the greatness of The Good Place *no spoilers*
The Good Place is forking incredible. I finished all three seasons on Netflix in just three days (don’t judge me, quarantined times call for quarantiney measures) and I was left sitting on my couch, feeling inspired, happy, and GOOD. Yes, I blew off my computer science homework and majorly procrastinated on my 20 page paper due in four days, but guess what? This tv show taught me about kindness, ethics, and all things Jacksonville, Florida, and that’s more pressing if you ask me. Especially the Jacksonville, Florida part. I find it refreshing and encouraging that a television show that is packed to the brim with fart jokes and a magic I.H.O.P is teaching people why we should be good to one another, why we should be kind when there is nothing in it for us.
The one bad thing I have to say about this experience is this: I have to wait four months until I can watch season 4. My tv-nerd heart cannot handle that long of a wait, but I’m not yet willing to sell my soul to an illegal streaming website. I guess I’ll have to make do with the cast interviews on Youtube and expressing why I am so obsessed with the show on this blog.
I don’t intend to spoil anything. I’m a nice person. All I’ll say is that it follows a woman, Eleanor, played by Kristen Bell (xoxo), who has just found out she died and ended up in the Good Place, the heaven-like afterlife. If you’ve watched the show, amazing, let’s love it together, from a safe distance apart of 6 feet, of course. If you haven’t watched the show, please watch it.
“Any place or thing in the universe can be up to 104% perfect. That’s how you got Beyonce.”
That’s an actual line from the show. If you aren’t running to go watch The Good Place right now, what are you even doing. Make good decisions, people, c’mon. Now, I must warm you that I become quite obsessed with television shows and may have a tendency to overhype, but I truly believe this show is a chocolate-covered strawberry: indulgent and delicious, yet guilt-free and nutritious. It’s full of plot twists that you will 102.5% not see coming. It makes you truly think about human decency and moral ethics, and not just by way of a short, cliché sentence at the end of the episode, but by real lessons from philosophers such as Aristotle, Kant, and Kierkegaard. These concepts, along with Kristen Bell and Ted Danson, are the true stars of the show, yet we don’t feel like we are being lectured while watching. The writing is witty and intelligent, enlightening and hilarious, with just the right amount of fantasy.
As if The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn 99 simply weren’t enough, creator and executive producer Michael Schur (aka Mose) did it again. He forking did it again. The Good Place is a show that I truly admire. Now please hurry up and put season 4 on Netflix. Thanks.
