Response to Abi's Post

I will admit that I haven't really watched The Good Place, although I have seen a few episodes from early in the series. That being said, I did find those episodes funny and have been meaning to watch more. I remember the one who was supposed to be a silent monk and I think it is quite humorous that he's actually just some guy from Orlando. Your comment on how he was most concerned about being "too old to order from the kid's menu but too young to die" seemed to do a very good job of summarizing this character. He doesn't seem particularly bright but he also just seems to have a strange sense of priorities.
As for the second scene, this was the one I found the funniest. I'm very strong in my disdain for Christopher Columbus and it wouldn't shock me to know that he was in the "Bad Place" in real life. I also just found it funny how the robot piped up and told everyone that. It's also ironic that she said that given that they too are in the Bad Place (which I didn't know was how the story was going to progress). I agree with Abi that they used benign violation very well in this scene.
Eleanor was absolutely not going to get into the Good Place. She was a very bad person and I think her character is going to go through some interesting developments throughout the series. This scene summarizes that incongruous aspect to her character. Remembering one of her mother's lessons about always being able to chew through something as opposed to growing through it absolutely demonstrates her character. Nobody would really think of that as a lesson to teach their child but it shaped who Eleanor is.