Film Theory: The Bad Truth About The Good Place Ending (Ft. Pitch Meeting)
- Posted on 20 February, 2020
- Lace Frontal
- By Anonymous
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The finale of The Good Place was AMAZING and everything I wanted from the series. Yet, there are still a few questions left to answer. Today Theorists, I want to focus on one of my favorites, Michael Realman. You see, I think Mr. Demon wasn't just there to torture our main protagonists. No, in fact he may have been in his own Bad Place the whole time! Theorists, it's time to get Good and uncover the truth about Michael's Bad Place.
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Credits:
Writer: Matthew Patrick
Researcher: Zach Stewart
Editors: Alex "Sedge" Sedgwick and Koen Verhagen
Assistant Editor: AlyssaBeCrazy
Sound Editor: Yosi Berman
Come on in., Welcome to The Theory: Place., Hello, internet! Welcome to Film Theory, The greatest forking show on the whole Dame-Helen-Mirren internet. I know we're all children of digital video and streaming services at this point, but sometimes sometimes traditional TV surprises us and produces something that is really special. Enter `` The Good Place'', which is probably better titled, `` The Great Place'''cause. It'S an awesome show. And I'm not just saying that, because Kristen Bell has been my celebrity crush since her appearance in the musical `` Reefer Madness''. No, I'm saying it because ``, The Good Place'' is one of the best most heartfelt well written and original sitcoms. I'Ve ever seen.. I can't even imagine what the pitch meeting for this one must have looked like, but I'm gon na try ... *dream sequence- dream sequence- dream sequence*'', So you have a sitcom for me ?''''. Yes, sir, I do. It's about people in the afterlife delving deeply into moral philosophy.''''. Sorry did you say moral philosophy, ?'''' Yeah, you know like Aristotelian virtue, ethics and Kantian Deontology.'''', And you expect people to watch this ?'''' Yeah yeah yeah.. I mean who doesn't love moral philosophy, ?'''' Pretty much everyone !'' Wow, that was a shockingly vivid dream sequence., But somehow that formula's been amazing. managing to both teach its audience about deep philosophical theory, while also making unique jokes on the subject.''. It'S like who died and left Aristotle in charge of ethics, ?'''', Plato, !'' And a big part of the show's appeal has been its ability to shock, surprise and fake out, not just its characters, but also the audience at home. Watching.. Nothing demonstrates this better than the first season's arc. Season. 1 starts telling us the story of Eleanor Shellstrop, a recently deceased who finds herself in paradise., We're told by one of heaven's architects, Michael, that she is in `` the Good Place'' .'' In the afterlife. There'S a good place and there's a bad place.'''' You're in the good place.'' Except there's one problem: here. Something's wrong. Eleanor wasn't a good person on Earth.''. You need me to lie to old people and scare them into buying fake medicine. I get it man.''. She was, as she describes, herself ``, an Arizona trashbag''''. Those aren't my memories.''''. I wasn't a lawyer. I never went to the Ukraine.'''', I hate clowns.'''', I'm not supposed to be here.'', But that isn't the twist of the season and neither is the reveal three episodes later. That silent Buddhist monk, Jian Yu is actually a failed DJ from Jacksonville Florida named Jason Mendoza.'' Is your real name: Jian Yu ?'''', It's Jason Mendoza.'''' And by the way everyone here thinks I'm Taiwanese., I'm Filipino.''''. Heaven is so racist.''. No, the big twist comes in the season finale when Eleanor figures it all out that this is not the Good Place, but rather the Bad Place.'' Holy mother-forking shirt balls.''''. Just now, as we were all fighting, I thought to myself Man this is torture.'''' and then it hit me.''''. This is the Bad Place. !'''', Oh, it looks like paradise, but it's actually a filthy dumpster full of our worst anxieties.'' *laughs*''. Oh man, I can't believe you figured it out !''