Chapter 9: ...Someone Like Me as a Member is the 9th episode of Season 1 of The Good Place.
Plot[]
There may be trouble in paradise—Michael's (Ted Danson) skills are put to the test when he attempts to sort out an unprecedented situation. Meanwhile, Chidi (William Jackson Harper) makes a connection elsewhere, much to the dismay of Eleanor (Kristen Bell), while Janet (D'Arcy Carden) shows a different side of herself.
Summary[]
Michael, Trevor, and both Eleanor Shellstrops (the blonde one that we've been watching, and the black-haired one who came on the Train) are in Michael's office, and they've figured out the mistake: both Eleanors have the same name, and died the same day in the same store, in the same fraction of a second, and the Good and Bad Places just get names.
Trevor is ready to take the bad Eleanor, but Michael wants to negotiate: would Trevor like a unicorn?
As everyone leaves the office, Michael advises "fake" Eleanor (the one we've been watching) to stay on her toes, and not to get influenced by Trevor. Eleanor asks why Michael is helping her, and it's because Chidi made a very good argument, and anyway, Michael really believes that she belongs in the Good Place.
(Flashback: Blonde Eleanor is eating lunch in high school, she's new there, she has 6 months to graduate, and another girl (a "nice" girl) welcomes her and offers to help her into school society. Eleanor doesn't need that, she's going to be a loner for the little time she'll be there. She similarly brushes off another girl (a "not nice" girl) with a similar offer.)
Michael visits Tahani, asking what can he negotiate with to save Fake Eleanor, and also, The Bad Place crew are terrible bullies, even their Bad Janet, and they are an annoyance in the Good Place, and he asks Tahani for help in dealing with them. Tahani asks him to invite them to her house, surely her mansion will placate them.
Bad Eleanor and Chidi welcome Good Eleanor to her house, and all of the factors that Bad Eleanor dislike in it are things that Good Eleanor loves. Good Eleanor describes the situation she had in the Bad Place, which she figures were Bad Eleanor's nightmares and classic torture, and Trevor is glad to say which were his parts. Good Eleanor is hungry, and they agree to go get dinner.
At Tahani's mansion, the Bad Place crew is lounging around and eating, but frankly the Bad Place people are unimpressed. (Janet is still amusingly unable to help much.)
Trevor, Chidi, and the Eleanors have dinner at a restaurant, Trevor being boorish and Good Eleanor being refined like Chidi. Bad Eleanor describes a bit of her hard childhood, as if to excuse how she is now, and Good Eleanor seems to have had a much worse childhood, but turned out... good. Good Eleanor and Chidi seem to hit it off well, as if they were soul mates.
Tahani tries to get the Bad Place crew into talking negotiation, but they need some party time first, so Michael causes party music and dancing to happen.
Back at the restaurant, the Eleanors talk about the ethics material that Chidi has been sharing, but Trevor interrupts to ask whether Chidi and Eleanor had sex. Chidi says no, but they've had a student-teacher relationship, and he offers to show Good Eleanor more of the neighborhood. Bad Eleanor is being a bit miffed at how Good Eleanor and Chidi are getting along, even willing to stay at the restaurant with boorish Trevor.
(Flashback: Blonde Eleanor and a roommate agree to go to a movie, but she gets bent out of shape about who pays the tickets and who pays who back, so she ends up in the back of the theater, away from her so-called friends, by being a loner.)
The Bad Place crew are dancing and taking drugs at Tahani's mansion, getting wild together, as Tahani and Michael sort of look on in horror. But when they say it's time for Michael to dance, he gets up and joins in.
Trevor is still drinking at the restaurant, boasting to somewhat-drunk Bad Eleanor about his tortures, as she says she's better than she used to be. Trevor says he knows she's been trying to improve, but from her file, she doesn't belong here. She'd be happier in the Bad Place, of course she'd be miserable from torture, but she'd fit in, she's their kind of person. All of that makes sense to her, they really are her kind of boorish, insensitive, selfish kind of humanity, so she's ready.
Tahani's mansion is a wreck, Bad Place crew and trash everywhere, but what really bothers her is that the others just push Michael around. He says he's just being accommodating so they'll respect him. Tahani says he should stand up for himself.
Bad Eleanor wakes up, hung over, in the bath in her house, though the Good Place should have no hangovers; Chidi offers her water, saying that the Bad Place crew asked for the hangover filter to be turned off. He says there will be a negotiation session at Tahani's, but she says he doesn't have to come, she'll be fine. She's miffed at how he's getting along with Real Eleanor, but he insists, he's still there for her, Real Eleanor is just a new guest in the house, but Blonde Eleanor and Chidi are a team.
(Flashback: Blonde Eleanor meeting with a boss, she's been a temporary worker and they want her to be part of the team. She turns down the offer, she doesn't think she really fits in with them, the workers here really are into it, and it's not for her, so she's out of there. We then see her starting with the company selling fake medicines to the elderly, and her real interest is that it's just a job, not a "team".)
