The Good Place S01E05 "Category 55 Doomsday Crisis" Recap

Eleanor allows someone else to go ahead while she is trying to decide what flavor of frozen yogurt she will order. The revelation that she is finally learning to be a more selfless and considerate person is too much. She runs home to tell Chidi the good news, but unfortunately forgets to get the frozen yogurt they were supposed to have. Roll opening credits.

Chidi continues to instruct Eleanor and Jason on ethics, transitioning his lessons into John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism. But Chidi begins to grow tired of all the lessons since he isn't able to spend his time on anything else.

Michael learns from Janet that the sinkhole is spreading. He is determined to protect the residents so he orders a quarantine. This forces Eleanor and Chidi to stay in close quarters and attempt to pretend that everything is fine while hosting a couple Michael dropped off. This new couple, Bart and Nina, were living next to the sinkhole so they need a place to stay until it is repaired.

Tahani manages to look into Michael's secret files which reveal that she has the second-lowest score of everyone in the neighborhood. She becomes determined to raise her score by doing extra activities to keep the other residents entertained while in quarantine but her score doesn't move. Further flashbacks into her life reveal that she spent her entire existence living in the shadow of her more accomplished and revered sister Kamilah, whom even her parents favored.

Eleanor and Chidi struggle to keep their relationships issues private while Bart and Nina are around. Eventually they are pushed into allowing Nina to perform relationship counseling and Chidi finally admits to Eleanor that he never had a real romantic relationship with a woman while he was alive. Now he is disappointed because he doesn't have a true soulmate as he thought he'd have. Eleanor decides to be a better friend to Chidi and arranges the exact leisure activities he had previously described wanting to take part in.

When Michael learns of Tahani's upsets over not having a higher score and status in the neighborhood ranking, he assures her that she has nothing to be ashamed of. By being in the Good Place, it shows that she lived a truly exceptional life.

The Good Place airs on NBC.