In The Good Place, Mike Schur and his writing team managed to do something truly rare in sitcom history, make philosophy hilarious, ethics emotional, and even bad writing brilliantly funny. But in one standout episode, namely, A Chip Driver Mystery, the show went from clever to genius.
When the character Brent, a self-absorbed, entitled dude with all the worst traits of mediocre confidence, pens a painfully cliche detective novel, the satire hits peak brilliance.
The scene is a perfect roast of how certain men write women in fiction. It’s awkward, exaggerated, and somehow still feels too real. Schur doesn’t only poke fun, he exposes the weirdly persistent tropes that plague female characters in male-authored stories, and turns Brent’s oblivious sexism into one of the sharpest moments in the show that is very rarely seen on TV.
This is how The Good Place roasts how men write women, perfectly!!
Brent’s fictional masterpiece “Six Feet Under Par” is one of the most cringe-inducing pieces of writing ever shown on TV, and that’s entirely the point. His “novel” is a buffet of tired, sexist tropes, where women are reduced to walking metaphors and men solve mysteries in seconds.
His idea of describing a woman’s beauty it’s meant to be bad, sure, but it’s the kind of bad that hits uncomfortably close to real books and movies out there. Like the quote,
Chip gazed at the sexy outline of the murder victim on the floor. ‘What a waste of curves,’ he growled. He checked his Rolex watch, which was real. It was almost golf o’clock, so the case would have to wait. Good thing he’d already solved it.
But what makes it work isn’t just how bad the writing is; it’s how perfectly it reflects a very real phenomenon: men writing women as objects of fascination, not characters.
Mike Schur and the writers pull off a razor-sharp satire, not just making fun of bad writing, but also spotlighting how often women in media are written through a fog of clueless male fantasy.
Brent’s story is so obviously wrong, it becomes a mirror for viewers to reflect on how often they’ve read or watched something similar without realizing it. It’s clever, it’s brutal, and it’s totally on brand for a show that makes you laugh and think in equal measure.
Why Mike Schur is a genius, and why Simone’s reaction matters
For those who might be a bit confused, here’s a quick refresher. As part of an experiment to prove that everyone can become good after leaving Earth behind, the Bad Place selected certain people to participate. Brent and Simone are both part of this experiment, meant to help each other grow and save one another from eternal damnation.
In this episode, Eleanor knows Brent, who has presented the gang with his god awful boof, is a lost cause and, with Michael, has been doing their best to patch things up. Simone, on the other hand, has no idea she’s part of an experiment. All she knows is that if this really is “the Good Place,” she shouldn’t have to deal with Brent’s nonsense at all.
While Brent gets roasted for his writing, the bigger question that lingers in the background in the episode is, is it Simone’s job to help him grow? The answer, in true The Good Place fashion, is both thoughtful and complicated.
Like she isn’t Chidi, but that doesn’t mean she is wrong…Simone is smart, patient, and capable, but that doesn’t mean she owes emotional labor to every clueless man she meets. Her reactions to Brent are justified. She doesn’t boo him just to be mean, she’s holding him accountable, and refusing to coddle his ego.
What’s brilliant is how the show resists turning her into the “magical woman of color who fixes the flawed white guy.” Instead, her growth isn’t tied to whether he becomes better, it’s about how she stays true to herself in the face of frustrating nonsense.
The audience might cheer when Brent finally shows a glimmer of change, but the real win is when Simone doesn’t let his journey define hers. If he does improve, great, but it’s on him, not her, to do the work.
Mike Schur’s genius writing shines here because it doesn’t pretend that emotional maturity is free. If Brent evolves, it’ll be a satisfying moment, but it won’t be because Simone “softened” or “forgave” him into it. That’s not her role. Her strength lies in knowing when to walk away, and that is a lesson a lot of Brents could stand to learn.
The Good Place is now available to stream on Peacock (USA).
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