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The Good Place S1

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The Good Place. (Facebook)
The Good Place. (Facebook)

OUR RATING

3/5 Stars

WHAT IT'S ABOUT:

Due to an error, self-absorbed Eleanor Shellstrop arrives at the Good Place after her death. Determined to stay, she tries to become a better person.

WHAT WE THOUGHT:

“Welcome! Everything is fine.” 

Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) is dead and has ended up in The Good Place. But there was a mistake because Eleanor was the worst person when she was alive and definitely does not deserve to be in the forking Good Place.

The Good Place is bright and sunny and filled with people who’ve done nothing but good and unselfish things with their lives. In the Good Place you get a home that is perfectly suited to your tastes and you find your perfect soul mate to spend the rest of your time with.

Everything is just perfect before Eleanor’s presence starts causing major disruptions in The Good Place sending its architect, Michael into a tizz. Giant prawns start falling from the sky, a giant sinkhole appears in a popular restaurant and garbage starts falling from the sky among other crazy things.

Eleanor enlists the help of her soul mate Chidi, an ethics professor in his former life who teaches her how to be a good person. Then Eleanor discovers that she’s not the only mistake to happen to the Good Place but now they have to figure out how to be good people so they don’t get sent to the Bad Place. 

The Bad Place is run by Trevor, played by the fantastic Adam Scott. But once Eleanor’s identity is discovered he comes to get her along with his entourage of demons who party endlessly, bully Michael and cause general mayhem around the otherwise orderly Good Place. 

He also brings the other Eleanor Shellstrop with him, the one that was supposed to be sent to the Good Place. In a cartoonish coincidence, there were two women named Ellen Shellstrop who died at the exact same time, and well, that’s how the mix up occured. But something is not quite right and Fake Eleanor Shellstrop uncovers some dark secrets in the Good Place.

The story often flashes back to the inhabitants’ lives on Earth and how their deeds allowed them to end up in the Good Place. But it’s in these flashbacks that viewers will find the breadcrumbs and clues to what’s really going on in the Good Place. It’s masterfully done.

I’ve loved Kristen Bell since her Veronica Mars days and she plays so well off of Ted Danson, the two of them are hilarious. But the writing on this show is what really shines and it explores ethics and philosophy in such a creative way. 

The Good Place is an easy and fun watch and a great way to spend a rainy weekend.

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:

WATCH IT NOW ON NETFLIX

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