Good place is super funny. It’s just not as funny as parks or 99.
I also think Jason is painfully unfunny so if you’re judging the show turn all the times you laughed at Jason into massive eye rolls and that’s how I rank it
Good place is super funny. It’s just not as funny as parks or 99.
I also think Jason is painfully unfunny so if you’re judging the show turn all the times you laughed at Jason into massive eye rolls and that’s how I rank it
Oh yeah that's gonna hurt. I found Jason about 50% funny, so I kinda know what you mean. When it was good, it was very good, but it was also super cringeworthy half the time.
WACriminalDying Is Easy, Young ManLiving Is HarderRegistered Userregular
I don't think it's fair for me to say that the finale should have had any changes, but I will say there were two things I wish we had seen:
1) Some sort of ending for Janet besides just saying goodbye to everyone else when they left. I don't know what that would even look like, though, so maybe that's why it wasn't there?
2) Shawn getting into the Good Place. On a long enough timeline, after enough Bearimies, I feel like it had to have happened, and I would have loved to meet that Shawn for just a moment in the end.
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minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
We got that little smile from him when Michael called him "buddy", before he corrected himself. I thought that was a nice touch.
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
Man. Maybe breaking bad had a better ending? But I dunno. This was so perfect. Wow.
In recent years I'd say Justified and The Shield both had better than Breaking Bad. Hard to compare to this, because this show as shorter, and a comedy. I will say that this is probably one of the more solid from start-to-finish shows, including the finale, that I can think of. There was no bad season. There was no arc I was sick of. They stuck the landing. Great show.
The Leftovers (which got a shoutout in this final episode!!!) has a perfect ending
Just read about the cameo (well, recurring cameo) we all missed:
Remember when the judge shoved Adam Scott's Trevor off the bridge and into the void? Every time the show returned to the bridge, you can see a teeny tiny Trevor zipping along in the background and screaming. Sure enough, if you listen closely and pause you can see/hear Trevor still hurtling uncontrollably during the first scene with the doorman in the finale.
This goddamn show, man.
Switch: 3947-4890-9293
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Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
Just read about the cameo (well, recurring cameo) we all missed:
Remember when the judge shoved Adam Scott's Trevor off the bridge and into the void? Every time the show returned to the bridge, you can see a teeny tiny Trevor zipping along in the background and screaming. Sure enough, if you listen closely and pause you can see/hear Trevor still hurtling uncontrollably during the first scene with the doorman in the finale.
This goddamn show, man.
THANK you, I was just wondering yesterday what happened to that guy.
Just read about the cameo (well, recurring cameo) we all missed:
Remember when the judge shoved Adam Scott's Trevor off the bridge and into the void? Every time the show returned to the bridge, you can see a teeny tiny Trevor zipping along in the background and screaming. Sure enough, if you listen closely and pause you can see/hear Trevor still hurtling uncontrollably during the first scene with the doorman in the finale.
This goddamn show, man.
THANK you, I was just wondering yesterday what happened to that guy.
I was meaning to say my one tiny gripe with the finale was we saw everyone of note have their 'resolution'.
If people are interested in some of the smaller ”blink and you miss it” things, the podcast gets into a lot of these things. Especially a really neat one with Derek and his current incarnation.
That was a very good series finale. It was funny yet sad. It was heartwarming and sweet, without being sickly sweet.
It was a satisfying ending, but I'm really going to miss this show.
Also, I have no shame in admitting that I have a crush on Jameela Jamil. She's an absolute treasure. I really hope to see her in more stuff in the future.
That was a very good series finale. It was funny yet sad. It was heartwarming and sweet, without being sickly sweet.
It was a satisfying ending, but I'm really going to miss this show.
Also, I have no shame in admitting that I have a crush on Jameela Jamil. She's an absolute treasure. I really hope to see her in more stuff in the future.
I feel similarly about D’arcy. But honestly I hope they all have long successful careers.
And because while I didn't need to see it to believe it, I had to see it so I could laugh at it.
I've circled Trevor, endlessly flying (and screaming) through eternity*.
* Assuming that there's no real significant time passage in the events between Trevor getting thrown, until the first placard of time passage (Jason's story), then Trevor has been airborne at this point, for a total of 2565.6 Jeremy Bearimy's.
