Pokemon Teams for the Soul Squad

I finished rewatching The Good Place last month. During this rewatch, I had the plan in mind to do a Pokémon mash-up with Team Cockroach. In previous Pokémon posts of this format, I posed silly hypotheticals like “What if Eleanor had a Pokemon battle with Shawn instead of doing their experiments?” We could definitely still have those conversations, but after seeing the Soul Squad arrive in the real Good Place I had a thought: at some point in the Bearimys that followed saving humanity, you can bet that Jason use the Good Place’s powers to have Pokémon battles with his friends. So here are the teams I imagined for them.

LDS Geeks Podcast #6: Loki Season 2

I had the chance to sit down and record with Rob about where in time and space Loki Season 2 took us. Check out the most recent episode of the podcast to listen in on our thoughts, what we liked, and where the series fell short.

--Spencer

The Good Place Workout

When someone suggests a new workout...

It's springtime! Time to get working on the beach body for this summer. Or just to get moving again because you've been hibernating through the winter. Whatever your reason, it's always a good time to get moving again. My wife and I are poised to rewatch The Good Place soon, so this time I've come in with a workout routine to go along with NBC's groundbreaking comedy series. So throw on an episode of this epic of good and evil and just follow the directions below.

Disclaimer: While I am a licensed physical therapy provider, I am not a personal trainer or a medical practitioner. Partner as necessary with your doctor prior to engaging in any diet or excise programs. If any of these exercises cause increased pain, stop the exercise immediately.

• A flashback/memory begins - Plank 30 seconds
• Someone uses a censored curse word - Seated Good Morning 10 reps 
• Someone says "Good Place" - Lateral Raise 10 reps
• Someone says "Bad Place" - Thoracic CARS 10 reps 
• Chidi names a philosopher - Prone Press Ups 10 reps 
• Tahani name-drops a celebrity - Prone Hip ER Lift 10 reps 
• Jason proposes a bad plan - Toe Yoga 10 reps 
• Janet says "not a girl" - Prone Hip CARS 10 reps 
• Michael says something manipulative - Squeeze Bridges 10 reps 
• Eleanor makes a sexual comment - Lunges 10 reps 

***Exercises updated January 2024 to account for what I've learned practicing physical therapy. This workout is intended to work without any equipment, but feel free to add small dumbbells or bands as you're safely able.

Everything is fine. Just take breaks as needed.

Why Choose to Be Good

(Guest Post by Tyler)

Why choose to be good? What is the point of helping other people or doing the right thing if there’s no reward? Or to put it in the words of Eleanor Shellstrop , “I was a good person for six months. That’s like 5 years. And it felt okay, but not as good as I thought it would. And what did I get for it?” (Season 2, Episode 12)

For those who aren’t familiar with it, The Good Place tackles a variety of questions that have been debated for years. Is goodness something you are born with or something you learn? What does it take for someone to change? And most importantly, can one woman play over 10 characters in a TV show without fail (the answer to the last one is an overwhelming yes! D’Arcy Cardon is an amazing actress; more on that in another article). One of the most important questions it asks and attempts to answer is why choose to be good.

At the start of the show, we find the original version of Eleanor, self centered, manipulative and only worried about keeping herself out of The Bad Place. Along the way, she enlists the help of Chidi, her soul-mate and a moral philosophy professor, to help her become better. But it’s not till Chidi and her other friends are put in danger that she puts her instinct for self preservation aside and makes the right choice so that Chidi can avoid going to The Bad Place.

Throughout the next 3 seasons, we see time after time this concept unfolds. The main factor that helps people to change and become good people is their relationships with other people. In the third season, over the course of the third episode, we see various events of the course of a year as the group studies ethics. Many of these events show Eleanor going against what she said in earlier seasons, the main one being birthday parties for other people. “This way, I don’t owe you anything, you don’t owe me anything.”

Over the course of the series we get to see Chidi’s thesis of “why choose to be good” illustrated by the interactions between our six main characters. More to come on exploring those relationships. Chidi sums it up the best.

“So why do it then? Why choose to be good, every day, if there is no guaranteed reward we can count on now or in the afterlife? I argue that we choose to be good because of our bonds with other people and our innate desire to treat them with dignity. Simply put, we are not in this alone.” (Chidi, Season 2 Episode 13)

Redemption and The Good Place

This week we said goodbye to The Good Place. But as they say, "everything is fine." I didn't get into it until last summer when my wife and I needed a new show to watch (she'd seen it before) after catching up on Agents of SHIELD. I was immediately hooked and regretting that I hadn't gotten into it early. So obviously spoilers for the whole series are up ahead, so read at your own risk.

The show may have started with four clueless humans being tricked into thinking the Bad Place neighborhood was the Good Place, but as Season 2 and especially Season 3 progressed, the show became less about the afterlife and more about redemption. For a show that talked so much about ethics and morality, they did an exceptional job avoiding critiques on any specific religion or sect.

One thing I love about how The Good Place developed and how it ended is the assertion that no one is beyond redemption. Even in Season 4 when Brent the idiot came into play, it was shown that even he could improve and be redeemed. Isn't that what we believe anyway? So many of our favorite stories have to do with redemption. Whether we're talking about Loki, Queen Regina, King Edmund, or even Darth Vader, some of the most compelling stories in Fandom are about our ability to change and become better.

So next time you're feeling hopeless, remember there's always hope. After all, if an Arizona dirt-bag like Eleanor can grow and improve, so can the rest of us.