. We learned that Michael, our heavenly guide from the very first scene of the show is actually a bad place. Architect., A literal demon in disguise, who wanted to create a unique torture chamber for humans, rather than inflicting just physical pain. All the time Michael devised, a system that used psychological torture by placing four people in a fake Good Place and having them torture, each other.. It'S a huge mind blow that when you go back and re- watch the season again in this context was hidden in front of your eyes from the very start. The lack of steps in Eleanor's house. The creepy clown pictures that populate everywhere. The fact that the only restaurants in town serve frozen, yogurt ,'', What's a food that people think they enjoy, but that's also kind of a bummer ?'''' Frozen yogurt.'', And that's only one of several massive reveals that occur throughout the series.. It'S a smart show one. That'S a bit bigger brained and it holds its cards close to its chest., So close. In fact, I believe that there's one final reveal the show has left for us to discover.. True, the last episode of ``, The Good Place'' just aired, and yes, I wept ugly ugly tears at Chidi's `` Waves on the sand'' speech, but through it all, I also remained skeptical., Because if you look at the series as a whole, even up to it's very Final episode, It's pretty clear that this show wasn't just the tale of four humans and a heck demon, learning moral philosophy and becoming better people.. No, This show from chapter 1. All the way through chapter 53 has always been the story of one man's eternal torture.. That'S right: While we were all watching Eleanor and her friends trying to get out of The Bad Place and save the afterlife, what we were actually witnessing was Michael's torture.. This isn't Eleanor's afterlife, it's his.. This is Michael's, eternal suffering. He's the real one in The Bad Place in this series. And if I'm wrong. Well, then that's just a big ol' pile of bull-shirt.. If you follow Michael's journey throughout the series, you clearly see that it's a repeated string of failure and insecurity. Even before the humans come into his neighborhood he's already freaking out.''. That was the last ... pudding shop, ...''''! No, no, no wait, wait! Wait! This is all wrong: !'' Pudding won't work, !'''', Whoa, I'm way out on a limb, here- and I'm all alone.'', And it doesn't help that he can't afford to fail. Sure he got his boss Shawn to agree to this revolutionary torture experiment. But if the plan fails, he'll be retired. And not like cool retirement like taking Greyhound buses to Vegas, to sit at slot machines all day. No, this is demon retirement, which is slightly worse.''. My soul will be disintegrated. ,''''. My essence will be scooped out of my body with a flaming ladle'''' and poured over hot diamonds, and then what's left of my body will be endlessly beaten with a titanium rod.'''' Like a pinata.''''. Yes, except you have the string around my waist, but instead it will definitely be around my genitals.'', But not only is he having to deal with the stress of being all alone, with a literal burning, ladle waiting for him. His plan fails. Eleanor figures out that they're in The Bad Place, ruining all of Michael's work.. He had promised his boss that they'd be able to torture people like this for a thousand years.. Instead, he barely gets six months out of it, forcing him to beg for just one more try. Shawn grants him one more attempt.''. Good luck with attempt number two.''''. There will be no attempt, number three.'' And yet, over and over time and again, Eleanor figures out that they're in The Bad Place. Michael ends up rebooting his neighborhood over 800, more times trying to figure out the way to get it right. And he can't.. It is a literal torture for him, as he learns that, no matter what he does, he isn't good enough to make his plan work. His dream of revolutionizing. The Bad Place is shattered.. His life is on the line which then results in him having to beg the humans for help.''. Suffice to say, I tried more than two times.''''. If he finds out we're all in hot water. Literally.'''', We will be the main ingredient in a chowder of pain.''. He devises a plan where the humans pretend, like they don't know. What'S going on to fool all the rest of The Bad Place, the only catch is that now he Michael has to take moral philosophy, classes with the rest of them and again this is another form of torture for Michael., not just because Kantian Ethics is so dry And boring, and why did I spend a senior year college semester learning it when I didn't even need the credit.? What was I thinking Erm, but learning human morality literally sends Michael into a spiraling existential crisis.. In short by the first couple, episodes of Season 2. He went from a confident, nearly immortal being living his life to an insecure mask contemplating his own demise.. Definitely not a good trajectory for the guy.. As team cockroach works to fool. The demons Michael becomes attached to the humans, which only makes it worse because he can't figure out a way to help them. He's made friends, he's growing emotional attachments to them, and yet he's been lying to their faces about his ability to help them the entire time.. It'S torture. Yet again putting Michael at an even lower low than he was before.''