By Dayton Kennard
The Good Place is an ongoing NBC/Netflix show that’s currently in its third season, with each new episode being uploaded to Netflix a few hours after its original airing on NBC. The series starts off with Eleanor Shellstrop waking up in “The Good Place,” a heaven-like town where only the kindest of the kindest people go when they die. She’s introduced to the town, shown her new home (which has been made and styled to perfectly match her personality), and matched with her soulmate, Chidi. In this perfect place, the only problem is her. Eleanor quickly figures out that she’s been mistaken for someone else, as the memories shown to her are not her own and there’s no way that she was as good a person as anyone around her.
This sets up the main theme of the show: becoming a good person. As Eleanor doesn’t belong in “The Good Place” due to her actions when she was alive, she sets out to become a good person and fit in with the rest of her neighbors. Each episode will have a specific problem that needs to be faced, and there will be flashbacks that allow us to see the difference of how she handled a similar problem in the past compared to how she’s handling it now. We get insight into how she’s evolving emotionally as she feels guilt over bad decisions and actions rather than just passing it off as someone else’s problem. Without spoiling much, I can say that these flashbacks are often amusing and absurd, providing a good break between the serious situation and the attempts to fix the current problem. Even though this seems like just a comedy at first glance, the show does teach its viewers better morals, whether it’s little acts of kindness or learning when to take one for the team.
I don’t want to spoil anything about the show, but I can tell you that they pack tons of action and plot into the 22-minute episodes, and the plot twists at the end of each season leave you shaking in your seat anticipating what will happen next. I recommend taking a day of relaxing on the couch with your blanket and snacks to binge the first two seasons in around 10 hours if you’re watching on Netflix with no ads. I hope you have fun watching it, and remember, you’re constantly being watched and judged for your every action to determine if you’ll spend your afterlife eternally suffering! 😀
Editor: Makena Behnke
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