They just ruined the series. SPOILERS - The Good Place (2016) Discussion

[–] bing-57 8 years ago

Yup. Probably the most brilliant and surprising season ender I've seen to any show in the last ten years. It has renewed my faith in the cesspool of network TV.

This actually gave the whole season a point. Without this ending, the season would have just been a rather blah and predictable plot of a bad person marching towards redemption and finally achieving far more goodness than anyone would have thought. That's been done thousands of times before.

I mean, really, would you have been happy with an ending where fake Eleanor and Justin simply agree to go to the Bad Place and then Sean yells, "Surprise! Your self-sacrifice has earned you eternity in the Good Place," and then everyone lives a blissful and happy life everlasting? What the fork would they do for a second season? I would be disappointed see them do nothing more than happily eat frozen yogurt for 13 episodes.

Conflict. That makes any show good. And now, the second season is shaping up to be a big cat-and-mouse game between Eleanor and Michael.

This is really the ONLY way that this season could have ended.

--
What Would Jesus Do For A Klondike Bar (WWJDFAKB)?

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[–] jberning 8 years ago

I agree fully. Kept wondering how teh season would end, and how they would/could keep teh story going.It kind of felt like it was at it's climax and to keep the story going as was without this twist would have gotten stale fast in season 2. We would have either had Eleanor on the run or them jsut dragging out her sentencing. Becuase if she was deemed able to stay then the story is basically over. Figure the only thing left would be if Michael got punished/retired and them having to save him. And I don't see them dragging that out over a whole season either.

Now they have lots of opportunity with them reconnecting adn finding each other, trying to outsmart Michael, figure out what is going on and how to change their situation. Since they are all in the Bad Place is there anyway for them to get out of it now. Even if they "beat" Michael's second round plan, won't they just get sent to another Bad Place location where they will be tortured? Or maybe season 2 can be a cat-and-mouse game with them and Michael adn end with them fleeing with Janet's help, and season 3 is them on the run from Shawn and other workers. Never really knowing who they can trust.

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[–] Rat_lover 8 years ago

I completely agree. The twist was brilliant. I wondered how the show could keep going for more seasons with the "Good Place" storyline. Now we can get a "different" show, with them trying to find each other. It's exciting! Hopefully we will get a second season.

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[–] bing-57 8 years ago

> Even if they "beat" Michael's second round plan, won't they just get sent to another Bad Place location where they will be tortured?

Yes. And that would be brilliant. Season 2 would be the same characters but rebooted and remixed in a completely different way. Obviously, things are starting off different with Eleanor's soulmate being a hot mailman. Maybe Jason isn't a monk this time and maybe Chidi's the bad guy. But, Eleanor's already veering off the track with her note to herself.

Season 3 would be a completely new reboot as the characters, once again, beat Michael at his own game in Season 2. And then again for season 4.

And maybe we find that the memory erase isn't as thorough as Michael hopes. Or that Janet can access old back-ups of herself and they find out what happened in the last three reboots. Or the last twenty reboots. Or Michael adds new souls to the mix.

--
What Would Jesus Do For A Klondike Bar (WWJDFAKB)?

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[–] Sandy0095 8 years ago

I don't think they're going to change anybody. According to Michael, the four of them were chosen for their specific personalities to torture each other, etc. I think this time Chidi will be placed with Tahani, which will bug Eleanor. Or else they'll all have fake soulmates watching them & reporting to Michael.

I think S2 will be about Eleanor figuring it out again, but much faster. Chidi & Eleanor will be revealed as the big flaw in Michael's plan. I find it interesting that Michael never mentioned if people in the "bad place" have soulmates, so perhaps they're the equivalent of that- Eleanor's change of heart ruined his first attempt.

-Who is it?
-It's Grandpa. And it sounds like he's gotten into the horseradish again.

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[–] bing-57 8 years ago

> I don't think they're going to change anybody.

Well, nobody will actually change personalities. But, they will be put in different circumstances where they might react completely different. Eleanor was originally paired up with Chidi and they seemed to have no particular attraction to each other. Ditto for Tahani and Jason. And things played out as they did in Season 1.

But, we can already see that, in Season 2, Eleanor is paired with a hot mailman played by an afterlife actor. Probably each of them will be paired with a hot soulmate. Eleanor felt bad for cheating Chidi out of his afterlife reward. She may not feel so bad hooking up with her mailman. So, she may never feel guilty enough this time to make a big deal about why she is in "the good place."

As I say, maybe Chidi is the bad guy this time and paired with some as perfect as "real" Eleanor was. Maybe his guilt is the trigger for the season.

Or maybe Season 2 won't be as "good" as Season 1. Maybe it will be dressed up as "the medium place" and the characters need to battle over who gets to go to "the good place."

