Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason have all had their memories erased, and Michael starts the fake Good Place over with a few things changed around to subtly torture the humans without them ever realizing it. Shawn warns Michael that he better not fail, for Michael will be forced into "retirement" if he does.
Eleanor is paired off with a new "soulmate" named Chris, a muscular bodybuilder who keeps running off to go work out anytime Eleanor tries to talk to him. Janet then arrives to give Eleanor the note she wrote to herself to find Chidi. Already sensing something is off, this makes Eleanor even more suspicious of what's going on.
Meanwhile, Chidi is forced to choose between two potential soulmates; just as he is about to choose Angelique, who seems ideal for him, Michael determines that the other woman, Pevita, with whom Chidi felt no connection, is his accurate soulmate. When Eleanor finds him, he is too distracted by his own situation to help her.
Tahani is also paired with a new soulmate named Tomas. She's dissatisfied that he is very short, has unrefined tastes, and that their home is small. Michael plans for Eleanor to get drunk and behave badly at the welcome party, but instead, Tahani gets drunk and makes a scene.
Jason is once again forced to pose as Jianyu the silent Buddhist monk. His new soulmate is Luang, a monk who is meant to be his spiritual companion. Luang accompanies Jason and copies his every action, leaving Jason bored and desperate to escape. Jason quickly gloms onto Janet, who is nice to him.
Vicky, the demon who portrayed "Real Eleanor" in the first attempt, is frustrated by her new minor role as the pizza parlor owner Denise and tries to complain about it to Michael, who simply brushes her off.
Eleanor finally gets Chidi's attention and he realizes the paper Eleanor's note was written on is from a book in his collection, and he suspects they have met before. At Eleanor's house, Eleanor admits that she doesn't belong in the Good Place. Michael, Janet, Tahani, Jason, and everyone's supposed soulmates arrive. Tahani and Jason openly express how unhappy they are and Eleanor figures out that they are not in the Good Place; she reveals the note. Michael again erases the humans' memories and reboots the fake Good Place, but conceals the reboot from Shawn, who disallowed a third attempt.
Tropes:
- Ass Shove: Shawn mentions the Bad Placers have started testing "Butthole Spiders". They're enormous.
- Amnesia Missed a Spot: Downplayed. While none of the humans remember their previous experience, it's implied that they do subconsciously relate to one another, such as how Eleanor and Jason seem to briefly connect before Michael pops up.
- Attention Whore: Vicky does not like being a mere pizza parlor owner, a bit role compared to her more major role as "Real Eleanor".
- Bait-and-Switch Accusation: Michael tells Eleanor that he knows that she is not the same as everyone else. Bummer. But then it turns out he actually means her work as an environmental activist which makes her stand out from everyone else.
- Blatant Lies: When Michael tells Chidi that he would never place him in a painful situation.
- Brainless Beauty: Eleanor's new "soulmate" is handsome, but terrible at making convincing-sounding excuses.
- Broken Record: Tomas, Pevita, and Chris all declare "I've been worried sick about you" to their respective "soulmates", which helps clue Eleanor in that something is seriously wrong.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Invoked by Vicky, who tries to liven up her new character as having a limp.
- Demoted to Extra: In-Universe with Vicky, the demon who portrayed "Good Eleanor" in the first attempt. She really is not happy with being a background character this time around.
- Disappointed in You: See the page quote. Shawn had high hopes in Michael.
- The Ditz: Chuck, who takes Michael's comment about "biting off more than we could chew" literally, and becomes obsessed with biting the humans. He also flubs up asking about Eleanor's supposed profession, but she's too distracted to notice.
- The Diva: After having a rather juicy role in the previous cycle as the good "Real Eleanor", Vicky is annoyed at being a mere local shop owner this time around. She starts
making up further details to her backstory to stay relevant. - Foreshadowing: As Eleanor talks to Chidi, Glenn can be heard exclaiming "twinsies!" in the background. It's not until Tahani's story that we see the context of him saying it.
- Look at the page quote. Now look at the end of the show. Shawn is bored, and Michael offered him something new. He wanted something better and the possibility of nothing but more of the same is hard to bear.
