All of the Hints That ‘The Good Place’ Wasn’t Exactly What It Seemed to Be
By Erin Qualey
That masterful twist in The Good Place finale practically demands a second viewing of the entire season. Caution: Spoilers ahead.
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Have you watched The Good Place finale yet? Yes? You’re in the right place. No? Shoo. Go the fork away. We don’t want to ruin anything for you here, so go get all caught up and then come on back. We’d be super vexed if we ruined anything for you. Last chance to go. Three… two… one…
After that amazing, jaw-dropping twist in The Good Place season finale, my mind is still spinning. As a sitcom, The Good Place somehow escaped rabid theorizing online, and was able to pull off one of the greatest twists in TV history. The show wasn’t actually set in heaven. Our quartet of human protagonists were actually playthings for a group of demons. Instead of the traditional hellscape of the afterworld, Michael (Ted Danson) was set to have these four horrible humans torture one another for all eternity. The good place was actually the bad place the entire time. Mind. Blown.
Once I was able to roll my jaw back into my head, I basked in the glory of the finale two more times, and then decided to go back to the beginning. Obviously I wanted to relive the wonders of the series again as we wait in anguish for a Season 2 renewal announcement (please, NBC?), but I also wanted to hunt for clues.
Just like any good twist, the breadcrumbs were secretly leading us to the conclusion the entire time. Hidden in plain sight, the slight inconsistencies, odd quirks of character, and sly hints all added up to a delightfully shocking ending to the most innovative new show on TV. How did The Good Place do it? Check out the hints they left for us throughout the first season below.
Porn in Heaven?
In the second episode, Eleanor (Kristen Bell) asks Janet (D’Arcy Carden) if she has to disclose the resident’s searches to Michael (Ted Danson). Janet says no, and immediately asks what type of porn Eleanor wants to access. No judgement on our part, even “good” people like a little freaky deaky every now and then, but porn isn’t necessarily something that we’d think would be such an integral part of heaven.
“Real” Eleanor
Speaking of “good”, this chick was good. She was too good. She was way WAY too good. And even though she wasn’t necessarily smug about her accomplishments (ahem, Tahani), she was definitely cloying in her perfection. Whose favorite food is a hunger strike? C’mon now.
Odd Inconsistencies
While there are magical things going on in the good place, there are some weird inconsistencies that don’t parse with the utopia that heaven should rightfully be. For example, in episode 2, Michael bans flying due to “injuries”, yet two dudes who get smashed by a falling dumpster had previously emerged unscathed. Then, a few days later during the opening of restaurant The Good Plates, Michael mentions that the chef spent an entire month working on her cake, yet was able to whip up individualized favorite meals for every single person invited to the shindig within hours. Maybe she was supposed to be a contestant on Top Chef in her past life? Those people never seem to be able to master baked goods. But, probably not. In retrospect, all of this is definitely suspect.
Also, Eleanor and Chidi have a serious dustup about piles of dirty dishes in episode 5. Man, if dishes don’t magically do themselves in heaven, I’m not sure if I want to go to there.
Chidi’s Stomachache
Very early on in the game, Chidi’s (William Jackson Harper) freaking out about the ethics of helping Eleanor. He says, “I’m in a perfect utopia and I have a stomachache!” I don’t think that annoying stress maladies are present in heaven, nor should they be.
So Much Name Dropping
Tahani (Jameela Jamil) was such a star forker in her life on earth that Entertainment Weekly was able to compile an entire list of her celebrity friends. And how did we know she had celeb friends? Because she wouldn’t shut up about it. This definitely should have been a big sign that Tahani didn’t belong in the good place after all.
Michael’s Masterful Shade
Since Kristen Bell knew about the twist when she signed on to the show, it stands to reason that the remainder of the cast did as well. And, if you pay close attention to Michael upon a second watch, it shows. In response to such a delicious challenge, Danson delivered one of the best performances of his career. Seriously. I hope Emmy voters watch the season twice, because the rewatchability of the season hinged on the believability of Danson’s performance on two completely separate levels.
Ted Danson is so good at playing the relatable everyman. Unless you count harassing Larry David, Danson so rarely plays a villain-like character. So a TV audience was never ever going to see his sinister motives coming. Not even from a mile away. In Danson’s jovial and agreeable hands, even when Michael was being a total ash-hole – like when he was berating Chidi about his book, or subtly insulting Tahani for her superficial party efforts – he was still pretty damn charming. A wolf in Danson clothing is one effective wolf.
Related Story: 5 Times Our Jaws Hit the Forking Floor During 'The Good Place' Finale
FroYo? Hell No.
Why in the universe would you ever have frozen yogurt when you can have ice cream, guilt-free? FroYo is just yogurt masquerading as ice cream. Just like the bad place was masquerading as the good place. Guys, they were basically trying to tell us the whole time. Case closed.
‘The Good Place’ Season 1 is currently available for streaming on NBC.com and Hulu.
Did you catch any other hints leading up to The Good Place finale? Let us know in the comments!