> I find it interesting that Michael never mentioned if people in the "bad place" have soulmates, so perhaps they're the equivalent of that

"Soulmates" was just part of the story that Michael created. Humans eat that crap up, so he added it to his neighborhood. I doubt that the afterlife, either good or bad, makes any attempt to match up soulmates. The idea of soulmates created the tension between our four characters since they each knew that their own match wasn't working out.

> I think S2 will be about Eleanor figuring it out again, but much faster.

Now, I am thinking that some of what Michael has said about the afterlife, in front of the viewers, is true. For example, only Sean and Michael were present when they lost track of Eleanor as she explored "the middle place." So, I think that that really is a long-lost neighborhood out in the middle of nowhere. It could be important for Season 2. And, Janet seems to be an unpredictable force in the neighborhood. It is probably true that whatever a guest talks to Janet about is private, and even Sean and the architect cannot have access to secrets she holds. That was important in Season 1 and probably will be in Season 2.

--
What Would Jesus Do For A Klondike Bar (WWJDFAKB)?

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[–] NotMoreMovies 8 years ago

It was one of the best twists I've seen since The 6th Sense.

I don't know how good season 2 will be, but that was a great ending...when she said "We ARE in the Bad Place", I thought "Oh shirt, why didn't I see that all along? I'm such a forking idiot! 

And it was a brilliant idea by Michael...make them think they're in heaven, but play psych games on them. Mental torture is much better than physical.

It reminds me of The Simpsons when Disco Stu sees Frank Sinatra in "Disco heaven", and Frank says "This is hell for me, you dig?"

I just hope the writing is as good in season 2, but I have my doubts...I can only hope.

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[–] Sandy0095 8 years ago

Agree. I thought it was brilliant. I honestly didn't see it coming and it gives S2 a fresh start.

I think fans are just disappointed in "restarting" the plot but I don't think they're going to restart it. I think Eleanor will figure it out much faster & this time she'll know not to tell Michael

-Who is it?
-It's Grandpa. And it sounds like he's gotten into the horseradish again.

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[–] Sluggr-3 8 years ago

Danson really sold it as he went from good to evil in about 2 seconds. The worst part is that in retrospect, it all makes sense.

My Chimp DNA seems to have lost its password temporarily. Sluggr-2

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[–] kadeskiss 8 years ago

I missed it . What was the twist?

[love]
Kades! [/love]

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[–] Ayababi 8 years ago

If you missed it, you didn't watch the finale. Go back and watch the last episode

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[–] rrattbbooyy 8 years ago

It was a brilliant twist.

Like Sartre said, hell is other people.

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[–] grstmc 8 years ago

Nope

Brilliant? If they think so. To each their own.

Disappointed. Not the "show" that drew me in, and got me hooked. Don't like the new direction, and plot twist. And I liked the well-meaning, but mostly bewildered "good" Michael, dutifully trying to help Eleanor remain in the Good Place.

Yeah, that's right. If one set of problems gets resolved, everybody just sits around and eats frozen yogurt after that. LOL

Eleanor doesn't really belong in the GP. She will always have trouble fitting in, always be some sort of disruption, and always be a work in progress. Many ways they could have gone with that. Hell, they could spend a whole season with Eleanor in the Bad Place, where Trevor tries to win her over to the bad side, instead of just torturing her. Meanwhile, Michael et al try to come up with a plan to save her. Whatever. Something. Anything.

But I ain't deserting. I hope they get another season. I'll be back to see where they take it. Who knows, the new twist just might win me over. In any event, we still have the great Kristen Bell, who makes Eleanor a great anti-heroine to root for whichever way they're going.

That's IF there IS another season.

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[–] SBL84 8 years ago

I love Bad Michael.

"Well, if it'll make you feel any better, you were the closest to actually getting in, up there. You weren't that close. You were just the closest."
"That makes me feel worse, somehow."
"Good. Thank you, Chidi. I really needed to hear that right now."

The evil laugh, slowly pushing the thing off the table while he pouts because Eleanor figured it out. He's great.

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[–] Ayababi 8 years ago

His face went from baffled and confused to evil laugh so beautifully I was like oohhhh *beep*!

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[–] Sandy0095 8 years ago

Who would've thought Ted Danson could be creepy but the music mixed with his laughing... yikes!

-Who is it?
-It's Grandpa. And it sounds like he's gotten into the horseradish again.

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[–] cacamill-212-447641 8 years ago

exactly! I honestly shrieked from sheer shock and fear, makes me feel a bit ashamed in retrospect haha

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[–] Coven_Darke 8 years ago

I like him as a good guy too but if you really think about it, the retirement he described sure sounds like it would be something you give to a bad place architect and not a good place architect.

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