Saying “Goodbye” to “The Good Place”
Last week, one of television’s best series wrapped up its run after four brilliant, boundary-pushing, and utterly bizarre seasons. Its final hour was a moving hour of television that should be remembered come Emmy time.
[Author’s Note: The following article is spoiler heavy. If you have not seen the finale — or the series — and intend to, I encourage you to bookmark the article and revisit to it after you have.]
So imagine you’re a television executive whose career depends on keeping advertisement-sustained broadcast networks profitable and relevant in the streaming era. A creator comes to you and says:
“Hear me out, I have this idea for a single camera sitcom about what happens to you when you die. It will follow four very unlikeable people — one is an amoral white trash boozer from Arizona, one is a dim-witted Filipino criminal from Florida, one is an aristocratic Brit of Indian descent who rubs elbows with the rich and famous, and the other is a profoundly uptight moral philosophy professor from Senegal. There’s also two other characters. One is a Hell-dwelling demon who assumes human form to torture people and the other is an otherworldly being/supercomputer who contains all the knowledge of the universe and gradually develops emotional capabilities after she is destroyed and rebooted countless times.
Are you still with me? OK, so the plot will radically shift every few episodes as new revelations occur, but a strong through-line of the series will be extensive discussions of moral philosophy coupled with wacky humor and elements of satire. I promise, it will be funny. Well the finale won’t be that funny. In the finale, the majority of the characters will leave each other as they voluntarily do a death walk into an unknown dimension.
What? Who will star in it? Hmmm I’m thinking that perky girl who did Anna’s voice from ‘Frozen’ and the charming bartender from ‘Cheers.’”
It’s hard to imagine the creator would not get laughed out of the room by the executive, right? Yet, somehow, The Good Place made it to air on NBC and stayed there for four glorious seasons. One week ago today, the show signed off after 53 episodes (or chapters as the show called them). It capped off with a double episode that was deeply moving and provided a fitting end by remaining as surprising and bizarre as any episode that came before it.
A Brief History of “The Good Place”
After producing The Office and co-creating Parks and Recreation, both long-running hits and award winners for their parent network NBC, it seems as though Michael Schur was reportedly given carte blanche by the network brass to do whatever he wanted for his next series. The result is this delightfully weird sitcom that is one of the strangest things ever to make it to network television. It is remarkably high concept, as it crams debates about moral philosophy, rich character development, emotional heft, dazzling visual effects, colorful art direction, an onslaught of puns, and rich cultural satire into nearly episode.
The show follows Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell of Frozen and Veronica Mars), a morally bankrupt woman from Arizona who dies in a freak accident and awakens to find herself being greeted by a man named Michael (Ted Danson of Cheers, Fargo, CSI, Becker, and Three Men and a Baby) who assures her that “everything is fine.” She is dead but she has made it to “The Good Place” (presumably heaven). She quickly realizes she doesn’t belong, especially when she meets the other residents: her “soul mate” Chidi Anagonye (William Jackson Harper), a moral philosophy professor from Senegal who devotes his life to living ethically; her neighbor Tahani (Jameela Jamil), a British socialate who has raised mind-blowing amounts of money for deserving charities; and Tahani’s “soul mate” Jianyu Li (Manny Jacinto), a Buddhist monk who has taken a vow of silence. Their stay in “The Good Place” is aided by supercomputer/deity Janet (D’Arcy Carden) who can instantly answer any question they have or produce any material object they desire.
But it quickly becomes clear that something is amiss. What follows from the exceptional pilot is dozens of twist-filled episodes where we learn that they are actually in the “Bad Place” (an experimental version created by Michael), they strive to earn positions in the real “Good Place,” and then eventually end up overhauling the whole corrupt system. Throughout the journey they tackle complex philosophical questions regarding what it means to be a good person in an increasingly complex social world, whether people should be judged on how they act or their capacity to change if provided the opportunity, and what exactly it is that motivates people to change.
Despite the heavy themes of death and morality the show is never maudlin or pretentious. It is kept charming, relatable, and hilarious by a brilliant group of writers headed by Schur that is not afraid to follow their weirdest impulses or their most cutting observation. Something this ambitious and off-kilter obviously misses the mark at times, with jokes that don’t land, subplots that don’t engage, and episodes that strike an awkward balance between the juvenile and the cerebral. But it never strays too far or too long from excellence.
