Chapter 37: The Book Of Dougs

## The Book Of Dougs

**Chapter 37: The Book Of Dougs** is the 11th episode of Season 3 of *The Good Place*.

## Plot

Michael presents his case to the Good Place Committee; Chidi tries to calm Eleanor down; Tahani struggles to help Jason and Janet.

## Summary

The Soul Squad has arrived in the post office of the Good Place. To avoid arousing suspicion from the worker Gwendolyn, Michael poses as an accountant, has Janet disguise herself as a Neutral Janet, and claims the four humans have won a contest. Being gullible, Gwendolyn immediately believes it and tells Michael how he can contact The Committee to address the issue on his mind.

Eleanor is determined to get out of the post office, but humans can only get to the Good Place through the official gateway. Chidi gets her to calm down and suggests they just enjoy the moment. They go on their first official date, drinking, bonding and enjoying their time together.

Meanwhile, Jason and Tahani discuss what they found out in Janet's void. Jason's not sure how he feels about Janet, and Tahani pushes him to talk to her about it directly. That backfires, though, when Janet gets embarrassed and confused by all these emotions she's suddenly feeling and she is having a hard time keeping up her Neutral Janet facade, feeling stressed and emotionally on edge. Tahani tries to help by making a divorce "Death Did Us Part" certificate for herself and Jason but it only makes them both feel worse, as Jason is reminded of the fact that he's dead and Janet is reminded of the fact that she essentially killed her friends.

Michael meets with The Committee, a group of kind, considerate, and polite angelic beings. He pleads his case to them, stating that he's certain the Bad Place has hacked the system somehow, hence why no human has gotten into the Good Place in 521 years. While the angels admit there have been dips in new humans admitted to the Good Place before (such as the time they were all stabbing each other), they've seen nothing of this scale and promise to take immediate action. However, immediate action for them would take centuries, if not millennia, just to form their investigative team. Michael reiterates the issue is extremely urgent and in that time, countless innocent humans are going to be undeservedly tortured. However, the angels state they absolutely will not break the rules and will follow them to the exact letter.

As Michael sulks in disappointment at yet another possible solution turning out to be a letdown, Tahani vents to him about how her genuine attempts to help Jason and Janet only makes everything worse for everyone. As she laments over the unintended consequences of her actions, Michael hits upon a realization and he figures out what the problem with the point system is. Looking through the Book of Dougs, Michael sees that the points system also counts the positive and negative consequences of every action, and with the modern world being so interconnected, this means even the smallest and most well-meaning of actions can have multiple harmful and far-reaching ramifications causing harm to other people or benefiting a bad person in some way. The Bad Place never had to hack the system because the system itself was flawed to begin with.

Tahani apologizes to Janet and lets her know she just wants to help. Janet breaks down and tearfully hugs Tahani, admitting that she feels conflicted in her feelings for Jason, who starts crying to join in even though he has no idea what's going on. Gwendolyn sees the three of them crying and quickly becomes suspicious, which is worsened when Eleanor bursts out of a closet with Chidi to loudly and crudely announce they just had sex. Gwendolyn is hurt that they lied to her and tries to angrily shake her fist at Michael but can't make a fist, informing him that she will have to turn him over to the Judge. Michael replies that he already has contacted her. The Doorman then appears, telling the Soul Squad that they will be meeting with the Judge at the Interdimensional Hole of Pancakes.

## Cast

Kristen Bell as **Eleanor Shellstrop**
William Jackson Harper as **Chidi Anagonye**
Jameela Jamil as **Tahani Al-Jamil**
D'Arcy Carden as **Janet**
Manny Jacinto as **Jason Mendoza**
**and** Ted Danson as **Michael**
**Recurring Cast**

Mike O'Malley as **Jeff The Doorman**
**Guest Starring**

Nicole Byer as **Gwendolyn**
Paul Scheer as **Chuck**
Dana Powell as **Paula**
Phil Augusta Jackson as **Kellen**
**Co-Starring**

Takato Yonemoto as **Daisuke**
Tatiana Carr as **Meg**
Denise Sanchez as **Andie**
## Trivia

* The original title of this episode was Four Oreos, referencing how far away they were from The Good Place, but it was changed to the current title The Book of Dougs.
* Tahani's "Death Did Us Part" certificate reads, "Be it known to all present and former suitors that Tahani Al-Jamil and Jason Mendoza have successfully died and as such all agreements to marriage and monogamy are null and void" with the print under her signature reading "Dead Tahani Al-Jamil"
* After the airing of this episode, *New York* magazine writer Jen Chaney opined that the Good Place Committee appeared to be parodies of Democrats in their obsession with being decent over taking any actual action. Schur confirmed this allusion in a later interview, explaining their portrayal as having good beliefs but all too willing to concede to the other side's demands reflects his own frustration with the modern Democratic Party's apparent desire to maintain the moral high ground without making any progress.

## References

1. ↑ Chaney, Jen. "What *The Good Place* Teaches Us About Politics." Vulture.
2. ↑ Wright, Catherine. "‘The Good Place’ Creator Says They Were Parodying Liberals with The Good Place Committee." *Showbiz Cheatsheet*.