Michael starts negotiations with Trevor, but Trevor stops him, Fake Eleanor and him talked last night, and she knows she doesn't belong here, so there's nothing they need to talk about. But when Michael asks her directly, Eleanor says no, she's not leaving, yes, she doesn't belong here, but she wants to, she always avoided being a part of a group, but now because of Chidi she's a different person, and wants to be like him.
Trevor says, if they can't resolve this, they'll have to turn the matter over to "Shawn". That alarms Michael, Shawn is the "wise, eternal Judge who sits on high", who deals with disputes between the realms. Michael insists that Fake Eleanor isn't leaving, so Trevor can summon who he wants. Trevor and his gang leave, but they tell Fake Eleanor, she's on borrowed time.
Jason walks through the mansion, munching on snacks, to his private room, that he had told Tahani was his "meditation room." He finds Tahani already there: she followed the trail of snacks, and noticed how familiar he was with things like tapping beer kegs for the Bed Place crew, so she checked out the "meditation room", and found his place, full of snacks and games and stuff. She says she doesn't know who he is, but that he isn't a Buddhist monk.
Because of Chidi's plea on her behalf, Michael has decided to fight to keep Eleanor in the good place. As such, Trevor and his bad entourage are still in the good place for negotiations. Such negotiations are outside of Michael's mentality - he only knowing how to be good and give in to what others want - so he calls in backup in the form of Tahani. Regardless of what Tahani may or may not be able to teach him, it will still have to be Michael who carries out the actions. Meanwhile, the real Eleanor, Chidi, Eleanor, and Trevor go on a double date of sorts, for the real Eleanor to experience what it's going to be like, especially the food, in the good place after being in the bad place, and for Trevor to give Eleanor a taste of what it's going to be like for her with him in the bad place. Especially as the real Eleanor and Chidi are supposed to be soul mates, it also gives Eleanor an opportunity to see what Chidi's time in the good place is really supposed to be, while giving Chidi an opportunity to compare life between the two Eleanors. And Jianyu opens up to the one being in the good place with who he feels a true kinship as the only being that he believes treats him well for being himself.
Cast[]
- Kristen Bell as Eleanor Shellstrop
- William Jackson Harper as Chidi Anagonye
- Jameela Jamil as Tahani Al-Jamil
- D'Arcy Carden as Janet/Bad Janet
- Manny Jacinto as Jason Mendoza
- and Ted Danson as Michael
Guest Starring
- Adam Scott as Trevor
- Emily Arlook as Dana
- Sunita Mani as Chad
- Zeke Nicholson as Troy
- Tiya Sircar as The Real Eleanor
- Jackie Tohn as Alexis
Co-Starring
- Jordan Diggs as Todd (flashback)
- Kayleigh Krause as Jessica (flashback)
- Michelle Matule as Casey's friend (flashback)
- Seth Morris as Wallace (flashback)
- Max Silvestri as Dwayne DeRock (flashback)
- Ele Woods as Casey (flashback)
- Sarah Yarkin as Gloria (flashback)
Trivia[]
- The production code number for this episode of The Good Place is #TGP-109.
- Original broadcast audience: 3.68 Million
- The title of this episode is similar to the famous Groucho Marx quote: "I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member."
- Trevor asks Chidi if Eleanor is "hot for teach". Adam Scott and Kristen Bell were in Veronica Mars (2004) together. Adam Scott played a teacher who had an affair with a student.
- Eleanor is surprised that she woke up with a hangover. This is in reference to a scene in the promos for the pilot where Eleanor wakes up from the party and has no hangover and declares "This place rules!".
GOOFS/ERRORS
- Michael and Trevor reveal that the reason Eleanor and "the Real" Eleanor were mixed up is because they, having the same name, died in the same place at the same time, and that they don't know what people who entered the afterlife look like as they are just dots on a map. However, in the pilot, when Michael briefed Eleanor in his office, he noted the real cause of her death, including the detail about her margarita mix, indicating that the mix-up between Eleanors was not a mistake.
- It is also hinting that this inconsistency was one of the things that helped Eleanor discover the truth in the season finale.
- Eleanor makes a reference to the 2004 film Mean Girls during the flashback to her high school years. However, since she was born in 1982, she would most likely have already graduated some years before said film came out (around 2000).
Gallery[]
Michael, Trevor, and both Eleanor Shellstrops (the blonde one that we've been watching, and the black-haired one who came on the Train) are in Michael's office, and they've figured out the mistake: both Eleanors have the same name, and died the same day in the same store, in the same fraction of a second, and the Good and Bad Places just get names.
Trevor is ready to take the bad Eleanor, but Michael wants to negotiate: would Trevor like a unicorn?
As everyone leaves the office, Michael advises "fake" Eleanor (the one we've been watching) to stay on her toes, and not to get influenced by Trevor. Eleanor asks why Michael is helping her, and it's because Chidi made a very good argument, and anyway, Michael really believes that she belongs in the Good Place.