. So not only did I fail at getting us into The Good Place. I also learned the error of my ways.'''' Real rock-bottom for a demon. I'll, tell you.'' And it just doesn't get any better for him. For the final two seasons. There is literally noone in the universe, willing and able to help him save himself and the humans. When he learns that there's a problem with the afterlife's point system. He petitions the accountants to help they don't.'' Neil, be logical.. The bad place has hacked your system, !''''. No, it hasn't. How dare you !'' When he calls on the Leadership Committee of The Good Place, trying to lay out the problems with the system. They again are useless.'' Michael. We have rules procedures.'''' We're the good guys. We can't just do stuff !'', Even after Michael overwhelmingly proves that humanity has the capacity for self-improvement in the final season. The intergalactic judges verdict is that humanity needs to be wiped clean.''. You came to me and said the point system was flawed and I've come to the conclusion: ...'''' ... That you're right.'' *cheers*'' Now in terms of how we handle this moving forward. Obviously, Earth is cancelled.'''' All humans on Earth in and the afterlife will be extinguished.'''' And we will start the entire human race over from scratch.''. Then, even when he finds a solution to that problem, someone better than him takes over and removes his sense of purpose.''. I have to roll a rock up a hill !'''' Over and over, and then Vicky comes along with this rock lifter thing and just lifts up to the top of the hill.''''. Who am I if the rock is gone? ?'', Not even The Good Place is a safe place for Michael.. Michael eventually earns his way to heaven and is greeted by the good place leadership committee only to then immediately be swindled by them.''. Now you are officially in charge of The Good Place.''''. I'M sorry in charge: ?'''' Yep, you're, the boss. Now that was all legally binding and we all quit effective immediately.''''. So it's all your problem now, don't try to find us no take-backs, okay, bye-bye !''! Yet again, Michael, is faced with a seemingly impossible problem.. How do you make eternity palatable for the people living there? Paradise isn't Paradise if it goes on forever. It just becomes mind-numbing and boring. It'S a problem that The Good Place committee couldn't solve, and so they just dumped their problems onto you, guessed it Michael.. I think this quote from his former boss: Shawn sums things up, best.'' You won and you still somehow failed. Classic.''. The long and short of it is that time and time and time again throughout the series Michael, is put into impossible situations and is given zero. Help. He's given his dream job opportunity only to see his ideas fail, hundreds of times with his life on the line. He forms emotional bonds with people on the premise of lies.. He becomes aware of and immediately scared by his own ability to die. He's trapped in a perpetual cycle of ineffectual bureaucracy., Even the arbiters of heaven themselves dump their problems onto him.. It sucks for Michael constantly in the show, and it never once lets up.. That is the type of torture that Michael was trying to create for his human subjects, but in reality it's just him undergoing it. The entire series. Add to that all the small little inconveniences, with demons being uncomfortable in their human skin suits ,''. The suits are really itchy for us.'''' Every part of my body's either too dry or too wet.''''. I got to say it took me a long time to get used to the hanging. Bits.'''' Gross.'''' Get your mind out of the gutter Eleanor I was talking about my testicles.'' And it's clear that Michael is miserable the entire time, but what's really suspicious is that Michael is never retired.. You see he is captured. There are multiple opportunities for him to be dispatched with, and yet he never is.. In fact, the whole retirement thing is just a bunch of smoke and mirrors.'' Retirement is a spectacle.''''. Everyone would see the flaming ladles good on your throat.'''', Then they'd. Ask me what you did.''''. I don't need that kind of scrutiny right, now.'', It's an odd wrinkle of the show that gets explained away.. If Michael is actually the person in the bad place getting tortured.. You see he finds himself in a catch-22.. They can't kill him because he's being tortured., It would be the end of his eternal torment, so instead they scare him with the prospect of retirement until he gets too close to it, at which point they need to make up some excuse to delay it and get Him back on track with the ceaseless misery., And wouldn't you know it, it's the exact same loophole that helps Eleanor figure out that the humans are trapped in the bad place'' They're. Never gon na call a train to take us to The Bad Place.''''