I liked the episode, how eternal perfection turns into torture after enough time. It reminds me of an episode of Twilight Zone. Where a gambler gets into the afterlife, he's told he can have whatever he wants. So he wishes to gamble, wins every round. Hits on girls, gets laid every time. He starts to think, it's boring, I win every time, where's the thrill? The helper says "If you'd like to lose sometimes I can arrange that too." "No, I want to not know, I want to be surprised! What kind of heaven is this?" "...Who said this was heaven?"
"Well, I'm not giving up. We worked too hard and went through too much and I'm not just going to sit back and turn into some slack-jawed, sweatpant-wearing orgasm machine. Oh, my god, I'm describing my dream existence like it's bad. What's wrong with this place?!" I love it. They finally make it to The Good Place and it's just as broken, if not even more broken, than The Bad Place! However, I thought their fix was a little too easy. I thought, once Patty (brilliantly played by the always wonderful Lisa Kudrow!) revealed the problem of The Good Place, that's what Team Cockroach would be working on for the rest of this episode and most of the double-length series finale. Instead, it feels like the show could've just ended right here and now and I'm not sure what's left to do considering that easy fix.
If they stopped there, that would have been a great series finale. That ending almost made me choke up, from when Eleanor said to Michael, "You're right, everything is fine" to the end with Eleanor and Chidi. I think I know how this series ends, considering they set up the door to leave The Good Place. I think we find out next week what that means. By the way, Lisa Kudrow has always been the most underrated of the Friends cast and I still love her today. Nice to see her back on NBC Thursday.
The scenes with Michael and weed were very funny. Next week series finale was supposed to be 1 hour. But my DVR guide shows it as 1.5 hours. The title is "Whenever You're Ready" and the description is "various conversations occur".
Yes, last night's episode could have been a perfect finale. I loved that final scene of Chidi and Eleanor watching the sunrise in total bliss together in the Good Place. It would have made a great ending. But I think the episode wanted to set up the idea that simply living in perfect bliss forever is not sustainable. So the episode created this final portal so that characters can end it when they get tired of paradise. Based on the title, I suspect the finale will revolve around our characters deciding whether it is time to walk through that last portal they created and leave the Good Place. The finale will probably involve some flashbacks as our character reminisce over all the good times and adventures they have had together. And then they will all walk through the portal, the end. The episode seemed to hint that the portal is essentially cosmic suicide because it ends your existence permanently. I am hoping for one final plot twist because if the show really does end on our characters deciding to commit cosmic suicide because they are tired of paradise, that would be a real bummer for me. Plus, I am not sure it would be a good idea to end the series on a metaphor for assisted suicide. Maybe the portal does not end it all but simply takes you somewhere else, maybe reincarnation?
Ok, let's speculate on the finale. My top 6 ideas: 1) After a long time enjoying the Good Place, the characters reminisce over their adventures but realize that all good things must come to an end eventually and decide to all walk through the door and it is the end of their existence for good. They are gone into nothingness. 2) The characters are prepared to walk through the door together but Michael comes out with a better solution at the last minute to avoid them becoming nothingness. 3) They all walk through the door together and are transported back in time to the moment of their births, to essentially relive their lives all over again from the beginning. 4) They all walk though the door together and are reincarnated into other people or other things. 5) They all walk through the door together and wake up again at the beginning of season 1. We learn the entire series was a very elaborate new torture by Michael, essentially putting humans into a simulation of thinking they are in the good place, letting them escape, fixing the bad place, making it into the good place and then repeating the sim over and over again. 6) Billions of years have passed. The universe is about the end in the so-called Big Crunch. The characters say good bye and prepare for the end of everything.
I'm really hoping it's option 4 because 2 is a cop out and the rest are too depressing. Especially 5.
One thing they never did was explain why they haven't reunited with people they cared about in life. We know they have been dead for 300 years, so where is everyone else? They have the out that it has been 500 years since anyone got to the Good Place, but that's changing. If there is an afterlife, and I show up in tact, my first question will be "where is my family?" As for The Good Place, it's an interesting take that after hundreds of years, it gets boring. So I would think that the Good Place would have something to keep people stimulated. I don't think suicide is it.
I think a happy afterlife still has to have purpose and opportunities to grow. Does the universe of The Good Place have a purpose? Who or what set it up? I don't necessarily expect the writers to have a good answer, but it would be nice to see Chidi and Eleanore continue to work on those questions in some form.
Maybe they can find purpose via the Star Trek method. Now that they're in their perfect society where they don't have conflict with one another, they find other societies to have conflict and go to war with.
It would make sense if there are always things to learn. Perhaps you get to create a universe of your own, and your challenge is to perfect it.
Maybe because I am rewatching Star Trek Voyager and I saw this episode recently, but last night's Good Place reminded me of the episode Death Wish, where a Q(uinn) wanted to commit suicide because he was tired of living for eternity. This Good Place episode was like one long visit to the Q Continuum and that road in the desert. I really do hope the series doesn't end on a depressing note like assisted suicide (or any kind of suicide). For being such a positive and uplifting show (And if you listen to the podcast, that's what the writers wanted to convey) to end on a depressing note would be kind of odd and maybe a turn off from the rest of the series. Despite those fears, I still do trust these writers and Schur to bring us a great series finale for this great weird show.
I thought of that episode as well! I'm thinking reincarnation? Also, if no one knows what happens when you go through the door - who's really in charge then? Maybe we''ll finally get a God reveal? Interesting set up for the finale. Everything does seem ... fine.
I am hoping it is cosmic suicide. To me that is more of a reflection on the human experience because we all someday die and we don't know if their is a real afterlife. It also sends the message that life is about living and not just existing so we should enjoy our life as much as possible. Jason
I don’t think we’ll find out what’s behind the door. Leave one big question for the imagination and debate for the audience. My guess for what the finale is is that time will pass and either Eleanor or Chidi (likely Chidi) will want to go through the door and the other will need to decide if they do as well.
Then it's imperfect. It's like people I've heard over the years saying "A perfect partner would be boring." You're not using the word perfect correctly. Of course, it is the GOOD place. Not the PERFECT place. By extension (and they've kind of said as much) the Bad Place isn't that bad either. What's the difference between Eleanor's plan and The Judge's plan other than there's a party in the middle?