# 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:** 45
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/882 "2018-11-19T18:38:06Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > I think the difference is that Doug thinks it’s the truth, he doesn’t know for sure it’s true, he just was high on mushrooms and said what he thinks will happen after death. He has faith that it’s the system, the Soul Squad knows for sure what the system is like. Yes, not knowing the truth may buy him an out as he just guessed at what the system is. However, he is clearly living his life for “moral desert”. The tv show has said over and over “you are supposed to be a good person, not just do good things for a reward.” He is pretty clearly miserable and just suffering abuse to accumulate points. So we will see how the show interprets it. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/883 "2018-11-19T18:45:31Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Chidi knew the truth and was afraid he’d tell Simone. But unless Simone sees the door or witnesses some Janet magic, Chidi revealing everything to her is not confirmation as he is not infallible nor would she believe him to be so. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/884 "2018-11-19T18:49:10Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > But unless Simone sees the door or witnesses some Janet magic, Chidi revealing everything to her is not confirmation as he is not infallible nor would she believe him to be so. He doesn’t know that. At least not for sure. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2018, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/885 "2018-11-19T23:51:01Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ecks](#): > > Theory time! > The point system was put into place during prehistory, when humans lived in tight knit communities, and everyone knew each other well. In such conditions, selfless altruism is expected from everyone just for group survival- and things like Chidi’s indecisive nature truly were dangerous and harmful, whereas in modern times it’s merely annoying. It has not kept up with human progress, and the modern system is just a messy kludge on top of the outmoded rules. That’s a very good theory. And on the same note the whole point system is an attempt by “the Accountants” to quantify those 2 attributes as human civilization has grown more and more (and more etc.) complex. > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > …I don’t feel like going back and looking, but was the representative of the Good Place in Mindy’s orientation video later seen as a demon?.. Nope, we’ve never seen her outside of Mindy’s orientation video,. > [@N9IWP](#): > > Didn’t Michael or Janet say that all presidents except Lincoln were in the Bad Place, implying that Lincoln went to The Good Place?.. Janet said that. Presumably all the points he got for emancipating the slaves put him over threshold for the Good Place. It probably helped that he died soon enough afterward that he didn’t have enough time to burn through all of them. > [@Mikemike2](#): > > Yes, not knowing the truth may buy him an out as he just guessed at what the system is. However, he is clearly living his life for “moral desert”. The tv show has said over and over “you are supposed to be a good person, not just do good things for a reward.” He is pretty clearly miserable and just suffering abuse to accumulate points. So we will see how the show interprets it. Agreed. Sure Doug doesn’t really “know” for sure how the point system works, but what matters is that he believes he does and has structured his entire life around earning as many points has possible so he’s rewarded\* with the Good Place. His motivation is corrupt and he doesn’t even know it. I love how one of the most ironic things about the eschatology of this show is that it actually gives Atheists an advantage over Theists in the afterlife. \*One could argue he’s more afraid of being punished with the Bad Place, but the effect is the same in the end. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/886 "2018-12-06T17:40:16Z")
[Good Place renewed for Season 4](https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/the-good-place-renewed-season-4-nbc-1203032958/) Also, the mid-season finale is tonight. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/887 "2018-12-06T20:02:46Z")
For those of you who think Golden Globes - especially TV ones - really mean anything, The Good Place is the only broadcast network show to receive more than one nomination; it got two - one for the show (for Comedy Series), and one for Kristen Bell. Note that the only other two nominees from any network shows, period, are in the same category as Bell - Debra Messing and Candice Bergen. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/888 "2018-12-06T22:57:05Z")
I had a thought last night - is it possible that Janet is God? Or perhaps Janet/Bad Janet are God and Satan? Think about it - she’s immortal, she’s omnicient/omnibenevolent, she has her own dimension in the afterlife… It’s a stretch, but a possibility, I think. Perhaps Janet is God embedded with these people to understand more about human morality and fix her system for choosing people for the Good Place. Maybe even the demons don’t know her true identity… ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/889 "2018-12-06T23:01:56Z")
