The Good Place: Series Overview

This week's review is a mostly-spoiler-free recap of The Good Place -- the entire series. (All four seasons are currently on Netflix right now.)

Eleanor Shellstrop is dead, and is introduced into the Good Place. She's given a soul mate, a place to live for eternity, and anything she could possibly want. However, there's one small problem. Eleanor knows she's a terrible person, so she wonders how she could qualify for heaven. She learns early on that another woman named Eleanor Shellstrop -- same exact name -- died the exact same time as she did, only the other Eleanor got sent to the Bad Place.

So, Eleanor is a mess. She wants to stay in the Good Place, but she also knows the other Eleanor deserves her spot. She tries to hide the truth from Michael the caretaker, while at the same time trying to become a better person with lessons from her soulmate, who also happens to be a philosopher.

As the story continues, it surprises with believable continuations, a compelling over-arching plot through four entire seasons, and a very satisfying conclusion. Angels, demons, a magic robot, dead people everywhere, the Good Place, the Bad Place, and even a Middle Place make for a hilarious and intelligent heavenly comedy. It also comes with a heavy dose of philosophy (real philosophy -- but watered down) that makes you think while Eleanor totally breaks every philosophical concept.

The writing is tight, the music is hilarious, and the shots are all gorgeous. But what makes it all work are the six main characters.

Eleanor Shellstrop -- as I mentioned before is trying to stay in heaven. Sometimes she's known as Fake Eleanor.

Chidi Anagonye -- Eleanor's soulmate. He is a philosopher who studied how to be a good person his entire life. However, he is notorious for not knowing how to make decisions -- lest he make a bad one. He really wants to help Eleanor, but sometimes he thinks that she is just a terrible person beyond anyone's help.

Jason Mendoza -- a monk who has taken a vow of silence. Small spoiler near the beginning -- he's really in the same boat as Eleanor -- another case of mistaken identity -- he's not a monk, but really someone who loves video games, music, and crazy living. Possibly my favorite character of the whole series (most like me).

Tahani Al-Jamil -- a rich benefactor -- nearly perfect, and Jason's soulmate. You can imagine what happens when she learns who Jason really is. And she has her own baggage -- a family on Earth who never appreciated her.

Janet -- a magic robot thingy -- "I'm not a girl" -- she can conjure up whatever anyone desires. She can also answer any questions, such as what Mr. so-and-so is currently doing on Earth. There's also a Bad Janet -- same actress -- pretty funny stuff.

And last, but not least, Michael, the Caretaker. This is his first assignment, and his biggest desire is for it not to fall apart. He must often answer to his superior, but when things start going wrong, he starts worrying, and he tries to fix things before his superior comes to visit.

Lastly, I should mention that this shows currently earns an 8.1 on imdb.com. I believe it should be higher -- I think a lot of the more intelligent material and dialogue goes over a lot of heads, but there is plenty of Good Stuff for everyone. Michael Schur did an awesome job with this series. Some individual episodes are rated 9.5 or higher -- in particular the season finales.

I'm sad it came to an end, but the overall story is a good length, and well executed. So, give it a try, and enjoy it.

Trouble in Taos: A Visit to the West

Looking for a funny tale set in the west? I may have just the book for you. Trouble in Taos: Or the Lowdown, Dirtiest, Boring Gunfighter is a story of the most famous gunslinger from Taos, New Mexico. Turns out the city is real, but the gunslinger is fictional.

And I should mention -- the main reason I chose this book in the first place is because I'm actually in this book -- or at least a fictionalized version of me. I'm in there, somewhere, proselytizing to the drunks in the bar, chasing them away from drink. The author, Headley Hauser, did not ask me to review this, nor has he given me any freebies. He probably doesn't even know that I picked up a copy of his book after so many years!

When I review books of friends, I tend to limit myself to 4 stars out of 5 to help offset any natural bias I may have. But this time, I just enjoyed this book greatly. As a self-published book, it really stands out among its peers. I would give it 4.5 stars, which rounds up to 5 on Amazon.

In a way, this book reminds me of the movie, The Life of Brian. After a series of misunderstandings and coincidences, Slimy Beach becomes a notorious gunslinger. But all he wants to do is to excel at his real job: an outhouse digger -- and he is very good at his job. He knows exactly where to dig such that the people can't smell it from their house, and won't pollute any of the water sources. But dagnabit -- people keep trying to kill him!

The story is told by his long-time friend Walter Bego, who is an artist of some type. He's really good at woodworking, and a funny character by himself. He tells the tale from his 80s. Along the way, he mentions the things he's doing in the early 1900s -- getting used to the newer technology. He picks up a book called "Slimy Beach, the Tornado of Taos," which is complete trash, but nonetheless, Walter reads to us some excerpts, and then corrects practically everything in there -- he tells what really happened with his friend Slimy.