. They can't because we're already here.'''' This is the bad place.'' And here's my favorite part, like all the best twists in the series. The show outright tells us what it's doing. In Season. 3 Episode. 7. Eleanor outright predicts this :'', Maybe there's a mega demon who built a torture chamber for demons, and this whole thing is just him torturing you.''. When I first saw this episode, I thought ,'' Aw dip. They wouldn't actually call attention to a major plot twist like this.'', Except they totally would. Way back before. Anybody knew what was going on in the very first episode of the show, Eleanor practically guesses. What'S really going on.'', My parents were divorced when I was a kid. They're, probably in the bad place.'''', Maybe they're being used to torture each other., It would work.'' And they don't just pull that trick once they do it twice.''. I think we might be in an alien zoo or on a prank show.'''', No Jian, you are dead.'', They even call back to it after the big reveal to show off how clever they were.''. Oh dude. I told you that first night that we were in a prank show.'''', Oh yeah, you did Great job man !'', So it seems like The Good Place (. The show ) was in the habit of giving up the ghost before we know what's going on., But this time we have enough information from which to draw our own conclusions. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice: well, I'll, probably just wind up doing another Episode on the topic. Now, admittedly, the final episode of the show is a bit hard to explain away under this. Theory. Michael gets his ultimate wish and gets to live out his life as a human and our hearts are warmed, as he learns the guitar. Without the help of Janet and finally gets to say to someone that iconic phrase ,'' Take it sleazy.'' But put aside the sappy music for a second and let's be clear here, Michael, is a human now and, as this show has made patently clear being on Earth Kind of sucks.'' That was rough !'''' Sheesh Earth is a mess !'' And being a human. Is a lifetime full of sadness.'' You're learning what it's like to be human.''''. All humans are aware of death, so we're all a little bit sad. All the time.'''' Sounds like a crappy deal.'''' Yeah. It is.'' Not only that, but he loses all of his friends. At the end of the show he sees all of his friends leave and become space. Dust. He's separated from Janet. Sure he'll meet new friends now, but when he returns to the afterlife, all his new friends will eventually dust as well. He'Ll perpetually see people he cares about leave and leave and leave, but he never can.. It'S only a matter of time. Before he breaks in. In short, Michael's existence is one of ceaseless torment, insecurity and constant disappointment. He's perpetually forced into positions. Where he's the only one who can solve a problem and even when he does someone steps in and does it better than him., Even heaven itself tricks and abandons him to figure out an eternity of unsolved problems which, in and of itself, is pretty darn suspicious. Since you know it's, heaven, probably shouldn't be doing stuff like that there. Any way you slice it, it seems like Michael, is the one in the Bad Place here If The Bad Place is truly a place of ceaseless misery and torment.. Well, that is Michael's experience throughout the course of this show., But it all wraps up happily, ever after right, He gets to be human, a creature that is always uncomfortable, Always sad, and always one margarita mix away from getting run over by a train of shopping carts.. The ending of the show is meant to be happy, but really it just shows that humanity is the pinnacle of torture., But hey, That's just a theory, A Film Theory Aaand ... Forknuggets. I forgot to send a special thanks to Ryan from Screen Rant for his little pitch meeting cameo at the top of this episode.. If you enjoyed that or this theory then make sure to check out him and his series Pitch Meeting over on that channel link is right on screen right now.. They have over a hundred pitch meetings for you to binge and enjoy like. I have multiple times. And hey if you did like this episode. Let me know. Honestly. I have another really good idea for another `` Good, Place'' theory., but wasn't sure if you guys would actually care about this show at all. So let me know if that was fun for you. And with that my friends, I'm off., Keep it sleazy, guys !''. I wanted to eat a Saltine.'''', Pretty dry.'''' And too salty.'''' Going out on a real low note here. .''
Comments
Kaitln White: Hold on MatPat, Jason wasn’t a failed DJ; he was PRE-successful.
