Corrected entry: At the very beginning of the episode, we are treated to Michael's memory of being an Architect and being given his first assignment. At first, they use ambiguous language that doesn't specify whether the memory is taking place in the Good Place or the Bad Place (although no demon in this show would be as nice as Dave was). At the end of the memory, Michael looks to a restricted area with a sign reading "Architects Only", indicating this is the good place. Now we all know Michael is NOT an Architect, but he has a memory of being one. We also know that this is not a deception, as the scene takes place entirely in Michael's head and is not a story he's telling humans. (00:00:01 - 00:01:10)
Corrected entry: In this episode we learn that to earn points Eleanor needs to have the correct motivation, and doing good things so that she can get into the good place is having corrupt motivations. However when we meet Doug in a later episode he's shown to be a "model human" yet everything he does is so that he doesn't go to the bad place. This doesn't make sense, as his motivations should be corrupt by knowing about the good place at all.
Correction: I disagree, I think that because his theories weren't confirmed, he has the same chance of getting in as anyone else. There are plenty of other people that do good things because they want better treatment in the afterlife.
The episode makes it clear that Doug is convinced his theory is correct and he even says something along the lines of "I need to do good to get into the good place" (not a direct quote). To Doug his theory is confirmed and that should be enough to corrupt his motivations.
I agree. Doug's motivations for doing good things, are based on the belief that doing good things gets him into the good place. But that's all it is, a belief. Eleanor actually knows the truth and it's only after death, and after the fear of eternal torture, that she tries to be a better person. As for Doug's point total, I think he was so focused on not losing points that he became a passive hermit who rarely did anything. And by not doing anything, there were very few options to earn points.
Correction: Which explains why, as we later find out, his point total is nowhere near good enough to reach the Good Place. His good deeds are offset by his corrupted motivations.
That's not what happened at all. His good deeds aren't off-set by corrupt motivations, they're off-set by unintended consequences of good actions, which is why nobody was getting into the Good Place. Doing a good thing, like buying flowers for a loved one gave the expected positive points, but earned negative points for everything associated with the farming, raising, and selling of the flower.
No, Shaun said that because the good place was impossible to get in and it even said no-one arrived at the good place in 500 years.
Correction: The reason Eleanor's motivation is corrupt and not Doug's is because Eleanor was already dead, and knew definitely of the consequences. Though Doug's theory was correct he had no way of knowing what would truly happen if he didn't do good. It is the same with other religions, though Doug was correct in his theory, it still was only a theory that could not be proven. He went to Doug because he knew for certain Doug would be the one person on Earth whose points should have been extremely high.
Corrected entry: Michael was said to be speaking Nigerian as he lives there (their languages are translated to their native tongue). In season 1 episode 7 Michael is living in the US, speaking English as a professor.
Correction: This mistake is all sorts of wrong. 1. It's Chidi, not Michael. Michael is the architect. 2. Chidi says he is speaking French, not Nigerian. 3. Chidi was a professor in Australia, not the US. But he also taught in Paris. But Eleanor isn't the politest of people, so she is amazed at his English for not being an American. That's when he says he's speaking French, which is his native language. The fact he spoke other languages on Earth is irrelevant.
Correction: Michael was in fact promoted to Architect. Both the Bad Place and the Good Place have Architects. There was no deception in the fact that this was Michael's first neighborhood that he created after being promoted, it was just a Bad Place neighborhood. And they have shown demons being polite to each other at times.
Bishop73