I originally submitted this review as an entry in the New York Times' Fifth Annual Student Review Contest. I originally wrote it about the first two seasons, but I have since seen the third and give it the same assessment as its predecessors.
What makes a good person? Can a bad person become a good person? What does it mean to be a person? These are the questions Michael Schur and NBC’s Emmy-, Hugo-, and Peabody-winning show “The Good Place” explores in its first two seasons. By coupling these weighty questions with expert acting, set design and story, “The Good Place” creates an experience that is simultaneously hilarious, thought-provoking, and inspiring.
The show opens with Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) arriving in the Good Place, the heaven-analogous afterlife reserved for the most virtuous citizens of Earth. The catch: Shellstrop, who in life sold fake medicine to the elderly and cyberbullied her roommate, is in the Good Place by mistake. And the architect of this particular Good Place neighborhood, white-haired, bowtie-bearing immortal being Michael (Ted Danson), has no idea.
The show chronicles Shellstrop’s struggle to fit in and avoid detection in her new home, lest she be sent to eternal torture in the Bad Place. With the help of former ethics professor Chidi Anagonye, charitable socialite Tahani Al-Jamil and failed DJ Jason Mendoza, as well as the neighborhood’s magical robot-servant-being Janet, Shellstrop tries to become a better person and earn her spot in the afterlife.
The narrative genius of The Good Place is in making morality a driver of the plot - not (only) in an abstract, internal self-improvement arc, but as a practical necessity that forces a selfish and amoral person to learn to be good or suffer forever. Giving such a concrete role to moral values turns an esoteric set of topics into a novel, intriguing basis for the show’s story.
The immediacy of the show’s moral questions is reinforced by expert cast performances. Bell as Eleanor portrays an intensely relatable character whose flaws make us cringe but whose growth makes us swell with pride. William Jackson Harper’s picture of Chidi as a well-meaning, indecisive academic is at once frustrating and lovable. And Manny Jacinto’s performance as slow but adorable Jason is so hilarious that not even the prospect of eternal damnation can dampen the show’s playfulness.
Simple yet beautiful set design also underpins the show’s delivery. From boxy, bright-colored houses and cobbled streets to a cheery little frozen yogurt shop, Michael’s afterlife neighborhood feels like a dream, and gives the show an otherworldly visual context perfect for presenting its moral thought experiments.
All of this adds up to a captivating drama that dives into some of the most important parts of being human. Through the human characters we explore key questions about ethical motivations, self-improvement, and cooperation. On the other hand, outsiders Michael and Janet give us refreshing outside perspectives on things as human as midlife crises and the trauma of a breakup.
Due to the word count constraint of the NYT contest, I was unable to include a conclusion in the original review, but I wholeheartedly recommend this show to anyone looking for some light-hearted, accessible, and unique comedy.
Commenti