Can't believe Jason was the first to go through the door. He seems to have a love for life and a passion for whatever's in the moment.
Oh, damn. Jason waited in the forest for THAT long? Now, THAT'S love. Whatever Chidi and Elanor have is cute and all, but JasonxJanet is this show's true OTP.
I still believe this season went on for a couple episodes too long. The finale of a show is supposed to provide resolution for the show overall or at least the season. This episode only resolved the conflict introduced last episode. The show's resolution was when they all finally got into the real Good Place, but that was brushed passed in order to hurry to this "eternity isn't that great" plot that was just tacked on at the end of a season filled with several other conflicts. Instead of feeling like I've been giving closure, I feel like there's something missing. At the very least, what about Janet? She's alone now. Tahani will soon be gone now that there's no need for architects. I was hoping Janet would be able to walk through the door, too. Ugh, this finale was not as satisfying as it should have been. This entire season was not as satisfying as it should have been. And now I'm just sad and a little pissed, to be honest...
Signed:
SophieFilo16
The entire series can be summed up by the Chidi section of this episode: a hard focus on a basic version of philosophy, uneven pacing, a crap ton of references, and a botched high five that was poorly foley'ed in post.
I don't dislike this episode by any stretch, but I do firmly maintain that the direction of the ending is a cop out. Finality is meant to be the antithesis of what the afterlife brings to the table. Why have it here again? Idk it just doesn't sit well with me. But, if this is the direction this show wanted to go, then I almost feel like this episode could have been almost a half season plot arc. Pacing has always been a bit flat in The Good Place, though, so it's okay.
If what Chidi said to Eleanor didn't make you cry, what is wrong with you?
[8.4/10] We live in the finite. Everyone reading this has a limited amount of time on this plane of existence. Maybe you believe there’s an eternal paradise waiting on the other end. Maybe you believe in reincarnation. Maybe you believe that we’re simply waves whose essence is returned to the fabric of the universe. Whatever you believe, almost all of us can agree that whatever we have here, our fragile world and fragile bodies, are not built to last.
That is both terrifying and maddening: terrifying because, like Janet, none of us truly knows what’s on the other side, and maddening because there is so much to do and see and experience even in this finite world, and given how few bearimies we have on this mortal coil, most of us will only have the chance to sample a tiny fraction of it.
So The Good Place gives us a fantasy. It’s not a traditional one, of endless bliss or perpetual pleasure or unbridled success. Instead, it imagines an afterlife where there’s time enough to become unquestionably fulfilled, to accomplish all that we could ever want, to step into the bounds of the next life or the next phase of existence or even oblivion at peace. The finale to Michael Schur’s last show, Parks and Recreation, felt like a dose of wish fulfillment, but with this ending, The Good Place blows it out of the water.
Each of our heroes receives the ultimate send-off. By definition, nearly all of them have found ultimate satisfaction, a sense of peacefulness in their existence that makes them okay to leave it, having connected with their loved ones, improved themselves, and accomplished all that they wanted to. If “One Last Ride” seemed to give the denizens of Pawnee everything they’d ever wanted, “Whenever You’re Ready” makes that approach to a series finale nigh-literal for the residents of The Good Place.
And yet, there’s a sense of melancholy to it all, if only because every person who emerges from paradise at peace and ready to leave, has to say goodbye to people who love them. Most folks take it in stride, with little more than an “oh dip” or an “aw shoot”, but there’s still something sad about people who leave loved ones behind, and whom the audience has come to know and love, bidding what is, for all intents and purposes, a final farewell.
But The Good Place finds ways to make that transcendent joy for each of our heroes feel real. Jason...completes a perfect game of Madden (controlling Blake Bortles, no less). He gets loving send-offs from his father and best friend. He enjoys one last routine with his dance crew. He inadvertently lives the life of a monk while trying to find the necklace he made for Janet. It is the combination of the idiotic, the sweet, and the unexpectedly profound, which has characterized Jason.
Tahani learns every skill she dreamed of mastering (including learning wood-working from Ron Swanson and/or Nick Offerman!). She connects with her sister and develops a loving relationship with her parents. And when it’s time to go, she realizes she has more worlds left to conquer and becomes an architect, a fitting destination for someone who was always so good at designing and creating events for the people she cares about. Hers is one of the few stories that continues, and it fits her.
Chidi doesn't have the same sort of list of boxes checked that leads him to the realization that he has nothing more to do. Sure, he’s read all of the difficult books out there and seemingly refined the new afterlife system (with help from the council) to where it’s running smoothly, almost on automatic. But his realization is more from a state of being happy with where everything is, with what he’s experienced.
