Jokes and Janet(s) in This Week's 'The Good Place'!

By Dan Hamamura | TV | December 7, 2018 |

Welcome! Everything is Janet.

Finally, The Good Place is back! Has it really been only three weeks? Because it sure feels like way longer (much like this year).

While we all waited for a new episode, we did receive some good news: the show will be back for (at least) one more year. And yesterday, they even got nominated for some golden things!

Anyway, when last we saw our heroes, they were attempting to escape from Shawn and his goons by going to Janet’s void, and also dying (again) on Earth in the process.

So. What sort of fantastical, fanciful details populated our screens this week? Of course, we have to start here:

GIVE D’ARCY CARDEN ALL THE AWARDS

What a performance. Again, this post isn’t really a review, but each Janet is so specifically played by Carden. All I can say is that you really owe it to yourself to go back and watch this episode a couple of times. Each time, focus your attention on a single Janet, and you’ll see just how much nuance and variation she’s putting into each one. Trust me, it’s worth the time.

BULLETIN BOARD MATERIAL

There’s much to love on the brief shot of the bulletin board. The WANTED poster that perfectly matches the dot-matrix print style of everything else in accounting. The note (that we can only half-read) from Matt that hints at his future plans (although admittedly, we may get the answer to that later when we meet him). And of course, the pushpin smiley face, a staple of offices everywhere.

ZOMGLOOKATTHEPUPPY

Because it’s adorable. But also, it’s a callback to a few episodes ago, when Eleanor watched as Chidi failed to choose between two equally adorable puppies, because Chidi.

OF COURSE HE HAS A MUG

The Head Accountant, Neil (played by Stephen Merchant) naturally has an afterlife-appropriate “Best Boss” mug.

SO MANY DEPARTMENTS, SO LITTLE TIME

Apparently in afterlife accounting, there are a lot of VERY specific categories, although worst off is our poor friend Matt, who, as the accountant dealing with “Weird Sex Things”, has to handle 99% of all new human actions.

Also, his request to be freed from his (likely endless) task was denied. Sorry Matt.

ONE PERFECT SHOT

Not necessarily a hidden joke, but I just wanted to point out how perfect this shot is, as it’s composed so that all three Janets appear size-appropriate to their soul counterpart.

-1,000,000 POINTS FOR HAPPINESS

I just love how happy Grog looks in this painting.

JANET AND JASON’S WEDDING DATE REVEALED

When Jason and Tahani discover Janet’s “air-mounted” TV, they accidentally stumble upon the knowledge that Janet is in love with Jason, and that they got married in a previous reboot, which, of course, is news to them.

But we already knew that. But what we DIDN’T know is when they got married, and this adorably cheesy wedding album shows us: at the top of the ‘E’ in ‘Bearimy’.

And so it goes, we’ve reached the end of another episode. I don’t know about you, but I’m just glad it’s back after the hiatus, and I can’t wait to see what happens next w…

…wait, what?

WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO NEW EPISODES UNTIL JANUARY

Oh no. But that means…