On The Good Place, Michael gives Eleanor special equipment so she can see some of the reboots, to demonstrate to her that she has had free will and constantly acted in ways that Michael couldn’t predict no matter how much he orchestrated. On the podcast, Elliot Goldberg and Jon Spira-Savett talk about (obviously) free will, and whether in Judaism and to us it’s more about philosophy or about how we experience our memories and our choices.

On The Good Place, Eleanor’s terrible mother Donna Shellstrop has become Diana Tremaine, suburban citizen and responsible almost-stepmom, and Eleanor tells her to let go of the last fears rooted in her past. On the podcast, Sari Laufer and Jon Spira-Savett wonder whether and how much change makes you truly different, and if you can call it teshuvah without explicit apology and repair.

On The Good Place, Michael reveals the whole system to the humans, as well as the Jeremy Bearimy, nonlinear reality of time in the afterlife. On the podcast, Marc Israel (new rabbi on the team!) helps Jon make room for the idea that teshuvah might require something different than a Maimonidean awareness of past experiences in sequence of which we are consciously aware. (Jon’s working title for the episode, before talking to Marc, had been: “Jeremy Is Jewish, Bearimy Not So Much?”)

On The Good Place, Chidi tries to break up with Simone without telling her the whole story, and Jason faces the facts about his father Donkey Doug but bends the truth to save Pillboi. On the podcast, Dan Ross and Jon Spira-Savett use the episode to explore the midrashic interpretation of “truth sprouts from the earth” and attempt to clarify an understanding of truth and lies.

On The Good Place, the group assembled in Australia is tested by Trevor’s efforts at sabotage and Eleanor’s frustration at sharing Chidi, and Michael and Janet come up with new ways to keep the four from leaving. On the podcast, Rebecca and Jon discuss how the group is a biblical threefold cord, something different from both pair relationships and a bigger community. We also explore the Jewish teaching about the absolute and equal value of lives even though people are so different, and how the characters are learning to believe that about each other and themselves.