# The Good Place | S04E01 | OAD 9/26/2019 | "A Girl from Arizona"



## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

Here we go. The final season.

Apparently this was supposed to be a one-hour, two-part premiere like prior seasons, but NBC decided to split it into two weeks for some reason. Overall I'm down with that, because it means the show runs for a week longer, but it does feel like we need to get that second half-hour out of the way to really get the ball rolling. As a result, I thought this one leaned more towards "clever" on the "clever/funny" scale -- but there were some laughs, and it was pretty darn clever.

I really liked how quickly the whole system was put under stress by the four new subjects, even if one of them was a Bad Place ringer. I actually wouldn't have minded more of the deadpan Linda (Michael's dejected, "Oh Linda!" cracked me up), but having her being a Bad Place plant -- and one we've met before -- was a nice twist. (Although I really didn't understand their impatience to make her excited to be there. Wouldn't becoming a better boring person still count as a win?). And this was a great use of Simone's backstory. Of course she would (think she was) self-aware of what was going on. It's a cool way to make her a problem without subverting the fact that we know she is a good person already, and not disposed to being problematic.

One of the benefits of this being the last season is that the show doesn't need to worry about burning out some of the recurring characters, so we'll probably see more of them. It'll be fun to have more of Sean, Derek, Mindy, and the Judge than we usually get (I presume). All those actors make a meal out of their scenes. 

And the premiere's podcast episode is already up! It's The Good Place season, everyone.


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

OMG the song literally had me LOL.


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## Regina (Mar 30, 2003)

midas said:


> OMG the song literally had me LOL.


1-8-7-7-Cars-For-Kids! 1-8-7-7-Cars-For-Kids!  Ba ha haaaaaaaaaaaa!

And the restaurant-"Lasagna Come out Tomorrow" 

YOUR MOM!


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## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

So happy to have this show back! I hope we get all the recurring characters, especially Trevor from the bad place (Adam Scott). I figure at some point they are going to get Chidi and Simone making doe eyes and Eleanor all but ruining the plan. Then again, that seems too obvious and this show is usually much more clever than that!


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## mrdazzo7 (Jan 8, 2006)

midas said:


> OMG the song literally had me LOL.


HAHAHA I thought that was absolute genius. That commercial on 100x a day on every station and _everyone _hates it. That kind of quick-hit joke is why I love this show.

I don't know that I'm loving the central premise of the season though, with Eleanor and Chidi's story framing the central theme. I personally never invested that much in the two of them and always considered the show to be kind of above that type of angle, but now that it's front-and-center it's hard to ignore. The whole "star crossed lovers" thing is tired for me... I also just don't BUY these two as having a love so grand they'd be willing to destroy the entirety of human existence for it, so it's not good stakes for me.

That said, hopefully the rest of the season carries on the way the show always had - zany, wild, and unpredictable. I discovered it late so I had watched season 1 and 2 on Netflix in about 2 weeks righ before season 3 started, so I'm still high on the premise lol.

It's just good to have a comedy back. I'm dangerously low on shows at the moment and could always use a good laugh


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

Interestingly, the only reason I got the joke about the song was because I’ve heard about it on the internet. The ads have never aired in this area for some reason. I wonder whether there are others like me that have never actually heard those ads and wouldn’t get the joke.


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

If the elephant is right about Stonehenge, maybe I'll change my mind about visiting the place.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

jsmeeker said:


> If the elephant is right about Stonehenge, maybe I'll change my mind about visiting the place.


I don't know...I can buy the Kennedy theory, but Stonehenge is really pushing plausibility.


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## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

LoadStar said:


> The ads have never aired in this area for some reason. I wonder whether there are others like me that have never actually heard those ads and wouldn't get the joke.


Well, there's at least one more like you.

*waves*


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## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

mrdazzo7 said:


> I also just don't BUY these two as having a love so grand they'd be willing to destroy the entirety of human existence for it, so it's not good stakes for me.


But they did the exact opposite of what you said: they _sacrificed_ their relationship by erasing Chidi's memory of it in order to _protect_ the entirety of human existence.