Here’s a crazy thought: I think that eventually, Tahani will be the last human, and eventually the last being from this incarnation of the universe. When the universe closes down and everyone from the other architects to the Janets to Gen herself goes home, as the perfect hostess Tahani will be the one who stacks the chairs, turns off the lights, and locks the door. Tahani will become God.
She’ll take a day off, and then create a new universe.
Oh god damn it, now I'm welling up again!
It's all saltwater these days:
Ocean, tears and heartbreak soup
Half alive in a whitecap foam
Half in love with a white half moon
Just wanted to add a comment to address the concerns of those who still don't like the "door" and what it represents.
I feel the finale (specifically the final scene) really strikes a hopeful tone in that regard. It establishes that when a good person finally goes through the door, they're not destroyed, they're turned into, basically, little motes of pure goodness, that then float out into the universe to inspire others to commit small acts of kindness. The broader implication here is that, over a period of enough bearimies, as more and more souls go through the system, they are basically refined into motes of pure kindness, which, in turn, serve to influence the universe as a whole into becoming a kinder place.
The basic message is that, thanks to this new system in the afterlife, the universe will inevitably be destined to become a better place with each passing soul and that's a pretty hopeful takeaway, in my opinion.
I'm really glad this show decided not to go for one last big twist and instead ended up being a rather thoughtful meditation on death.
I was thinking about this last night, yeah. It was an exceptionally ambitious and brave ending for the writers to settle on. It would have been much easier to go for the twist. Once they decided not to go with the twist, it would have been even easier to fuck it up and get too philosophical, too navel-gazing, and have it feel disconnected from the human core of the show. But they didn't do that, they kept it both thoughtful and inescapably human.
When Chidi told Eleanor about the proverb about the wave returning to the ocean, it was a pretty clear foreshadowing of the ending. But it was still very well done and nice to see. When someone goes through the door, it's like the wave crashing on the shore and returning to the ocean. Sure, the form is gone, but the water is still there. And it just affirms that these were good people and even though their consciousness is gone, their good nature is still there, returned to the universe
Why didn't Michael get started at birth? Starting life at middle age kind of seems to cheat him at one of the things which makes humans, well, human. That early life shaping that really informs why we are what we are and the forever struggle to become something more.
Second,
Did I miss why reincarnation wasn't an option if you got bored of being in the good place? It felt like to me that was the thing being set up. Don't get me wrong, the water returning to the ocean metaphor was beautiful, but it really felt like getting to return to life/earth but without the burdens of your previous life seems to me to be an optimistic view as well as being a way to try to make life better.
All opinions are my own and in no way reflect that of my employer.
+4
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ShivahnUnaware of her barrel shifter privilegeWestern coastal temptressRegistered User, Moderatormod
Why didn't Michael get started at birth? Starting life at middle age kind of seems to cheat him at one of the things which makes humans, well, human. That early life shaping that really informs why we are what we are and the forever struggle to become something more.
Second,
Did I miss why reincarnation wasn't an option if you got bored of being in the good place? It felt like to me that was the thing being set up. Don't get me wrong, the water returning to the ocean metaphor was beautiful, but it really felt like getting to return to life/earth but without the burdens of your previous life seems to me to be an optimistic view as well as being a way to try to make life better.
Re: the second (though my spoiler does not actually address it)
In more classical Buddhist philosophy (not necessarily what Buddhists believe today), our existence as continuous beings is an illusion. Given that, there's no reason to prioritize what we call "me" (which is, after all, an illusion), so dying while something else begins to exist is the same as living forever.
Not very palatable to Western audiences, and also takes explanation, so that's clearly a reason not to do it, but really what happens is still pretty Buddhist overall.
I had that thought as well, but this show never really touched on reincarnation previously, it might have been weird to pull it out of nowhere in the final episode. There does not appear to be a god or creator figure in this cosmology, so the question of where sentient humans "come from" is not really answered, which makes reincarnation more logistically tricky than they probably wanted to get into. That's probably why Michael remained as adult Ted Danson as well- the question of how to transpose Michael's "soul" into a brand new human body was too logistically convoluted for the writers to deal with. Plus, I think humans dissolving into the universal spirit of goodness is more in line with the themes of the show than reincarnation.
