Am I the only one who was annoyed that...(SPOILERS)?

….Eleanor was the only one who passed the test (“The Burrito”)? Of the four people, she was clearly the worst person back on Earth. Admittedly, she’s improved herself quite a bit, but that’s because she had the furthest to go. Why does she get to be the sole winner in this story?

Now let’s look at the tests themselves:

Chidi was indecisive back on Earth, so here he’s asked to pick a hat and it takes him 82 minutes to do it. Clearly he hasn’t learned; I can at least see the logic there.

Tahani was asked to walk to a red door without stopping to listen to what other people in other rooms were saying about her. Her character flaw back on Earth was that she did things to impress others, not just to be good. Here, she weakens and has to hear what her parents thought about her. She should get some credit for ignoring all the others and only picking the two people whose opinions actually would matter to anyone. But no, since she gave in on one, she fails.

Eleanor is told she and Chidi passed the test but the others flunked and she has to choose whether to go to the Good Place without them. But she doesn’t really DO the right thing, so much as figure out what the right answer is supposed to be. It’s like passing a test not because you had the knowledge but because you figured out the pattern of the multiple choice answers and thus filled them in correctly. It didn’t address her moral character so much as her deductive reasoning. For that, she wins eternal bliss while the others get damnation?

I saved Jason for last because his test was without a doubt the worst of the four. It made no sense whatsoever. He was asked to play Madden Football but against his beloved Jaguars. He plays the game and wins per the judge’s instructions. But then he is told that the game was irrelevant – he should have opted not to play. Huh? The classic “opt not to participate” solution is when you’re asked to do something immoral – like vote on who lives or dies is a situation where food or water is limited. You opt not to participate on the basis that if no one votes, no decision can be reached. There’s nothing immoral or evil about having to play against your favorite team – especially in a video game. Why should he refuse to play? He was just taking the test the judge gave him. (And please don’t give me the “just following orders” crap; again he was doing nothing wrong and harming no one so following orders was perfectly okay.) Think about it. By her logic, if he had whined like a spoiled child and said, “Well, if I can’t be the Jaguars, I won’t play,” he would have passed the test! Do that make sense to you, because it sure doesn’t to me!

So that’s my complaints about the episode. But, overall it was actually quite good, fast paced with good lines and an interesting plot. I loved Maya Rudolph playing the judge and the Michael and Janet story was just great; I never saw that twist coming. Brilliant. Since this show is so complex, it’s possible that maybe we’ll find out these tests were phony and something else is coming that will be the genuine test. I hope so, anyway.