(Flashback: Blonde Eleanor is eating lunch in high school, she's new there, she has 6 months to graduate, and another girl (a "nice" girl) welcomes her and offers to help her into school society. Eleanor doesn't need that, she's going to be a loner for the little time she'll be there. She similarly brushes off another girl (a "not nice" girl) with a similar offer.)
Michael visits Tahani, asking what can he negotiate with to save Fake Eleanor, and also, The Bad Place crew are terrible bullies, even their Bad Janet, and they are an annoyance in the Good Place, and he asks Tahani for help in dealing with them. Tahani asks him to invite them to her house, surely her mansion will placate them.
Bad Eleanor and Chidi welcome Good Eleanor to her house, and all of the factors that Bad Eleanor dislike in it are things that Good Eleanor loves. Good Eleanor describes the situation she had in the Bad Place, which she figures were Bad Eleanor's nightmares and classic torture, and Trevor is glad to say which were his parts. Good Eleanor is hungry, and they agree to go get dinner.
At Tahani's mansion, the Bad Place crew is lounging around and eating, but frankly the Bad Place people are unimpressed. (Janet is still amusingly unable to help much.)
Trevor, Chidi, and the Eleanors have dinner at a restaurant, Trevor being boorish and Good Eleanor being refined like Chidi. Bad Eleanor describes a bit of her hard childhood, as if to excuse how she is now, and Good Eleanor seems to have had a much worse childhood, but turned out... good. Good Eleanor and Chidi seem to hit it off well, as if they were soul mates.
Tahani tries to get the Bad Place crew into talking negotiation, but they need some party time first, so Michael causes party music and dancing to happen.
Back at the restaurant, the Eleanors talk about the ethics material that Chidi has been sharing, but Trevor interrupts to ask whether Chidi and Eleanor had sex. Chidi says no, but they've had a student-teacher relationship, and he offers to show Good Eleanor more of the neighborhood. Bad Eleanor is being a bit miffed at how Good Eleanor and Chidi are getting along, even willing to stay at the restaurant with boorish Trevor.
(Flashback: Blonde Eleanor and a roommate agree to go to a movie, but she gets bent out of shape about who pays the tickets and who pays who back, so she ends up in the back of the theater, away from her so-called friends, by being a loner.)
The Bad Place crew are dancing and taking drugs at Tahani's mansion, getting wild together, as Tahani and Michael sort of look on in horror. But when they say it's time for Michael to dance, he gets up and joins in.
Trevor is still drinking at the restaurant, boasting to somewhat-drunk Bad Eleanor about his tortures, as she says she's better than she used to be. Trevor says he knows she's been trying to improve, but from her file, she doesn't belong here. She'd be happier in the Bad Place, of course she'd be miserable from torture, but she'd fit in, she's their kind of person. All of that makes sense to her, they really are her kind of boorish, insensitive, selfish kind of humanity, so she's ready.
Tahani's mansion is a wreck, Bad Place crew and trash everywhere, but what really bothers her is that the others just push Michael around. He says he's just being accommodating so they'll respect him. Tahani says he should stand up for himself.
Bad Eleanor wakes up, hung over, in the bath in her house, though the Good Place should have no hangovers; Chidi offers her water, saying that the Bad Place crew asked for the hangover filter to be turned off. He says there will be a negotiation session at Tahani's, but she says he doesn't have to come, she'll be fine. She's miffed at how he's getting along with Real Eleanor, but he insists, he's still there for her, Real Eleanor is just a new guest in the house, but Blonde Eleanor and Chidi are a team.
(Flashback: Blonde Eleanor meeting with a boss, she's been a temporary worker and they want her to be part of the team. She turns down the offer, she doesn't think she really fits in with them, the workers here really are into it, and it's not for her, so she's out of there. We then see her starting with the company selling fake medicines to the elderly, and her real interest is that it's just a job, not a "team".)
Michael starts negotiations with Trevor, but Trevor stops him, Fake Eleanor and him talked last night, and she knows she doesn't belong here, so there's nothing they need to talk about. But when Michael asks her directly, Eleanor says no, she's not leaving, yes, she doesn't belong here, but she wants to, she always avoided being a part of a group, but now because of Chidi she's a different person, and wants to be like him.
Trevor says, if they can't resolve this, they'll have to turn the matter over to "Shawn". That alarms Michael, Shawn is the "wise, eternal Judge who sits on high", who deals with disputes between the realms. Michael insists that Fake Eleanor isn't leaving, so Trevor can summon who he wants. Trevor and his gang leave, but they tell Fake Eleanor, she's on borrowed time.
Jason walks through the mansion, munching on snacks, to his private room, that he had told Tahani was his "meditation room." He finds Tahani already there: she followed the trail of snacks, and noticed how familiar he was with things like tapping beer kegs for the Bed Place crew, so she checked out the "meditation room", and found his place, full of snacks and games and stuff. She says she doesn't know who he is, but that he isn't a Buddhist monk.
