The Good Place (2016–…): Season 3, Episode 8 - Don't Let the Good Life Pass You By - full transcript

Michael and Janet take an important journey. Eleanor ponders whether she should share a secret.

This library's depressing.
All they have in the Poetry section
is Jeff Foxworthy books.
Well, we needed someplace deserted,
and there's no place more deserted than
a public library in Arizona.
Now let's go, man.
We only have a few hours before we have to
pick the gang up from the airport.
Fire up Janet's memory gizmo.
Flooding your brain with memories
from the afterlife is dangerous.
In one of the reboots, you and Chidi were in love.
Can't you just take my word for that?
No, dude, I can't.
My screwed-up relationship with my parents
made me believe I could never really love anyone.
I need to see it for myself.
Those are my memories. I want them back.
Okay, fine. Have a seat.
Luckily, before we shut the neighborhood down,
Janet saved a complete record of all the reboots.
Put those in your ears.
- What's all that for? - You'll see.
We're gonna start with a simple, three-second memory.
Why only three second...
Oh, hi, Eleanor.
Buongiorno, Eleanor.
Morning, Bambadjan. Morning, Vicky.
Ugh. Those two are such forking dweebs.
As I told you, recalling afterlife memories
here on Earth has some significant side effects.
You should be back to normal in about 20 minutes.
_
Ah, looking a little better.
The banana must have helped.
Before we go any further, I have one
very important question.
Did I look hot bald?
'Cause I always kind of felt like I could pull it off.
I have no real ability to gauge
physical attractiveness in humans.
But no, you did not pull it off.
Okay, that short clip should have
rewired your brain, like an inoculation.
So now I can show you the highlights of reboot 119.
I'm skipping all of the sleeping and chewing.
You guys are always either sleeping or chewing something.
So, we are moving onto the subject
of free will versus determinism.
We are officially done with Nietzsche.
Aww. I'm gonna miss Nietzsche.
I spent a lot of my life thinking
I was better than everyone else,
and he showed me why I was right.
Give me that reading list. What do we got?
Ooh, a little Aristotle, little Descartes,
little Tommy Quine-Quine.
That's what I call Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Two months of philosophy class, and you're already...
What are you grinning at, weirdo?
Come on, we're gonna be late for the neighborhood meeting.
I gotta say, it seems
like I was really nailing that philosophy class.
Can you believe my high school voted me
"Most Likely to Die Young and Unaccomplished?"
You did die young and unaccomplished.
Fair enough.
Put those back in.
Ah! My favorite four residents.
Don't tell the others.
Welcome to "Pick a Pet Day."
We have hundreds of beautiful animals
for you to choose from.
And when you do make your choice,
your pet will bond to your soul forever.
Fabulous. I haven't had a pet since
Barbra Streisand gave me one of her
cloned Siamese cats, and it killed itself.
- Ah. - I'm going to look at
the mythical pets, darling.
Catch up when you're ready.
- May I? Yeah? - Yes.
Dude, we can get mythical animals?
Maybe I'll get a penguin.
Penguins are real.
That's the spirit, Eleanor.
They're real to me too.
Ooh!
This one looks just like the one
I had when I was a little kid.
He's so cute!
But is... is this one a little... a little cuter?
I mean, this pup looks friskier.
But this one looks a little... a little sweeter.
- Maybe... - Uh-oh.
It's Chidi kryptonite, a choice between any two things.
Settle in, lizard. This is gonna be a while.
Michael, what's a "Mirror Centaur?"
Ah, a stunning creature,
whose human half takes on the image of its companion.
Greetings.
I am T'Hania,
Goddess of Beauty.
Oh my.
I mean, should I take
the cutest puppy, or is that shallow?
And is it even okay to separate them?
Are they brother and sister?
Or... or perhaps, married?
Dude, they're heaven puppies.
I'm sure they're both incredible.
Just choose one.
You're right. The black one.
That was my first impulse,
and that is the one I'll take.
I'm so sorry, Chidi. Both puppies have been taken.
Yeah, I should have seen that coming.
My indecision has once again cost me happiness,
and I will now suffer the consequences.
How many pets have gone unclaimed?
Three. A 16-foot albino python...
- Mm-mm. - Something called a "tarantula-squid,"
and this owl.
The Tarantula-squid. Tarantula-squid.