He has dinner with his best friend and Eleanor’s best friends and has so many times. He’s spent endless blissful days with the love of his (after)life staring at the sunset. His mom kissed Eleanor and left lipstick on her cheek, which Eleanor’s mom wiped off. I love that. I love that it’s something more ineffable for Chidi, a sense of the world in balance from all the bonds he’s forged rather than a list of things he’s done. And I love that he felt that readiness to move on for a long time, but didn’t for Eleanor’s sake.
Look, we’re at the end of the series, and I’m still not 100% on board with Eleanor/Chidi, which is a flaw. But I want to like it. I like the idea of it. And I especially like the idea of someone being at peace, but sacrificing the need to take the next step for the sake of someone they love. The saddest part of this episode is Eleanor doing everything she can to show Chidi that there’s more to do, only to accept that the moral rule in this situation says that her equal and opposite love means letting him go. Chidi’s departure is hard, but his gifts to Eleanor are warm, and almost justify this half-formed love story that’s driven so much of the show.
Unfortunately, no matter how much peace he finds, Michael cannot walk through the door that leads to whatever comes next. So instead, he gets the thing he always wanted -- to become human, or as Eleanor puts it, a real boy. Ted Danson plays the giddiness of this to the hilt, his excitement at doing simple human things, the symbolism of him learning to play a guitar on earth, on taking pleasure in all the mundane annoyances and simple fun and things we meat-sacks take for granted. Each day of humanity is a new discovery for Michael, and there’s something invigorating about that, something heightened by his own delight at not knowing what happens next in the most human of ways.
The one character who gets the least indication of a next step is Janet. We learn that she is Dr. Manhattan, experiencing all of time at once. We see her accept Jason’s passing, hug our departing protagonists, and take steps to make herself just a touch more human to make her time with Jason a little more right. But hers is a story of persistence, of continued growth, in a way that we don’t really have for anyone else.
Along the way, the show checks in with scads of minor characters to wrap things up. We see the other test subjects having made it into The Good Place (or still being tested). We see Doug Forcett deciding to party hard now that he’s in Heaven. We see Shawn secretly enjoy the new status quo, and Vicky go deep into her new role, and The Judge...get into podcasts! As much as this show tries to get the big things right for all of its major characters, it also takes time to wrap up the little things and try not to leave any loose threads from four seasons of drop-ins across the various planes of existence.
That just leaves Eleanor. She takes the longest of any of the soul squad to be ready. She tries, becoming okay with Chidi’s absence. She overcomes her fear of being alone. But most importantly, she does what she’s come to do best -- help people better herself. There’s self-recognition in the way her final great act, the thing that makes her okay with leaving this plane and entering another, is seeing herself in Mindy St. Clair and trying to save her. The story of The Good Place is one of both self-improvement and the drive to help others do the same. Saving Mindy, caring about her, allows Eleanor to do both in one fell swoop.
So she too walks through the door, beautifully rendered as the bend between two trees in a bucolic setting. Her essence scatters through the universe, with one little brilliant speck of her wave, crashing back into Michael’s hands, reminding him of his dear friend, and inspiring him to pass on that love and sincerity back into the world. It is, as trite as it sounds, both an end and a beginning, something circular that returns the good deeds our protagonists have done, the good people they have become, into some type of cycle that helps make the rest of this place a little better.
Moments end. Lives end. T.V. shows end. The Good Place has its cake and eats it too, returning to and twisting key moments like Michael welcoming Eleanor to the afterlife, while cutting an irrevocable path from here through the crash of the wave. It embraces the way that the finite gives our existence a certain type of meaning, whether we have a million bearimies to experience the joys and wonders of the universe, or less than a hundred years to see and do and feel whatever we can. And it sends Team Cockroach home happy, wherever and whatever their new “home” may be.
In that, The Good Place is a marvel, not just because it told a story of ever-changing afterlife shenanigans, not just because it tried to tackle the crux of moral philosophy through an off-the-wall network sitcom, but because it ended a successful show, after only four seasons, by sending each of them into another phase of existence and made it meaningful. There’s a million things to do with our limited time on this planet, but watching The Good Place was an uplifting, amusing, challenging, and above all worthwhile use of those dwindling minutes, even if we’ll never have as many as Eleanor or Chidi, Michael or Tahani, Janet or Jason, or any of the other souls lucky enough to be able to choose how much eternity is enough.
What an emotional end to this show! So well executed. Conversations were heartfelt
Wow, they nailed it. Such a fantastic finale.
I just ugly-cried my way through this entire episode. What a show. I have too many emotions to properly deal with them so I guess I'll go cry some more.
the most beautiful and sad episode i've ever seen in my entire life
I keep it together the whole episode but when Michael said his final line "take it sleazy" i lost it, got tears in my eyes. it's really over now
How did Janet not know Jason didn't leave the Good Place?
