The Jason And Tahani Scene In The Good Place That Means More Than You Think
On "The Good Place," Jason Mendoza (Manny Jacinto) and Tahani Al-Jamil (Jameela Jamil) couldn't be more opposite: Jason is an unemployed DJ from Florida, while Tahani is a rich socialite who knows countless famous people. He's all jalapeño poppers, Molotov cocktails, and extremely poor decision making, while she's extravagant party planning, fashionable dresses, and an unhealthy obsession with appearances.
Although they are originally paired as soulmates in their first foray into The Bad Place, disguised as The Good Place, it isn't until Season 2, Episode 4 that the two of them hook up and sleep together for the first time. While they both enjoy it, and continue to do so, Tahani doesn't want anyone to know about them, so they turn to couple's therapy with Janet (D'Arcy Carden) in the next episode. During a session, they come to an agreement that they'll keep the relationship secret for now — as long as Tahani grabs Jason's butt in public once a week. Then, they kiss ... and Janet spits up a frog.
Their relationship leads to a whole debacle when Janet gets jealous, due to her past marriage to Jason before his memory was erased, but the kiss scene actually has significance outside of the show.
Jamil's first ever on-screen kiss was with Manny Jacinto
At "The Good Place" Comic-Con panel in 2018, Jameela Jamil revealed that this scene has significance to her personally. She said, "Manny is my seventh kiss ever in this world," presumably meaning the seventh person she's ever kissed. She added that he's also her first-ever on-screen kiss, which tracks considering that "The Good Place" is her first official acting job.
With a bit of self-deprecation, Jamil added, "Even though he was contractually obliged to kiss me on camera, I still counted it in my number." She also claimed later in the panel that she is also the seventh person Jacinto has kissed. At this, D'Arcy Carden and Kristen Bell were shocked, remarking that they've kissed so many more people than that.
As for Jason and Tahani, we don't know their numbers, but we do know that Jason's first kiss was with "the sexy mouse robot in the Chuck-E-Cheese band," as he says in the Season 2 episode "Derek." Unfortunately, at that moment in the show, he doesn't remember his most significant kiss — the one with Janet.