A beautiful, beautiful episode that left me with a tear in my eye at the end. The idea of the good place actually getting boring is something that's crossed my mind before - eternal happiness might sound appealing to us, but if there's nothing to contrast it, we'd stop appreciating it real fast. Giving people a way to end their journey if they want is a great idea.
(Also I was asked about Hypatia in my philosophy exam last year and I passed, so thanks, Patty!)
Average episode, but their take on the concept of Paradise was very interesting. It felt like a series finale, though. Can't see how will they go from here and top this one as a series finale... This season hasn't been shy in making this show feel like a zombie.
It's been almost four entire seasons for this show to finally stop mucking about and actually do something. Was a lot of it entertaining along the way? Absolutely. But that doesn't change the absolute muddiness of the journey. This episode represents everything that has been good and bad with this series: there are good jokes and interesting problems that arise from the naturally derived conflict. However, it is mired within an absolutely uneven pace that frequently makes solutions come out of nowhere and many of the jokes feel like they're too "pop-culture" for their own good (the whole "finally understand Twin Peaks" thing? Really? It's not really difficult to understand).
But what makes me the most frustrated is that the vast majority of the most interesting conflict that The Good Place has brought to the table has been truncated within the past two seasons. It's baffling that we spent two seasons stuck inside the bad place waiting for the protagonists to break out when the latter two seasons will show them on the lam and then coming up with a solution, only for the penultimate episode to show them getting to the Good Place finally only to realize that they need to fix it as well. Why could the final season not be about them trying to solve the problems of the Good Place? It's so uneven that I genuinely don't understand what the writers were thinking.
However, there's something very sweet about the resolution of this episode that has a nice beat to it. I like the suggestion of finality, but I don't necessarily agree with it. Underneath everything it suggests that good people should only be around good people and when they're too bored of each other then they might as well just die. It has a nice poetic ring to it within the context of the show, but from an outsider standpoint it feels like a bit of a cop out (not to mention like a double standard. If people like this then they need to re-evaluate their distaste of the LOST ending).
I don't know. I have been overwhelmingly lukewarm on this entire series and absolutely nothing about this final season has made me want to change my mind. Although this episode had a nice emotional beat to it, that doesn't change the fact that it was rushed, unearned, and confused within the logic of the world itself. Again I ask: WHAT YEAR IS IT ON EARTH? In this episode Patty said they like to keep things current but didn't the protagonists die like like a long time ago?
Great guest spot by Lisa Kudrow!
"Much taller than everyone else around me."
Even though Janet and Michael are taller than you? Sure, Tahani.
This was an okay episode, but it still feels like this season is dragging. Last episode should have been the finale. All of this is just excess...
~SF16~
It's almost the end of the show and I've been feeling pretty indiferent these last episodes
They're mostly just ok, and that's not how I want to feel about the end of a show that I've enjoyed so much before
Welp, they made good plays in the last few episodes, and the ending looks very grateful. Really, really good.
Pretty interesting episode! Raising some questions on our version of paradise !
I thought it was going to end up being like The Matrix where humans "need unhappiness" or whatever. Glad that wasn't the case.
glad to see them finally get there, this season has been kinda a chore but it's had some really decent high points
This would have worked as the series finale.
More tears.
Man, ambivalence is a real bad Janet! I call this feeling "happy/sad".
Great and kind of sneakily beautiful episode? It has all the chirpy tone, humor ("Fully Understand the Meaning of Twin Peaks" ring pops!), fast pace, and problem-solving of the best of the show, but it's just that the "problem" is one of the most profound to ponder in human existence, and the show's usual cheeriness in which it tackles that question seriously makes it so, so poignant.
"Whenever you're ready."
Can't wait for next week.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-01-24T15:41:08Z
[8.5/10] How would you build paradise? It’s something that seems more complicated than a sitcom can handle, but as I’ve said before, The Good Place isn’t an ordinary sitcom. The great thing about “Patty” is how it gives our heroes a taste of the thing they’ve been working toward for so long, shows us how it could actually be miserable, and then gives us a most unexpected solution to the problem that ties in with past events. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a masterstroke, but it’s definitely a pretty impressive feat for a show grappling with what it would really mean to live in paradise for eternity.
It’s also damn funny! I think The Good Place is the only show on television that can make me laugh with references to professional wrestling (that bedpan is a big deal) and references to classical philosophy (Chidi’s “neoplatonic” line was a hoot) in the same episode. The glassy-eyed denizens of paradise, blankly asking for things or describing their mundane lives was amusing. And the little details of The (real) Good Place were very funny. (I particularly liked the candies that allow you to perfectly understand Twin Peaks.) Throw in the joyful mishmash of our heroes’ favorite things in the party, and you have a real comic winner on your hands.
The episode keeps the comedy flowing while still tackling its thorny problem. It starts off letting our heroes enjoy some richly deserved rewards and fun after all they’ve been through. Chidi’s nerdy excitement at meeting “Patty”, Michael getting sworn in by The Good Place council, and Jason getting to go go-karting with monkeys are all fun bits.
But then the show slowly but surely lets you know something is off. Tahani’s conversation with one flat affect paradise-dweller is disconcerting. Janet’s interactions with another Good Janet (and low key disdain for the other Janet) are a worrying sign. And when Patty herself warns Chidi of the dangers of this place, things kick into another gear.
(As an aside, Lisa Kudrow is a nice get for Patty, and her ability to convey the “joy zombie” vibe while also convincingly discussing “word piles” is outstanding.)
It’s a bold stroke to suggest that eternal happiness would eventually becoming numbing. The idea that you can do anything, so eventually you do everything, and become bored and lifeless is another interesting, sort of existentialist take on Heaven. I really like the idea that the problem is infinity -- that eternal life makes it seem like you have nothing but time to fill, and that over time, that sense wears you down.
So it’s a strange but fitting solution that Eleanor comes up with -- you give people the freedom to die. The show dances around it nicely, but it ties back to the idea that the prospect of an end helps give existence meaning and purpose. Sure, it happens a little fast that everyone in The Good Place feels better, but it’s another bold idea, one that ably solves the problem the episode set up.
I don’t know. At the end of the day, I just like how much this show is saying something about morality and life and existence. I don’t always agree with every point or laugh at every joke or buy every argument. But it’s using the sitcom form to comment on grand, eternal questions and conundrums in a way that is usually funny, sometimes oversimplified, but also usually a bit profound too. “Patty” is a great example of that, where the show uses humor and its wild premise to make a big statement about what elements are necessary to make human beings truly happy and fulfilled. The joy, and the enemy, is time.