Doodle128: Wasn’t the whole point of Michael becoming human so that he could take the test, go to the good place and turn into space dust along with Jason, Chidi and Eleanor? That would mean that Michael wouldn’t have to see all of his friends turn into space dust because he would turn into space dust, wouldn’t it?
Yehia alshehri: You forgot to mention that phoebe is the only friends character in the good place.
Harvey Gitarista: I think Mat Pat's theory is weak on this. The story was too complete for his cherry picking to work. It's simple; after Michael dies as a human, he'll do and pass the test, and will be sent to the good place as a normal human soul. He'll probably spend some bearimy there too (if he chooses to), and retire peacefully like everybody else. The wave makes its way back to the Ocean. Mat might have missed the part where Michae even went to the extreme by trying to piggy-back to Eleanor just to be able to go thorugh the final door because his demon body can't, and only human souls can go through the door, hence Eleanor made a way by asking the judge to give him a human body so he could go to the process like everybody else.
WAAAH Waluigi: The ending of the good place made me cry, not gonna lie Man it sucks when good shows end
Wessel Pitti: Michael's character is actually the embodiment of hope. He sees things that are broken and aims to fix them. It is only logical that such a character encounters hardship. What defines him is that he keeps trying and is eventually rewarded by becoming the thing that he loves: human. Ironically, in that way, he is the most human character of all of them.
alexheartz: Glad MatPat has good taste. Kristen Bell is the obvious choice for everyone's celebrity crush
Alex Keener: I once watched like 5 minutes of an episode of The Good Place and laughed and said "wouldn't it be really funny if it turned out they were in the bad place?" and they just looked at me in shock and I didn't know why at first.
Becca S: I know he’s a demon in this show, but Ted Danson just seems like the sweetest man to me
Daggeira O'Cinnéide: The "We're the good place; we can't just _do_ stuff" line has always infuriated me.
Yousef Gamer: I’m surprised you didn’t mention that in S02E02 “Dance Dance Resolution” when *Eleanor* and *Chidi* are trying to come up with a plan after they escaped to the medium place, *Mindi* shows them a list of all the plans they have tried before and one of them was, “Make Michel think he’s the one in the bad place”
Simi Lee: The Good Place is definitely my favorite show of all time, so sad that it had to end but at least they left it at a satisfying ending instead of milking a few more seasons like other shows
Bianca Silva: I'm sorry Mat, you're amazing and you can usually find a needle in a haystack to nitpick in shows, but The good place was 104% perfect, their plot was amazingly well written and tied together, there's no space for a crazy and amazing theory like usual. But still, I had fun, this is legitimately my favorite series of all and I'll always love watching more content about it.
emma rosalie: I love telling this story. I met Ted Danson (Michael) once while the show was on air. I told him it was my favorite show and how much I loved it. He was so ecstatic and thanked me and told me he was really excited for me to watch the next season (which was season 3 or 4) and how he knew I would love it. He was the sweetest person I’ve ever met and he was really passionate about the show
Bert Cowboy: Uh...the whole point of Michael becoming human is to give him the ability to go through the door. You don't explain why he couldn't.
Miles Turner: One problem: you ignored the fact that when Micheal comes back to the afterlife, he goes through the system *just like anyone else*, as the show clearly outlines. This means he would not be trapped watching people die forever, as he would have the ability to walk the the Last Door when he was ready.
Drew E: Really digging this video up because I just finished the show. But, I think the point that was missed was not about torture but about trials and change. The humans changed, but due to the wheels Michael put in motion, everyone went through some form of betterment. When they finally got to the Good Place, they found that without change, without struggle, without sisyphean tasks, paradise is worthless. Michael's struggles were what earned him his worth, but we see that even he, even the committee, even the frog loving doorman grow weary of everything they've ever wanted. He earned his mortality tooth and nail. Those were the steps towards allowing him to become one with the ocean in the end. What started as torture for the four humans was realised to be trials. This realisation was Michael's initial growth that kicked off the entire arc; from demon to deity to mortal to dust.
