Good Enough

The third season of The Good Place will debut in late September. In these dog days of August, I figured I'd re-watch the first season. It didn't take that long--all the episodes without commercials add up to about five hours.

I think I can safely say the show's premise is unique in TV history. It's about a woman, Eleanor (Kristen Bell), who wakes up to find herself in "The Good Place." Turns out she died and is now in Heaven. It doesn't take her long to figure out she's there by mistake, since Michael (Ted Danson), who runs the place, believes she led a completely different life from her actual one.

I was intrigued to see how it would play the second time around.  If you're a fan of the show, you know there are big reveals along the way. There's no cheating, or not much, but the biggest reveal--which doesn't come until fairly late--colors everything before it.  It also takes away some of the fun, I think, since it makes some of the jokes go in a different direction.

Still, The Good Place holds up.  It just plays very differently when you know where they're going.  Sort of an odd experience.