25. The Good Place

You'll notice I didn't post a review on Christmas Eve. Well to be honest, I thought why not take a break? It's the holidays and I'm going in a new direction. My whole plan was to stick to Christmas movies until the second week of January but I suddenly thought, why? So in the spirit of new beginnings (2021 is there year I will finally make something of myself, I've got a whole plan), I have decided to ditch Christmas and start fresh. What's fresher than the addictive show, The Good Place?

So I remember how I came about this one, clear as day. I was lying in bed at half 3 in the morning contemplating breaking up with the guy lying next to me. Couldn't turn on the tv for fear of waking the house and because I wanted to watch something engaging to keep me from my thoughts, what best than to watch something new? So I pulled out my phone and I decided to watch The Good Place, I'd seen clips on my socials which made it look quite good so I sat there and binged until I had to leave for work at about 9ish. My gosh, I honestly had just expected to watch the first episode and been like, meh its cool, and get back to it eventually like I had with so many other new shows. Especially as I was in a stage of my life where I was reluctant to commit to new shows or ideas, I needed to feel safe as in that relationship I was not, we watched Spongebob every night for crying out loud, I needed help. Eleanor Shellstrop and her can do, yet really brash attitude was there for me in a time I needed most. This show got the ball rolling and got me out of a sticky situation. 

All in all, it has taken me about a year and a half to finish this show entirely. I was not happy with the end episode. Yeah closure, but no, I no likey. Weirdly enough that was also the one episode my mum happened to be around for and baring in mind I had done nothing but hype up this show, she was like daughter this is 'shirt'. 

I feel like I need to explain that last part a little. Our six-some are supposedly in The Good Place, IE Heaven. Becomes very quickly apparent that they aren't, but under the illusion it is Heaven they cannot swear and all curse words are quickly converted into something more pleasant, I'll leave you to figure out the equivalent for 'shirt'.

I was going to give a brief overview on the series but to be honest that sentence pretty much rounded it up. This show isn't a hard watch, it is a bit like Brooklyn nine-nine, a nice simple bit of comedy. Mindless banter between characters in an odd situation. It is almost calming in a way. I can enjoy a show and not have to use my brain to get what is going on. One of those nice shows you can use as background noise while you scroll through your phone and still get the gist, that is a clever move, I won't lie. Pander to the people, this is what we want.

I think a chaotic character really suits Kristin Bell. I remember seeing her in The Boss and thought she was a tad upstaged and meek against the great Melissa McCarthy, but to have her steal the show in this one and be so bold and brilliant, I loved it. Otherwise I haven't really seen much of her in anything. I have always wanted to see Veronica Mars but never gotten to it, and despite seeing Frozen I hate it, even though the sequel was an alright film, I just feel like this is wasted talent, give her more stuff to do, I wanna see more Kristen Bell being an absolute bad-ass. 

I think from that it is pretty clear Kristen is my idol. But I just wanted to say, although I really like Jameela Jamila, I strongly disliked the character Tahani. I don't know if it was supposed to be this way, but she didn't really get a redemption arc worthy of being in the Good Place, for reals, and she remained self absorbed the whole time. I just didn't gel with her. Same with Jason actually. I know he was intentionally dim and the comedy relief but it got too much. The monk twist was brilliant and I liked his arc and romance with Janet and how much she as a character, and not a girl, evolved, but I just thought it was weird that he was the first to end his existence. That isn't very Jason like, if anything he would have been the one to go on forever, as would our Elz. 

Ted Danson is a brilliant actor and I will fight anyone who tells me otherwise. Three men and A Baby/Little Lady, CSI, The Good Place, the guy has got TALENT. There is range! I just think he is a steller guy. He's smooth. Michael suited him like the body suit he is. Loved it. So shout out to you Ted.

Just finally, before I wrap this one up. I just wanted to mention how wholesome the relationship between Chidi and Eleanor was. Spoilers btw. I really liked how different they were and how it complimented each other. Geek + hot stuff, man o man. But that being said, it really did make me sad how in the end Chidi was ready to 'die' and leave Eleanor behind. I know it ended up being mutual, but I could feel her heartbreak. She wanted a forever with that guy and he wasn't on the same love train as she, he got bored as he finished everything, he couldn't live content in love like she, because she never had that before did she. She could have done it forever and never got bored. Makes me really sad bruh. 

So to come to an end, just as this great series did, perhaps that was a good thing though? Some drone on and on and get a little boring as the originality was snuffed out, I was glad this was short and sweet. Anyway, I give The Good Place a sweet ol' 8/10, I was going to give it a 9 but that finale let me down bad, son. I am absolutely gutted. Therefore I'm docking it a point and refusing to rewatch that final series. It is good but too much trauma for me to handle. 

I'd like to wish you all a happy new year. 2020 isn't over just yet and sadly some of the bad stuff will carry over into this fresh start, but we can use this as an excuse to improve ourselves and apply our minds to the stuff we have always wanted to do. Don't lose hope just yet my loves, it can only get better here on out! See you next year!