The Good Place (Season 1)

So it wasn't until my second attempt at watching The Good Place I actually finished the first season and got a full picture of what a lot of people were raving about. And as usual... I have thoughts.

The Good Place mainly follows the story of Eleanor Shellstrop (played by Kristen Bell). Eleanor wakes up one day and is told by a Ted Danson looking guy that she has died. Ted Danson's character, an angel-like* (they make it clear that this is not exactly heaven in any traditional religious manner) character named Michael tells Eleanor that she lived a good life and is in "The Good Place", AKA a heaven like universe after her death.

He leads Eleanor around paradise and introduces her to a cast of character, most importantly her apparent "soul mate", a scholar of ethics by the name of Chidi (played by William Jackson Harper). Overall, Eleanor seems to have it made. But there is one problem.

Eleanor discovers very quickly that the Eleanor Shellstrop Michael and everyone else in The Good Place believes Eleanor to be, is not her. She seems to have been brought to The Good Place by mistake.

She confides in Chidi and the majority of the season is her trying to learn how to be "good" in order to earn her place in heaven and not be sent to "The Bad Place".

And there's a lot to talk about with this show that I will get to, but I do have to point out one glaring issue that I've noticed since the beginning of watching this show and it's Kristen Bell.

I think its because of Bell's personality just in general as being a bubbly, almost Disney Princess in real life persona, but I don't buy that she's this horrible person they make her out to be.

In fact the show has to constantly point back to times she was mean to people in order to remind us she's a bad person, and even those flashbacks are undercut when they dive into her backstory and explain why she's the way she is.

Now clearly, I am still watching the show so it's not like this is a huge show ruining issue. But it is something I did keep on thinking about and it was kind of hard to remember especially as she continues to have these lessons on being a good person and (spoilers) they work.

That issue aside, the cast for this show is really good and what's more, it's small.

Sure there are guest stars and recurring characters. But mainly, the story centers on Eleanor, Chidi, their neighbor condescending neighbor Tahani (played by Jameela Jamil), and her soul mate, a Budhist monk named Jianyu (played by Manny Jacinto) who has taken a vow of silence. Ted Danson's character Michael plays a big roll and he is accompanied by an all knowing program with the purpose of serving the humans in the Good Place, Janet (played by D'Arcy Carden).

The show really dives into each character really well that by the end, you know these characters and its kind of refreshing to not have a huge cast you have to keep track of. The show centers heavily on these six but tries to kind of trick you into thinking there are more with some really great cameos and performances from supporting characters.

And the show is funny... most of the time.

Michael Schur, who did a lot of work on Parks and Rec, Co-created The Office and Brooklyn 99 created this one and the humor is really good. They really play around with the philosophical and religious comedy baked right into the plot and the scene to the right had to have been one of my favorite when a cosmic being like Michael puts on a hoodie and melts down because he can't figure out what's wrong with his utopia. That's great.

But then there's the cheap laughs that even as I'm watching season 2, they're still banking on. Like the fact that people can't swear in the Good Place, so instead of the F word they say Fork. This is a reoccurring joke that has only gotten stupider every time they use it.

Also, some characters are played off as real dumb and that's their entire character. It's like Chris Hemsworth's character from the new Ghost Busters, eventually stupid just isn't as funny as it was the first 40 times you used that trope.

But for the most part, the humor works because it's building off of the unique world and themes being utilized in the show and that's really where the show shines.

I think any comedy writer can write jokes about god, about the afterlife, etc. But the way in which this show sticks is just the heart behind it and each of the characters.

For the most part, and I'm holding back because I don't want to get into spoilers, the show creates a pretty great connection to all the characters from Eleanor, to Michael (Kristen Bell and Ted Danson really do sell this show above the others), to the other characters.

I will say in the first season there are some uneven episodes. There are episodes that feel like filler to hold down the fort until you get to the bigger episodes that start answering the show's questions, but I think the big thing that saves this show from being just another NBC comedy is the fact that season 1 (and 2) are only 13, 30 minute episodes. The story gets to the point, it keeps you interested, and it easily could've been the opposite.

The Good Place recognizes that the public's attention spans have gotten shorter so we would have lost interest if this had gone for 22 episodes and she's just meandering around The Good Place for no reason. With the shorter season, the show clips along great that there are very few episodes that feel like filler, the character I didn't like as much get less time to get on my nerves, and I just enjoy the show more.

I do think there are elements of The Good Place that feel gimmicky. The first few episodes of this season feel like it was made for a prime time slot and that's usually not my cup of tea. But, by the end of the season I jumped right into season 2 because it feels like the show is a lot smarter than your average run of the mill sitcom.

And now that I'm in it, I have a bittersweet feeling to the fact that the fourth season airing currently will be the last season. I don't know if it got cancelled or if Michael Schur felt the story properly ends at the end of the fourth season (and I'm not going to figure out in lieu of spoilers) but I really hope its the latter.

While this show is a concept that could go on for quite a while, its refreshing to see a show be concise and know exactly what story it wants to tell. And especially as you come to the end of the first season, you know that this is a concise story, not one that needs to go on forever.

I'm excited to watch more of The Good Place and if you haven't seen it yet, it's on Netflix. If you can get past the first few episodes that feel very prime time sitcom-y, you're in for a show with a unique and clever premise that I'm continuing to have a blast with.

But have you seen The Good Place? What do you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films or TV shows I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!