After four seasons, NBC’s The Good Place is coming to an end.
Earlier this year, the show’s creator, Michael Schur, announced that The Good Place’s fourth season would be its last, much to the dismay of many fans.
However, in an open letter posted on social media, Schur wrote that four seasons was the perfect amount of time to complete the story he and his team set out to tell. Season four began airing September 27 and will consist of thirteen episodes—plenty of time for fans to say goodbye to the show.
History of The Good Place
The show’s initial premise is simple: Eleanor Shellstrop is dead, and she has made it to the Good Place, an elite afterlife few humans reach.
One problem—Eleanor knows she definitely was supposed to go the Bad Place, so she works with her assigned soulmate, Chidi Anagonye, to learn ethics and become a better person.
Season one’s ultimate twist, however, is that the Good Place has actually been the Bad Place all along. This massive plot twist was even a secret from major cast members—only Kristen Bell and Ted Danson knew the truth.
Seasons two and three continued the trend of major twists.
Most recently, season three revealed that the points system that decided who went to the Good Place and who went to the Bad Place was fundamentally flawed due to unethical consumption and production (hard-hitting stuff for a comedy).
This left Eleanor, Chidi, and their friends (a.k.a., the Soul Squad) replicating the season one experiment to prove that people can become better in order to change the points system, this time with Eleanor in charge.
Despite the twisty plot and shifting settings, the main cast has remained the same since season one: the group’s ringleader, Eleanor (Kristen Bell); anxious ethics professor Chidi (William Jackson Harper); wealthy philanthropist Tahani (Jameela Jamil); Floridian DJ Jason (Manny Jacinto); AI, not-a-woman, not-a-robot Janet (D’Arcy Carden); and demon-turned-good-guy Michael (Ted Danson).
My good place
I knew I had to watch The Good Place as soon as I heard that Michael Schur created it.
Schur is behind some of my other comedy favorites, such as The Office, Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and sure enough, he didn’t disappoint. I love this show mostly because it’s unlike any other comedy I’ve seen before.
It’s had dramatic, heartfelt moments that have made me cry, but there are also some absolutely wacky segments that can make me laugh no matter what (Chidi making the peeps and M&M chili while having a breakdown, anyone?).
Beyond that, I also love the impact this show has had on my real life, mainly through my newfound interest in philosophy.
I took a philosophy course because of The Good Place. While it’s probably the only philosophy class I’ll ever take, it was something that challenged me to think outside my comfort zone, all because of a TV show.
However, my absolute favorite part of The Good Place is the message that you can become a better person, no matter the circumstances.
A main theme of the show is what do we owe to each other, a question the characters constantly ask each other.
At the beginning of season one, Eleanor wasn’t that great of a person, but she became better throughout the series through effort and self-education, not some random miracle.
I believe that is a promising message to send out, especially now, where it can sometimes seem impossible to add goodness to the world.
Becoming kinder is a powerful thing, and The Good Place doesn’t hesitate to remind us of that.
Beyond the screen
While The Good Place features a number of experienced comedy actors (many of whom you’ll recognize from Schur’s other shows), it also brought some of its other actors into the spotlight.
Both William Jackson Harper (Chidi) and Manny Jacinto (Jason) had a host of guest roles before the show, but few major starring roles.
Before being cast as Chidi, Harper considered quitting acting, and now has multiple projects coming out. D’Arcy Carden, who plays Janet, received widespread acclaim for the season three episode “Janet(s)”, in which she played every other character in the show as well as her own.
Perhaps the cast member who has made the most of their platform, though, is Jameela Jamil.
Her name has become synonymous with a push for heightened transparency when it comes to body positivity and realistic body standards for women in the media.
As a teenager, she suffered from anorexia. Now, she has spoken out against photoshopping women’s bodies and criticized celebrities such as the Kardashians for promoting unhealthy dieting techniques to their largely young and female fanbase.
Notably, in the season four poster for The Good Place, Jamil denied any photoshopping to her, ensuring that her stretch marks and back fat remained in the image.
The Good Place was Jamil’s first acting credit besides radio hosting, so I hope to see her in more roles in the future, but even when the show ends, I believe her influence as a body positivity activist in the media will remain.
Saying Goodbye
The first episode of season four saw Eleanor as the new mastermind behind the fake Good Place experiment, Tahani revealing new celebrity connections and Jason being an accidental genius.
As always, The Good Place is modern and fresh, with Eleanor donning a Law and Order-inspired look, references to Marvel and the superhero franchise’s cast, nods to prominent social issues, and of course, plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.
With the last season off to a promising start, I can’t wait to see what the series finale holds.
Kristen Bell was confident in the show’s ending, telling Entertainment Weekly, “This will be worth it. It will give you a lot of feelings—and one is a strong sense of satisfaction.”
It’s always difficult to know when to end a show, but I believe The Good Place is ending at the perfect moment.
From the beginning, it was always a finite concept, so ending on a high note and not letting the show slowly deteriorate is the right choice, in my opinion.
While I’m sad to lose this comedy staple, Schur stuck the landing with the Parks and Recreation and The Office endings, so I’m not worried about what he has in store for the Soul Squad.
That just leaves me with saying goodbye, so here it is:
Goodbye, The Good Place. Everything will be fine, but we will still miss you.