3x06 A Fractured Inheritance

[8.2/10] Definitely the best episode of the season so far. I appreciate how both stories in this one dealt with parental legacy, and how each did a double-twist for maximum emotional punch, with plenty of room for great humor.

The A-story, which featured Eleanor and Michael meeting Eleanor’s mom, Donna, in the midst of her new life, worked well. I liked the idea that Eleanor, forever jaded by her mom’s behavior, didn’t buy this new suburban backdrop for her mom, and so she was set to figure out what the scam was. The way the episode went back in forth -- having Eleanor accept that her mom wasn’t conning these people, then finding the money and being convinced that she was right original, and then harmonizing those views and realizing that while her mom can’t fully let go of her old life, she’s hesitantly comfortable in this one -- was really strong. It played the emotions of those scenes well, made for a compelling series of mini-twists, and elucidated a lot about the relationship between Eleanor and her mom.

I’ll admit, the episode did lean into an unfortunate Good Place tendency in my eyes, which is to write the emotional conflict on the screen. I feel like the audience could get that Eleanor was so psychologically against Donna being a good mom now because it meant that she could have been the mom Eleanor wanted and needed before, without Eleanor declaring it. And there’s a couple other moments where the characters announce their emotional states in a way that was less-than-natural. But the setup worked, and the way the episode took Eleanor from suspicion to resignation to vindication to genuine acceptance was well done. Plus, the episode not-so-subtly did some solid work about how Michael is becoming a parental figure in Eleanor’s life.

I also really liked the B-story, with Tahani going to apologize to her sister. It too did the double twist, with Tahani finally mustering up the humility to say she’s sorry despite her resentments, Kamilah rejecting the apology and starting a whole new round of resentment, only for Tahani to recognize the source of their rivalry and apologize honestly and truly regardless of whether Kamilah accepts it. It’s a strong story, that again, does well to go back and forth with the main character’s emotional state in a way that mirror’s Eleanor’s journey.

I also loved the setup, reveal, and epiphany, that the piece of abstract art the gang was puzzling over in the beginning turned out to be a representation of the way that Tahani and Kamila’s parents would set them against one another. This is probably a bit of a reach, but I’d go so far as to call it Vonnegut-esque in its ability to make emotional hay from a piece of non-representational art. Tahani realizing that it’s her parents, not her sister, who’s the source of her frustrations, and that Kamila labored under them too, is again, a strong theme to play with, and it makes their reconciliation feel completely earned.

This is also a thoroughly funny episode, potentially the funniest of the season. One nice thing about the pairing here is we finally got a little adorable Jason/Janet time, and watching them wander around and appraise the art was very amusing. Chidi being mesmerized by Kamilah and then chipperly lamenting his future in a Hungarian prison was a big laugh, as was Kamilah’s adoring coterie. On the Eleanor side, lines about Keyser Soze and running gags about Eleanor’s mom not washing her bras landed superbly, and the absolute winner was Michael and the adorably square Dave bonding over architecture, with milquetoast excitement and designs with a lack of bathrooms.

Overall, this one was a real winner, that hopefully portends great things for the season!