Flying

ONE

Picking up where Episode One of The Good Place left off, Chidi still stresses while Eleanor tries to evade the problem. She calls for Janet. (Actually, Chidi calls for Janet because Eleanor can’t remember the name.)

TWO

First, Eleanor confirms that any conversation with Janet is confidential. Yes, not even Michael can access it. Then she asks Janet for bee-striped clothes.

At the town meeting in Tahani’s palace, everyone wears the same fabric. Michael, with false confidence, tells them all that he has no idea how the chaos happened.

THREE

And then Tahani’s normal clothes return as the bee-striped outfit fades away.

Roll credits.

FOUR

Cut to the Clown House. Inside, Chidi, with a stack of books and a chalkboard, prepares for Eleanor’s ethics lesson. The board is covered with questions to help Chidi decide if teaching Eleanor is cheating or morally sound. Eleanor argues that her presence is just a mistake because Michael called her by her own name.

Chidi quizzes her: What is one fact you know about me? She remembers no details even though they spent the day together. Chidi knows many things about Eleanor because she talks about herself a lot. He’s afraid she’s too selfish to ever be a good person.

Flashback to Eleanor on earth in a bar. She and her friends draw names for the designated driver. Eleanor always picks from the hat and her name never shows up. The friend demands to see the slip of paper; Eleanor eats it. When the friend wants to use a process of elimination to see if Eleanor’s name was even in the hat, Eleanor stuffs all the slips in her mouth.

Eleanor and Chidi sit together at the town meeting in the plaza. Michael announces that today’s activity will be flying, something everyone’s always wanted to do. However, Tahani interrupts. She and the silent Jianyu think it would be a good idea for volunteers to clean up the neighborhood after the chaos. Eleanor mutters to Chidi that she can’t believe so many nerds are willing to pick up garbage when they could fly. Immediately, Chidi raises his hand and volunteers them. This is your chance to prove you’re not selfish, he says.

Meanwhile, residents launch into the air like Superman and fly through the sky. Eleanor stabs garbage while a woman floats above her head and tells her how awesome it is.

SWITCH

Fade to black.

FIVE

Tahani and Jianyu clean up garbage. She patters on about the time she picked up mortar shells in Vietnam with “Diana”. Jianyu nods. Michael approaches and Tahani compliments him on his neighborhood. He denies it. He’s made a mistake somewhere and he’s terrified chaos will happen again. After Michael leaves, Tahani decides to help him.

Eleanor, who’s been cleaning, asks Chidi if he’s willing to teach her. He’s still deciding, he says. With a tight smile, Eleanor continues to wait.

Flashback to Eleanor’s bar and friends again. They have a new system for determining the designated driver: rotation. Eleanor will be first. Smirking, Eleanor says she got off work early and has been drinking for hours. Someone else will need to take this shift.

Tahani and Jianyu eat frozen yogurt on the plaza with Michael. He won’t be comforted, though. If even one blade of grass is wrong . . . Michael sees a small dog and stops. Whose dog is that? Thinking it’s a glitch, Michael kicks the dog into the air and it flies toward the sun.

A woman immediately walks up looking for her dog.

Cut to Eleanor as her full trash bag rips and all that she’s collected falls to the ground. Janet announces only five more minutes of flying. Cue a montage of Eleanor hiding garbage.

Ready to fly, Eleanor approaches the launch pad. Think happy thoughts. When Eleanor focuses on people puking on roller coasters, her feet lift from the ground. Before she can get airborne, though, garbage starts to fall from the sky and pelt her.

Michael still hyperventilates over the kicked dog. Tahani soothes him until the garbage starts raining down and everyone runs.

Finding Chidi, Eleanor claims this isn’t her fault, which immediately makes him suspicious. She admits that she hid the garbage. But she really wanted to fly! Chidi is furious and relieved. He no longer needs to worry; clearly she’s a bad person and he’s under no obligation to help her.

SIX

Transition to Michael on Tahani’s couch while she tries to console him. Jianyu, cross-legged on a floor cushion, meditates nearby. When Michael starts crying, Tahani begs Jianyu to share his wisdom and speak. He rises and silently sits next to Michael, placing his palm over Michael’s heart. Immediately, Michael calms. Confident now, Michael stands and leaves. Tahani is impressed. She wants to try being silent, too. She lasts three seconds.

SEVEN

Cut to Eleanor at night in her clown bed, unable to sleep.

EIGHT

Flashback to Eleanor at the bar nursing a water. She’s unhappy to be the designated driver until the cute bartender tells her he admires her for it. The camera holds on Eleanor’s face; we can see her brain working. At the friends’ table she informs them that she can’t drive them because she and the hot bartender are leaving together. She called a cab for them, but the company refused to come because Eleanor has vomited in too many cabs and they recognized her number. Her friends give her a last choice: if she abandons them she won’t be invited anymore. Eleanor, fine with that, walks out.

Eleanor sits up in her clown bed. Alone in the night, she picks up garbage on the plaza. Chidi approaches. He saw her from his window, not that she’s ever asked where he lives. Pleased, Chidi recognizes she’s cleaning up because she feels bad. Remorse is good, he says. You can change and I’ll try to help you.

At that moment Janet holding a bag of garbage appears. Does Eleanor still want her to dump all the trash in someone’s house? As Eleanor denies it, Chidi still smiles.

Fade to black.

NINE

Eleanor, coming from the coffee shop the next day, runs into Michael. He says, “I know what you did.” Pause, then he continues, “You cleaned up the neighborhood all by yourself!” She suggests maybe she could get a chance to fly, but Michael had to ban that. Too many injuries from falling garbage.

Cut to the Clown House. Chidi has officially moved into the spare bedroom so their lessons can proceed without anyone suspecting. He’s excited to teach and she’s willing to learn.

Suddenly, a note slides under the front door while the credits roll. Eleanor picks it up: “You don’t belong here.” She runs to look out the door, but nobody’s there.

CRITICAL NOTES

As in the first episode, the Two and the Eight link up nicely. Janet will become a key member of the cast, so watching her relationship with Eleanor progress is important. Also, both beats have Eleanor trying to deceive. At the Two, she evades; at the Eight, she openly admits it. Her character arcs between the beats. Good storytelling.

However, the Three is very strange. Why does Tahani’s outfit change? It’s not explained. Her bee-suit transitions into her normal clothes and she riffs about how it’s nice to look beautiful again. It’s almost as if the writers didn’t know how to get out of the scene.

And the Six is more of the same. Michael is depressed and Jianyu puts a zen hand on his chest. It feels like the writers again didn’t know how to resolve the scene. However, the instinct to center both beats around Tahani is a good one. Although the Three and Six only mirror in the most obscure way, I’ll still count it.

I hope as the season continues that these barely-there Three/Sixes will settle down. Tahani’s obsession with appearances, including her identity as a very charitable and giving person, center this Three/Six. A solid visual would’ve been a better choice to lock in the mirror between these beats.

Also, this is the second episode with a fade-out as the Switch. Let’s see if that continues. It’s such a clear demarcation; I like it.