The Good Place - The Eternal Shriek - Review: "Murder at the Beach"

Picking up where last week’s crazy cliffhanger left off, “The Eternal Shriek” begins with Michael announcing to the town that he will be leaving The Good Place and entering retirement. Although she is initially relieved, Eleanor realizes she needs to do something once she finds out that Michael’s “retirement” includes him being tortured forever. She decides to kill Janet because Janet is basically just a computer and the only person who can operate the train that takes Michael out of The Good Place. Eleanor, accompanied by Chidi, has Janet take her to her kill button. Neither can bring themselves to kill Janet until Jason/Jianyu shows up and tries to press the button, prompting Chidi to tackle him and accidentally press the button in the process, killing Janet. Eleanor then announces at a town meeting that she doesn’t belong in The Good Place once she sees that Chidi is going to confess to Janet’s murder.

Wow did this episode deliver. Let’s start with Eleanor’s master, murderous plan. If you had told me a few weeks ago that the plot of this episode would be Eleanor trying to kill Janet, I would’ve given up on the show, assuming that Eleanor makes no personal growth in her attempt to become a better person. Luckily, things are much more complicated than that. The reason this story works so well is that Eleanor’s murder plot is coming from such a good place (no pun intended). Eleanor is completely desperate: she doesn’t want to leave The Good Place but she also doesn’t want Michael to go through eternal torment for something that isn’t even his fault. By killing Janet, who is basically a computer, she thinks she can do the least amount of damage, while saving the most people. I don’t think the Eleanor we met in the first episode would be this thoughtful about it. That Eleanor probably would’ve let Michael take the fall and bask in her victory. Eleanor’s desperation and attempts to save everyone illustrate just how far she has come in her quest to be a good person. The most defining moment in her growth, however, came at the end…

… WHEN SHE FREAKIN’ CONFESSED! I must say, I did not expect them to pull the trigger on Eleanor confessing so soon. Though I personally feel they could’ve dragged that out a little bit longer, Eleanor’s actions are now truly having a negative impact on the people she cares about, so it’s really heartwarming to see her finally own up to her actions. To me, this moment was her graduation moment from Chidi’s class. All of the flashbacks we’ve seen have been about her inability to put anyone before herself, so for her to finally do that in order to save Michael and Chidi was such an incredible moment. I’m sure in the coming episodes, she will still try and find a way to avoid going to The Bad Place, but that doesn’t change the fact that she is most certainly not the terrible person we met 7 episodes ago. I can honestly say I do not have any inclination as to where this is going, but I don’t care, I’m loving the ride.

Some other fun highlights: Chidi! Chidi got the flashback treatment. I liked seeing him struggle with something as small as a white lie to protect someone’s feelings. Seeing him freak out over something as dumb as that white lie made watching his reaction when he killed Janet hilarious and heart breaking. Speaking of Janet – boy did she crush it this episode. She hasn’t had too much screen time in season 1, but that clearly changed this episode and she was absolutely fantastic. I think the scene of her begging for her life is my favorite of the series to date. Tahani and Jason/Jianyu were not featured too much, but it didn’t bother me because of how much was going on with everyone else.

Overall Grade:
A. The most compelling episode of the entire series, plus it was laugh out loud hilarious. Favorite episode of the series so far!

Favorite Quotes:
Michael: Oh my dear Janet. Will you be okay after I leave?
Janet: Yes. This will not affect me in any way.

Eleanor: Why do bad things always happen to mediocre people who are lying about their identities?

Janet: Eleanor. Eleanor, please wait, I have kids! (Showing a picture) I have three beautiful children: Tyler, Emma and Little Tiny Baby Phillip. Look at Tyler, Tyler has asthma but he’s battling it like a champ. Look at them. Look at them! LOOK AT THEM!
Eleanor: GAH! So realistic!
Janet: (Changing her mood) Eleanor, again, I’m not human. This is a stock photo of the crowd at the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards!

How do you feel about the major turning points in this episode? Let me know down in the comments!

About the Author - Doug Greer

Doug Greer is a TV obsessed Leo from the Bay Area. His TV origin story begins in 7th grade, when his friend lent him her Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs and 144 episodes (and 9 days) later, he was hooked for life. All time favorites include (but most certaintly not limited to) everything Joss Whedon, Charmed, The 100, Nikita, Battlestar, and anything with a laugh track. More recently, Doug produced and help write a webseries for The CW called CW FanTalk and also produced webseries for actors such as AnnaLynne McCord and John Lehr. For the 2016-2017 season, Doug will be reviewing 2 Broke Girls and The Good Place.

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