What the Fork Will We Do without The Good Place?
How can I begin to describe my admiration for The Good Place? Part fantasy, part comedy, part philosophical consideration, and always ridiculous, it is a series that does so many things all at once. Frankly, I’m befuddled at the notion of this being the final season of the series. For a series that’s so rich, with such an original, ever-evolving world and story line, how can we possibly be nearing the end? I don’t think any one of us believes it, but today I’d like to take some time to focus on what makes The Good Place my own personal ‘Good Place.’
For those unfamiliar with the show, it’s almost impossible to sum it up in a simple sentence, but I would vaguely describe it as a comedy in which Eleanor (Kristen Bell) tries to navigate the afterlife with a group of friends she meets in “The Good Place,” a neighborhood for the deceased, constructed by the supernatural architect, Michael (Ted Danson). In terms of story arc and structure, The Good Place is an episode of The Simpsons. Now, I’ve only seen about two episodes of The Simpsons, but from what I have gathered from those episodes is that you start with one story and end up somewhere entirely different by the end of the episode. Thusly, it is in The Good Place. From episode one, the series has surprised us, twisting in unexpected ways, changing the objectives of the characters, and taking us on this wild, serpentine ride on which it is literally impossible to predict what will happen next. I would like to avoid spoilers in this post, but suffice it to say that the world of the show gets continuously turned upside down, ripped open, reset, and re-imagined.
What grounds us in this unpredictable, limitless world is our core group of characters. While Eleanor is considered the protagonist of the series, I consider the series to have one of the best and most well-rounded ensemble casts in the history of television. I would go so far as to say that in more recent seasons Eleanor has even taken a comedic back seat to the rest of the group (which makes perfect sense when you look at her character’s gradual evolution over the course of the show). The characters in the show are broad stereotypes, but they are written with such consistency that the familiarity of their cartoonishness is nothing but endearing. Every single character possesses their own traits that would make them the funniest character of any other ensemble. It’s a cast full of MVPs.
What’s most special about The Good Place, and the reason we need it so badly nowadays, is that it forces us to confront questions about ourselves, our behavior, and our motivations. What makes someone a ‘good person’? Are people capable of genuine change? What happens when we consider that our actions, goals, and desires are constantly affecting people and the world around us? This show examines humanity from so many different angles, but once the characters think that they’ve figured out the answers, more factors, complications, and questions are posed. I love this element of the show. We can’t assume that one answer is the answer. It’s always more complex than we like to, or are able to, consider, as the equation is constantly changing.
If you want to take a deep, hilarious, look in the mirror, you can find previous seasons of The Good Place on Netflix, and the current season is showing on NBC at 9pm (EST) on Thursday evenings, or on the NBC app.How are you dealing with the forking painful realization that we’ve reached the end of eternity? Do you think The Good Place can succeed in giving us a satisfying finale? Let me know in the comments below, benches.
“Ya basic.” - Eleanor Shellstrop
Copyright © 2019 Bailey Lizotte
