Fork — The Good Place ended and now there’s no point. That’s an exaggeration; however, the NBC sitcom is worth commemorating. The writers and producers skillfully designed a TV series that didn’t overstay it’s welcome, as many sitcoms often do. With a plotline that involves the main character dying and ending up in “the good place,” you can only imagine a limited number of scenarios that feel fresh before the concept gets stale. Michael Schur, the show’s creator, has mentioned that he had imagined it would end after season four for this very reason.
The Good Place covers profound topics that you don’t typically see on sitcoms, including conversations on ethics, the human condition and way too many scenes that made me cry. So, when the show came to an end on January 30, 2020, it wasn’t a huge surprise that it artfully completed a near-perfect story arc. Even after finishing the series, I can’t help but keep thinking about the amount of creativity and care the writers put into it. If you’re like me and mourning the show’s end with a bittersweet feeling, or just curious as to the types of moments the series held, here are 10 of the most existential quotes you’ve ever heard, otherwise known as The Good Place.
- “My whole life, whenever I encountered any obstacles, I would simply say, ‘I would like to speak to a manager.’ But in our relationship, there was no manager. There was no one who could fix this for me except me.” – Tahani Al-Jamil, 2×09
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Tea. Relationships are hard. They don’t magically fix themselves, and no amount of intervening from others can fix it for you. Having honest and meaningful conversations with the people around you is essential to maintaining your relationships.
- “Now we’re going to do the most human thing of all: attempt something futile with a ton of unearned confidence and fail spectacularly!” – Michael, 2×10
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You need to learn to accept failure in order to grow. It’s incredibly difficult to come to terms with, but it needs to happen in order to learn. There’s no way to stop it.
- “Why choose to be good, every day, if there is no guaranteed reward we can count on, now or in the afterlife? I argue that we choose to be good because of our bonds with other people and our innate desire to treat them with dignity. Simply put, we are not in this alone.” – Chidi Anagonye, 2×13
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Ultimately, at the heart of the series lies this question of human morality, the decision to be good and why.
- “Sometimes, when you’re feeling helpless, the secret is to help someone else. Get out of your own head. Trust me. The next time someone asks for help, say yes.” – Michael, 3×01
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When you’re in your head, your problems can seem like the biggest in the world (and sometimes they are), but taking a step back to refresh yourself is integral. Helping someone else makes your issues seem trivial. The fire squid demon made points.
- “If there were an answer I could give you to how the universe works, it wouldn’t be special. It would just be machinery fulfilling its cosmic design. It would just be a big, dumb food processor. But since nothing seems to make sense, when you find something or someone that does, it’s euphoria.” – Janet, 3×12
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If you lie awake at night thinking about the universe and why you’re here, clap your hands! The thought that you’re just fulfilling a process is terrifying and there’s no way to make sense of it. So, when you do find a person, a group of people, a hobby or literally anything that makes you feel okay, you need to hold on to it.
- “I guess all I can do is embrace the pandemonium, find happiness in the unique insanity of being here, now.” – Eleanor Shellstrop, 3×12
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You’re here. Right now! How crazy is that? Take a breath, and let it happen. Enjoy the things you do.
- “What matters isn’t if people are good or bad. What matters is if they’re trying to be better today than they were yesterday.” – Michael, 4×06
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This parallels the main theme of Meet The Robinsons — “keep moving forward.” Every day is a new beginning. Some days you will fail, and that is okay. Get up and try again tomorrow.
- “If soulmates do exist, they’re not found. They’re made. People meet, they get a good feeling, and then they get to work building a relationship. Like your parents. They didn’t magically stay together because you proved they should.” – Michael, 4×09
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Again, relationships don’t just happen. It takes work to build a meaningful one, but what you get out of it is beautiful.
- “On paper this is paradise. All your desires and needs are met. But it’s infinite. And when perfection goes on forever you become this glassy-eyed mush person.” – Hypatia ‘Patty’, 4×12
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In my personal opinion, the penultimate episode of the series is upon the most profound. Perfect gets boring after a while. Conflict and disappointment are necessary features of the human condition that allow for growth. All you can do is take these moments and learn from them. There’s nothing else like it. Sitting in your own pity will just hold you back.
- “Every human is a little bit sad all the time because you know you’re gonna die. But that knowledge is what gives life meaning.” – Michael, 4×12
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I found a lot of meaning in this conversation between the show’s main characters. Knowing that one day you’re going to die makes life special, just like a vacation. You know it can’t last forever and that’s what makes it so great. If you knew it would just continue, at some point you’d want to leave.
If you haven’t seen The Good Place and relished in all of its existentialism and talk of personal ethics, then you can stream seasons 1–3 on Netflix and season 4 on NBC!