The Good Place S01E13 "Michael's Gambit" Recap

Eleanor and Jason arrive back at the Good Place with Janet just after Shawn's deadline has passed. However, he declares that they can decide with Chidi and Tahani of which two will be sent to the Bad Place. Any of them can go, but ultimately two must be sent. Different arguments are made, and after some time Eleanor decides that she should be one of the two, displaying that she truly has become a more selfless person. The arguments escalate and tensions rise until Eleanor finally has an epiphany about their circumstances; they are actually in the Bad Place already and that all of the ways that they have been 'torturing' one another have been designed for that very purpose. Michael begins to laugh maniacally and says that it's all true. The 'Good Place' that they've been living in was simply a new Bad Place neighborhood that he designed himself as part of an experimental new torture plan he had pitched to his boss. These four are the only real humans living there and the Janet they have been living with is a real 'Good Place' Janet that Michael stole from the Good Place to help him run the fake Good Place.

In a series of flashbacks, Michael is at his architect job and had to beg to be able to go ahead with his 'Good Place' idea which he pitched at a meeting run by Shawn. As the humans have figured out his true scheme, Michael begs Shawn for a 'redo'. He will erase their memories and make some adjustments so the torture will stick. Shawn agrees to this, while Eleanor secretly rips a page out of Chidi's book and writes a message to herself which she hides in Janet's mouth.

After the reset, Eleanor is brought in to meet Michael in a similar manner to the beginning of the series. After she moves in to her home, Janet arrives and presents her with the piece of paper that Eleanor had previously hidden. The paper has a message written: "Eleanor - Find Chidi."

The Good Place airs on NBC.