If you’ve been following me for a while, you know you’re probably not gonna get the actual episode title for the title of my review. That’s just not how I roll. The episode title changes by show, but it’s usually a quote, or something that just pops into my head, or just a general descriptor.
For this episode, it’s about friendship. But then again, when isn’t it with this show?
These four people have gone through a lot together. Probably more than we can comprehend. And they always end up in the same place, as a team. So, even though Michael’s plan is anything but good and Janet has no idea what she’s doing, they ARE right about one thing.
Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani and Jason have indeed proven they will have each other’s backs, in the end.
And they have proven they will have Michael and Janet’s backs as well. Which is why, as shocking as the end of this episode is, is it really?
So, let’s get into the ins and outs of “The Brainy Bunch” as we, once again, find ourselves wondering where in the world this show is going next:
TREVOR
I have issues with Trevor. I’ve had them since forever, since Season 1 when he tried to sell me this character who’s just so, not even actually evil, just mean. It’s not because Adam Scott is bad at it, no, the acting is on point, the character is suitably awful, but, but …he’s Ben from Parks and Rec. That is who he is. Sorry, I just recently watched Parks, I can’t forget so easily.
So half of me is, at all times, waiting for Trevor to stop being a douche. Of course, he doesn’t, and of course, he ends up being blown who knows where, probably for being the most annoying human in existence (Eleanor, girl, you deserve kudos for not telling him HOW FREAKING ANNOYING HE WAS, or you know, for not strangling him), but the point is, I just can’t get the actual feelings the character is supposed to make me feel to come out at the right times.
But hey, thankfully he was only around for one episode, so I don’t have to worry about my conflicting emotions again.
THESE FOUR HUMANS ARE ALL I CARE ABOUT IN THE UNIVERSE
He said that. Those were his actual words. I need a moment, or twenty five, here.
I think all of us, at some point during the last season, thought, well, Michael isn’t really on their side. He’s just doing what’s best for HIM, that doesn’t mean he truly cares. It’s all about self-interest with Michael. He’s a demon. That’s just the way it is.
But that really and truly isn’t the case with Michael, and if we had any doubts about it – which at this point, we really shouldn’t have – this episode just reinforces that Michael really and truly cares, to the point where he’s willing to risk everything, once again, for these humans.
The funny thing is that, through it all, Michael has been risking his very existence for Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani and Jason, but he’s been doing it all without any kind of endgame for himself. He’s been so into the mission that it almost doesn’t seem like at any point he’s stopped to think, oh, what’s going to happen to me?
Except now, as he and Janet take that final, definitive leap into Earth, it might finally be time for Michael to have his own journey, one that doesn’t just revolve around the four humans he cares about. It’s time for Michael to think about himself.
JANET
Janet’s always been a bit easier to figure out than Michael, and yet, in a way, she also hasn’t. Do we truly know Janet? Who is Janet? Has she evolved enough that we, at this point, should consider her a human? What can she do, down on Earth? Can she die, like any other human? Can she live? Can she feel, really and truly feel?
These were all hypothetical questions that we didn’t think we were going to get answers for, and then, of course, the show flipped the script on us again. Michael is going to have a chance to take his own journey. Janet is going to have a chance to be, well, a person.
Once again, everything is possible – not just for Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani and Jason, but for Michael and Janet as well.
I can’t wait.
Other things to note:
- “When your table’s ready this gun will go off.” Am I supposed to laugh or cry? Because I kinda want to do both.
- THE JAGUARS ARE GOOD NOW. IT’S ALL ON YOU, MICHAEL.
- And by that I mean thank you. It was beautiful how they beat the Patriots in Week 2.
- Don’t’ think I should blame you for Brexit, though.
The Good Place airs Thursdays at 8:30/7:30c on NBC.