On January 30, 2020, we said goodbye to The Good Place. The NBC hit series entered the TV graveyard and afterlife. Fortunately, for fans, cast, and crew, The Good Place decided to end its four-season run on its own terms. This meant that all the characters that we love were able to remain beloved, instead of living long enough to become infuriating and caricatures of themselves.
The Good Place finale gave each character a fitting conclusion. They all finally received closure on all aspects of their mortal and immortal lives. The Good Place’s finale presented a few very interesting questions. The main one was, “When do you know that it’s time to move on? And another was, “How would you spend eternity?”
The Good Place series finale also made me wonder, if I were to spend eternity with each of the core characters, what would we do? I thought about the skills, traits, and talents of Eleanor (Kristen Bell), Chidi (William Jackson Harper), Tahani (Jameela Jamil), Jason (Manny Jacinto), Janet (D’Arcy Carden), and Michael (Ted Danson) and how they would make the Good Place more entertaining from now to eternity.
Warning: I will be discussing the entire series of The Good Place, including the series finale. Turn back now if you haven’t finished the series and want to remain spoiler free.
6. Chidi Anagonye
Way To Pass The Time: Create the definitive book about philosophy and philosophers
William Jackson Harper brought the lovable, indecisive Chidi to The Good Place every week. He is more than just an ethics and philosophy guy, but let’s face it, that’s his bread and butter. I can’t imagine spending eternity with Chidi without it being philosophy related. Interestingly, we could actually make a very fascinating book by interviewing philosophy legends, if any more actually make it to the Good Place. Then we could get their input on not only the book but also life in general. The book would be thoroughly researched, but it would probably only be an exciting endeavor for the first 1000 years or so. Maybe eventually I could convince Chidi to let Dan Brown adapt our book into some sort of fictionalized philosopher’s stone quest.
5. Tahani A-Jamil
Way To Pass The Time: Learning the strategic art of name-dropping.
I once had tea with William Shakespeare and gave him advice on writing some play he wanted to call Romeo and Jen. I told him Romeo and Juliet had a better ring to it. In actuality, that never happened, but if I knew Tahani, there could be some truth to it. Outspoken comedian Jameela Jamil plays Tahani in The Good Place. Tahani is very tall, probably the tallest person in any room, and a core member of the Good Place group. She’s a bit of a lovable snob.
One of Tahani’s major traits is just casually celebrity name-dropping. Usually, she has helped these celebrities solve some problem or been part of a possible scandal. Tahani could help me meet a bunch of famous historical figures and celebrities. These meetings would become stories that I could casually mention to others. It would be fun saying I’m besties with Sandy Bullock. Even if it isn’t true, Tahani would teach me how to make it sound believable. It would be entertaining to meet so many celebrities and have these stories to share, but after you beat Tom Cruise at a Fortnite tournament for the 200th time, the novelty wears off. Then I guess, now that she has learned from an expert, we could woodwork.
4. Jason Mendoza
Way To Pass The Time: Create the ultimate dance battle groups
Manny Jacinto plays the simpleminded but kindhearted Jason on The Good Place. Jason often discusses his love of the Jacksonville Jaguars, his misadventures with Donkey Doug and Pillboi, and his former dance crew, Dance Dance Resolution. Of those three topics, using his past dance skills to develop the ultimate dance crew seems like the most fun. With eternity, I’ll have an unlimited amount of dancer options, allowing the mixing of genres and styles. We could have a dance group consisting of Misty Copeland, Shakira, and Ginger Rogers, another of Ethan Stiefel, Gene Kelly, and Paula Abdul. The endless amount of group possibilities and battles would be phenomenal. Jason would keep things light and playful, while I plan and organize the world cup of dancing every 2,000 years.
3. Eleanor Shellstrop
Way To Pass The Time: Assemble an elite group of professionals to execute a heist
Kristen Bell created one of her best characters with Eleanor. Eleanor showed the most character growth over The Good Place’s four seasons. She begins the show as a basic garbage person, but she becomes a fierce leader determined to save humankind. Throughout The Good Place, Eleanor has shown dedication, persistence, and resourcefulness when faced with adversity. I often think, “Could I pull off a complicated heist?” And the answer is "of course." I just need the right team, and most importantly, someone crafty enough to help me put it all together.
Eleanor would be the perfect person to help form a team of experts, like Ocean’s 8, but with a way more skilled group. Eleanor could recruit the members and do most of the planning, and I can just swoop in at the end and get all the glory. This would be a great way to spend eternity with her because it would be insanely fun to plan and execute. Plus, I wouldn’t have the risk of imprisonment and death. Eleanor has just the right set of leadership skills to act as the co-mastermind to this heist.
2. Michael
Way To Pass The Time: Developing an alt-universe simulation and then exploring other timelines
Ted Danson plays Michael, the demon masquerading as the architect of the Good Place. On the Good Place series finale, he became in charge of the real Good Place, and then quit that job to become a human. Once Michael returns to the Good Place, we could use his engineering skills to create a simulation that allows me (and others) to explore what their human life could have been if they made different decisions. It could be small decisions, like deciding to wear a blue shirt instead of a red shirt on the first day of school, or major decisions, like living abroad.
I personally love the idea of multiverses and varying timelines, so with Michael’s brain and skills, I could get a chance to see how my life would have played out if I did a few things different. To me, this concept seems like it would remain interesting for eternity. There are so many different life possibilities I could explore and answer all my “what if” questions. Michael would be the ideal person to help with this project, not just because of his skills, but his patience and his gentle guidance. He could easily convince me that I don’t need to see a world where Jake Gyllenhaal won the Academy Award for his performance in Nightcrawler, though it would take a lot of convincing.
Janet
Way to Pass Time: Getting answers to every question ever
D’Arcy Carden plays Janet, the physical embodiment of Siri and Google. She has all the answers about life, space, and human existence. With Janet’s vast knowledge of everything, of course, she has to be the best person to live with for eternity. I could get answers to life’s biggest mysteries, like, “Did Tony Soprano die at the end of The Sopranos?” And “When will the final two A Song of Ice and Fire books be released?” You know, the important stuff. I would never run out of questions to ask, and Janet can bring me anything I want, so I can probably just get an advance copy of those Game of Thrones books, and then watch the eventual Game of Thrones reboot.
R.I.P The Good Place. You were a very fun and smart series. The first three seasons of The Good Place are available to stream on Netflix. Stream it HERE.
This poll is no longer available.
