#fractured inheritance

In episode 3x06, “Fractured Inheritance”: 

When Eleanor and Michael are confronting Dave about Donna being a bad person in the past, Dave mentions that he likes that Donna is selfish in bed because “it’s perfect for me; I never know what I want.” 

Who ALSO is a sweet, kind, forgiving, nonjudgmental nerd who wears glasses and dorky sweaters and never knows what he wants???? 

Chidi Anagonye. 

i also have a mom like eleanor’s. a bit. in that a lot of my problems now are direct results of decisions she thought were right. but i doubt that she’ll ever realize that

An explanation of Kamilah’s art exhibit for anyone interested

THE PERSISTENCE OF CONCEPTION A REVERIE is a work that explores the relationship between gender politics, copycat violence, and the protective shells we find ourselves in as we grow, mature and search for meaning. 

With Influences as diverse as Caravaggio, Francis Bacon and Miles Davis, new variations are distilled from both mundane and transcendent structures.

Ever Since she was a young woman KAMILAH has been fascinated by the unrelenting divergence of the moment. What starts out as hope soon becomes corroded into a carnival of lust leaving only a sense of failing and the unlikelihood of a new beginning or a satisfying ending.

As momentary replicas become distorted through divergent and repetitive practice, the viewer asks which came first? KAMILAH or her ART?

Ok. Now that I’ve had a bit to process everything that happened (and, more importantly, what DID NOT happen), here are my thoughts: 

Narrative Structure 

As many have already said, this is the weakest episode of the season, possible even the series as a whole. I thought for a moment that this was due to the now fatigued structure that the show has been using lately, wherein the main cast is separated into two distinct storylines, only to come back together at the end. While I do grow weary of this structure (perhaps because the best episodes are usually those that have the whole case working as a collective unit, rather than as disparate parts) I’m not convinced that this is what’s holding this particular episode back. There are good episodes where the characters are upholding their separate storylines, and by and large the show does a good job retaining cohesiveness even when their characters are off doing their own thing. However, the ending for this episode goes too far in merging Tahani’s and Eleanor’s storylines, as if the writers, reminded of the clock, have to swoop in and say HEY LOOK THEY’RE FORGIVING THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS! THEY’RE SO SIMILAR! Doing this cancels out the complications that deserve to be ironed out by each character, all for the sake of wrapping a neat bow on the episode and - chunkily - moving the larger arc along. On that note...

The “Evolved” Villain 

We’ve known from the very beginning that Tahani’s and Eleanor’s primary struggles were borne from complicated relationships with their family members. These were driving points for each of the characters, and it stands to reason that their road to redemption would involve dealing with - and finding absolution from - their family. We’ve had three seasons of flashbacks with Kamilah and Eleanor’s mother - three seasons of trauma, abuse, and neglect that have significant implications for our main characters. In each of these flashbacks there was a resounding message for the viewer: these are shitty people whose selfishness made life hell for both Tahani and Eleanor. At no point was it suggested that a) Maybe we didn’t have the whole story, or that we were working with a skewed pov (granted, neither Tahani nor Eleanor are unbiased, but the memories themselves were framed in a way that suggested authenticity); or b) that Kamilah and/or Donna were actually people capable of humility or regret or even love. 

My absolute favorite trope is the “villain with a secret heart of gold,” and yet neither of these characters were ever framed as such until this episode. I would have LOVED to have seen Kamilah struggling briefly to also win her parent’s approval, and yet what we were given for 3 seasons was Tahani’s selfish and favored sister - one who never had to try to win her parents’ approval, as it was already offered to her from moment one. I would have LOVED, also, to have seen a glimpse of a Donna who regretted, even for a moment, how she was raising her daughter, or the choices she’d made in her own life that led to such constant emotional abuse, but, again, we were never offered that, in any of the multiple flashbacks over the last 3 seasons. While I love a good complicated villain in other shows, I was absolutely satisfied with these iterations. They were pure uncomplicated images of the selfishness and ego that Tahani and Eleanor had to remove themselves from, and the journeys that both of these characters had to make to do so were all the more impressive and endearing. This episode’s attempt to infuse empathy into Kamila and Donna is not only lazy storytelling, but it risks diminishing the burdens that have allowed Tahani and Eleanor to evolve and mature and grow. I’m glad that both characters have forgiven their pasts (that was inevitable, given the constraints of the show), but did the methods that were used to do this have to deflate the very real pains that were a direct byproduct of Kamila’s and Donna’s selfishness? Speaking of...

The Confrontational Payoff 

It’s no secret that most viewers - including myself - have been looking forward to the moment that Tahani and Eleanor confronted head-on the sources of so much pain in their lives. Regardless of how much they’ve grown as ethical people, we still wanted the pay off of seeing Tahani and Eleanor face their family members, to unload some of the emotional weight that they carried into the afterlife. This episode is frustratingly reluctant to follow through with these confrontations. Tahani has several short, angry conversations with her sister, but they are no different than the ones she’s already had with her in flashbacks; they are charged with what we assume is very real hurt, and yet Kamila’s pithy dismissal, paired with Tahani’s immature (though understandable) attack on Kamila’s art, sacrifices the scenes’ emotional weight. While Eleanor has a wonderful moment of rare emotional transparency (during which she relays just what is at the root of her residual anger with her mother) it is entirely diminished by the fact that Donna never actually hears any of it. In fact, the next scene is Eleanor apologizing to her mother for her actions, without at any point disclosing the authentic pain behind those actions. And thus Donna – a woman who has treated Eleanor with, at best neglect, at worst abuse – is never once entreated to acknowledge the pain that she has caused. 

