL AND ELEANOR. They get each other!
But also. But also. There's Michael's speech to Gen at the beginning where he argues that the fact that our four have progressed after death means the entire basis of the afterlife is flawed, that "hundreds of millions of people have been wrongfully condemned to an eternity of torture." Now that's floating out there. I will bet you a million internet bucks that line is not a throwaway gag (even though it was placed and timed to look a bit like one). That line is serious, and because of that line I have faith that Michael Schur is taking this somewhere.
Because whether Schur is or is not going somewhere, I suspect, is at the crux of whether this is a good episode or not. If this goes nowhere, if it's just a comedy that is now going to be done on Earth as it was in Hell, then it's not a good episode, it's backsliding and kind of obnoxiously jumping the shark. If it's going to drive forward, then it's brilliant.
(Along the same lines, of course it would have been nice to have more Tahani and Jason, but since we know we're getting a third season, I expect we'll see their stories and go forward with them. I was fine with just getting Eleanor's for now, since in thirty minutes (I guess twenty-something) there's only so much you can do, and it was so important that we see Eleanor that, well.)
Michael Schur in general has built up a lot of credit with me over S1 and S2 -- S2 in particular surprised me plot-wise practically every episode while still always remaining true to the characters (1) -- I have a lot of faith that he is taking it somewhere. Partially because of that line, I am fairly confident right now that he still has ideas for the forward momentum of this show. The big worry for me (and others, I know) is that it becomes one of the many shows that sort of drifts around aimlessly and loses its way... X-Files, The Office (at least for a couple of seasons), Veronica Mars... and that's only limiting it to shows I've actually watched, which is very few... but I am pretty sure we're not at that point yet. (I guess there's the Fringe failure mode, where everything starts making zero sense, but I do actually trust Schur not to do that. It wasn't like we didn't have warning before Fringe S5 happened.)
(1) I never doubted for even a second that Michael would sacrifice himself to let them go in "Rhonda..." when it turned out they didn't have enough pins, because the show had done such a good job in character-building. Though the one thing I thought was off was that I was convinced that in "The Burrito," Eleanor and friends would decide they had to go back and save Michael, but it never even crossed their minds.
(Also can I say how INCREDIBLY COOL I think it is that this show is about philosophy and moral constructs and moral desert and it actually WORKS and it's REALLY GOOD??)
wendelah1, and finally I figured maybe I should just post about it.The interesting thing about the season finale is that I loved it, I really really did, but I didn't enjoy quite a large section of it.
I liked watching The Good Place in the beginning because of the whimisical and zany (and hilarious) nature of the afterlife. But I kept with it because of the relationships between the characters. At this point I'm watching it for the characters and only secondarily for the whimsy.
I felt like the finale was in part forcing us (well, at least, those viewers like me) into that realization. As Michael said (how much do I adore Michael), the Bad Place is the friends you made along the way. So even if you're not in the Bad/Good Place -- even if the whimsy is entirely gone -- and there was as bit in this episode, but not very much -- it's what we mean to one another, it's how we matter to one another, that carries us through.
That brings me to what I didn't like -- I didn't like the Earth scenes, I didn't start out watching this show for those! I hated the parts where Eleanor started backsliding -- I am so invested at this point in Eleanor becoming a better person that those parts I had a really hard time with, and I actually had to look away from the screen. (Also, I felt like there was a meta-point about Earth itself being Hell. At least the Bad Place had amusing bits. Eleanor's life with her roommates was pretty hellish and not very amusing at all. Though I appreciated the meta, I didn't like actually watching it.)
What I absolutely adored: MICHAEL AND ELEANOR. Everything about them. I don't ship them in the traditional sense, but Eleanor&Michael being demonic BFF's is basically my OTP for this show -- they just get each other so well. "Hot diggity dog!" (AWWWW. He ships 'em!) That little bit where Michael sort of shoved Chidi's ticker tape aside (poor Chidi) and went to stare intently at Eleanor's gave me ALL THE FEELINGS.
But more than anything else, I absolutely loved that just as in the end of S1 and all the reboots of the first seasons of S2 it was the Eleanor-Chidi connection that got them through it, here, that's what it is too. AND MICHAEL TOTALLY GOT THAT. When he interfered, he interfered to push her to find Chidi. I have ALL THE FEELINGS about that, not just that he did that but that Michael himself did that, that all those reboots internalized in him that the key really is what we owe to each other, and what Eleanor and Chidi mean to each other. MICHAEL AND ELEANOR. They get each other!
But also. But also. There's Michael's speech to Gen at the beginning where he argues that the fact that our four have progressed after death means the entire basis of the afterlife is flawed, that "hundreds of millions of people have been wrongfully condemned to an eternity of torture." Now that's floating out there. I will bet you a million internet bucks that line is not a throwaway gag (even though it was placed and timed to look a bit like one). That line is serious, and because of that line I have faith that Michael Schur is taking this somewhere.
Because whether Schur is or is not going somewhere, I suspect, is at the crux of whether this is a good episode or not. If this goes nowhere, if it's just a comedy that is now going to be done on Earth as it was in Hell, then it's not a good episode, it's backsliding and kind of obnoxiously jumping the shark. If it's going to drive forward, then it's brilliant.
(Along the same lines, of course it would have been nice to have more Tahani and Jason, but since we know we're getting a third season, I expect we'll see their stories and go forward with them. I was fine with just getting Eleanor's for now, since in thirty minutes (I guess twenty-something) there's only so much you can do, and it was so important that we see Eleanor that, well.)
Michael Schur in general has built up a lot of credit with me over S1 and S2 -- S2 in particular surprised me plot-wise practically every episode while still always remaining true to the characters (1) -- I have a lot of faith that he is taking it somewhere. Partially because of that line, I am fairly confident right now that he still has ideas for the forward momentum of this show. The big worry for me (and others, I know) is that it becomes one of the many shows that sort of drifts around aimlessly and loses its way... X-Files, The Office (at least for a couple of seasons), Veronica Mars... and that's only limiting it to shows I've actually watched, which is very few... but I am pretty sure we're not at that point yet. (I guess there's the Fringe failure mode, where everything starts making zero sense, but I do actually trust Schur not to do that. It wasn't like we didn't have warning before Fringe S5 happened.)
(1) I never doubted for even a second that Michael would sacrifice himself to let them go in "Rhonda..." when it turned out they didn't have enough pins, because the show had done such a good job in character-building. Though the one thing I thought was off was that I was convinced that in "The Burrito," Eleanor and friends would decide they had to go back and save Michael, but it never even crossed their minds.
(Also can I say how INCREDIBLY COOL I think it is that this show is about philosophy and moral constructs and moral desert and it actually WORKS and it's REALLY GOOD??)
no subject
I'm also curious how far they'll go into the direction of an overall afterlife reform.
no subject
I think it depends on how many seasons more they get. I wish that TV shows came with a set number of seasons, none of this renewal crap. I bet we'd get higher series quality in general.
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no subject
Yes!! It was really upsetting. I actually did have some faith we wouldn't end entirely negatively, but it was just not fun to watch until then.