- Freudian Slip: Tahani keeps suffering Freudian shorts - slips, as she talks to Tomas, who is a head shorter than her.
- Gone Horribly Right: Michael's second attempt has the main four exposed to more extreme and obvious torture much quicker than in the first. The torture definitely works, but it also causes them to question why the hell the "Good Place" feels so miserable, which (along with the "Find Chidi" note Eleanor wrote for herself beforehand) makes them quickly figure out they're being lied to on the first night they arrive.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Vicky clearly hates Angelique for getting an "important role" as Chidi's possible soulmate, glaring daggers at her.
- Groin Attack: The Bad Place apparently has a device called the Penis Flattener.
- Humiliation Conga:
- Michael tries to set Eleanor up for one by having her give a speech on the first night while sloshed, but Eleanor reasons that giving a speech while drunk is a bad idea, and gets suspicious of everyone trying to make her drink.
- Tahani goes through one in her day, first being partnered with a homely-looking soulmate who lives in modest accommodations with decorations including a picture of her sister Kamilah. When she tries raising a complaint to Michael, he turns it around on her by claiming everyone else is fine with their lot, forcing Tahani to act like the truly selfless person she pretends to be. And then she goes to a party in cargo pants and Crocs, which she almost endures until Glenn comes along, at which point she starts drinking.
- I Have to Go Iron My Dog: Anytime she tries to talk to him, Eleanor's new "soulmate" just slips away to go work out at the gym.
- I Kiss Your Hand: Tahini's soulmate does that gesture when meeting her.
- It May Help You on Your Quest: Eleanor thinks the "Amulet" that Jason gives her is this. In reality, he's just trying to hide the evidence that he sabotaged his "soulmate's" bike.
- A Lesson Learned Too Well: Michael's first attempt at a fake Good Place worked a tad too well because it made Eleanor feel so guilty that it drove her to try to improve herself and ultimately confess to everyone. The second attempt applied the lessons learned from the first failure a little too well, as it makes the four humans miserable right off the bat. It's pretty clear that even if Eleanor didn't have the "Find Chidi" letter, they would've eventually figured the truth out on their own.
- Literal-Minded: Eleanor's new soulmate took Michael at his word when he told him to make up an excuse to leave if Eleanor tried to confess to him that she didn't belong in the Good Place — "such as 'I'm going to the gym'". He uses that one every time.
- Memory Gambit: Eleanor using Janet to deliver a note to herself immediately clued her in that something wasn't right about the world she was in, so rather than behave the same way she did in the first season, she avoids most of those pitfalls in an attempt to find Chidi. It also didn't help that Michael made many mistakes in his redo that subjected the humans to more obvious torture.
- "Not Wearing Pants" Dream: A variant. According to Michael, all philosophers went to the Bad Place and one of their tortures is to send them to school naked.
- One Head Taller: Tahani is quite tall compared to her "soulmate" Tomas, which irks her.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Michael is alarmed by the fact that Eleanor isn't drinking.
- "Rashomon"-Style: We see the story a few times from different perspectives.
- Rewatch Bonus: The episode becomes more enjoyable once you've seen the whole thing and get to see how intertwined the main cast's stories were from the start.
- Simultaneous Arcs: The main body of the episode shows the same day five times, following a different character (Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, Jason, Michael) each time.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: Vicky wonders whether her new character Denise is more of a "quirky best friend" type or a "femme fatale — sexuality is her weapon of choice" type. Michael says she's both those things.
- Surrounded by Idiots: Demons aren't great actors. It's to the point where you feel bad for Michael.
- Villain Protagonist: Some of the sections in this episode are from Michael's perspective, focusing on his methods of torture and his attempts to fool Shawn into thinking everything is going great.
- Villainous Breakdown: "Everyone in this room, find those four humans!!"
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Eleanors' new soulmate regularly finds an excuse to remove his shirt and leave to go work out. Michael berates him, as the purpose was to avoid Eleanor bonding too closely with him, and the prompt of finding a gym was a suggestion and not the only choice he had.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!:
- Eleanor when she sees the "Best Person" sash.
- Michael's response to everything going south so quickly.
- You Look Familiar: In-Universe, the demons playing other community members are given different roles in the new cycle.
