# The Good Place season 4 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2019, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903 "2019-09-27T10:08:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**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:** [February 7, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/261 "2020-02-07T15:43:19Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Holy shit. Why haven’t I heard more about this? That was one of the greatest shows in the history of television. Jaw dropping. I think part of the problem is that this show is really hard to market. I didn’t watch until the season season was already over. When I first heard the premise of “A woman gets into heaven even though she shouldn’t have” I thought there was no way that it would last more than a season. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/262 "2020-02-07T15:48:53Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I thought about this a lot, and I certainly agree that there were various things Michael \*et alia \*could have done to make people’s stays in the Good Place more meaningful and fulfilling and less tedious (funnily enough, I literally considered them putting in a cinema showing “Grave of the Fireflies” or at the very least “Old Yeller”; tempering their happiness with controlled bouts of sadness would make the happiness more endurable). But ultimately these would only be delaying the inevitable - no matter how much longer people stay, they would still be facing an eternity once they had exhausted every option, and the “arch” is really the only answer to that. And while I suppose the show could have squeezed in another episode of “Pimp My Heaven” it really wouldn’t have had any plot to it, so it’s not surprising they kept it simple. Yeah, that’s where I ended up. At first it bothered me, but after I started thinking in terms of Jeremy Bearimys, I figured that “delaying the inevitable” was the key point. We may be talking about the equivalent here, not of centuries or millennia, but millions or billions or trillions of years that it would take for a person to be done with their afterlife. And every day the door would be there ready for them, and they would know that. (To forestall someone pointing out that Eleanor’s spark goes into someone who looks like they’re in modern times–it’s not actually billions of years, its a certain length of Jeremy Bearimys. The “equivalent” I talk about is very rough.) ---
**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:** [February 7, 2020, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/263 "2020-02-07T16:01:33Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I think part of the problem is that this show is really hard to market. I didn’t watch until the season season was already over. When I first heard the premise of “A woman gets into heaven even though she shouldn’t have” I thought there was no way that it would last more than a season. I’m trying to remember why I started watching it. I think it may have been because it received a prime slot from NBC, so that’s usually a good sign, it starred Kristen Bell and Ted Danson and it was created by Michael Schur. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2020, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/264 "2020-02-07T16:01:41Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > (To forestall someone pointing out that Eleanor’s spark goes into someone who looks like they’re in modern times–it’s not actually billions of years, its a certain length of Jeremy Bearimys. The “equivalent” I talk about is very rough.) Well, that’s just because a Bearimy is a loop compared to time on Earth. So she (and Michael) exited the loop at a point when Earth was around 2020. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/265 "2020-02-07T16:03:20Z")
> [@Scribble](#): > > The show had plenty of mass appeal. “The Good Place” ran for four seasons. NBC wouldn’t have renewed the show three times if it had had only a small, niche audience. TGP would have gone on for even longer, if Schur (the show’s creator) hadn’t decided that the fourth season would be the last. It was never a top show. The rankings for season 1-3 were 77, 77 & 99[sup]th[/sup]. The average viewers in millions were 5.72, 5.78 & 4.57. That is what I mean. It was critically acclaimed and thankfully the powers that be at NBC felt it did well enough to justify its continuation. There is a difference between Mass Appeal shows that make the top 30 and shows that stay on the air. Many shows with The Good Place ratings would have been dropped. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/266 "2020-02-07T20:32:46Z")
When I watched the finale, I wondered about the trip Eleanor and Chidi took to Athens and Paris. Were they visiting a Janet-created simulation of the cities, or the actual ones? And, I wondered, if these were simulations, could she show you Athens at the time of Pericles? Or Woodstock during the 1969 concert? Because I could imagine spending a _long_ time in the afterlife wandering around places and events in history. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/267 "2020-02-07T20:41:52Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > When I watched the finale, I wondered about the trip Eleanor and Chidi took to Athens and Paris. Were they visiting a Janet-created simulation of the cities, or the actual ones? And, I wondered, if these were simulations, could she show you Athens at the time of Pericles? Or Woodstock during the 1969 concert? Because I could imagine spending a _long_ time in the afterlife wandering around places and events in history. They were simulations. > [@](#): > > Eleanor: Remember where he took us, like, the first month - when we were all together? > Janet: Oh, great idea. > Eleanor: Janet, set the scene. > Janet: **Would you like it restored to its original glory?** > Eleanor: No. The first time he went, he was in college. Have it look and feel exactly like it was that day when he fell in love with it. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2020, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/268 "2020-02-07T21:06:15Z")