This was an amazing ride. Will miss this for sure.
I felt like the previous episode could've easily been the end so starting this one I thought 'well what are they going to do now?' but I have to admit I really enjoyed seeing their journeys ending. I cried. Can't lie about that. It's bittersweet to see the show ending. I was late to the party but I'm glad I joined. The rollercoaster that is The Good Place was so worth it! I loved it start to finish.
It was a good ending. Even knowing Eleanor was gonna be the last to leave I personally would have preferred if she would have become the head of The Good Place especially since they had Michael resign to become a human so it kinda bothered me when they decided to not mention who took over, and eventually when he came back it would have been a good parallel to the first episode (as cheesy as it would have been). Even when she went she didn't really convince me that she was actually ready to move on cause she seemed to be the only one with the drive to actually stay there. Did Michael actually keep his memories or not? Jason's exit was kinda watered down with that unnecessary extra appearance but hey whatever. I think in retrospect I would have preferred this season to be about this new system and them ironing out the kinks instead of the time jump even if the ending was the same cause personally the earlier half of this season was kind of a slog.
Why couldn't the rest of this show be so well written? An absolutely amazing end to a mediocre show.
Easily among the top 5 finales that I can think of for any show. Even if you had not watched a single episode of this show you could watch the last three and be blown away. While the series may have meandered for a bit it came right back to its philosophical and emotional core for the ending. They really could not have done it any better.
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I :asterisk_symbol:kind:asterisk_symbol: of wanted Eleanor, or someone, to ask Chidi “Why haven’t you n gon’ye(t)” but somehow that never happened.
Lovely ending though. Michael just got the best of lives, I’m so happy for him :kissing_smiling_eyes:
I am really happy we had the chance to say goodbye to our friends before leaving them, as it should be. Thanks Michael Schur!
About what I expected the finale to be. Not many laughs, but that's usually acceptable for a finale. The Chidi-Eleanor romance actually felt more natural here than it has been for the entire series. Probably because they weren't saying "I love you" every two seconds anymore.
Overall, the show was good, but it stumbled a few times as it reached the end. S1-S2 was easily the peak of the show.
What a finale... What a show. I was really not ready for the amount of feels in this episode. These were the two moments that hit me the most, especially Chidi leaving. I’m not sure why Chidi’s death was the one that hit me hardest but it definitely did - I usually never cry because of movies or shows but that moment really got me...
Ultimately, it’s something quite special to have a show that made me laugh so much but also made me think so much - about life, relationships, meaning, death, and the list goes on. Honestly this last season was a home run. A beautiful ending. I’ll miss the show.
It's rare for a show to have an ending so emotional without feeling manipulative about it. Really put the dot on the Jeremy Bearimy that was this series.
No thanks, I will take earth.
This finale is phenomenal. It is scary, sad and enlightening.
However, I would have liked it better if they have experimented more with the good place regulations, I expected chidi to fight back with that incomplete model of being. this is why Chidi’s departure was the most tragic... Let me recap, chidi chose to die, he viewed life as finished. It makes some sense since he was exclusively obsessed with morality, and when you are in heaven, it is enough of a sign to know you are doing well; therefore, he lost the motive and gave up.
Another problem was; the vaguely described feeling of completion or peacefulness has been just a synonym for nihilism and getting tired. As much as I liked the idea of that door, choosing not to be rather than be, indicates that the good place is not that good. That door simply resembles suicide, and in that light, the idea of erasing residents’ memories to reinvigorate their sense of life seems as plausible, but both options still suck; they are just insanely better than how it was before them.
A very peaceful ending in my opinion. Let's take it sleazy y'all.
It was like an uplifting version of the Six Feet Under finale. More than I expected from this show. It was a perfect ending!
I know I said after the penultimate episode that the ending looks incredibly grateful, I just didn't know then how much. Turns out, very much. Bumpy ride with full of heart was already the brand of Michael Schur before this show, and that didn't change one bit.
That was a really well done finale, great balance of tears and jokes. Makes me want to rewatch the entire series again, beautifully done.
Cried through half of it. Will go down among the greatest series finales ever.
It makes me think back to another Schur's series, Parks and Recreation. I liked that series finale well enough, but it all feels too easy and pat for a series halfway about people coping with failure to end with every character getting everything they want. In some aspect The Good Place finale isn't that much different in template, cycling through our cast to see where they all end up at, ultimately happily. But the crucial difference is seeing they actively struggle and work through the premise and philosophy at the core of the series on the way there: how our lives have to go at one point, how near the end you have to look back and consider about things you have done with the time you have lived, and how you have to accept and reconcile with the fact that beyond the very end is an unknown mystery to everybody.