Tarantula-squid. Tarantula-squid.
I'll take the owl.
Check it out.
Janet made him a little cowboy hat.
Isn't that stupid?
- Chidi? Hello? - Shh.
Spencer doesn't like loud voices.
Yeesh. What happened, man?
Well, I was trying to teach him to play fetch,
like I did with my puppy as a kid,
but instead of retrieving the stick,
he attacked my face with his razor-sharp talons.
Why don't you just ask Michael for a dog?
Because it was my mistake
to not pick a puppy fast enough.
I made my bed, and now I'll bleed in it.
Let me do that, dummy. Come here.
What if I talk to Michael for you?
That way you don't have to worry
about feeling ungrateful, or whatever,
and maybe you'll still get a puppy.
- Instead of... - Ow.
Deep wounds.
- You'd do that? - Of course.
It's the least I can do,
considering everything you've done for me.
So you get it, right?
- Hey. - What?
You liked him, he liked you.
You did nice things for each other.
Your lack of parental affection did not
make you numb to love, blah blah blah.
"Blah blah blah"?
Why don't you want me to see this?
- What are you hiding? - Nothing.
It's just, the rest is not interesting.
Yeah, no, you're right. "Not that interesting."
Just watching myself fall in love
for the first time in fake heaven.
What else is on?
I am going to put this back in my ear,
and you are going to show me
how thoughtful and caring I am,
or I'm gonna rip off your demon head
and shove it up whatever's where your butt should be.
Roll it.
Oh, a lizard was a perfect choice, Eleanor.
- You both have combination skin. - Thanks.
Hey, this is a weird question to ask.
I'll just throw it out there. Can I ride your centaur?
I'm afraid T'Hania's quite particular
about whom she allows to ride her.
I tried, and she gave me a withering stare.
Turns out centaurs are a bit tricky.
You didn't have like a stable full of horses growing up?
Oh, of course, but they just pulled our carriages,
or performed in our horse ballets.
They weren't so... what's the word?
Judgmental.
With whom can I speak about acquiring new shoes?
You can't expect me to walk around in these flats all day,
like some common glue factory, hobo horse.
Eleanor, you were looking for me?
Uh, yeah, so, Chidi chose an owl,
because he froze up trying to decide between two puppies.
Is it possible for him to swap?
Of course. This is the Good Place.
But he might want to hold off.
Tonight we're having a party where everyone
gets to transform into their pets
for a few minutes, as a treat.
Chidi can fly like an owl,
and you can do whatever lizards do.
Tahani, would you host the party at your mansion?
Of course. I'd love to.
Is that what you're going to wear?
What? N... no. No.
Of course not.
Why? Is it unflattering?
I... I can change.
Guys? I can't find my lizard.
He was just out there, like one second ago.
No big deal. Janet can find it.
No, I can't risk it.
These pets are supposed to, like, bond to our souls forever.
If Michael finds out mine ran away,
he could figure out I'm not the real Eleanor.
Just, um, go without me,
and tell people that I'm hanging out with my lizard,
because we are so meshed together,
or, whatever... circle of life crap like that.
- You sure? - Yeah.
Go enjoy flying. I'll meet you there.
Come on, Bleek.
Lizard?
Lizard?
Where the fork are you?
Lizard!
Ugh! Why didn't I name you?
Hey.
- Why? - Oh! Oh, no!
Chidi!
Sorry I shoved you, man.
I've just been a little jumpy.
Hey, you didn't happen to see my lizard in the lake,
when you were thrashing around down there?
No. It was cold and dark and scary.
But don't worry, we'll find him.
Michael and Janet are busy transforming people, anyway,
so they didn't even notice you weren't there.
Holy crap, you're supposed to be flying right now.
It's no big deal, I just decided
I'd rather be helping you.
Than soaring through the air like an owl?
That's amazing.
You're amazing.
After that, you spent all your time together.
You studied philosophy together.
You even got Chidi hooked on popcorn shrimp.
Eventually, you became
suspicious of me, and escaped
to Mindy St. Claire's house on a train.
That was the first time you actually
said it out loud.
I love you.
And you don't need to respond, 'cause
I know you have trouble saying how you feel...
I love you too.
That's the story.
You're capable of human love. Congrats.
- Can we go now? - How did it end?
Like it always did, with me rebooting you.
There's... there's no need to...
Show me, please.
