'The Good Place' Season 2, Episode 10 'Best Self' Recap: Golden Realizations and Issues [SPOILERS]

Team Cockroach is ready to go to the real Good Place, but they have to find a way to get there first. “The Good Place” Season 2, episode 10, titled “Best Self” shows Michael (Ted Danson) debuting a flashy hot air balloon that would take them to actual Good Place. But the catch is, only those who are better versions of themselves can board the contraption. This predicament led to feelings laid out, reminiscing about unseen memories, and risky plans. We also get to see Michael become a little more human.

Determining our better selves

Before Shawn (Marc Evan Jackson) realizes the humans aren’t with St. Claire, Michael creates their transportation to the actual Good Place. But before they could, they have to pass through a sensor that would determine if they’ve become the best versions of themselves. Eleanor (Kristen Bell) goes first, and she passed. Then Tahani (Jameela Jamil) and Jason (Manny Jacinto) pass through the sensors. By the time it was Chidi’s (William Jackson Harper) turn, the sensors had turned red which meant he was not a better version of himself. It’s also good to take note that these four went through a thousand versions of themselves. The thought of it consumes Chidi, wondering if his 80th or 100th version is better than who he is now.

Luckily, his friends reassured Chidi he was the best version of himself because he made everyone else around him better. Second time’s the charm because the sensors turned green and Chidi finally went to the actual Good place. But then, Eleanor fails because Chidi’s doubts about himself infected her. As she went through the sensors, it went red. Then Tahani gets the red buzzer as well. At some point, even Janet (D’Arcy Carden) tried to go through the sensor. When Eleanor told her that she was a different version of Janet, she still harbored unresolved feelings towards Jason. Even a self-sufficient, all-knowing being such as Janet has a few issues.

We’re hopeless so let’s party

After the revelation in “The Good Place” Season 1, Michael tried to fix his version of the Bad Place over and over. Within those reboots, each of the core four had different lives. One of which shows Eleanor and Chidi falling in love. Eleanor asks Michael to tell them about that version of themselves because she was convinced she was her best self during that specific reboot. Michael then tells a sweet story about how Chidi realized he loved Eleanor when she gave him a tissue before he sneezed. It was uneventful but the thought was sentimental. After telling them the story, Michael’s emotions get the best of him. He admits to the group the balloon was useless and wouldn’t take them to the actual Good place. He spent most of his time stalling and trying to find a solution.
Surprisingly, they weren’t mad at Michael—just disappointed. Since their transportation was useless, they all decided to party. Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason even gave Michael a gift for becoming an honorary human. It was a book filled with worthless junk. He appreciated the band-aids, car keys, and a corporate stress ball even though he had no use for any of them. It was the fact that these objects were part of being a human.
The night continued with dancing, drinking, and Michael telling them stories about their different versions. One included a Kebab place and Eleanor having a pet lizard who pooped on her.

A risky plan to ‘The Good Place’

During the laughter and the booze, Shawn sends a message telling Michael a train would pick him up the next day and the search for the humans is still ongoing. Tahani then realized something—she was always a person who would do anything to get what she wanted, a type of person who would ask for the manager. Suddenly, it clicked. Tahani urges Michael to come with to talk to the manager in charge of sending people to the Good or Bad Place. Michael shuts the plan down, saying it was too much of a risk. But Eleanor tells him to at least try and present their case.

Excitingly, Michael agrees to the plan since he’d be doing the most human thing of all—attempting something that’s destined to fail. The next day their plan commenced, they got on the train heading to the Bad Place and met with the universal judge who decides their fates. It was a dramatic end to this week’s episode, where the characters bid farewell to their neighborhood and watched it dissolve into pixels.
“The Good Place” continues next Thursday, January 18th with “Rhonda, Diana, Jake, and Trent” at 8:30 PM on NBC.