The series' trademark humor and cheer throughout only make those considerations on life, death, and the meaning of it all the more unspeakably profound. That the show makes the metaphor for the end of life feels not frightening but comforting through contemplation, without ever lessening its seriousness and gravity, honestly feels like a miracle.
I marvel at that expert tonal shift in that scene of Chidi going through the door, then Jason popping out to reveal that he hasn't gone through yet because he has to do this one last thing (and becomes a real monk in the process), giving Janet his remembrance before going through the door after Chidi as well: heartbreaking; then funny, zany, and clever; then back to heartrending in a flash. It's a constant, complex balancing act like that throughout the entire finale, and the cast and crew pull it all off. Also, I know this series is always destined to be underrated awards-wise, but if Kristen Bell is still not recognized after that scene where she begs Chidi to stay with her and has a flash of profound recognition as she watches he takes a walk, I'm going to lose my motherforking shirts.
Flaws and all (although in total it's still an amazing achievement), I am going to miss this weird, wonderful show.
Season 1: A-
Season 2: A
Season 3: B
Season 4: B+ (Series finale: A+)
Series grade: A-
This isn't The Good Place...this is The Sad Place! I didn't want it to end this way, but it was a good ending all the same.
A gazillion Bearimy later, the show manages to bring itself back from the dead for one last breath, giving us an emotional, heartfelt, sweet, sappy closure. Farewell, The Good Place! May you find your own Better Place.
Also — interesting note —, I realised something quite striking (maybe) a few hours after watching the episode: every single one of the humans who were a part of the main cast disappeared into oblivion, except for Tahani, who still lingered on. Eleanor, Jason and even Chidi fell into the egocentric routine of "I lived a full afterlife, I did all the things that gave me pleasure, I am satisfied with myself". Tahani went through that, too, she was even ready to also blow the essence of herself into smithereens, but she took one step further and realised she could "live" on to help other people. Was Tahani, in the end, the only truly selfless human of them all, the only one genuinely worthy of being in The Good Place? I guess that will depend on what is considered to be a "good" human being but, quite honestly, that ship has sailed a long time ago.
definition of a bittersweet ending
The last view episodes showed a lack of originality. And way before this last episode I already had the feeling, that this show's time is long over. But I am happy to have watched this until the end. Because the last episode had it all. Sad but heartwarming scenes, moments to think back to all the good stuff from the past seasons and a fitting and at least for me very satisfying ending to the whole show. Not everything was excellent, but all in all, it was good. Well done.
This series was so bad. Unbelievable.
Funny to see Nick Offerman appraising a chair as Ron Swanson; when you're also watching the P&R series finale next.
the most satisfying ending to all the characters i spent the past two weeks becoming attached to. a beautiful finale of such a beautiful show.
Perfect ending for this series, a sad and heartfelt conclusion for each of the main characters.
I'll miss this series a lot
Completely uninspired and obvious. Who knew the good place would be more cliche than the bad place?
That was quite sad for a happy ending. But hey, maybe they all are...
season didn't entirely stick the landing but this has been a sitcom that has been leaps and bounds ahead of it's competition in terms of humor and emotion and imma miss it a bunch :(
It's an epilogue episode. There are so few TV shows that end well. The Good Place in spite of being such an excellent TV program over all is no exception to this. It's just not a great ending. There's a reason for that however and that's because the previous episode was a fantastic ending to the series.
I mean I definitely don't agree with their new idea of an afterlife the solution they found but at least a solution IS found and it's consistent with everything we've learned about the show the universe and the characters. In this episode we merely see the aftermath of said solution. And while it's very satisfying and even miraculously manages to avoid being too cheesy. (I love the thing with Jason >!where he actually spends generations sitting in the forest thinking about the universe finally becoming the Monk he was placed as back in Season 1!<. I think honestly that bit of Jason was one of the mos emotional points of the show for me. I kinda wanted more of it but at the same time it was handled perfectly.
There's no way to show how and why every character chooses to take the door in a way that satisfies everyone. I was mostly unsatisfied with the choices the characters made. But I was happy they made a choice. Someone had a vision for this show and that vision played out and it didn't meanderingly try to please the biggest/loudest sect of your audience. It's an okay episode but for a series with so many highlights it does it's job of allowing us to let it go without demanding more from it.
This is a dark chocolate ending - bitter sweet and good for you. Perfection doesn't exist but The Good Place got damn close.
:heart::yellow_heart::green_heart::blue_heart::purple_heart:
A very sad-funny ending to a great show, I was only a tinny bit worried they wouldn't stick the landing.
nice ending i guess....
felt a bit trippy tbh but decent end to a good show.
Shout by Jitse LemmensBlockedParent2020-02-02T17:23:55Z
Redundent episode that didn't do it for me. The Good Place was an enjoyable show but it ran out of speed ever since the "problem" was solved.