The Good Place - Dance Dance Resolution - Review + POLL

Picking up where the premiere left off, we are treated to a 6 minute montage of Michael resetting things almost 500 times as Eleanor figures things out in weird and hilarious circumstances. Eventually, Michael starts to break down, gains a ton of weight, and all of the actors go on strike. Vicky/Denise/Oleanor serves as their representative and she urges Michael to reset one more time and give her plan a try. Meanwhile, Eleanor and Chidi overhear actors from The Bad Place talking about how they miss the old version of hell, so Eleanor and Chidi get Janet to take them on the train. They end up at The Medium Place where Mindy St. Claire shows them all of the different plans they’ve come up with in the 15 times they’ve ended up at The Medium Place. She also shows Eleanor a video of she and Chidi confessing their love for each other post-sex. Eleanor and Chidi decide to return to The Bad Place and confront Michael, saying they’ll always figure it out. Michael agrees and says they should team up, ending the episode.

Now that’s what I’m talking about! I know I was a little harsh on last week’s episode and the lack of laughs, but this week’s episode was flat out awesome. I’m not going to start with any specifics, but rather rapid fire about all of things I liked in general.

How it was shot - I think the montage of all of the resets was done brilliantly. It was almost 6 minutes and I didn’t even notice because it was shot and edited so well. Between Eleanor finding out in weird, unexplained locations and situations, and Michael having to kill Janet over and over again, I was loving every second of it.
The return of Mindy St. Claire - I freakin’ LOVE Mindy St. Claire. Her casual coke addiction and bored attitude was such a highlight of the finale last year and I’m so glad they brought her back.
Vicky/Denise/Oleanor’s quest to be relevant - I’m not sure where they are taking this but I’m enjoying her character’s schtick. I’m finding myself rooting for her to have a significant role because she’s just that funny. I’m thinking she’s going to play a huge role in the later part of the season.
Jason’s speech - I think The Good Place is strongest when they give equal screen time to the core four. Do not get me wrong, I love Eleanor, but the combination of Eleanor, Tahani, Jason, and Chidi is the recipe for TV magic so I’m glad they let Jason have an oblivious Jason speech that may have actually pushed the story forward.

Now let’s talk about the huge development - Eleanor and Chidi’s profession of love! I don’t watch The Good Place for the romantic storylines, to be honest, but there was something really sweet and wonderful about seeing the two of them in love. It raises a ton of questions for the show to explore. What were the circumstances around them falling in love in one attempt vs. another? Are they actually soulmates and just destined to find each other eventually? Or is there something more we aren't seeing and this is an out of context video clip? So many questions! Regardless, I definitely like Eleanor and Chidi together so I enjoyed this development a lot. The couple I care most about, however, is Janet and Jason, so I’m hoping we get more on them in the coming episodes.

I think my one “complaint” about the episode is just how confused I am. I put complaint in quotation marks because I really don’t know if being confused is a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, the writers have proven that they’re great at turning the show on it’s head and making you see things through another perspective, which could be what’s happening here. On the other hand, last season had a great twists, but I still feel like I had a few theories as to where the show was headed. This season, I don’t really know at all where we’re going with these storylines. But again, not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just a more frustrating experience. Luckily, as I mention way too often, I have full faith in these writers to show me the light and blow my mind down the road. The best theory I have right now is that Michael is in The Bad Place as well and Shawn (or someone else) is really the one pulling strings here. Another theory I have is maybe I’M in The Bad Place and me trying to figure out what’s going to happen and failing constantly is my own personal little hell. That one seems a little too meta though.

Overall Grade:
A. I loved this episode. It was absolutely hilarious and while some may not love how many resets there were, I thought they handled them all in such a ridiculous way that it was worth it. (Though, moving forward, I hope we get a little more clarity on where we’re headed)

Favorite Quotes:
Michael: Jason figured it out?! Jason?! This is a real low point… Yeah this one hurts.

Eleanor: As my mom always used to say: “If a cop handcuffs you to a bike rack, theres always something you can gnaw through.”
Chidi: …Your mom always said that?

Eleanor: Also, Tahani is a candidate as far as I’m concerned. Yesterday, she told me that she was Taylor Swift’s best friend, but Taylor Swift wasn’t her best friend. She sucks.

Mindy St. Claire: You know what? No matter what the combo is, I always ask you guys to bring me cocaine next time, and you never do. Do you have anything I can snort? Like a crushed up Asprin, or some eye shadow, or cocaine?

Mindy St. Claire: I’ve written every plan you’ve ever come up.
Eleanor: Physically attack Michael, seduce Michael, make Michael think he’s the one in The Bad Place, catch that magic panda use her powers…? Oh, I’m guessing that was Jason?
Mindy St. Claire: That guy has no idea what’s going on.

Eleanor: I’ve only ever said I love you to two men my entire life. Stone Cold Steve Austin and a guy in a dark club who I mistook for Stone Cold Steve Austin.

That’s it from me! What did you all think of episode 3? Let me know in the comments!