The Good Place

What happens when we die?

It’s a question that has plagued men and women since the dawn of time. For observers of religious dogma, life on Earth is simply a rehearsal in the great theatre of existence. If they’ve been humble attendees: waited patiently in line, put money in the tip tray, sat slouched for the people behind; then when the curtain's finally peeled they’ll witness something truly special, an eternal production titled Bliss and Euphoria. If on the other hand, they’ve pushed their way to the front, put gum in the tip tray and brought a cushion to obscure the view of others; then when the curtain's finally peeled they’ll be greeted with something truly awful, an interminable production titled Pain and Suffering.

If, on the other hand, you’re an atheist and consider God a lousy work of fiction, penned by an ancient ancestor of Dan Brown, then you believe life categorically ends in death. That the soul does not continue its journey; rather one's flesh is made worms meat until the corpse is nothing more than glorified dog bone. For the atheist, life isn’t a moral talent show, an audition for an Almighty judge; it’s the real deal.

The Good Place is a sitcom about what happens after we die. It begins with Eleanor meeting a mysterious bow tie figure. He informs her that her time on Earth has come to an end. She has died and continued her journey. Understandably, she has questions to ask: how did she die – she can’t remember? Well, she was buying a cocktail mix for one when a line of shopping carts struck her, causing her to be thrown into the path of an erectile dysfunction marketing truck. Hence, why she’s now a stiff. She has another question to ask: how close were people’s theories on the afterlife? Well, the major religions were about 5% close, but “a stoner from Calgary named Doug Forcett blurted out a theory while high on mushrooms and it turns out to be 92% close.” Eleanor’s next question: am I (points to up) or (points to down)? Happily, she has made it to what is called ‘The Good Place.’ It isn’t what people traditionally would conceive paradise to be, but it’s somewhat close. Relieved, Eleanor looks forward to the next stage of her existence.

Eleanor at the gates.

Welcome to The Good Place, a wondrous sitcom devised and created by Parks and Recreation co-writer, Michael Schur. Typically, I prefer naturalism in sitcoms; therefore, it’s something of a treat to be thrown into something altogether different. On first sight, this might seem a world away from Schur’s previous work set in local government, but a closer look at his career says otherwise. For example, the last series of Parks and Recreation fast-forwarded to a future where corporations had taken over towns, leaving its inhabitants in thrall to products and marketing. The Good Place is also an imagined future. Further, his work on Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror episode ‘Nosedive’ feeds into his current sitcom, dealing as it does with datafication. In Black Mirror people were knowingly being rated on their every deed and action. However, in The Good Place, people aren’t judged in life by one another, but by an organisation in the sky: good deeds are totalled up, with the best players being rewarded with a bonus life.

Eleanor is in The Good Place because she has led a good life of moral virtue. Where so many have succumbed to the self, she has forsaken all ego for others. Her place in paradise is reserved alongside the few that have put their own interests to one side in the name of selflessness. After her preliminary introduction, she is invited to a welcoming talk with other excited inhabitants. Michael, the bow tied creator, explains how their performance in life led them to this place. His talk is backdropped by a screen that features blink-and-you-miss behaviours that caused their reward.

Hosted Refugee Family, Rehabilitate d Abused Pit Bull, Donated 16.35% of Lifetime Income, Anonymously, to Charities, Gave Out Full-Size Candy Bars at Halloween, Ate Vegan, Never Discussed Veganism Unprompted, Held Door for Person Behind You, Installed Solar Panels, Let Someone Merge in Traffic, Brought Own Bags to Grocery Store, Donated Blood, Self-Monitored Potentially Nauseating Mouth-Sounds While Chewing, Carefully Put Spider Outside, Helped Mom With Her Printer, Gracefully Ended A Conversation About the Weather, Attended Cousin’s Friend’s Child’s Jazz Dance Recital, etc…

Look at all the gags in there. The juxtaposition of the charitable: hosting refugee families, alongside the laughable: helping mom with her printer, demonstrate a master craftsman at work. And the crazy thing? These jokes happen so quickly you might miss them. To get all the gags you have to rewind, re-watch and, in the case above, freeze-frame the screen to enjoy the full benefits. Other sight gags include restaurants named ‘The Good Plates’ and a pasta store branded, ‘Hokey Gnocchi’ in tribute to the participation dance routine.

Michael (Ted Danson) welcomes people to The Good Place.

After Eleanor has got her head round her new existence, she is introduced to Chidi, who it’s claimed is her soul-mate. He doesn’t look like Eleanor’s type. He’s diffident and earnest, oblivious to his geek chic. But this is a new life for Eleanor, a fresh start so what does she know. Aware their souls are wedded beyond death do them part, she decides to confide in him. Her confession: she doesn’t belong here. Earlier Michael had said she had earned her place based on her work in defending innocent people on death row. The truth: she sold fake medicine to elderly people. Someone has made a mistake. Chidi begins to hyperventilate. He lives his life by a strict code: to hide Eleanor’s true nature threatens to send his moral robot into malfunction. What’s the alternative though? Confess her sins and throw her to The Bad Place?

Chidi can’t play God with Eleanor’s soul so instead tries to save it through philosophy. There’s not many sitcoms that have a character complain, “Who died and left Aristotle in charge of ethics?” Only for another one to point at the board and reveal Plato's name. Over the course of the series, Utilitarianism and Contractualism feature: all there to drive Eleanor towards goodness. In many ways the sitcom is My Name is Earl set in the after-life, where the protagonist must make amends for their past life in the hope of finding salvation.

Eleanor and Chidi.

Alongside Chidi and Eleanor, there are two other main characters that occupy the space. Tahani, played by ex-T4 host Jameela Jamil, and Jianyu, a Buddhist monk who persists in living a life of silence. These two are paired as soul-mates, but there’s trouble in paradise when they struggle to connect. A bigger problem is Eleanor though. Her failings on Earth may have gone unpunished. But here in The Good Place her sins are made manifest. At a party she rudely describes the skyscraper Tahini, a giraffe: the next morning a tower of giraffes run through the neighbourhood. She is a Beelzebub in heaven. If she isn’t turfed out, she threatens the very fabric of paradise. Kristen Bell’s portrayal, however, is wholly sympathetic, causing the viewer to will her on to redemption.

For a show that encompasses philosophical theory, its value is perhaps best argued using William Paley’s teleological argument. In it, Paley uses the analogy of the watchmaker, arguing the very intricacy of a watch points to intelligent design- a watch couldn’t have just fall into existence like a rock. So it is with God and the universe. The world's complexity proves a godlike creator. In the Analogy of the Sitcom, Schur is the watchmaker and The Good Place the watch; a comedy so brilliant it proves divine writers really do exist.

The Good Place is available on Netflix.