With these two scenes in mind, I’m realizing that this particular episode may be hindered by an overly simplistic definition of goodness – startling considering the show’s adaptability at handling such themes in previous episodes. The characters’ motivations are driven by the desire to bring more people into the Good Place, and one way that they’re doing this is by offering forgiveness to those who have caused them pain. And yet isn’t this motivation skipping a very important step? Yes, to be forgiven for one’s past actions is a step toward recognizing that one is worthy of forgiveness, and, by extension, redemption. And yet isn’t it just as essential to acknowledge fully the shitty things we’ve done? If we’re not made aware of our own mistakes, isn’t it a damaging presumption to assume that we won’t make those same mistakes again? We get a nod to this with Donna’s hidden cache – clearly, she’s still holding on to her old ways – and yet instead of taking this moment for Eleanor to communicate the very real damage that will happen if Donna leaves, as evidenced by the damage that she caused Eleanor previously – the show blithely steps over it to assure Donna that, yes, she needs to do better, and that she can continue to do so by taking care of the –new- daughter that she abandoned her own daughter for. A move that apparently everyone is…cool with now? The show missteps by assuming that, just because we want someone who hurt us in the past to improve themselves, it doesn’t mean that confrontation in and of itself is a bad thing, or that confrontation can’t be done in a way that isn’t healthy and mature. It’s hilarious to see Tahani wielding an axe or throwing eggs at a painting, or seeing our bisexual icon walking around with a knife and threatening stuffed animals. And yet the writers seem to suggest that such childish demonstrations are evidence that neither woman is capable of initiating a confrontation that isn’t damaging or volatile. And thus they skip over it, choosing instead to skip to the end and have them forgive their enemies for no real reason except that the episode is wrapping up.

Michael the Unhelpful

I’ll confess that I’m biased a bit with Michael, as he’s probably my favorite character next to Janet. I’ve already mentioned my preferred trope of “villain trying to be better,” and Michael easily fits into the slot (usually). I was very excited about this episode, not only because I love seeing Ted Danson and Kristen Bell playing opposite each other, but also because this was the first time this season that Eleanor and Michael have the opportunity to rekindle the friendship and camaraderie that was so evident in the first two seasons. Out of all the humans in his charge, I think that Michael has learned the most from Eleanor over the course of the show, perhaps in part because it is Eleanor who seems the most capable of understanding (and even appreciating) the demony/unethical side of things, and as such was the one who almost always cracked Michael’s plans. They have had several heart-to-heart conversations in the past, and even though Eleanor herself wouldn’t remember them, their companionship in each timeline continues to be one of the most consistent themes of the show. This week’s Michael was, in my opinion, not the same Michael of previous episodes. While the architect lovefest was cute (“what a strange way to say something normal!”), Michael’s interactions with Eleanor felt uncharacteristically impersonal (again, this is in comparison to previous episodes and how Ted and Kristen typically interact, even at the beginning stages of each timeline). Michael consistently failed to support Eleanor’s very real (see above) frustrations with her mother, choosing instead to side with Donna in pretty much all matters. Now, Michael’s knowledge of humans is admittedly limited, which he’s acknowledged himself, but one thing he does know quite well is Eleanor, particularly the degree to which Eleanor is capable of developmental growth and maturity. Even if he’s not as well versed at detecting the complicated emotions behind all human emotions (for instance, anger, envy, betrayal) it’s uncharacteristic of Michael to not give Eleanor – the actual human in this scenario – the support that she clearly needs. Not only does he repeatedly rebuff what Eleanor is going through in an “oh, you silly human” kind of way, but he also adamantly supports Donna, as if Donna’s current happiness was not at the expense of Eleanor’s own happiness. As a character, Michael tends to lean toward playing Devil’s Advocate (pun intended) but the degree to which he withholds support from someone whom he cares for (and who has supported him repeatedly in previous timelines) is a deviation too far. Even if he doesn’t fully comprehend the source of Eleanor’s emotions, he has known her long enough to trust when she is dealing with something real, and when he needs to offer the same support that she has given him in the past. 

(On a final note, while I wasn’t a fan of the “father figure” lines – Eleanor is not a child, nor someone who needs or would appreciate someone filling this role – I can understand why Michael tries it on for size. He’s a demon figuring out human relationships and, given their age difference, he might be compelled to try it out. It didn’t work, obviously (thank goodness the writers got that right), but the real problem here is that the episode doesn’t allow him to naturally try out another role – say, friend or otherwise – in an attempt to help Eleanor. Given Michael’s curiosity, it’s simplistic to assume that he wouldn’t try out a few different human roles just because the first one didn’t work).