🎙️🌌 John returns to the moral playground for The Good Place — Season 4, Episode 12: “Patty.” The episode brings a surprise guest: Hypatia of Alexandria — who insists everyone call her “Patty” (played by Lisa Kudrow) — and quickly turns into a bittersweet lesson in why endless perfection can hollow out meaning. When Chidi excitedly tries to quiz Patty on philosophy, he finds her distracted, muddled, and oddly incapable of deep thought (stardust milkshakes and Good Place leisure have turned her into a pleasant, fuzzy version of herself). That slow cognitive slide forces the group to confront a terrifying possibility: give humans eternal comfort and they lose the urgency that makes life meaningful.
John breaks down why “Patty” works as the penultimate turning point — Lisa Kudrow’s performance is both comic and quietly heartbreaking, the episode reframes the season’s moral problem in human terms, and it sets up the finale’s emotional payoff. Tune in as John ranks “Patty” on the Sitcom Rankings, highlights the standout beats (Patty’s oddball charm, Chidi’s desperate questions, and Michael’s leadership growth), and asks: does this episode make the show’s big idea land — or merely tease the answer?
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