Hauser also throws in some actual history in there as well. Some other famous gunslingers make appearances. Taos, and (I'm surprised to learn) even several of the places in Taos are real. So, while you get in a funny story, you'll get in some history, too.

The book has a good mixture of action, humor, story-telling, and plot. It comes to a satisfying conclusion -- and also make sure to catch the funny forewords and epilogue material. Plenty of laughing out loud. And I really loved their horse -- it was definitely messed up.

Isle of Dogs

Who could pass up a quirky stop-motion animation by Wes Anderson? Not me! When I saw it come up on the one of our streaming services, I was quick to check it out.

After a deadly pandemic of canine flu, Mayor Kobayashi decrees that all dogs of the city must be moved to the nearby Trash Island. But what people don't know is that Kobayashi just hates dogs, like his father did, and his father, and so on back for generations. And now Kobayashi plans to create a no-win situation for all dogs and dog-lovers.

But then, Kobayashi's ward, Atari, enters the island in search of his own bodyguard dog. Five mutts help him along the way, all the time running from Kobayashi and his tech.

I was pulled in instantly with the Japanese music -- pretty intense -- and the overwhelming depiction of Japanese culture -- it almost felt like I were actually in Japan. I loved every minute of it.

Though -- a warning -- it does live up to its PG-13 rating. Though it looks kind of like a kid's movie, it may scare smaller kids. As you may tell from the trailer, the dogs are made to look really scrawny and suffering from malnutrition, so if you're a pet lover, it can certainly sadden you.

I love the movie's pace and dark humor. It's nearly difficult to predict what's coming next and Wes was really good at catching me off guard.

My only complaint ... in the title, the word "Isle" is on the Chinese character for "dog," and the word "dog" is on the "isle" character. My OCD goes bonkers every time I see it.

If you can find it, check it out. It was a pleasant surprise from 2018 -- something different, and I'm glad I caught it.

12 Monkeys -- The TV Show

After a Christmas hiatus, it's time for me to get back to my weekly reviews. This time, I'm finishing out the TV Show 12 Monkeys that I caught on the SyFy channel, which ran for four seasons and completed as planned in 2018. This overview will have minor spoilers, but nothing that bad.

Near the beginning of the show, I previously reported on the first four episodes. I complained that the show was different than the movie (still one of my faves). In the pilot episode when Cole scratches a watch from the past, that same watch in the present develops the very same scratch in front of a couple of witnesses. This cannot really happen in any kind of "real" time-travel situation -- there's no reason for "present" people to just now see a scratch form on a watch that had been there since the scratch was delivered in the past. This type of thing only makes sense in "Audience Time," or -- as the audience watches.

At first this was a disappointment and a gigantic departure from the movie, but as I reported before -- if you divorce the show from the movie, it actually becomes a good show on its own. The first few episodes were a little shaky, but then it gets really good.

The plot? Cole is sent back in time to try to save the world from dying from a dangerous plague. There he tries to meet up with Cassie, the scientist who originally sent the call for help -- though she hasn't done it yet. And along the way, they meet up with Jennifer Goines -- an insane girl who has a knack of accurately predicting the future. (She's basically the same character Brad Pitt played in the movie, if that helps.) Add in a lot of plot twists and interesting supporting characters and you get a fun show.

The first season closed out very strong and made me excited to watch for more. One new plot point introduced in this show is the concept of the Red Forest, which is some kind of time paradox meant to destroy the world.

Somewhere around the second season, the plot seemed to get weak to me. At least I think it was the second season -- when the time storms started threatening the 2040s time compound -- getting closer with each episode. Perhaps it was just me being a purist -- the idea of a "time" storm carrying itself out in "real time" just sounds stupid. The whole concept of "hurry up in the 1900s so we can save the 2040s" just doesn't work -- I'll let you think about this on your own as to why it doesn't work -- but then again, maybe not -- sure it's "Audience Time" and the writers are just trying to build tension -- maybe don't think about it that much. It was enough to make me temporarily stop watching, but something pulled me back -- something made me want to see how it all ended. Season 2 did have a very strong season closer.

I believe in the third season, things started coming back together and the heroes were making actual progress, and I was able to overlook the "Audience Time." The fourth and final season was very satisfying. I might go ahead and watch this show again. The plot is very convoluted, and that's probably what attracted me. In some cases, it really got the feels going.

I see that the whole show is available on Hulu -- so if you have that service, try it out. You just might like it.