S3E10 "Janet(s)"
The episode begins with the group's arrival in Janet's void, and it brings with it a wonderful twist, the humans all appear as Janet. D'Arcy Carden has always been a standout performer in this series, and this episode gives her a wonderful opportunity to show us even more of her talents, as she acts like all of Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason. Not only this, but she is also "neutral Janet" later in the episode.
Michael and Janet take a visit to the accounting office, where they discover how the system works. The episode makes good use of a running joke about how most new things that humans do are weird sex things. While they are there, they discover that no one has gotten into the good place in hundreds of years. This doesn't come as a very big surprise to us (I've seen many similar predictions across the Internet), but it does to Michael.
In the void, Eleanor confronts Chidi about their past relationship, and Chidi puts philosophy in the way of confronting his feelings. This shows a smart understanding of Chidi's character. D'Arcy Carden is enjoyable as the bickering Eleanor and Chidi, but her best impression here is Jason, who also discovers here that he and Janet were once married. That's a lot of developments packed into this episode.
As the episode ends, once again we head in a new direction. The humans are brought into the accounting office (where an alarm goes off, as, like Michael reminds them early in the episode, "Literally the entire universe is against you") and they run. There's a hilarious line where Jason volunteers to test an idea Michael has, which ends up taking the group to the good place. Eleanor's realization that this is, in fact, the good place is a wonderful way to end the episode, with the callback to her discovery in the season 1 finale.
This episode served as a brilliant bridge between the Earth-set part of the season and what comes next in these final 3 episodes of the season. It was also absolutely hilarious, with stellar performances by D'Arcy Carden and a wonderful visit to the accounting office. This episode entertained, and set the show in a clear direction going forward this season. Who knows what will happen when the show returns in January.
Score: 10/10
What did you think of "Janet(s)"? Leave your thoughts in the comments!