The Good Place S03E09 "Don't Let The Good Life Pass You By" Recap

The joke priorly mentioned about Doug Forcett, the stoner that hallucinated the correct afterlife scoring system while tripping, has blossomed into a full-blown appearance by the man himself. What Doug's existence offers to the story is how significantly it exposes the flaws in the current point-scoring system in place to calculate the value of a person's life. Doug is abiding by the rules of trying to do harm to no others but instead of it enhancing his life, it's significantly reduced the quality. He is miserable, allows others to use and abuse him, and never indulges in anything for himself. The deeper implications of this are yet to come but it's a pivotal moment in the show's arc that is ripe with storytelling opportunities.

The most exciting aspect of this episode are the action sequences when the humans are reunited with the demons and a full-on brawl breaks out. There's a level of artistry to the fight choreography one wouldn't have expected from the series, which has otherwise stayed away from this genre of content. In particular, Janet gets to kick butt since she is a 'robot' and holds knowledge of things none of the characters would. It's a surprising turn after Eleanor's revelation that her feelings for Chidi have re-emerged that keeps the overall pacing up. Now that the humans are back to dead after Janet transports them to her void so they can escape the demons there's no telling how they'll tackle their ongoing quest for redemption.

The Good Place airs on Thursdays on NBC at 8:30/7:30c.