Season 4 Episode 1: A Girl from Arizona: Part One
The Good Place is back for its final season and from the get-go, we are haunted by season three’s decision to erase Chidi’s memory and therefore erase his memory of loving Eleanor! I am so excited to share these reviews with you all as probably the biggest The Good Place fan on the planet. I am ready to share my totally non-biased opinion. Reader beware this article includes spoilers!
Episode one of the new series, as always, starts with a flashback to previous the season. After that, the first shot we see is a close up of our favorite protagonist, Eleanor, looking deeply sad while we hear her former boyfriend Chidi exclaim how amazing the Good Place is. Chidi is introduced to his former once loved home as if he had never seen it before while Eleanor continues to pretend to be just an architect. As if that shot of Eleanor looking empty in the very beginning isn’t enough, Chidi then asks Eleanor what her name is. That felt like an absolute stab to the heart for both me and Eleanor.
We are then back with the rest of the human members of team cockroach and Michael, where they comfort Eleanor who is trying to hide her obvious pain. Oh, how I missed these lovable idiots.
After a few ping-pongs between the Good Place and the Bad Place, we are then slightly in the future where Eleanor is wearing a very snazzy work suit, which I personally think she rocks (I say that like Kristen Bell ever NOT rocks what she’s wearing). We then meet Linda, one of the four humans chosen by the Bad Place for this experiment. She seems to be the most boring person to have ever lived, which makes her the perfect candidate to annoy Jason. After showing Linda that Janet can summon anything at will, she asks for a peppermint. Even after being shown an elephant made of literal light. Linda, girl, I know you’re dead but you can at least live a little. We also learn that Stonehenge is a sex thing and honestly….. I don’t even want to know.
We are then introduced to a new character, another one from the Bad Place, for the experiment. As a Brit, this man is the raging stereotype for American men (don’t worry, we know you’re not all like that!). Brent is a typical republican type who thinks everything is ” too PC.” It is clear from the get-go that Brent is there strictly to annoy Eleanor and every other woman he comes into contact with. He quickly called Janet a secretary and then an executive assistant… and a “vice president of helping.” If Eleanor doesn’t slap him, then I will.
DEREK! DEREK IS BACK! Who else missed this little weirdo? Just me? Definitely not Jason, that is for sure. Sadly, he leaves as quick as he comes back, but not without Jason giving him a death glare while hugging Janet. GO JASON! DEFEND YOUR “NOT A WOMAN.”
Now for some reason, Simone believes this entire reality is all in her head, which I guess is a fair conclusion. Honestly, every interaction Eleanor has with Simone is hilarious. You can tell she has some hard feelings about her because she is the reason Chidi had to forget her. I’d feel the same, Eleanor. DEFEND YOUR “NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND BECAUSE HE DOESN’T REMEMBER YOU!”
Unfortunately, because Simone does not believe this is real, it’s going to be very hard to try and make her a better person.
Eleanor’s entire personality has shifted this season because of her heartbreak, and honestly, it is extremely upsetting. I want to wrap her up in bubble wrap and feed her prawns. When Jason mentions Chidi, Eleanor is clearly hurting (Kristen is such an incredible actress to be able to show such hurt in a single facial expression). The team suggests introducing Chidi to Simone so he can teach her ethics, which Eleanor obviously refuses. She claims it’s because Simone is not having an ethics problem. While that is true, it is not the reason why she doesn’t want them to be introduced. Eleanor is scared that Chidi and Simone will fall for each other like they did on Earth and she is going to have to sit and watch it happen. Which would be torture. The Bad Place is so clever it’s annoying. Let Eleanor be happy!
So, while we’re talking about relationship jealousy, the next scene takes place at a party (which Simone still thinks is in her head). Jason and Derek (He’s back again!) are talking, and Jason basically calls out Derek for trying to make him jealous and asks to make a truce. However, Derek is not good with that idea, he THREATENS JASON over Janet (who he calls his mummy girlfriend which is 20 extra levels of weird). Not to be dramatic, but at this moment I wanted to marbleize Derek. Seeing Jason upset is just as sad as seeing Eleanor upset. Is this episode TRYING to break my heart?
Talk about breaking my heart; the sadness continues with Michael trying to convince Eleanor to introduce Chidi to Simone. Simone at this point is pushing people into a pool, which very much reminds me of the scene when Eleanor pushes Chidi into the lake.
Eleanor finally introduces Simone and Chidi. Simone confuses the poor man greatly and then calls him cute. This invokes the BEST reaction face Eleanor has ever made, which I’m going to screenshot and use at appropriate moments.
As if by magic, we’re now in the Medium Place at Mindy’s house. Jason is there to find the “plunger” that kills Derek. A normal reaction to being threatened I would say. Jason does the thing which is probably the most badass thing he has ever done. I am LOVING this side of Jason.
On the topic of sides though, Janet is also showing a new side. Usually, she does everything with a smile, but in this episode, she seems…angry. This is very odd. She even angrily grunts? Suspicious if you ask me.
TALKING ABOUT SIDES YET AGAIN. LINDA PUNCHES ELEANOR. Oh hell no. Not on my watch. FIGHT ME LINDA. She then proceeds to punch more people and fly off into the sky like a supervillain. This episode should be called Gemini because we are seeing new sides of everyone today. If you didn’t guess, Linda, boring old peppermint Linda is a Bad Place demon. The Bad Place is trying to sabotage the experiment.
The judge rules that Chidi will now be the fourth human in this experiment. This is obviously distressing to Eleanor (and me) because it means he is going to have to spend more time with Simone. The judge also decides that if The Bad Place gets involved one more time, she is going to restart the entire experiment. Bad Janet then takes away “Linda” back to the Bad Place, and that is how episode one ends.
I can confidently say that I have never been this emotionally conflicted watching an episode. The distress that both Eleanor and Jason are going through in this episode killed me. We have never seen them like this before. I am also very confused as to what’s up with Janet and that whole situation. This episode was an INCREDIBLE start to the final season. If the rest of the season is like this, then we know it’s going to be an emotional roller coaster.
The Good Place airs Thursdays on NBC (9-9:30 p.m. ET)
Edited by Maddie Morrow
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