The Good Place: The Ballad of Donkey Doug (3x06)

This. Show. You. Guys.

Cons:

Okay. This isn't a big complaint, but I will say that Jason's brand of comedy is perfect in small doses. A full episode of him and his stupid friend and stupid father was... maybe a little much? It wasn't enough to actually annoy me or turn me off of this episode, but I feel like if there were a second episode focused on Jason in the near future, I'd be over it pretty quickly.

Also, this episode didn't have enough Janet comedy. And if that's the last we see of Simone, I'll be crushed. She is such a fun character.

Pros:

I don't want to sound too critical of Jason's story, though, because there were still a ton of laughs. Donkey Doug, a character Jason has told tons of stories about throughout the show, is apparently his father. The reveal of this information is hilarious, and the laughs don't stop there. I love all of the dumb humor, and the culmination in the oddly sweet moment when Jason's father helps him escape from the police. The interesting thing is, as stupid as Jason is, he actually comes across a little bit more grounded and reasonable when placed next to Pillboi and Donkey Doug. The moment when Donkey Doug says that one day, Jason will perform this same sacrifice for his son, Jason has the awareness to say "I hope not..." And his instincts are ultimately benevolent. He wants to save Pillboi's soul.

One interesting note here: the way that Jason, Tahani, and Michael go about saving Pillboi is to lie to him and tell him that they are "undercover astronauts" and that he needs to stop doing crimes and keep working at the old folk's home for the sake of a secret mission. In a less good show, I might call this out as a plot hole. After all, if the idea is to gain points to get to the Good Place, what Jason et. al. have done here won't accomplish that. I mean, the whole point is motivation, right? If Pillboi stops doing bad things because he thinks he's on a secret mission, does that really increase his chances of a pleasant afterlife? I trust this show to explain itself, though.

On the comedy front, Tahani was delightful as always. The very best moment was when she name drops Elon Musk, talking about when he shot a car into space. She then pauses, and says: "What a weird creep. Why was I friends with him?" This was such an amazing call-out and I am ALL FOR IT.

I also wanted to point out that Michael seemed a little weary of the group's mission to help people get into the Good Place. It was just a brief moment, but it's something to keep our eye on.

The other plot focuses on Chidi breaking up with Simone. Janet builds a simulation that will allow Chidi to practice different breakup scenarios, which ends up being the comedic highlight of the episode for me. It's especially great when Eleanor takes over and messes with Chidi. Later, Eleanor tries to use the reality simulator for porn, which is just sooo her. I also liked her comment about how more guys should be bisexual. It's one of those comments that sounds really progressive, and the existence of this line on the TV show is a good thing, but it also shows that Eleanor can still be really insensitive and ignorant about the world around her.

As I mentioned, I'll be really bummed if this is the end for Simone, but if it is, she was a delight, and I'm glad we got to have her while we did. Chidi messes up the breakup when it finally happens for real, but later tries to be more honest with her, as best as he can. He can't tell her the truth of the situation, or her own soul will be condemned right along with Chidi and the rest of the Soul Squad. It's honestly a pretty tragic scenario, and it makes for a pretty good excuse as to why two people who genuinely love each other would need to break up.

There's one final thing I want to say - I read in a review that by all rights, The Good Place could have ended after last week. The humans all have a mission. They want to help people, just for the sake of helping them. That would have been a way to write these characters off into the sunset, in a bittersweet farewell. instead, we are still in the first half of this season. There's still so much more that we can look forward to. Once again, this show refuses to rest on its laurels. It keeps moving forward. It keeps asking: what's next?

I love this show! The season is going by quickly - too quickly. I can't wait for whatever is next! It looks like Eleanor needs to confront her mother. That should be intense!

8/10