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## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

Cool writing detail mentioned on the podcast: about the only question Linda asks about being in The Good Place is whether there is a fitness center. Linda, of course, is really ultra-buff demon Chris in disguise. Chris just couldn't help himself. Great little breadcrumb.


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## pkscout (Jan 11, 2003)

LoadStar said:


> Interestingly, the only reason I got the joke about the song was because I've heard about it on the internet. The ads have never aired in this area for some reason. I wonder whether there are others like me that have never actually heard those ads and wouldn't get the joke.


I live in Hawaiʻi and have never seen the ads you all are talking about and didn't even know it was an actual ad until this thread. I still thought it was funny because we have our own version of horrible jingle ads (ours is a taxi company with a guy in drag singing the phone number).


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## stellie93 (Feb 25, 2006)

I thought that the non-believer would convince Chidi, who is skeptical of everything, that he isn't dead either.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

stellie93 said:


> I thought that the non-believer would convince Chidi, who is skeptical of everything, that he isn't dead either.


Can anybody really convince Chidi of anything?


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## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Can anybody really convince Chidi of anything?


Yes! But maybe no. I don't know!


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

stellie93 said:


> I thought that the non-believer would convince Chidi, who is skeptical of everything, that he isn't dead either.


Skepticism isn't really one of Chidi's predominant traits, at least not that we've been shown. Indecision is.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Anyone who has satellite radio and listens to any of the talk, news or sports channels has heard Kars for Kids a billion times.


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## Agatha Mystery (Feb 12, 2002)

TonyD79 said:


> Anyone who has satellite radio and listens to any of the talk, news or sports channels has heard Kars for Kids a billion times.


I've got satellite radio, and while I rarely listen to news, I do sometimes. I've never caught that commercial. I presumed it was one, though.


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

Does it make sense that Janet is having trouble maintaining the environment? She didn't seem to have any trouble the first time around, and this is Janet 2.0, a much improved version. I think she's making an excuse to avoid dealing with unpleasant issues.


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## madscientist (Nov 12, 2003)

In this version she hasn't only created the environment, but she is controlling all the inhabitants as well. In the previous incarnation they were all demons. Derek helped create them (IIRC) but she's the one keeping them all "alive".


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## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

Plus she is a lot more human (-like) this time around. She probably wasn't capable of feeling stress before, but she can feel it now.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

midas said:


> OMG the song literally had me LOL.


We call it in my house...pause worthy! That song gets on my last nerve, so it was so deliciously perfect for the Bad Place theme song


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

Agatha Mystery said:


> I've got satellite radio, and while I rarely listen to news, I do sometimes. I've never caught that commercial. I presumed it was one, though.


Just some background on the charity:

Kars4Kids - Wikipedia


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## Amnesia (Jan 30, 2005)

And the fact that they keep mentioning her issues seems like pretty blatant foreshadowing for a problem...


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## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

LoadStar said:


> Interestingly, the only reason I got the joke about the song was because I've heard about it on the internet. The ads have never aired in this area for some reason. I wonder whether there are others like me that have never actually heard those ads and wouldn't get the joke.


Same here. I only know it from people complaining online. I think my kids were clueless.



cmontyburns said:


> Cool writing detail mentioned on the podcast:.


I hate to be "that guy" but there really shouldn't be spoilers for the podcast in the episode threads.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Robin said:


> I hate to be "that guy" but there really shouldn't be spoilers for the podcast in the episode threads.


Well, in this case the podcast is only pointing out things that were already in the episode...


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

LoadStar said:


> Interestingly, the only reason I got the joke about the song was because I've heard about it on the internet. The ads have never aired in this area for some reason. I wonder whether there are others like me that have never actually heard those ads and wouldn't get the joke.


I'm another who has heard "about" the ad for years as it's been mentioned in various media, but I don't think I've ever heard/seen the actual ad. Kind of makes me wonder what other jokes like that which are "in" jokes because people who live in NY or LA think the thing is ubiquitous but it's not.


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## sushikitten (Jan 28, 2005)

I think they used that jingle in Will and Grace last season, too. Still haven't heard it in real life. 

We just finished binging Veronica Mars and she looks so much younger here.


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