The cast deserves as much credit as the writers for keeping things grounded. Kristen Bell is note-perfect as wise-cracking cynic Eleanor who slowly comes to realize that she is capable — and worthy—of love. Nearly matching her is the absolutely marvelous Jameela Jamil, whose precise line readings, nonverbal expressions, and innate elegance make Tahani the most interesting and funniest character in many episodes. (Seriously, if she doesn’t become a big star after this, there is no justice.) William Jackson Harper nails the “academic constantly on the verge of a panic attack” comic persona required for Chidi but is even better when he is allowed to show heart and vulnerability. Manny Jacinto is given the show’s silliest and least substantive character, but he nails even the most absurd, crass, and eye-rolling material. Much of the critical praise has gone to Ted Danson, whose Michael starts out as an amusing but largely peripheral and uninteresting character but quickly becomes one of the show’s central figures as he integrates himself with the group and tries to realize his own destiny. (And there are few things funnier than his razor-sharp observations regarding the absurdity and mundaneness of human existence.) Similarly, Janet starts off as a one-note joke generator but as she starts to develop emotions, D’Arcy Carden does remarkably nuanced work. And the vast array of recurring characters is an utter delight, with Maribeth Monroe (“Medium Place” resident Mindy St. Claire), Maya Rudolph (the supreme judge), Adam Scott (smarmy demon Trevor), and Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Chidi’s temporary love interest Simone) being the most memorable.
The Good Place was never a particularly big hit, as it never finished a season higher than #77 in the ratings. It was also not an instant hit at the Emmys considering it that only in its third season did it score a nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series. (Ted Danson and Maya Rudolph were both nominated for the second and third seasons, though.) Nevertheless, each season received near unanimous critical praise and the show developed a huge cult following.
Review of the Series Finale
After so many plot twists and turns, so many deep philosophical explorations, and such astonishing character development, how could The Good Place possibly have an ending that was both intellectually and emotionally satisfying? That was the thought on my skeptical mind as I sat down to watch the supersized 53-minute finale last Thursday. But the show defied my expectations in a delightful way, just it had consistently for the prior 51 chapters.
In the penultimate episode, the gang finally arrived at the real Good Place and discovered that its inhabitants had turned into “Happiness Zombies.” Apparently living in paradise for all eternity gets old after a while and eventually it loses its luster, causing people’s brains to go to mush. Suddenly, Eleanor is reminded of a prior philosophical discussion and reminds the group that life is only meaningful because you know it won’t last forever. Thus the Good Place is utopian not because it is eternal, but because it gives you a chance to get everything you ever wanted and to enjoy it … until you’re satiated.
What follows is a wrenching finale in which the gang one by one becomes satiated. The new afterlife system they have concocted resulted in all of their loved ones eventually making it to the Good Place after being given the necessary guidance and opportunities to become better people. They were thus able to get everything they ever wanted with the people they love. Jason is the first to go, prompting a tearful goodbye with Janet. Tahani then leaves, not to the afterlife but to join the otherworldly architects. Chidi is up next and his separation from Eleanor is truly wrenching. Eleanor wishes she was ready but she’s just not. At least she isn’t until she convinces the Judge to make Michael’s dream of becoming human come true and permanently disaffected “Medium Place” resident Mindy St. Claire to come to the Good Place. Finally ready to go, she enters into the unknown. As she does, pieces of her soul drift down to earth and manage to reach a knowing Michael who utters one of his favorite human expressions, “Take it sleazy!”
In the week that has passed since I watched the finale, my affection and respect for it has grown much deeper. At the time I was bowled over by its ambition and fully realized vision but had trouble taking it all in. In the days since, I have had trouble shaking it from my mind and have repeatedly revisited its profound themes and moments moments of piercing emotion.
Even in the era of “Peak TV,” when emerging streaming platforms provide outlets for bold and innovative program that would never have made it to air in previous decades, The Good Place is something very unique and special. The fact that it aired on a broadcast network and lasted as long as it did makes it something of a miracle.
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Check out other articles about television by this author covering the shows Schitt’s Creek, Friends, Will & Grace, Murphy Brown, and Ellen