Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Sometimes you watch an episode of television and think, Man, it’s like that specific joke was written just for me. There were two different segments from tonight’s all-new Good Place (Season 4, Episode 10 “You’ve Changed, Man”) that brought me endless amounts of joy.
First things first: Sure, Eleanor and company are tasked with inventing a whole new system for the afterlife or Judge Gen (Maya Rudolph) will cancel Earth. Is that a pressing matter? Absolutely. But equally if not slightly more important is the cozy comforts of television nostalgia. Eleanor, Michael, Chidi, Tahani, Jason, and Janet are desperately trying to convince the Judge to spare the planet, but she’s more interested in simply rebooting civilization and starting from scratch. But it turns out that omnipotent afterlife judges and the rusty wheelbarrow full of irregular jeans known as the human race are more alike than we thought.
Janet understands that Judge Gen won’t listen to her, so she enlists the help of the lead character of the Judge’s favorite TV show. Which iconic TV character did The Good Place revive? The nominees:
Is this the first time in human history someone cobbled together a photo of Raylan Givens, Jane Rizzoli, Gunther from Friends, and Alf? Gosh I hope not. Anyway, the answer is Timothy Olyphant’s Raylan Givens from the hit FX series Justified. It’s not shocking that a supernaturally intelligent entity’s favorite TV show is Justified because here’s the thing about Graham Yost’s charismatic neo-western crime-thriller: it fucking rocks.
“I am on Season 3 of Justified and can I just tell you, it is soooo good,” the Judge tells Janet. “I, like, binged all of Season 2 in a day.”
The Good Place, unsurprisingly, did their homework. The second half of Season 1 along with Seasons 2 and 3 of Justified are as good as it gets. I’m not just referring to TV; I’m talking about life in general. Yes, a loving marriage, successful career, and spiritual happiness are neat, but you haven’t lived until you’ve watched U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens and silver-tongued scoundrel Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) mix it up with the likes of the Bennett family, dapper degenerate Robert Quarles (Neal McDonough), mercurial swindler Wynn Duffy (Jere Burns), and the leader of Noble’s Holler: amateur banker and professional butcher Ellstin Limehouse (Mykelti Williamson).
As an aside, all six seasons of Justified are currently available on Prime Video and will be added to Hulu on January 19th.
The Good Place has delivered an endless array of clever scenes during its tenure, but using an overly inquisitive Raylan Givens to help explain the myriad defects of the afterlife is Mensa level brilliant. Plus, it was just nice to see my old pal Raylan again.
As if that weren’t enough, tonight’s episode also delivered one of my all-time favorite Good Place puns. While I’ll always have a soft spot for works of art like “Knish From A Rose,” “Biscotti Pippen,” “The Pesto’s Yet to Come,” and “Lasagne Come Out Tomorrow,” tonight’s new addition, “Joanie Loves Tchotchkes,” delighted me to no end.
“Fragile Friends For All Your Happy Days.”
Raylan Givens and a Joanie Loves Chachi reference? It’s like I died and went to The Good Place.
