The Good Place Season 3 Episode 9 recap: Chapter 35

By Stephanie Caffrey | Nov 16, 2018

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

In this week’s The Good Place we get to meet the blueprint for getting into The Good Place. Shawn and his demons also create a threat to our group.

This week, The Good Place starts us off with a good old day in the life set to Mama Cass with the blueprint to get into The Good Place, Doug Forcett. Doug lives a simple life of eating radishes and donating food. Michael knocks on his door with Janet, and introduces them as the Scoops, a brother and sister press team wanting to do a story on him. Janet takes his picture, and Michael compares it to the familiar picture of a younger him that hung in Michael’s fake Good Place office.

Doug, back in the 1970s, tripped out on mushrooms and saw how the afterlife worked. After that, he decided he needed to do all he could to maximize his points in order to make it to the Good Place. As he’s getting everyone water from his own filtration system that’s hooked up to his compost toilet, Michael tells Janet that Doug is the blueprint. They need to study him to see how they can maximize everyone else’s points.

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The rest of our group is hanging out at a bar, hilariously named The Puking Moose. They’re trying to fill their time waiting for Michael. Chidi and Jason go off to play pool, and Eleanor asks Tahani for some advice regarding Chidi.

Back at Doug’s, he’s giving Michael and Janet a tour of his organic garden. Where he talks to snails he doesn’t name, because he doesn’t want to infringe on names they already have, and tells them he grows radishes because they were already there and he didn’t want to make them upset by digging them up. Janet is baffled that he lives off of just radishes and lentils. “And his own pee,” Micheal adds, still disgusted from earlier.

Jason is teaching Chidi a special Jacksonville version of pool where you do what you want and make up the points as you go. Eleanor has spilled to Tahani about Michael giving her memories of their time in The Bad Place and her finding out that she and Chidi were a thing there. She asks Tahani if she should tell Chidi about it. Tahani says unless Eleanor wants it to happen again, she doesn’t think she really needs to tell Chidi about it.

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Doug has rescued every stray dog and wolf that has wandered onto his property in the years he’s lived there. While they are looking at the 71 dogs and wolves, Raymond, a local teen, arrives. Doug describes him as a “local sociopath who takes advantage” of him. Doug reasons if he makes the kid happy, he gets points. This is when Michael and Janet both reach the same realization: Doug is not the blueprint.

Doug, instead, is a happiness pump. He will do anything to make everyone happy, in expense to his own happiness. This becomes pretty evident after Doug accidentally calls Michael Mark, and has a complete meltdown before he steps on and kills a snail.

Back at the Puking Moose, Eleanor pulls Chidi aside and is about to admit to him what she knows about the afterlife when she spots the demons entering the bar. Before they can make an escape, Shawn comes in, and essentially captures them in the bar.

Michael gives a beautiful eulogy at the funeral they hold for the snail Doug had stepped on. Doug then gets ready for the three-week journey to Edmonton to donate money to the mollusk foundation, however, Michael gives him a sort of pep talk. He tells Doug to loosen up and live life. He’s probably earned more than enough points. But Dough won’t risk it. He needs to make every moment count.

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Shawn is waiting for Michael to show up to see the look on his face when he realizes Shawn has outsmarted him. Eleanor gives a grand speech about how Michael would never fall for the trap, only for Michael and Janet to walk in.

There’s a confrontation between Michael and Shawn, and the demons start to take the group through the illegal door until Janet turns out to be an epic fighter. A fight breaks out between everyone, with Janet doing most of the heavy lifting. As Janet begins defeating demons, Michael opens the door, and Janet sends them through.

It’s during the battle with the demons that Eleanor tells Chidi about how they were in love in the afterlife. And that she is actually still in love with him now. But we don’t have time to unpack this admission, because Shawn grabs them, and begins to haul them through the door. However, Janet, who has gotten her powers back after going through the door just a little bit, defeats Shawn.

During his interrogation, Shawn tells Michael that it’s just a matter of time before the four humans, their families, and Doug will all be in the Bad Place. Michael and Janet send Shawn back, but Michael is really troubled. There’s something wrong with the points system, and it’s time to gather evidence.

The plan is for Michael and Janet to go find an accountant and question them on the points and for everyone else to hang out at Doug’s. However, there’s an invasion of demons into the bar. too many to fight. So, Janet takes everyone into her void.

Next. The Good Place Season 3, Episode 9 preview: Should Eleanor share her secret?. dark

What did you think of last night’s episode? Do you think the point system is rigged? What do you think is going to come of Eleanor admitting her love to Chidi? Please let us know in the comments below.

The Good Place returns Thursday, Dec. 6 at 8:30/7:30c