The Good Place Review: A Girl From Arizona (Season 4 Episode 1)

The Good Place Season 4 Episode 1, “A Girl From Arizona,” is as funny and smart as it is completely heartbreaking.

The season premiere picks up where we left off at the end of last season, with Chidi’s memories wiped and Eleanor acting as the architect of The Good Place. Chidi’s joy over the perfection of The Good Place is so perfectly contrasted with the pain on Eleanor’s face as she watches his glee — having no recollection of who she is whatsoever.

This is more torment for her, I think, than she’s actually ever experienced. Kristen Bell’s ability to portray all of those complex emotions at once is definitely noteworthy.

Eleanor clearly does take some joy in Chidi’s joy, though. She knows him well, and watching his excitement over being able to summon a philosophy book and living in a house with plenty of reading lights seems to make her feel a little better.

Maybe what’s most interesting about Eleanor is that she’s grown to be not only a better person, but also a person capable of selfless love. 

She’s even capable of setting aside those feelings for the greater good, returning her focus to their experiment with the hope of literally saving humanity.

The next two “humans” sent in for the experiment pose their own challenges. Linda’s apathy toward her situation is one of the funnier parts of the episode. Of course, we eventually learn that Linda isn’t Linda at all. She’s actually Chris the demon, played by Luke Guldan, who is somehow never able to keep his shirt on. It’s one of those laugh-out-loud reveals that this show is always so good at.

The second is Brent, played by Benjamin Koldyke. Eleanor realizes pretty quickly that this is the person who’s been sent to torment her, and boy is he doing a good job. He’s the worst, constantly talking about all the “terms we have to use now” and how he’s certainly not a racist. The actor plays it really well, capitalizing on the stereotype and really creating a character we’re going to love to hate. 

Aside from the emotions Eleanor is dealing with because of Chidi, Simone (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) may be the best part of the season premiere. As a neuroscientist, she’s fully convinced that everything she is experiencing is a hallucination, and her reckless abandon because of that fact is completely entertaining — foam fingers and all.

She even tries to “wake herself up” by singing her old alarm-clock song, Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Kind of Life,” which feels pretty appropriate given the circumstances.

Unfortunately, that reckless abandon is a big problem. If Simone doesn’t even believe her situation is real, then there’s no way she can be convinced to become a better person. In fact, the opposite would be much more likely.

The one thing our gang has on their side now, though, is Chidi. Because Shawn played dirty by sending in a demon as one of the four new inhabitants of The Good Place, Judge has now ruled that Chidi will be the replacement. And yes, that’s bound to get complicated, but at least they know he’s capable of change.

Speaking of change, I think it’s worth noting how much Janet has evolved. This new side we’re seeing of her is grumpier and snarkier. She’s annoyed by how much more she’s being asked to do, from popcorn rivers to waiting on Brent hand and foot. Oh, and she’s doing all of that while literally holding the neighborhood together, and after creating all of its inhabitants. 

That’s all taken a toll, and I won’t be surprised if we see more change. But you know, that only means more chances for Janet to shine, and that’s something we can only be happy about.

Other thoughts:

• I’m becoming less and less amused by Derek. That’s probably partly because he’s being cruel to Jason, but his overall character isn’t as funny as it was to begin with.
• I love that the punishment Judge threatens Shawn with is to rip off his eyelids and make him watch heartwarming videos of soldiers returning home. 
• “Dead eyes, eat hearts, can’t lose.” A fun little Friday Night Lights reference never hurt anyone, especially when it comes from Michael. 

What did you think of this episode of The Good Place? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Good Place airs Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC.

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