All right. Let's get this over with.
- So, listen guys... - No, you... listen.
We just went to Mindy St. Claire's,
and when she wasn't trying to
trick us into having a threesome,
she filled us in on everything that you've been up to here.
Oh, yeah?
We know this is, like, the hundredth time
you've tried to torture us,
but this time it's different,
because... we're in love.
And love is stronger than anything you can throw at us.
No, it's not.
Love is stronger than anything I can throw at you?
I could throw an elephant at you.
You think a thrown elephant
wouldn't crush you because of love?
She was speaking metaphorically.
Even metaphorically, it's lame.
It's okay.
No matter what he does,
we will find each other,
and we will help each other,
because we're soul mates.
There's no such thing as soul mates, you dingus.
I made it up.
I put clowns in your house because you hate them.
I forced you to choose the lizard,
and then I made that lizard run away.
I made it all up!
Don't you understand that?
This...
That's why I didn't want to give you your memories back.
I didn't want you to see how cruel I used to be.
Plus, I wore a lot of French cuff shirts back then.
I thought it made me look classy.
It's... it's... it's all embarrassing.
But I'm different now, I promise.
I'll swear on a Bible like you humans do.
I could grab one right now.
It's the only book they have in the Sex Ed section.
I'm not mad at you.
I can't be mad at a demon for being evil.
I'm just sad,
because I thought for a second I could love someone.
But really, it was just you manipulating me
into thinking I loved someone.
So, I guess I was right.
I'm incapable of love.
Eh, that's no biggie. Do you wanna get burgers?
Hang on, how did you draw that conclusion?
You just watched yourself fall in love with Chidi.
No, I didn't,
I watched a puppeteer pull a bunch of strings
to make us think we were in love.
You said it yourself, you made it all up.
Okay, yes.
I put you and Chidi in close proximity,
because I needed you to drive each other crazy.
But I never intended for you to fall in love.
Once you made us bond,
the romance was inevitable.
It's a basic reality show playbook.
Put a bunch of attractive young people
in stressful situations, so they act like idiots
and have sex with each other.
This is all just determinism.
What?
"Determinism is the theory that
"we have no control over our own actions.
"Everything we do happens because of some external force,
which exists outside of our control."
I didn't choose to fall in love with Chidi,
because some all-knowing demon, you,
brought us together and scripted our lives.
That's ridiculous.
I didn't make you kiss Chidi by that lake.
You kind of did.
You orchestrated the whole "pet day" thing,
manipulated us into choosing specific animals,
made my lizard run away,
which led to Chidi coming to help me find it,
which led to us kissing, which led to us falling in love.
None of that was my choice.
Everything in my life has been determined by
my upbringing, my genetics, or... or my environment.
And everything in my afterlife was determined by you.
There is no such thing as free will.
We're closing up soon, guys.
Yeah, can we just have 15 minutes?
We're kind of in the middle of something.
I'd take off if I were you.
The second we close, they use this place to shoot pornos.
Okay.
You want something to drink?
Maybe I do, maybe I don't.
But whatever I choose will be the result of
millions of biological, genetic, and societal factors
that are entirely outside my control.
Iced tea.
Oh, that sounds good. I'll have one too.
Okay. You think you have no free will,
because I scripted everything that happened, right?
All I have to do is prove that you made one choice
that I couldn't anticipate.
Easy.
Okay, here's a perfect example!
- In the very first attempt... - Dude.
Dude-dude-dude!
- What? - Yelling...
You're... you're yelling.
- Oh... - Like, so loudly.
Sorry.
- Sorry. - Yeah.
Watch this, it's from the very first attempt.
If anyone has any information...
- Oh, boy. - About any of this...
Okay, easy.
I beg you, tell me.
Hey, I love you, man.
Michael.
The problem in the neighborhood
is me.
You saw your friend in pain,
and you decided to sacrifice yourself to help him.
That wasn't me pulling a string
or manipulating you.
In fact, it was the last thing I wanted.
Ruined my whole plan.
- Free will. - No, dude.
The only reason I cared enough about Chidi to do that,
was because you forced us together,
made me feel bad for causing him pain.
- Okay, yeah... - Yeah.
But, no, you were constantly
doing stuff I couldn't anticipate.
As a matter of fact, I complained to you once,
right... right to your face.
I think it was reboot 444.