Shankar Roy: "Ya basic... That's a human insult... it's devastating... you're devastated..."
Hamza Ali: All I can say is THE GOOD PLACE is the best series I have ever watched. It was something out of the box and I loved it they should do a little spin of series of Michael on earth or just Janet.
Taylor Monk: The only disagreement I have with this theory is at the end when Mat says that Michael will continue to watch the people he loves leave while he can’t. Michael becoming a human undermines this part because he would be able to go through the door after passing his afterlife test. That’s the whole point of them making him a human.
Fernando Perez: Ted Danson as Michael couldn't have been a more perfect choice, he balances the plotting demon and the sensitive dreamer sooooo well and so uniquely
Arikarin 636: Don't forget when the lady in the middle place showed them their prior plans one of which was "Convince Michael that he is in the bad place"
Othniel Legis: That 1st season plot twist is DEFINITELY the best tv show plot twist I've ever seen. Great theory but i have to know what else you got cooking up for this show
Chris Knight: The season one twist is so underrated. It truly got me when I first saw it. I also loved the call back to it in their test good place with Brent (was that his name?) and Chidi. When you watch the season one finale back there’s a MASSIVE clue that really should have given it away. Real Eleanor comes into Fake Eleanor’s house and says she is taking one of the slots to the bad place. She wasn’t there when that agreement was made - how would she have known about it?? It’s so obvious yet it took me several viewings to notice it. Also, just to add as an aside, I loved the little nod to the Good Place in Lucifer at the end of season five, when Lucifer goes to heaven and the guy that meets him there cannot swear, saying “what the fork?!” or something like that. Brilliant stuff.
Aysit Alownatlanch: I’ve watched a ton of shows, i mean a ton but the ending of this show really stucked with me unlike other shows. Its satisfying and unsatisfying at the same time. Its will leave you more empty than what you were before watching it
Arkainjel: I love how subtle, yet accurate it is when Matpat mentions "physical torture" and shows an eggplant being stomped.
Crazy Editr: 4:58 I remember when Eleanor went back to Mindy’s in one of the reboots and she showed a list of failed ideas thst they have tried in the reboots before. One of them said “Make Michael think HE is the on in the bad place.”
Carol Gurney: Another theory: What if Janet is actually the one being tortured? Think about it for sec. Janet’s whole shtick is that she’s a robot, and not a human, or as she likes to put it “not a girl”. This in itself is torture for her because no matter how hard she tries to connect with the humans and understand their habits and emotions, she can’t, simply because she is not one of them, not matter how hard she tries to be. Another thing: the second way that Janet is being tortured is the fact that she’s basically a robot slave for everyone else in the good place. Anyone can just request her at any time and get her to bring or do anything they want, no matter how big or small or weird or wild it may be. She essentially has no free will over her own actions because she is constantly doing what others want when they want, which causes her to slowly go insane and start glitching (as seen in season 2, episode 7). Last but not least, in season 4, when they all get to the actual good place. Yeah sure, Janet is no longer being tortured in the sense that she doesn’t have to work anymore and do stuff for other people, but then everyone she loves leaves. Micheal becomes head of the good place, tahani becomes an architect, and Eleanor, chidi, and Jason all walk through the portal and become space dust. Janet may be in paradise, but now all of her friends are gone, so the real question is Is she really in paradise or was the entire show just one big, elaborate scheme designed to torture her for eternity?
Kathy Havelka: “Micheal’s existence is one of ceaseless torment, insecurity, and constant disappointment” High School Students: first time?
SmallTiddyGothGF: Fun fact about the pitch meeting for this show: IIRC, Mike Schurr was basically given the green light on this show before he even had a pitch because he had been so successful. They talk about the behind the scenes stuff like that in The Good Place podcast
Albert Ferraro: I thought the point of the ending was that he could finally go to The Good Place and then pass through the door when he's ready. It's Janet who's really lost everyone for good.
