Good Bye

So The Good Place has ended.  Softly.  The final episode was sentimental and, truth be told, not especially funny.  But it was fitting.  Spoilers ahead.

Years ago, when I heard about the premise--the adventures of a woman who goes to heaven--I didn't see how it could work.  Heaven is a place where everything is okay.  Where's the tension?

But the creator of the show, Michael Schur, had a plan.  The woman, Eleanor (Kristen Bell), was sent to heaven by mistake, so she has to fight to keep it a secret.  Each week the plot would thicken as she did more and more to keep up the charade.  And then, in the first-season finale, the ultimate twist--she's not in the good place, and all that she's been going through is actually her punishment.

The show could have ended there (and since The Good Place never had good ratings, it might have).  Instead, the plot kept twisting and turning, with Eleanor and her Good Place friends going through many iterations of their torture, then breaking into the bad place, then being sent back to Earth, then going back to the afterworld where they try to get the rules changed and argue the case for humanity.

In the penultimate episode, the four (along with former demon Michael (Ted Danson) and not-a-girl, not-a-robot Janet (D'Arcy Carden)) are sent to the actual good place.  And they have to fix that as well.

So the final episode was all about how they finally decide, after a long stay, to leave everything behind.  It makes sense, and certainly gives a feeling of closure.  But it does go back to the original problem I had--where's the tension in the good place?  In addition, the show had spent so much time dealing with moral problems that they had to deal with these ultimate questions.  There were still gags, to be sure, but they took a backseat.

It was a bittersweet ending, and we did feel, along with the characters, that we'd taken quite a journey.  But it's good it's over.  There really wasn't anywhere left to go, both plot- and comedy-wise.  So let's say goodbye to The Good Place.  52 episodes that are unlike any other show ever on TV.  With the commercials removed, that's around 20 hours.  Those who wish to binge can catch up in a one-day marathon.