The Good Place Episode That Changed Everything (Isn't The One You Thought)

Do not watch this video if you haven't seen The Good Place! It isn't worth it! This video is not better than the experience of watching The Good Place unspoiled!

#thegoodplace #videoessay #everythingisfine

In The Good Place, Eleanor, a deceased saleswoman who lived a morally corrupt life, finds herself in a heaven-like afterlife in a case of mistaken identity and tries to hide her past in order to stay there. The Good Place is an American fantasy comedy television series created by Michael Schur. It premiered on NBC on September 19, 2016, and concluded on January 30, 2020, after four seasons and 53 episodes.

[craigmcfly]

The greatest moment of anguish, from any character in the history of cinematography, has to be "Jason figured it out?!"

[keysburntgucci]

Even when Eleanor laid it all out and told the guys her epiphany, I was still skeptical, only until Michael laughed.
That really changed things.

[vyt]

"They could have stretched this out and didn't" is a recurrent theme for the Good Place and something I truly appreciate about it. Season 2 is a big example of it, though I would argue the first big instance is when Eleanor reveals her identity in the mid-season finale of season 1. A different show would have made that the season finale. Mike Schur went "no, we all know it's inevitable she'll be found out, let's do it and move on". The show never lets itself stay in a known or predictable place for long.

[AgusSkywalker]

Yeah, it's still crazy to me how this show starts radically changing its main premise every 4 to 6 episodes starting with season 2. If you want to describe the show to a new person you can only describe the premise of the first episode, you can't get into the ways the show evolves later.

[stwbmc]

I’ve always said one of the most impressive things about this show is its refusal to have a status quo

[yourfavoritebubbe]

This show could have easily had 7-8 seasons but it didn’t and that’s what makes it amazing. It never over stayed its welcome and I really appreciate that

[BlueBeetle]

My absolute favorite episode is the one where they go to the bad place proper for the first time and Tahani does an American accent the whole time it's so funny

[engineer-of-souls]

For me the episode that changed everything was S1E7 when Eleanor admits being in the "Good Place" by mistake. A lesser show could have milked the idea of Eleanor hiding for couple of seasons easily, but here it happens halfway of the first! It turned a series I enjoyed good enough to a great one, one I could trust to not be afraid to make big swings.

[Conor_Tuohy]

A great observation. Also, S2 Ep1is probably the strongest episode in the whole show... and probably also one of the most expensive to have made, with all of the 5 second throw away moments.

[coolboss]

Honestly, I didn't even expect that plot twist. I never knew a sitcom could do that 💀

[edriftd]

I’ve always felt that one of the biggest moments in the show was at the end of ep 24 when they’re trying to escape through the portals to go see the judge and Michael is short one pin. When he decides to send Eleanor and says he figured out the trolley problem. I’ve always felt that moment was huge because we see Micheal truly start to become human as he sacrifices himself to save the others. Gets me every time.

[hannarfp]

it's cool how many times the direction of the show changes, first its the s1 plot of eleanor trying to pretend that she belongs in the good place, then its what you described in this video of the gang getting rebooted a discovering over and over again that they're in the bad place, then it's about the gang trying to pretend they're being tortured to keep michael's job and keep them out of the normal bad place, then it's about michael and the gang's quest to make it to the actual good place, then about the gang living on earth again trying to be better people and gain enough points to make it to the good place, then it's them trying to reform the broken points system through an experiment by recreating the s1 bad place with new people, then it's about them creating a new afterlife system while finally living in the good place, then it ends with them fixing the good place by creating an end to it. it's like 8 shows all wrapped into one and you never could have guessed the direction it would take next

[M.W.]

I love this, Michael Shur showed that shooting an entire season only after you have wrote the next one allows to absolutely wild plot progressions without milking them for an entire season just to fill your paycheck while you try to figure out the rest of the shoe on the spot. It's revolutionary for the entire industry

[DezMarivette]

Personally I wish more people talked about S1E10 - Janet and Jason get married, Eleanor and Tahani bond, but most importantly - it’s the first time Eleanor realizes she’s in love. She’s an adorable goofball in her confession and it never gets referenced again. Even in later seasons when Eleanore finds out they got together in past reboots, she never gets to see the first time it happened. We do. So pure ❤️

[potterpotty]

yes this episode was when it really clicked for me, specifically Ted Danson was brilliant in this episode
"Jason figured it out. Jason! oh yeah this is a new low"

[rachit]

I never thought a sitcom could do such a mind-blowing twist in such a perfect way. This show is something else. ❤❤

[loreleimonn]

Honestly, I didn’t want to watch the show bc from every trailer I saw, I was like “that sounds more like Hell than Heaven tbh”, and then I heard that that was in fact the twist, and I immediately loved that a show was willing to do that, so I sat down and watched it, and now I love the show so much

[itsmeike]

This is a show that did exactly what it intended to, then ended when it was ready. A lot of shows could learn from that

[RKC-]

I remember being shocked at how they burned through potential plot that first ep of S2! Made me nervous. Loved his frustration when JASON guessed!

[Ceares]

As tv addict for 45 years, I can honestly say the Good Place is one of the most well written, creative pieces of art I've ever seen on my tv screen. It deserves a spot with the all time great sitcoms and I hope it becomes a classic.