The Good Place on NBC

Superstore is great whenever I remember to watch it.

It's the only American workplace comedy I can recall that actually has the appropriate level of contempt for its work setting. I like to imagine that TGP is ultimately set in purgatory while Superstore is set in actual hell.

Michael gleefully picking a chunk of human flesh off Chidi's face was disgusting and hilarious. Easily the best episode so far this season up until now Chidi hadn't been given much to do and he's my favourite character.

I've finally gotten into this, courtesy tt. It's great! I should go back and watch it all really. Michael's drawing of his trolley problem solution needs to be on a t-shirt, and I need to wear that t-shirt

https://scontent-dft4-3.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/22222052_531833037165626_7579528096675395060_n.jpg?oh=8543c5d6d8ab30dd1c2e1308400f0971&oe=5A7013F6

Imago, does that mean you skipped the first season?? Because that really would change things.

I've been given all the spoilers. Still worth watching?

I've seen the last 3/4 episodes

I'm guessing it's all bubblegum Huis Clos goodness?

love janet, love glitching janet even more

Every Janet appearance is so...comforting.

I started watching the first season because of the finale spoilers and it was hilarious.

You got us all! Great work!

http://i64.tinypic.com/2dv0j8l.jpg

Ha, didn't notice the caption.

HA!

"Sacre bleu! I peed in muh pants."

this was such a good episode

is janet glitching out of jealousy?

"I've been given all the spoilers. Still worth watching?"

On the assumption you're watching it for the jokes then yes, it's hilarious.

Ha, interesting: that possibility didn't occur to me. I thought it was because she was beginning to develop human emotion and empathy, which is not what she was programmed for.
xp

That throwaway line about Janet having all the knowledge of the universe is a little ominous

Looking forward to malfunctioning Janet being replaced by Bad Janet.

is janet glitching out of jealousy?

I thought this too.

I can't remember why Michael is supposed to be learning ethics. I don't really care, obviously. Even if it's just to pass the time, that's fine. But I forget the reason they gave.

The knowledge that they're in the bad place has loosened Eleanor up in a really good way. The fact that she and Michael have so much in common, and that she can be more her funny, crappy self around Chidi, is a comedy bonus.

feel like janet is some form of god/higher power

I can't remember why Michael is supposed to be learning ethics. I don't really care, obviously. Even if it's just to pass the time, that's fine. But I forget the reason they gave.

Iirc, Michael wanted the humans' help to outsmart Vicky and Sean and keep all five of them from facing infinite 'real' torture, also suggesting that he might be able to get them all into the actual good place. Tahani and Chidi wanted to go along with the plan because it was their best chance to improve and actually become as good as they had thought they were. Eleanor agreed eventually but only on the condition that Michael also study ethics so that they would all become better and deserve the good place.

(Btw, imago, I'm rewatching s1 with the philosopher so I obv do think it's still worth watching after you know what happens.)

feel like janet is some form of god/higher power

I think it was the first episode of this season where Michael said he stole her from the actual good place, so it could just be she's malfunctioning due to being in the bad place.

It would be difficult to reconcile Janet having all the knowledge in the universe yet learning each restart. I guess maybe in some 'being a bat' sense? My rl person to talk about this show thought very early that Janet would develop a subliminal jealousy, so maybe she's right.

Decent piece in The Atlantic by an ethicict about what this show accomplishes with the topic and how deftly it saved the most famous ethics problem until its second season.

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/10/how-the-good-place-goes-beyond-the-trolley-problem/543393/

imo Janet has knowledge in the sense that she’s like a library or database, and can spew out facts. all the restarts have made her cognitive capabilities higher functioning, to the extent she’s able to use that knowledge to do work that requires interpretation

I mean, maybe Janet could become jealous now that she can interpret things and seems to be developing a sense of self

season one Janet was basically Siri

i think all the reboots must be doing something to her. plus, all the interaction she's had with the four main characters. she probably doesn't have to interact much with the demons there. regular janets never get rebooted at all. didn't they say it was the first time a janet had been killed?

Janet would develop a subliminal jealousy

Databases and even highly advanced AIs aren't conscious, in the way I am and I believe you are.

what if she’s been interpreting books on jealousy as part of becoming a therapist

also if this is a abrahamic good place, she could be a seraphim, just sayin

or rather, of the seraphim

xp: Then somewhere in its "circuitry" it may have a model of how jealous people behave. There's been no indication Janet experiences emotions. The whole Jason/Janet "romance" of S1 hinged on how she was motivated to please, but felt nothing. Her "fail safe" pleas for mercy as anyone reached for the reset button were also explicitly explained as a ruse.

Nah, still think Janet is malfunctioning so that Vicky will be forced to bring in a Bad Janet. Maybe cross its wires to force it to emulate a Good Janet.

http://68.media.tumblr.com/8751842a9a7ba74524cb06e498ca6c1d/tumblr_ok25wy412i1udh64ho4_500.gif

I think part of the joy of this show is that it makes the kind of universe-building we're supposed to do in sci-fi or fantasy shows redundant: it doesn't really matter how closely we follow what we're told about the rules of this universe because at any point the universe can be completely turned on its head. What matters then is that the actions we've seen happen in the series so far can be read as plausible in the context of the new explanation for the universe. Janet is a good example - we were told that good Janet was stolen, but there's no particular reason to assume that there won't be a totally different explanation of the nature of Janet coming along at some point, which we can believe and build our understanding around until another explanation comes along.

This makes wild speculation more fun. The question is whether we can expect a once-and-for-all resolution at some point (eg turns out this is *actually* some kind of purgatorial process all these characters have to go through before they can be admitted to a Good Place), or whether that would turn out to be disappointingly glib and implausible, like finding out who gossip girl was. They can keep flipping the universe for as long as its fun, I suppose.

I think I am in some sort of purgatory that does not allow me to watch this show. Tried watching on nbc.com with various browsers and inevitably some of the ads won't load and the whole thing crashes. Finally got a friend's Hulu password, tried to watch via PS4 and it would only play a couple seconds at a time before buffering. Admittedly I have shitty internet, but other services were working fine. :/

i forgot who it turned out gossip girl was. was it georgina?

Clearly it's Tahani.

https://tvrecappersanonymous.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/laughing-dan.gif

lol

Finally got a friend's Hulu password, tried to watch via PS4 and it would only play a couple seconds at a time before buffering. Admittedly I have shitty internet, but other services were working fine.

watching this season via Hulu and it takes at least an hour to get through each 19-minute episode with buffering, seizing up on ads, and crashing altogether

hulu apps are all pretty shitty in my experience (on ps4, appletv, and roku). maybe if you pay for NO commercials.

Glad it's not just me

it works fine if you pay for it outright.

I haven't had any trouble? I've been streaming off the NBC site on a Macbook Pro. I did watch the last one on Hulu, actually.

Also streaming off NBC on a Macbook Pro -- sometimes it's fine, sometimes it's glitchy as hell.