The Good Place Season 3 Episode 8 recap: Chapter 34

This week on The Good Place, Michael takes Eleanor down memory lane by showing her memories of her time in the afterlife.

This week on The Good Place, we focused on Michael and Eleanor as she was given back some of her memories of the afterlife so could see herself falling in love for the first time with Chidi. And the viewers got the treat of seeing one of the many reboots we didn’t get to see, except for the “I love you” moment at Mindy St. Clair’s.

The episode started off in a public library in Arizona, the saddest library there ever was. Michael and Eleanor needed somewhere private for Michael to flood her brain with memories of the afterlife.

More from NBC

Before the experiment was destroyed, Janet saved a complete record or all the reboots, and now Eleanor will be able to watch the highlights of reboot 119. Even though Michael warns her that there will be consequences of flooding her brain with afterlife memories. He tests things out with a three second memory, and when we come back to the present, Eleanor looks like she has been electrocuted.

Once Eleanor recovers, Michael shows her two different memories from the experiment. The first is Chidi and Eleanor talking about philosophy, and it’s three months into philosophy classes. And Eleanor is able to predict when Chidi is going to sneeze and we get to see a loving look Chidi sends Eleanor’s way.

The second memory is Pick a Pet Day where each resident can pick a pet and it will soul bond with them forever. Eleanor picks a lizard, Tahani picks a Mirror Centaur whose human half takes on the appearance of the owner, and Chidi can’t decide between two puppies. By the time Eleanor helps him decide, both puppies are gone and Chidi has to go home with an owl.

Back at their home, Chidi tries to teach the owl how to play fetch, but it attacks him instead. He doesn’t want to seem ungrateful and ask Michael for a puppy, so Eleanor says she will instead.

Now, Michael doesn’t want Eleanor to watch anymore. But Eleanor keeps insisting. She needs to see herself fall in love for the first time.

The next flashback is Eleanor asking Michael to give Chidi a puppy. He tells her to hold off because that night they’ll be turning into their pets, so Chidi can soar like an owl. When it’s time for the party, Eleanor can’t find her lizard, so she tells Chidi to go on ahead without her. As she’s looking for the lizard, Chidi comes up behind her and gets pushed into the lake. After he’s out and dry, he tells Eleanor that he would rather be helping her than be an owl. That’s when Eleanor kisses him for the first time.

Photo Credit: The Good Place/NBC, Acquired From NBCUniversal Media Village /

We then see flashes of their relationship during that reboot, including their decision to run away to Mindy’s and their first I love you. Eleanor wants to see how it ends, so Michael shows her them confronting him in his office. He tells them he’s going to erase their memories, and Eleanor tells him that their love is stronger than anything he can throw at them, they will find each other.

The memories end there, and Michael is worried about Eleanor seeing him “evil.” He reassures her that he’s changed, and he’s not like that anymore. However, seeing Michael being evil isn’t what upset her. Eleanor is convinced he manipulated her and Chidi into falling in love. Michael insists that he never intended for them to fall in love, just annoy each other.

Eleanor then goes on and on about determinism. About how there’s no such thing as free will because everything is determined by someone’s upbringing and the situations they are put in.

Watch your favorite shows on fuboTV: Watch over 67 live sports and entertainment channels with a 7-day FREE trial!

Eleanor and Michael move to a restaurant, where he shows her more reboots to give her evidence that she has free will. Eleanor isn’t hearing it. She’s convinced that there is no such thing as free will. Michael dumps iced tea on her head and tells her that this whole determinism thing is her defense mechanism. She is freaked out to see herself so vulnerable when she was in love with Chidi.

Then Michael makes a point. If determinism is real, then what’s the point of the Soul Squad? If everything is already determined and there is no free will, doing good works and trying to fix people’s fate is pointless.

Michael and Eleanor pick up the rest of the gang from the airport and as everyone else loads into the car, they apologize. And then Eleanor suggests that since they’re the most enlightened people in the world since they know all about the afterlife, they need to take the Soul Squad to the next level. And Micheal knows someone they can use as a model in rural Canada. So, that’s where we’re headed next!

In the meantime, Shawn and the other demons have built an illegal door to Earth. After sending Vicky through as a test, the rest step through. There are now evil demons on Earth.

Next. The Good Place Season 3 Episode 7 recap: Chapter 33. dark

What did you think of last night’s episode? Did you enjoy seeing Chidi and Eleanor fall in love? What kind of havoc do you think the demons are going to cause? Please let us know in the comments below.

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

Home/NBC