Now, is Chidi trapped in the purple space bubble?
Yes. Is he in pain?
Almost certainly. Will he ever get out?
No. However...
Uh, yeah, uh... wrong one. Wrong one.
I mean, that's worth watching. It's great.
But uh... not... not the one I was thinking.
It's probably, uh, 445.
You. In here.
Where am I?
Hell. You're in Hell.
Can I ask you something?
Have I missed anything
in that freaky little noodle of yours?
See I... I've studied everything about your life.
I know your hopes, your fears,
your psychology, your tendencies.
- _ - I know all your private shames,
like that you don't wash your feet in the shower;
your first concert was Barenaked Ladies;
and you have frequent sex dreams
about Sam the Eagle, from the Muppets.
Well, he's very authoritative,
and I find that reassuring.
You keep making crazy choices I don't understand.
Am I missing something?
I'm sorry. Can we rewind for a second?
Who are you? Who is that guy?
Am I dead?
Is Sam the Eagle here?
No.
I tried to script your whole afterlife.
And I devised a 15 million-point plan
to torture you.
You made choices I never saw coming.
I call that free will.
What if all your choices are predetermined?
Oh, you've got to be kidding me.
What? We don't know.
Maybe there's a mega-demon
who built a torture chamber for demons,
and this whole thing is just him torturing you.
And maybe all the mega-demons are just
fulfilling a destiny laid out by a bunch of
super intelligent tarantula-squids,
who are torturing them, be...
Why did you do that?
Because I have free will.
And because you're being so annoying.
Uh. Thank you.
I'm so sorry that he did that.
Happens all the time.
Usually it's the younger woman
doing it to the older guy, though.
Dude! Not cool.
Disagree.
I think it's the coolest thing I've ever done.
Do you really not see what's happening here?
Do you want me to spell it out for you?
This is a defense mechanism, Eleanor.
You saw yourself fall in love with Chidi,
and it freaked you out to see yourself be so vulnerable.
So, you're using determinism to convince yourself
that those feelings were not real.
You know, you don't know me, man.
Yes, I do, I know everything about you, remember?
Including that nothing scares you more than vulnerability.
Whatever. Who even cares?
I do.
Because if everything is determined,
and we have no free will,
then all the stuff we're doing to put more good
into the world is pointless.
And I want to believe that it matters.
So if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna use my free will
right now to go pick up our friends at the airport.
Worst possible use of free will,
but I'm gonna do it anyway,
because I care about them.
You might wanna head out too.
We're closing soon, and the second we do,
they use this place to shoot porn.
First class was amazing.
They give you so many free presents.
A shaving kit, an eye mask... oh, a vest.
At times like this, it's fun to remember
that we're legally married.
That is fun.
Oh, I call window seat!
I'm sorry. You were right.
I was scared about what it all meant,
and I went back to one of my favorite moves,
turn on the ol' Blame Hose.
"This is all you fault."
Apology accepted.
And I'm sorry I dumped iced tea on your head.
Are you kidding me? You did exactly what
you should do when you're friend is being annoying.
You snapped me out of it.
It also made me realize, in a weird way,
we are the only truly free beings in the universe,
because we actually know what's up with the afterlife.
And I think that means we need to be bold.
Take the Soul Squad to the next level somehow.
You're right.
We need to find someone who can
serve as a... as a blueprint for humanity,
someone who's life is so great
that we can use it as a model to get as many points
for as many people as possible.
And I think I know that perfect person.
Rihanna. Good call. I don't know her personally,
but I did see her in Vegas once,
and her calf brushed up against my tongue.
I licked her leg. I was kicked out.
It's not Rihanna. It's... it's someone way cooler.
Hey, everybody out of the car!
Grab your bags!
We're going to rural Canada!
- Is it ready? - I guess.
We have no idea if it'll work.
Oh, I'm sure it's perfect.
- Give it a try, Shawn. - Me?
I'm not going through that thing.
She is.
Ask Michael how many times he rebooted them.
- He's lying... - Yeah, zip it, toots.
We're way past that.
Where am I?
How long was I in there?
You have missed a lot.
Now go through that makeshift portal.
See if you explode.
This might be gross.
Oh. Am I on Earth?
Did you figure out a way to build
an illegal door to Earth?
Yes.
That's exactly what I did.
- Well, we all helped. - Shut up, Glenn.