New Episode: “Janet(s)” I know it’s not yet, but I’m going to bed and I doubt anybody else will bother with a marker before starting discussion. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2018, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/890 "2018-12-06T23:26:01Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I had a thought last night - is it possible that Janet is God? Or perhaps Janet/Bad Janet are God and Satan? > > Think about it - she’s immortal, she’s omnicient/omnibenevolent, she has her own dimension in the afterlife… > > It’s a stretch, but a possibility, I think. Perhaps Janet is God embedded with these people to understand more about human morality and fix her system for choosing people for the Good Place. Maybe even the demons don’t know her true identity… I posted that theory a few hundred posts ago. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/891 "2018-12-06T23:38:05Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I had a thought last night - is it possible that Janet is God? Or perhaps Janet/Bad Janet are God and Satan? > > Think about it - she’s immortal, she’s omnicient/omnibenevolent, she has her own dimension in the afterlife… > > It’s a stretch, but a possibility, I think. Perhaps Janet is God embedded with these people to understand more about human morality and fix her system for choosing people for the Good Place. Maybe even the demons don’t know her true identity… The demons certainly believe that there is more than one Good Janet. Janet herself has referenced other Janets and as far as we have seen it’s incredibly hard for her to lie. I think we’ve also seen multiple Bad Janets. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/892 "2018-12-06T23:40:07Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I posted that theory a few hundred posts ago. (Sorry, missed edit window.) > [@Sherrerd](#): > > That’s my theory, too. > > Also, that Janet is God. The discussion that followed made the point that we’ve seen more than one Janet in the same room, which was held to work against the theory of a deity exhibiting different qualities at differing times, ‘faces of God’ style. But of course none of us know what the show’s creator has in mind. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2018, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/893 "2018-12-07T03:21:21Z")
Tonight’s episode was one of the highlights of the season. From how they identified Jason in the beginning, to D’Arcy Carden’s amazing performance, to the ancient DOS computers and dot matrix printers in Accounting, to the twist at the end, it was charging along on all cylinders. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/894 "2018-12-07T13:51:09Z")
D’Arcy Carden really is amazing. That was an excellent episode. This show is brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/895 "2018-12-07T14:54:18Z")
Earlier in the show’s run, I wondered at why the four humans were in the bad place to begin with. (This might have been a subject of discussion earlier in the thread, although I’m not going back to look.) I mean Eleanor seems to be the worst person there but none of them seem actively evil. This episode seemed to explain that. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/896 "2018-12-07T20:28:48Z")
You have to wonder where Abraham Lincoln is, as he’s apparently not in the Bad Place, (don’t remember when that came out, but I’m pretty sure I remember it being said) and not in the Neutral place (pop. 1). Edit: that assumes the 500 years means “since the 17th century” Earth linear time, which with the Jeremy Bearimy may not make sense. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/897 "2018-12-07T21:13:01Z")
Michael Shur has said the Good Place stopped taking people 521 years ago. That’s 1497, a year after the first Spanish settlement in the New World. That may be a clue. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/898 "2018-12-07T21:28:36Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Michael Shur has said the Good Place stopped taking people 521 years ago. That’s 1497, a year after the first Spanish settlement in the New World. That may be a clue. No sir, as they are currently more than 300 years into the future… ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/899 "2018-12-07T21:50:35Z")
> [@SykoSkotty](#): > > No sir, as they are currently more than 300 years into the future… Jeremy Bearimy. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/900 "2018-12-07T21:52:45Z")
When they visited Earth, it was more or less present day. It certainly wasn’t 300 years in the future. I think they spent 300 years in the Bad Place/Fake Good Place but that long didn’t pass on Earth. ---
**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:** [December 8, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545/901 "2018-12-08T00:22:07Z")
Like Inner Stickler said, Jeremy Bearimy. Remember the Accountant mentioned that Doug Forcet was 60-something (64?). Him being a young adult in the late 70s means that his being in his 60s puts the mortal world era that Jeremy Bearimy has currently looped them around to is the late 2010s, the early 2020s, at the outside. Certainly not the 24th century. (Jeremy Bearimy bears as little thinking as you can get away with…whichever context it actually makes sense in is outside mortal ken.) > [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > You have to wonder where Abraham Lincoln is, as he’s apparently not in the Bad Place, (don’t remember when that came out, but I’m pretty sure I remember it being said) First episode, when Michael was explaining to Eleanor that almost nobody gets into the Good Place - Lincoln was supposedly the only president of the US that got in. As to that question… I’d be willing to bet that Michael was misinformed, due to whoever’s manipulating the system\* trying to make it look like the Good Place is still getting new residents. He really is in the Bad Place, somewhere out of the way. - Part of me thinks it’s actually the beings running the Good Place…they just don’t like humans very much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545.md?page=44) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-edited-title/766545.md?page=46)