# The Good Place \[edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 21, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545 "2016-09-21T23:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/382 "2017-10-07T01:03:14Z")
That doesn’t mean the system is a lie, that means Tahani’s score was a lie. Which we knew, because all four of the humans’ scores had to be fabricated for the whole gag to work in the first place. It’s clear that the system is more or less as described. Although Michael may have been exaggerating on just how few people get into The Good Place, in order to make Eleanor feel more guilty and stroke Tahani’s ego more, we’ve been shown enough to know it’s a lie with huge elements of truth. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/383 "2017-10-07T01:26:46Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > On the other hand, eyeballing his chart makes the average look closer to 2 MONTHS, meaning they’ve been at it for a bit over a century. Pausing on the chart, I’m estimating around 5 months (give or take a little) for the average. So around 300 to 350 years. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/384 "2017-10-07T02:50:03Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > I’m going to presume it’s not possible for some reason, but the scheme would go a lot better if only Jason was memory wiped. I don’t see him being able to keep up a pretense very long. I could easily believe that he doesn’t understand what’s going on well enough to accidentally let slip anything important. > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > The things that really niggle me are more about the nature of the universe that they’re living in. > > Specifically, is the point system real? Is it true that only the top .01% of people (or whatever) make it heaven and everybody else gets tortured? It’s a bitter pill to swallow, and if it’s _not_ true then it opens up a lot more doors in terms of possible redemption/purgatory plotlines. Michael’s explanation to Tahani about how she ended up in the Bad Place indicates that if there is a point system, it’s not based on actions alone as we were previously led to believe. He explicitly said that the bad motivations for Tahani’s good deeds are what landed her in the Bad Place. Not a shocking revelation, but I thought it was interesting to have this confirmed – it seems to rule out alternate possibilities, e.g. Tahani funding ineffective charities that didn’t really do much good. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/385 "2017-10-07T03:50:14Z")
So the “weird turtles” that a guy on a gun range paid Jason Mendoza to transport–were those hand grenades? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/386 "2017-10-07T04:09:06Z")
Whether it’s been 30 years or 300 hundred years I wonder if Michael can restore their memories of the previous versions? Isn’t odd that none of them asked him about that? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/387 "2017-10-07T04:28:10Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > So the “weird turtles” that a guy on a gun range paid Jason Mendoza to transport–were those hand grenades? That hadn’t occurred to me, I just figured they were an exotic, possibly endangered species whose transport was illegal for various reasons so hire a harmless-seeming and clueless mule to carry them across state lines. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/388 "2017-10-07T05:00:17Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > That hadn’t occurred to me, I just figured they were an exotic, possibly endangered species whose transport was illegal for various reasons so hire a harmless-seeming and clueless mule to carry them across state lines. I thought the same thing at first. But when I rewatched the episode, the “gun range” part stood out as being an oddly specific detail. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/389 "2017-10-07T06:08:51Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I thought the same thing at first. But when I rewatched the episode, the “gun range” part stood out as being an oddly specific detail. Jason lived in Florida. You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a gun range. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/390 "2017-10-07T12:18:10Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > So the “weird turtles” that a guy on a gun range paid Jason Mendoza to transport–were those hand grenades? No. They were endangered turtles. Jason isn’t smart enough to use a euphemism. **Kamino Neko**. The scores of all the demons are a lie, obviously. And Tahani’s were manipulated. Eleanor were for fake Eleanor. It’s also hard to believe Jason got a real score, either, and with the rest fake, there’s no way to assume Chidi’s were real. And the points shown in Chapter One included things that clearly weren’t morally wrong, like rooting for the Yankees (it just shows terrible judgment 🙂 ). It was a great joke Zeppo but it’s also a subtle hint that Michael is not truthful. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/391 "2017-10-07T12:28:29Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > No. They were endangered turtles. Jason isn’t smart enough to use a euphemism. He’s smart enough to blandly _repeat_ a euphemism, especially if he’s not smart enough to realize the other guy was _using_ a euphemism. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/392 "2017-10-07T13:58:19Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I thought the same thing at first. But when I rewatched the episode, the “gun range” part stood out as being an oddly specific detail. Didn’t he say the gun range was at a bus station? I took it as a general ‘Florida is terrible’ throwaway joke. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/393 "2017-10-07T17:02:11Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > He’s smart enough to blandly _repeat_ a euphemism, especially if he’s not smart enough to realize the other guy was _using_ a euphemism. Good point. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/394 "2017-10-10T03:31:50Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > They aren’t evil people, just ordinary selfish and neurotic folk. I din’t find them ordinary. Tahani’s motivations might not have been “pure,” but she reacted to her jealousy of her sister by raising zillions of dollars for charity and traveling all over doing good works. She could have channeled that anger in a far less constructive way. She’s annoying, but IMHO, a very good person. Chidi…what did he do that was bad other than have a psychiatric disorder? It would seem that his indecisiveness and anxiety rose to the level of true neuroses The people he drove nuts should lose points for not saying “dude, get yourself to a shrink!” He probably could have been helped. Eleanor was a truly nasty piece of work. She did so many awful things on earth - far more than the average schmoe. She was far from ordinary. Jason was thoughtless and careless and did things like slash tires and blow up boats. In some ways, he doesn’t even seem to realize other people exist. At the same time, he loved his friends on earth and is warm and friendly to his compadres in the bad place. He’s suppised to be so stupid, but he was smart enough to figure out immediately that pretending to be a silent monk was a good cover. I have no idea what to think. So: Tahani and Chidi are decent people with issues. Eleanor is a first-class jerk who is showing signs of being redeemable. Jason just doesn’t add up. I think there’s going to be a twist regarding who or what ge really is. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/395 "2017-10-10T15:13:06Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Question for all: Has there been a scene in which we see more than one Janet in the same room? Yes. The “Bad” Janet was there when the people from the “Bad Place” came to switch out Eleanors. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/396 "2017-10-11T19:07:37Z")
I have to admit, if I was living for eternity in a “good place” neighborhood, I’d be tempted to approach the Janet-reboot button just to trigger the entertainingly vivid simulated-desperation automated defenses. I could spend _months_ on that. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/397 "2017-10-11T19:25:21Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > Yes. The “Bad” Janet was there when the people from the “Bad Place” came to switch out Eleanors. Also played by D’Arcy Carden, who plays Good Janet - but with a blond wig, thus confirming what all right-thinking people know: brunette = good, blond = bad. And by right-thinking I mean people with brown hair. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/398 "2017-10-11T19:27:39Z")
My wife got a kick out of the “penis flattener” joke - she has always said that there should be such a machine so that guys can understand how painful mammograms can be. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/399 "2017-10-11T19:50:53Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > Yes. The “Bad” Janet was there when the people from the “Bad Place” came to switch out Eleanors. But you’re saying they were in the same room? (The actress was there on split screen or such?) ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/400 "2017-10-11T21:04:35Z")
So for the big “twist”, do you look back at the first season and think it all makes sense? Or does the twist seem like something the writers pulled out of thin air? Are there clues in the first season which indicate this is where they were going all along? ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/401 "2017-10-11T21:15:53Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > My wife got a kick out of the “penis flattener” joke - she has always said that there should be such a machine so that guys can understand how painful mammograms can be. There was an old Murphy Brown episode where she says if a guy wants to know what a mammogram feels like, he can put his penis on a table, drop a heavy book on it, then write a check for $200. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545.md?page=21)