Published October 17, 2023

“The Good Place” always gets me through rough patches. Even Tuesdays, which as you may know, are one aspect of the dot over the i in the complicated timeline known as Jeremy Bearimy.

Tuesday is my Sunday, which makes this even more complicated. But let’s put that aside for the time being. Now, where were we? Oh, right: dotting a complex part of Jeremy Bearimy.

For those who haven’t seen the show (and maybe for those who’d enjoy this flashback):

Instead of a flashback, I started to call it a trip back in time. But then I realized it’s a trip back in time upon trips back in time, and that’s only a piece of it. I wouldn’t know how to explain it in a way that isn’t confusing. To quote Eleanor:

“How can events happen before the ones that happened … before?”

But Chidi, quite often in the series, is me. In so many ways. Including the stomach aches. And in this scene, his best line is a variation of something I’ve said more than a few times these past few years.

This broke me. The dot … over the i. That broke me. I’m … I’m done.”

Somehow, I’ve managed to keep going. “The Good Place” gets some of the credit for that. If I posted every time a line or scene delighted or moved me, I’d have little time for much else. That would be true even if I limited it to Janet scenes.

Now, back to Tuesday being my Sunday. This being Tuesday night, I’m grappling with Sunday night syndrome, the Sunday night blues, the Sunday scaries, or whatever you want to call them. It’s all about bleeding into Monday-itis, which I think needs no explanation.

I’ll only point out that there is more than one i to dot in Monday-itis.

And to end this on what I think is a more positive note compared to the recent posts about brokenness and death and nightmares, I offer my favorite scene from the series. It offers a Buddhist conception of death that I prefer to all of the scary imagery from my Catholic youth. I’m all stocked up on guilt and shame and fear of eternal damnation, thank you. I also don’t need any more lectures about hell. I’ve lived it.

Oh, and …

… you maybe shouldn’t watch this one if you’ve never seen the series but plan on watching it from start to finish.

“Spoiler alert” image by karen roach via Shutterstock.