The Good Place

Really guys? We're not talking about this show on the forums yet?

I just want to go out on a limb and call this one of the deepest and most interesting comedy series I've ever seen. I even wrote a super long facebook post on how much I liked the first 2 episodes and how that was going to set the tone for the whole series.

Well, now that the Mid-Season Twist is out in the open....wow. What they're doing with that episode is extremely risky, but could also take the series off into fascinating places.

Feel free to post your thoughts on the series here.

I had low expectations for the show but after seeing I've become really impressed by it especially its use of its unique premise.

Janet is easily my favorite part of this show. Her transition from cheerily helpful to pleading for her life to pleasantly reminding them she isn't actually alive? My biggest laugh of the series so far, by far.

I am actually looking forward to the next episode, now that she ahs admitted its all her fault. Ted Danson is really great in it as well.

So they did get the wrong Eleanor.

I was actually shocked by that. I figured that Good!Eleanor's life and tastes were so bizarre that she didn't actually exist, and was just the expression of a collection of glitches. I hope they give a better explanation than "they have the same name." I'm sure they will. Maybe they were born at the exact same time, died at the exact same time, and throw in the identical names and there was a mix up?

Of course, then there's the question of the real Jianyu. On the plus side, I'm guessing a Buddhist monk who has achieved enlightenment can weather the petty crap the Bad Place dishes out.

Ok, seriously this show need more love, because it's hilarious!

I watched the first episode and it wasn't all that funny or well written. What has changed?

The way this episode took declarations of love, something that's normally such a big deal in TV shows, and made it absurd by having everyone get into the act at once, was downright Frasier-esque.

edited 6th Jan '17 9:55:33 PM by RavenWilder

I loved the whole farcical set up, and it really takes a hammer to the idea of "soul mates". And Chidi's death was so random and anti-climatic that I can't help but laugh at it.

I'm calling Tahani x Blondelanor as the direction they're going in.

I think we've pretty much confirmed that Blondelanor is bi at this point, so it's definitely an option.

Although, given that she liked the idea of sleeping with Real!Elanor for its "narcisstic" value, it's possible she just wanted an excuse to yell out "Elanor, you're the best!" during sex.

True, but she never mentioned her being a girl as a downside. Her focus was all on the name. She didn't even give a half-hearted "well, I'm not usually into girls, but the narcissism angle..."

And the finale proved me right in the middle of a massive plot twist. God I hope this gets picked up for another season.

Well, that was a twist. And yet, despite a lot of other twists on television, everything made even more sense. Even the stuff that didn't make sense before now makes sense. Now that is how you do a twist.

Did not expect that plot twist. I really love this show.

Wow. That... was perfect. It explained almost everything. There are still a few questions (like why the Good Place is allowing the Bad Place to exist), but it makes it clear that the previous answers we were given were lies, so it's not a Plot Hole any more, just a plot point waiting to be answered. Like, we don't know how many people actually go to the Good Place compared to the Bad Place, so the "Why do one in a million get paradise while everyone else is tortured for all eternity?" question is put off.

Just... yow.

Man, Michael's laugh was pretty damn haunting.

So many mysteries solved that nobody even knew were mysteries to begin with. Jesus, it even ended on a downright Pyrrhic Victory cliffhanger! I hope there'll be a second season, but holy hell will it play Dramatic Irony hot-and-heavy.

Just saw the finale, so good. It's like Lost if it was a comedy and you knew 90% of the deal.


wen season 2?

It is such a fantastic way to end a first season. I'm just hoping it gets a second season and whoever holds the rights to The Twilight Zone episode "A Nice Place to Visit" doesn't decide to sue.

Still, while I'm so blown away by what happened near the end, I don't want to sell the first half of this two-parter short. Their conception of what makes something "A Medium Place" was hilarious.

Well, I'm not happy. The Good Place was one of my favorite shows last year. And while the finale was as clever and well-acted as the rest of the episodes, it leaves us in an uncomfortable position.

For one thing, the basic funny notion of a person sent to Heaven by mistake is gone. Now the show will have to be very different, as it becomes about friends trying to escape Hell. There's also the fact that, regardless of what happens, the one thing I hoped would be revised by the end- the monstrously unfair way souls were punished for their sins- is still in place. In fact, I was confused: Tahani's good deeds did not count because she was selfish; yet the bad things Chidi caused out of ignorance did? So do intentions count or not? I don't think they thought this through.

The point might be moot, because we don't know if the show will be renewed yet. If it is, I hope it gets an Author's Saving Throw that makes me care about it again.

Intentions count, but so do effects. Chidi had good intentions but screwed over the lives of everyone around him by being a neurotic ditherer. Tahani improved the lives of millions, but it didn't count because she was just doing it to make herself look better than her sister. I'm pretty sure she didn't actually get negative points for the charity, she just didn't get any positive points. That would mean her score was based on what she did in her normal life, and that puts her in a similar situation to Chidi—annoying everyone around her and never doing any real good to make up for it.

The unfair way souls are punished is still up in the air, because everything we've heard so far has been a lie. Maybe ninety percent of the human race gets into the Good Place, and these four are just far below average. We don't know. In fact, it strikes me that the show is edging into a deconstruction of the idea of Hell and eternal punishment. After all, the four are still the heroes even after we find out that they were justifiably sent to the Bad Place, and they showed marked moral improvement. The demons don't care, of course, but I wouldn't be surprised if the endgame is to call in the angels, resulting in the entire system getting turned upside down.

As for the basic premise, yeah obviously it's changed, but there was only so long they could milk that without it being annoyingly drawn out. It can still be a comedy though, as we saw in Michael's flashbacks.

Honestly I think that we're suppose to know that this system is still unfair, precisely because Chidi and Tahani still don't seem to belong in hell. At worst they're slightly above average normal people. And the fact that all of them have managed to improve to some extent (except Jason) is just as relevant for Elanor as it is for her friends. Notably, Chidi who's indecisive about everything, nonetheless rushed to tell Michael the truth when he believed Elenor was being sent to the bad place.

It seems like in the Good Place points system you need to have good intentions and at least try to act on them, even if the results don't work out. So Tahani couldn't even get out of the gate because she acted out of selfishness, and Chidi had good intentions but instead of putting them into practice he just dithered and did things he knew would hurt people out of frustration and indecision. But Mindy St. Clair got credit for wiping out her savings in a sincere attempt to dedicate her life to charity, even though she never got the chance to actually follow through.

edited 21st Jan '17 10:27:45 AM by Shale

Something that intrigues me is the nature of the Bad Place employees. When Trevor and his crew showed up, they were archetypal agents of evil who enjoyed doing anything and everything bad, and only limited their sadistic torturing to people the system deemed worthy of punishment because that's all they were allowed to do. What we see of the Bad Place employees here is much more Affably Evil; they're perfectly pleasant when interacting with each other, and even a little bit with their victims, they just incongruously take incredible delight in torturing dead humans. Makes me wonder how much of Trevor's assholishness was just part of the act, or if even other Bad Place personnel are like, "Yeah, no, that guy's a douche."