How The Good Place Avoided Turning Into The Bad Place

NBC's hit sitcom "The Good Place" was able to captivate audiences for 4 strong seasons by keeping viewers invested in character, and the ever developing version afterlife created by Michael Schur. This perfect episode had some of the best twists in the show, and cemented The Good Place as an all time great. Michael Schur rarely misses, with hit shows like The Office, Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine Nine, but The Good Place was something special.

#TheGoodPlace #KristenBell #Nerdstalgic

Written by Katie Congrove
Edited by Brian Nappi

[JellyLancelot]

“Ya basic. You’re absolutely devastated right now” delivered by Michael has to be one of my favourite moments in a perfect show!

[benjaminbaer]

The season 1 ending is the perfect example of a good twist, changing the meaning of everything that happened before while still making sense.

[garethmiller]

This has my favourite series finale of anything ever. Every plot line was wrapped up with no additional questions, with everything answered in a really satisfying way. I cried so much at the final episode in such a happy way.

[billc]

Danson knocking over that plant like an evil cat deserved an award.

[christophergarrett]

I love this show and it's message about how being a good person isn't a finite position and that aslong as you're working on better yourself than your in the right direction. It requires a daily comment to being on. When you rewatch the show you can easily see the pieces of the twist

[taylorschmidt]

Michael’s evil laugh in the season 1 finale after Eleanor figured out that they were in the bad place all along is the best evil laugh I have ever heard. Ted Danson’s performance during that entire scene (and honestly the entire show) deserves so many awards

[marqandre]

I remember getting to the last episode of season 1 and thinking, "this show ran for 4 seasons? How can they drag this story out for that long? AND THEN THE TWIST I NEVER EVEN THOUGHT TO IMAGINE HAPPENED

[AC-obxt]

I like that Schurr seems to have grown in the way that he knows when a show needs to end and wont drag it out like the office

[highwind]

This show is as perfect as television gets in my opinion. Two years after I watched it for the first time it's still a show I re-watch constantly but also never stop thinking about

[Eli-pieh]

Michael’s evil laugh at the reveal is absolutely perfect

[solracer]

You missed a small detail, at the beginning of Episode 1 after Eleanor opens her eyes we see a message on the wall that says "Welcome! Everything is fine." while in the last scene of Episode 13 the message on the wall is "Welcome! Everything is great!". So not just a different final word but also a second exclamation point has been added. I don't know the significance of this beyond it being the first indication that Michael has tweaked the experiment the second time but it's a nice subtle change.

[TheFlashStickman]

I think the good place is still the best modern day tv comedy. It was such a breath of fresh air out of so many comedies that fail these days.

[pippastrelle]

One thing my siblings still tease me about to this day, when the reveal first happened, I didn't believe it. When Michael started laughing and insulting Eleanor and even when "Vicky" left in a huff, I thought they were pretending to be in the Bad Place to get Shawn to leave. For some reason. It took me until the S2 premiere to be fully convinced.

[mo_venegas]

The Good Place is one of my absolute favorite shows of all time, and even if it's not my absolute favorite, I still recognize it as practically perfect. Everything from the character's connections to each other and the audience, to the beautiful messages the writers were able to convey naturally, there's really no show like it, and there likely never will be again. This show just existing is a blessing.

[TheShellbert]

The ending of The Good Place is one of my favorite endings of any show I've seen. Unexpectedly but perfectly heartfelt.

[MH]

On Michael's "smug face and dark eyes".... one rewatch bonus in the very first episode is when he's just about to tell Eleanor she's in the Good Place, he pauses and smirks, and the smirk now comes off as so utterly malevolent that I can't believe I wasn't suspicious first time around.

[elizaelise]

Anything in the universe can be up to 104% perfect. That's how we got The Good Place.

[dog]

This show absolutely hooked me right away with its opening scene and stayed consistently good for the entire series. I honestly don't think any show has done that for me before.

[JohanLanting]

a huge influence for the good place is called "no exit, " a play written by famed existentialist philosopher jean-paul sartre. the play is about 3 characters who find themselves in hell, and at the end realize that hell is not fiery pits of lava or torture devices, but rather other people. this is basically what michael was doing in s1: using humans as each other's own hell. if you're interested in this show, I highly recommend that you read this fantastic play. after i read it, seeing its influence on the good place was a really cool thing to see.

[WillowJordan]

When Michael did that evil laugh, I just felt it in my stomach. I almost felt panicky about it, because I had thought Michael was so endearing and likeable, and suddenly he's a demon. On a rewatch, I found quite a few hints of it. For instance, Michael told Chidi his doctorate thesis, his life's work, was basically worthless. When Michael prepares to say what the mistake in the neighborhood is, he almost turns to Eleanor, and then turns away and says "me" instead.
As we learn more about the system, there's no way they would have confused Jason with Jianyu the monk, or "real" Eleanor with "fake" Eleanor. But since we knew so little about it in season 1, it seemed more feasible.