Regarding what happens when you go through the door, according to the podcast
Serious spoilers ahead
This is the final spoiler, enter once you are sure
The intention of following Elenor wasn't to show what will happen when you go through the door, but was to show what might happen. That is Mike Schur's interpretation of what he thinks the final door would do, but if you would rather, for example, the person stepping through is reincarnated then he will not say you are wrong.
I had that thought as well, but this show never really touched on reincarnation previously, it might have been weird to pull it out of nowhere in the final episode. There does not appear to be a god or creator figure in this cosmology, so the question of where sentient humans "come from" is not really answered, which makes reincarnation more logistically tricky than they probably wanted to get into. That's probably why Michael remained as adult Ted Danson as well- the question of how to transpose Michael's "soul" into a brand new human body was too logistically convoluted for the writers to deal with. Plus, I think humans dissolving into the universal spirit of goodness is more in line with the themes of the show than reincarnation.
Re: incarnation
Also, I kinda view the current test as effectively like reincarnation. The beginning of each test is like starting over ( though each test is different for each person I suppose) so while you may not start as a baby, but the idea of starting over is still there. I see the door as being if you're all done, even with the reincarnation part.
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. ~ Terry Pratchett
The door can be seen as a rough allegory of the Hindu concept of Moksha. Souls are freed from the cycle of death and rebirth (Samsara) and become one with the greater concepts of general bliss and peace that governs all of our lives.
(please note that I am not Hindi, this is simply my layman understanding. Please feel free to correct if I am misrepresenting anything).
My view of the ending - when we go, the only part of us that lives on is how we affected the people that survive us. My best hope is that some act of kindness I showed someone makes them more likely to perform acts of kindness, and onwards.
Why didn't Michael get started at birth? Starting life at middle age kind of seems to cheat him at one of the things which makes humans, well, human. That early life shaping that really informs why we are what we are and the forever struggle to become something more.
Second,
Did I miss why reincarnation wasn't an option if you got bored of being in the good place? It felt like to me that was the thing being set up. Don't get me wrong, the water returning to the ocean metaphor was beautiful, but it really felt like getting to return to life/earth but without the burdens of your previous life seems to me to be an optimistic view as well as being a way to try to make life better.
Re: the second (though my spoiler does not actually address it)
In more classical Buddhist philosophy (not necessarily what Buddhists believe today), our existence as continuous beings is an illusion. Given that, there's no reason to prioritize what we call "me" (which is, after all, an illusion), so dying while something else begins to exist is the same as living forever.
Not very palatable to Western audiences, and also takes explanation, so that's clearly a reason not to do it, but really what happens is still pretty Buddhist overall.
also very easily understood in a gnostic framework albeit with an intermediate step
alienated sparks of the true divine released from their prison to return to it
This was a pretty much perfect ending. I have one question I might have missed though
When humans go into the system and fail. Are they reborn as themselves or are they reincarnated as someone else? If the latter...how do they choose what to appear as in the Good Place? And wouldn't they potentially have many families they were part of on Earth?
This was a pretty much perfect ending. I have one question I might have missed though
When humans go into the system and fail. Are they reborn as themselves or are they reincarnated as someone else? If the latter...how do they choose what to appear as in the Good Place? And wouldn't they potentially have many families they were part of on Earth?
I'm pretty sure this doesn't need to be in spoilers, but anyway
If you mean the "system", as in the redesigned afterlife, when they fail, they get a kind of lesson on "this is what you screwed up", and then are rebooted, similar to what Michael did to Team Cockroach those 800+ times. They don't go back to Earth or get reborn in a literal sense, if that is what you're asking.
When they actually get to the Good Place, they can choose what they look like (see Doug Forcett).
chrono_traveller on
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. ~ Terry Pratchett
This was a pretty much perfect ending. I have one question I might have missed though
When humans go into the system and fail. Are they reborn as themselves or are they reincarnated as someone else? If the latter...how do they choose what to appear as in the Good Place? And wouldn't they potentially have many families they were part of on Earth?
