I hate this show, and that’s mostly because I love this show.
Look, if you’d told me before “Fractured Inheritance,” that I would ever have any positive feelings for Eleanor’s mother OR Tahani’s sister, I would have laughed and called you crazy. These two have been, consistently, the two characters I have abhorred the most during the three season run of this show, and despite the fact that The Good Place has pulled some doozies before, I didn’t think they had it in them to do this.
To make me care.
But here I am, suddenly emotional about both, emotional about their journey, and hella proud of what both Eleanor and Tahani have learned, and how the things that have happened to them have taken them to this place, where they could affect other’s people’s lives in such a positive way.
So, let’s talk about Eleanor, Tahani and their journeys in “Fractured Inheritance”:
ELEANOR + HER MOM
First I just want to say that Eleanor is a better person than me. She is. I know this doesn’t fix her relationship with her mother, and truly, it does nothing to make her, Eleanor, feel better about the way she grew up and the way her mom behaved, but that wasn’t really the point.
The point was helping Donna, and Eleanor did that. She really and truly did.
And she did it despite the fact that she did not believe in her mom’s honesty, or maybe, because of it. Eleanor saw in her mom a part of her, one she probably got from Donna, and after so many reboots, Eleanor kinda knows how to deal with that part.
Part of the problem with Donna, of course, is that she’s scared. She has been a horrible person for so long, and there’s so much tied up into that, so much safety in knowing that things are going to go south anywhere, so why hope? Yes, it’s a miserably way to live, but you’re also always prepared?
Eleanor was able to break through that, for her mom’s sake, and she left Donna a much better person for it, but is Eleanor a better person for seeing her mom? Will she ever be able to break out of who her mom taught her to be? We know the answer to this, but now it’s time for Eleanor to find out – and to go on this journey, again.
TAHANI + HER SISTER
“I’m going to hug you because I love you, and because you feel just as alone as I do.”
Me, understanding Kamilah. Me, relating to her. What in this world has this show done and how do I get a refund? I don’t want these feelings. Take them away.
Of course, this doesn’t really make up for all the times Kamilah was horrible to Tahani, but this is a different situation from Eleanor, as Kamilah was not responsible for Tahani, and in a way, they were both victims of their horrible parents, it’s just that they chose different ways to cope for it.
And yes, Kamilah’s ways were more destructive than constructive, but so were Tahani’s. This conversation was loooong overdue.
So, there’s actually hope here. Hope that these two can have a relationship, and hope that Kamilah’s issues don’t have to define her, like they defined Tahani for so long.
It’s a nice thought.
Other things to note:
- I laughed at the Matt Damon/Ben Affleck joke. I did.
- Okay, I’ll admit it, I find the game of how much is this painting worth as fun as Jason did.
- Kamilah’s groupies are almost as annoying as Kamilah. ALMOST.
- As glad as I am that the Chidi/Eleanor thing didn’t come up with Simone was still around, now I’m all levels of anxious about what’s coming.
- THEY’RE BOTH GOING TO HANDLE IT BADLY, RIGHT?
The Good Place airs Thursdays at 8:30/7:30c on NBC.