OK. I have to watch the last episode again. I have to admit that I would love to see Athens (the Parthenon especially) restored to its glory. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/269 "2020-02-07T22:46:25Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I’m going to see to it that Chidi’s wave speech makes it into **kaylasmom** ’s memorial service this Saturday (one way or another). Hell, maybe it’s true. Maybe, the way a wave goes back to the ocean and becomes part of billions of other waves, we become part of billions of other people. Maybe that’s why we want to love each other so much; we’re kind of reaching out to ourselves. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2020, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/270 "2020-02-07T23:32:25Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > When I watched the finale, I wondered about the trip Eleanor and Chidi took to Athens and Paris. Were they visiting a Janet-created simulation of the cities, or the actual ones? And, I wondered, if these were simulations, could she show you Athens at the time of Pericles? Or Woodstock during the 1969 concert? Because I could imagine spending a _long_ time in the afterlife wandering around places and events in history. In “Patty” during their welcome party Janet says the green doors can take them to any time and place, real or imagined (at which point Jason took of to go-kart race with monkeys). They certainly spent a long time wandering around places and events in history - if they were interested. They were there for at least 3300 Bearimies before Chidi left (just going by the title cards, possibly a lot more - and a Bearimy is a very long time. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/271 "2020-02-08T06:06:36Z")
I loved everything about the show. My only question is how they managed to film at Sacre Coeur during daylight with empty stairs. It’s permanently crowded. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/272 "2020-02-08T07:06:13Z")
anyone wanna list some more of the cameos? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/273 "2020-02-08T07:21:48Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > I loved everything about the show. My only question is how they managed to film at Sacre Coeur during daylight with empty stairs. It’s permanently crowded. They got permission to film an hour before it opened. (Oh wait, that was Greece, not Sacre Coeur) They also happened to be in Paris during the funeral of Jacques Chirac, so certain streets were already blocked off and they took advantage of some additional freedom that allowed them. I heard these facts on the official Good Place podcast. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/274 "2020-02-08T14:42:39Z")
In the scene in paradise where Chidi is teaching a moral philosophy course, two of the students are actual prominent moral philosophers. ---
**Author:** ![Allecher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@Allecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allecher)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/275 "2020-02-08T15:38:41Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I heard these facts on the official Good Place podcast. I have loved listening to the podcast as I watched the series. If you are planning to re-watch I encourage you to give it a try. Mark Evan Jackson (who plays Shawn) is a skilled host and the guests bring great stories and insight. At the end of each episode he asks the guests “what is good?” Their varied responses are brilliant and really left me uplifted. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/276 "2020-02-09T05:40:12Z")
> [@Allecher](#): > > I have loved listening to the podcast as I watched the series. If you are planning to re-watch I encourage you to give it a try. Mark Evan Jackson (who plays Shawn) is a skilled host and the guests bring great stories and insight. > > At the end of each episode he asks the guests “what is good?” Their varied responses are brilliant and really left me uplifted. Yeah, those are great. I really loved Michael Schur’s last one. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/277 "2020-02-10T13:19:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > In the scene in paradise where Chidi is teaching a moral philosophy course, two of the students are actual prominent moral philosophers. Weren’t those two actual advisors for the series? ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/278 "2020-02-10T17:19:44Z")
> [@Allecher](#): > > Mark Evan Jackson (who plays Shawn) . This is perfect. When the rest of you listen to the podcast you’ll know why. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2020, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/279 "2020-02-10T17:36:46Z")
Finished on Sunday, Wow Great. I cried a fair bit, there were so many touching endings, and I was invested in the characters. It does seem that anything would be boring if it lasts forever. We just can’t conceive of it. Also, we are usually trying to make life better for ourselves and those around us. It doesn’t seem necessary in heaven. I know as a kid in church I never found the idea of heaven enticing. Singing someone’s praises forever? Living on streets paved with gold? No thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903/280 "2020-02-10T17:59:23Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I’m going to see to it that Chidi’s wave speech makes it into **kaylasmom** ’s memorial service this Saturday (one way or another). The background music by Arvo Pärt (Spiegel im Spiegel) is just as magical as the speech. We once had it on repeat for 3 days at our house. It never gets old, it never speeds up, it just goes. I hope the service for kaylasmom was everything you all needed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-good-place-season-4/840903.md?page=15)