I'm pretty sure this doesn't need to be in spoilers, but anyway
If you mean the "system", as in the redesigned afterlife, when they fail, they get a kind of lesson on "this is what you screwed up", and then are rebooted, similar to what Michael did to Team Cockroach those 800+ times. They don't go back to Earth or get reborn in a literal sense, if that is what you're asking.
When they actually get to the Good Place, they can choose what they look like (see Doug Forcett).
There's a very brief appearance of Brent Norwalk, being debriefed in the background when Tahani is going to work as an architect you can just about hear him saying "but what if she is prettier when she's smiling?" so he's clearly still working his way through, all those bearimys later
Didn't the show touch on reincarnation? I remember it being dismissed immediately as just a variant on reboots/memory wipes, which wouldn't solve the problem in a meaningful way.
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I also think Jason is painfully unfunny so if you’re judging the show turn all the times you laughed at Jason into massive eye rolls and that’s how I rank it
Oh yeah that's gonna hurt. I found Jason about 50% funny, so I kinda know what you mean. When it was good, it was very good, but it was also super cringeworthy half the time.
Could be.
1) Some sort of ending for Janet besides just saying goodbye to everyone else when they left. I don't know what that would even look like, though, so maybe that's why it wasn't there?
2) Shawn getting into the Good Place. On a long enough timeline, after enough Bearimies, I feel like it had to have happened, and I would have loved to meet that Shawn for just a moment in the end.
The Leftovers (which got a shoutout in this final episode!!!) has a perfect ending
This goddamn show, man.
THANK you, I was just wondering yesterday what happened to that guy.
Yeah I love that the extra season was actually pretty damned solid but it should’ve been a spin-off not a continuation
I was meaning to say my one tiny gripe with the finale was we saw everyone of note have their 'resolution'.
Except Trevor.
Now I know. Gripe rescinded.
It was a satisfying ending, but I'm really going to miss this show.
Also, I have no shame in admitting that I have a crush on Jameela Jamil. She's an absolute treasure. I really hope to see her in more stuff in the future.
I feel similarly about D’arcy. But honestly I hope they all have long successful careers.
I've circled Trevor, endlessly flying (and screaming) through eternity*.
* Assuming that there's no real significant time passage in the events between Trevor getting thrown, until the first placard of time passage (Jason's story), then Trevor has been airborne at this point, for a total of 2565.6 Jeremy Bearimy's.
Oh god damn it, now I'm welling up again!
Ocean, tears and heartbreak soup
Half alive in a whitecap foam
Half in love with a white half moon
I feel the finale (specifically the final scene) really strikes a hopeful tone in that regard. It establishes that when a good person finally goes through the door, they're not destroyed, they're turned into, basically, little motes of pure goodness, that then float out into the universe to inspire others to commit small acts of kindness. The broader implication here is that, over a period of enough bearimies, as more and more souls go through the system, they are basically refined into motes of pure kindness, which, in turn, serve to influence the universe as a whole into becoming a kinder place.
The basic message is that, thanks to this new system in the afterlife, the universe will inevitably be destined to become a better place with each passing soul and that's a pretty hopeful takeaway, in my opinion.
Tempest II: Here We Blow Again got the biggest laugh out of me.
I was thinking about this last night, yeah. It was an exceptionally ambitious and brave ending for the writers to settle on. It would have been much easier to go for the twist. Once they decided not to go with the twist, it would have been even easier to fuck it up and get too philosophical, too navel-gazing, and have it feel disconnected from the human core of the show. But they didn't do that, they kept it both thoughtful and inescapably human.
Two thoughts:
First,
Second,
Re: the second (though my spoiler does not actually address it)
Not very palatable to Western audiences, and also takes explanation, so that's clearly a reason not to do it, but really what happens is still pretty Buddhist overall.
Re: incarnation
(please note that I am not Hindi, this is simply my layman understanding. Please feel free to correct if I am misrepresenting anything).
Edit: D'oh! Fixed the link.
Did you mean to link to an article about Joker from August?
also very easily understood in a gnostic framework albeit with an intermediate step
One last plot twist!
(No, I didn't. D'oh!)
I'm pretty sure this doesn't need to be in spoilers, but anyway
When they actually get to the Good Place, they can choose what they look like (see Doug Forcett).
Scrubs was 8 seasons exactly, no more and no less.
8.
Weird that they skipped a number in the middle though
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