Adamphibia Kalboonchuy: 14:58 Unlikely. I highly doubt that he is, because empathizing with Eleanor and Chidi and seeing them make each other better people makes Michael more likely to not be a sad and uncomfortable margarita mix-obsessed human who makes the same mistakes they did. You know he enjoyed the little things in life that make being a human special, and a big part of his lament in The Eternal Shriek pays off full circle when he gets a rewards card from Coyote Joe's and tells a neighbor to take it sleazy. April 18, 2021, 9:53pm
TUX : This show was honestly one of the best shows I have ever seen in awhile
Motiv B.: I mean, since he was turned into a human in the last episode, when he dies and lives out his afterlife in the good place, he'll be able to go through the door and "die" in the eternal way he saw his friends die. Since the problem with him not being able to "eternally die" was originally that he was a demon, him being a human and living out a human life/afterlife will allow him to eternally die once he wants to again
gxtmfa: I like how they use the concept of prisoners’ dilemma to model how repetition can solve the dilemma. ...I also like how Jason gets a ton of stuff right and has great ideas.
i'm sad: “Everyone here thinks I’m Taiwanese, I’m Filipino. The good place is so racist” I just snorted. I have a Filipino friend and he constantly gets a similar thing.
Steve K: It was just the best moment when Michael reacted to the reveal that they were in the bad place. Loved it!
Omnomnomnivore: A fun story about The Good Place. I went to a live comedy show this one time in LA during the time I was watching The Good Place, and one of the actors in the comedy show played the guy in the parking lot where Elanor died who was selling pamphlets for the Clean Energy Crusaders. When I got home I watched the episode where Elanor was saved from her death and later joined the Clean Energy Crusaders, and someone in my family said, "Wasn't that the screaming goat guy from the comedy show?"
Laura Chamberlain: Michael *definitely* needs a hug, I really feel about him demons can be good and angels can be bad, not everyone is truly perfect. I would like to give him a hug
MiraculousMongoose: Literally just a few hours ago, I finished this show. And I'm with you MatPat- Chidi's waves returning to the ocean speech made me A LOT
Nothing Here: Just a question: Since Michael becomes human at the end, doesn't that mean that once he reaches the afterlife he will be able to enter the doorway and become dust himself?
Joshua Quick: I loved this show! I would love to watch another theory on it
Cian Lacy: As a philosophy major/ philosophy buff, I will say, it’s a niche field, I definitely understand most people hating it but it’s so fascinating to delve into if you ARE of that mind
Misty Nightlight: Oh my gosh, I just started this show and kinda fell out of it, but watching this makes me wanna continue it! I really wanna hear the other theory you had!!
Fallen_Rain: That show really gets you thinking about the afterlife and when you feel like your ready to be one in the universe it feels peaceful...
Ero: I really did enjoy the video. It made me think a lot more about one of my favorite shows. Although, sure that all parties involved are being tortured in the bad place just because they are in the bad place. All of the angels that fell from heaven because of their rebellion against God. I bet they are the tortured just as much as humans that are pretty bad themselves. I could be wrong, I was once before.
possible puzzles: Definitely got me thinking! Based on a redemption interpretation of the afterlife it all lines up (in life the real Michael was an egomaniacal sadist, this they put him into a false elevated position that breaks him down and strips him of his pride and disempathy). Sure you could argue "why set this all up for one person?", But then again, why recreate an entire good place just for four people?
Brenden Nothe: absolutely love this show would recommend you watch it 9:55 the answer: just like how you have cupcake when you are supposed on a diet (*PUT IT DOWN*) you start with the healthy food (not enjoyable experiences) then you have a cupcake once in a while (enjoyable experiences) then back to the healthy food (unenjoyable experiences) and continue the cycle that and let people die
Rad: I've just finished watching the show and my theory goes a tad deeper. I think they all have been going through their trials all along, trials they created. Since time in afterlife is looped and even Janet says she experiences all of time simultaneously, it makes sense that all that happened already. They show that they can enter human timeline at any selected point. After the final scene I was thinking that if humanity had conscience already, then the ending must've happened before the show started. So my theory is that Chidi became Eleanor's little voice and Jason became Doug's voice, then told Doug how the point system works when he got high enough. Jason did like to talk after all. Maybe Doug's missing 8% was what the team came up with for the purgatory.
hyper ballad: but matpat, the whole reason he became a human was so that he'll eventually get to walk through the space dust door himself when he's ready. suffering over, good conclusion for everyone
XionTheBlackRose Writer and YouTuber: Loved The Good Place, would definitely love to see another theory
A.kitCat.B: I really enjoyed this theory even though I haven't seen the show. The theory also kept me intrigued!
