That’s not very good
Eleanor’s got a bad feeling about her perfect new world.
Eleanor’s (Kristen Bell) secret is out in The Good Place (2016-current). She told her moral-compass soulmate Chidi (William Jackson Harper) that she should really have been sent to The Bad Place for her afterlife. And every time she messes up, chaos erupts, like in episode 2 (14 July) when giant shrimp float through the air. It has their neighbourhood’s architect Michael (Ted Danson) in tears, but the neighbourhood might have been broken long before Eleanor got there…
1 Whose idea of heaven? The Good Place is a utopia, right? It’s multicultural and multiracial, like Chidi, who was born in Nigeria and grew up in Senegal. So why does the town centre architecture look like cutesy smalltown middle USA meets bourgeois old Europe? It’s like a theme shopping mall.
All things aren’t equal. Why do some 2 people have customer service jobs like the people serving all that frozen yoghurt? And sure, everyone has a roof over their heads, but why are some
people living in mansions and some in a one-bedroom flat? That’s not fair… I scream, you scream, we all scream
3
for ice cream. Except there isn’t any. Instead, The Good Place is littered with frozen yoghurt stores (at least 5 in one street). In episode 6 (11 August), Michael admits that “it’s not quite as good as ice cream”. Can you get fat in the afterlife? If not, why not embrace the decadent full cream experience?
4 Fluffy doesn’t love you. In episode 1 (7 July) Michael kicked someone’s tiny dog right into the sun because he thought it might be out of place. Then he admitted that “it is merely a construct of a dog. It feels no pain or joy or love”. Later, Michael promises a version of the dog that can love, but only as an afterthought.
Speak no evil. Finally, walking5 talking info robot Janet (D’Arcy Carden) is programmed not only not to lie, but to tell the literal truth. So what does she mean in episode 6 when she says that “everything is wrong is here”? Eleanor is wrong, and silent monk Jianyu Li (Manny Jacinto) revealed in episode 4 that he’s really drug dealer named Jason, so he’s wrong. Uh… so what else is wrong, Michael?