The Good Place 3x8 Don't Let The Good Life Pass You By
I loved the ending to this episode SO MUCH! But there were also so many other good moments (the water, the snail...) but I'm curious to know if some of you think the same as what I said in the outro about motivations. That aspect isn't even something I'd have thought about if it weren't for this show. I love that they teach us so much!
yt edit: https://youtu.be/B_NP4Shzf04
Comments (11)
I thought that points you earn if you know about the afterlife didn't count anyway, because you're doing good things for selfish reasons? I think Michael said that to Eleanor at some stage.
Have you seen LOST? I ask because the opening sequence is a direct homage to a famous scene from that show.
OH no way? Haha! I saw it when it first came out but clearly remember nothing!
Doug's motivations are certainly in question, given what Michael and Janet told the rest of our team, but the poor guy has no idea, so he's miserable and it might not even count! But who knows what will happen with that, especially now that all our favorite humans have been sucked into Janet's void. Can't wait for you to see the next episode. :)
"Kick-ass Janet" for the win! This is such a fun episode, so many twists and turns with each one sillier than the last lol.
You know you're watching a weird show when you can honestly declare how delighted you are with an episode when all of the main characters die.
I never thought of it like that 🤣🤣
Yep. I agree with you about Doug Forcett and his motivation for doing good deeds. If you are doing good deeds only because you want to earn something, or due to the consequences of not doing them, it surely doesn't count. Saying that though, I think a lot of people in our actual real world are motivated to not be bad purely because of the consequences. I mean, if there were zero consequences for taking goods from a shop without paying, would people still pay? I think a lot of people, free of the fear of being arrested, would choose to get free stuff. It's not moral to do that of course, but it's the rules society has created that keeps people mostly in check (sorry for the weird tangent!). Anyway, thanks for another fun reaction Juliette. I hope you have a lovely weekend.
It's not a weird tangent at all, it's a very relevant point in a discussion about a show about morality. And you're probably right, that the rule of law is probably the leading factor in the prevention of crime. People figured that out pretty early on in the history of civilization. I think it was the comedian Lois C.K. who said: "the law against murder is the number one thing preventing murder".
Whether Doug's motivation is corrupt is a common question at this point, especially given that we know that the Soul Squad can no longer earn points because they know how the afterlife works (though that's kind of a moot point now they're dead). There is a key differentiator between them and Doug though, which is that unlike the Soul Squad, Doug doesn't know *for certain* how the afterlife works, he just *believes* he knows how it works. We actually know that at least some of what he believes is wrong, since Michael told us his prediction was only 92% (IIRC) correct back in the first episode of the show. So the question of Doug's motivations hinges on whether that belief of how the system works (that just so happens to be mostly correct) is enough to corrupt his motivation or not.
His motivations are clearly selfish, he even said in this episode that if he loses any points he might go to the bad place and be tortured for eternity. He is doing the good deeds not because he wants to put good into the world, but merely because he doesn't want to get punished in the afterlife.