What Is The Good Place’s Long Game?

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Good Place through the latest episode, “The Burrito.”

At the end of their first season, NBC’s The Good Place essentially rebooted their entire premise. Four people who believed they were in (essentially) Heaven, turned out to be in the Bad Place–Hell, by any general understanding. That season finale gave us an incredible twist, but it also gave us a whole bunch of questions. First and foremost, what the fork would the next season look like? And what was the show’s long game? Where would these characters eventually end up?

At the end of that first season finale, we saw overlord “architect” Michael (Ted Danson) snap his fingers and erase the team’s memories, bringing us back to where we started. But of course, the show itself could never go back to where it started. So where would it go?

As it turned out, the second season had plenty of room to grow. And that growth was rooted in a willingness to completely and repeatedly upend all the groundwork they’d laid. These reinventions have played out brilliantly, as with each one, the gang gets painted into a tighter corner. The last few episodes, especially, have been a series of near-bottle episodes and the constant destruction of their circumstances has allowed this season to really focus on the giant emotional arcs of the characters without ever seeming overly sentimental or having to rest on tired sitcom tropes. (In lesser hands, Eleanor and Chidi’s relationship would surely be a standard will they/won’t they, and Michael’s redemption wouldn’t have had nearly the impact it did.)

Last week’s episode (“The Burrito”) was essentially a final exam for those season-long arcs. Finally landing in front of the Eternal Judge (a perfectly cast Maya Rudolph), the four had to prove that they’d actually grown into the people they’ve been working to become. Amazingly, only Eleanor–and Michael–have done that. Eleanor not only passes the test the judge gives her, but she lies to her friends and tells them that she, too failed, guaranteeing that they’ll be sticking together no matter what the next step is. (And remember, she’s a moral relativist now, so lying’s okay.)

The ostensible worst of the bunch and a literal demon are the only ones to truly evolve.

It’s been a rollercoaster of a season. The Good Place has managed to throw nothing but curveballs, but the constant twists have managed to avoid becoming tired. Still, I find myself wondering when they’ll end and where this wheel will land when they do.

It’s basically impossible to speculate on what this show will do next. As soon as the next episode airs, pretty much any thoughts I’d had on the last one become irrelevant. But that doesn’t make guessing any less fun. I’m so anxious to find out what The Good Place’s long game is. What are we supposed to be rooting for? For the team to get into the actual Good Place? What would that show even look like? And since their original version of the Bad Place has been destroyed, what are the alternatives? Season three of this show is pretty much guaranteed to look entirely different than season one, and I can’t wait to find out what that looks like.

With only one episode left in season two–teasingly titled “Somewhere Else”–we’re sure to have at least one big twist left. Where do you want to see the gang end up? The Good Place? The Bad Place? Somewhere Else? Will they follow their Wizard of Oz reference trail all the way to its natural end and declare this was all just a dream?

What are your hopes and predictions for the show? Let’s get all the speculating we can in before the last episode airs and the long Good Place-less summer sets in.

(image: Colleen Hayes/NBC)

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