I’ve always been someone who loves comedy TV shows. If anyone asks me what my favorite shows are, I immediately rattle off a list that usually looks something like Parks and Recreation, New Girl, The Office, Arrested Development, and Friends, so it wasn’t exactly out of character for me to start watching and subsequently loving The Good Place. However, I can tell you that The Good Place is easily one of those shows that (almost) everyone can love.
I’ve been watching the fourth (and final) season of the show as the episodes have been coming out and I am so happy to see that the quality of the show is not decreasing in the slightest. It’s just as smart, funny, and engaging as ever.
The Good Place is effortlessly humorous and it is genuinely interesting as well. If you’re looking for a show that won’t take forever to get into but will leave you invested in the characters and storyline, this is the show for you. It blends topics like what happens after we die and what makes someone a good person–things that typically don’t make it into your standard sitcom – seamlessly with typical subjects of relationships and the little quirks everyone has – like Eleanor’s love for shrimp and Jason’s complete loyalty to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Never would I have thought that a show with so much moral philosophy in it could be entertaining. Yet, the show is so engaging because, at the end of the day, the characters are all (albeit somewhat exaggerated) versions of average people trying to overcome their flaws, making The Good Place extremely relatable.
The character development in The Good Place is both central to the plot and one of the best things about the show. The main characters are required to grow thanks to their situation, but the improvement of each character is so evident in the fourth season, and it works well. Each character – Eleanor in particular – has changed throughout the series to become a better version of themselves, and this has allowed the characters to avoid being static. Instead they are changing for the better and keeping the show interesting. Many of the other comedy shows I like don’t have massive amounts of character development, and I love that The Good Place has been able to accomplish so much in so little time.
The Good Place is a show that makes you feel deeply for the characters, become wrapped up in the plot, and is still very much a feel-good show. I can easily consider The Good Place one of my favorite shows, and if you haven’t watched it yet, you are truly missing out.
If you would like to write for Her Campus Mount Holyoke, or if you have any questions or comments for us, please email hc.mtholyoke@hercampus.com