goodbye to the good place
As it takes its final bow, we pay tribute to the unusual Affecting Alchemy of this tv comedy
The problem with The Good Place is you want to tell everyone to watch it but you can’t explain why. well, not without spoiling it almost entirely. A sitcom about the afterlife and moral philosophy that’s more Sartre than Seinfeld? Yeah, you heard us. but thankfully, this weird and wonderful show absolutely makes it work. The premise may start as “someone ends up in heaven who actually belongs in hell and antics ensue” but thanks to the performances, sharp writing and skilful world-building by creator michael Schur, The Good Place is one of the finest small-screen comedies in recent memory.
After years of writing and producing office-based comedies rooted in reality (Parks And Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-nine and The Office) science-fiction fan Schur wanted to try something different. he pitched American network NBC the concept of life as a video game where humans gain and lose points based on their actions. when they die those points totals determine whether they enter the Good place or the bad place — an afterlife based on ethics rather than religion. The show would examine what it means to be a good person through moral philosophy theories with humour, heart and the occasional fart joke. The network greenlit a 13-episode season and the smartest, dumbest show on television was born.
The multi-layered comedy follows four recently deceased humans who believe they have been sent to the Good place. The show opens with eleanor (Kristen bell) being inducted into the afterlife by benevolent neighbourhood architect michael (Ted Danson). eleanor realises there’s been a mistake and she’s definitely bad place material so sets out to become a better person and earn her right to stay in heaven. She enlists her afterlife soulmate, philosophy professor Chidi (william Jackson harper) to teach her how to be good. The pair are joined in utopia by glamourous philanthropist Tahani (Jameela Jamil), her dim-witted soulmate Jason (manny Jacinto) and all-knowing information-delivery system Janet (D’arcy Carden).
The Good Place delights in cliff-hangers and shock reveals, an unusual notion for a half-hour comedy. At the end of Season 1, the human quartet realise they are in the Bad Place and that Michael is not actually a kind angel but an immortal demon. We learn that the four humans were selected to torment each other for eternity but defied expectation by bonding. Early in Season 2 Michael repeatedly reboots the neighbourhood, resetting the memories of the humans to continue his torture experiment but the foursome always realise they’re being tricked. Michael eventually accepts he’s been selling humanity short and joins Chidi’s philosophy lessons to find out if goodness is something that can be taught.
The humour comes from the silliest of places and feels reminiscent of early seasons of The Simpsons. In The Good Place swear words are replaced by family-friendly euphemisms like “fork,” “shirt” and “ash-hole.” There is pun-heavy imagery in the candy-coloured neighbourhood which makes you want to pause every outdoor frame. When a shot of positive and negative scores for actions on Earth is shown, some of the negatives are hilariously relatable (telling a woman to smile is -53.83, using Facebook as a verb loses you 5.55 points). In the first iteration of the afterlife every shop sells frozen yogurt instead of ice cream because, as Michael says: “there’s something so human about taking something great and ruining it a little, so you can have more of it.”
A pacy, intelligently written, visually spectacular sitcom that’s begging to be binged, it’s no surprise The Good Place became a word-of-mouth Netflix hit. The six leads have believable chemistry, impeccable timing and effortlessly navigate tonal shifts from pratfalls to existentialism. They remind us that a family isn’t necessarily what we are born into but can be a group bonding over shared experience. The cast is ethnically diverse but their race is never an issue, it’s just who they are. The non-human members of the group, Michael and Janet, develop human characteristics and demonstrate there’s a capacity for decency in all of us. You find yourself falling in love with, and relating to, the characters which is great fun when they’re human but more disturbing when you find yourself identifying with a demon.
The Season 1 finale aired the night before Donald Trump’s inauguration and a GIF of Eleanor saying “we’re in the Bad Place” became the go-to meme to sum up the political landscape. But The Good Place provides welcome respite from the relentlessly grim news cycle by deliberately avoiding politics. The show also taps into the obsession humans have with mortality. As Eleanor says: “All humans are aware of death, so we’re all a little bit sad, all the time. That’s just the deal.”
The show can be viewed as a straightforward comedy, as a tale of redemption through human connection or just a wonderfully crafted story with a satisfying narrative arc. It’s a reminder that goodness and morality exist on a spectrum, no-one is wholly good or bad. And as TV shows go, The Good Place is pretty forking perfect. the good place is on netflix from sept 27