Sand Box Sawyer: I like how they are so lucky that where put into Michaels “ neighborhood” if they whent to the regular bad place they would have never gotten the chance to convince michale to be better and eventually make it into the good place when if they when to the regular bad place it would have never happened. So cool
Carole A Rothe Lilly: I loved The Good Place and wish it could have continued. It was a very deep series that was presented in a light and beautiful way.❤️ I enjoyed learning about Moral Philosophy from Chidi and was so heartbroken when we lost Chidi to the universe. I loved the cast and it warmed my heart that Michael was given the chance to live out his life as a human on earth. Great work on your summation. I enjoyed your insight and humor! ❤️✝️
Miguel Mercado: Michael: “I gotta say, it took me a long time to get used to the... _hanging bits_ .“ Eleanor: “Gross.” Michael: “Get your mind out of the gutter, Eleanor. I was talking about my testicles.” This may be my favorite line in ANY show.
LazyCowLucy: Yes! I loved this show! So awesome to see it getting attention
loverrlee: This show is probably my absolute favorite show ever made! It made me LOVE moral philosophy!
Joseph Le May: Uhhhh, what do you mean "All his new friends will just turn to space dust too?" He was made human, so he can go through the door.
Ylmik 88: Please do another theory on this! This show is amazing and I now need to rewatch it again for the 4th time due to this theory.
TheLawYGO: The whole thing with Michael becoming human is just that, he’s human now. He’ll have to go through the system when he dies and eventually will walk through the door like the rest of his friends. On that note, The Good Place is one of my favorite shows in recent years, so please do your other theory on it
The Unvlog Channel: The "good guys" abandoning him are probably the strongest evidence for this theory. Also, in the finale, if Michael invented the dissolving door, how come he can't use it? One explanation is that it's part of his torture that he must be alive forever.
Kizzy McKee: I so love the good place, and this theory episode was great! Thank you
Stefano Paci: Beautiful series. With a perfect ending
Watermelooon Seeds: MatPat, I truly love your stuff and think your great at theory making. And overall I agree with this theory and the evidence provided. But here is one thing I thought of. You said that even the ending is sad because people are sad and it’s a bad deal, but that’s something he’s always wanted. He knows that it sucks, but he’s never gotten to do it. And on top of that, it even sucks less for him! He doesn’t have to worry about rent and food, because Janet already set up a bank account to last him his time on Earth! He already has a drivers license! Sure he’s not living the dream, but he’s living his dream! And, now that he’s human, when he dies and gets put in the afterlife, he will experience it the way a human does. He’ll take the test, most likely get put in the good place, and have the option to stay, and to walk through the final door. I agree with all your other points, but I think him being a human is when he is finally freed from his bad place. But that’s just my side side of it, you have great theory’s and I agree with most of them.
Starvingwriter82: You missed something here: You concluded, at the end, that Michael would eventually die and watch friends disappear for eternity without ever being able to leave himself. Demons can't leave through the door... but humans can, and Michael is human now. He'll die, eventually make his way to the Good Place, and, when he's ready, will now be able to go through the door himself, since he's human.
Milkshake Draws: I watched a bit of the good place one night with my dad, it’s such a good and hilarious series! I totally recommend it to anyone who hasn’t watched it.
Katie N.: I just recently finished The Good Place, and I actually wrote a note saying “What if Michael is being tortured?”. Seems like this theory is more likely to be true.
Starry Dreamer: I just finished the good place recently and I loved it. This makes me want to watch it again.
Chase Mott: Okay I frickin loved this show thought it was the best sitcom premise I ever heard but mid season 1 got a bid messy and honestly them realizing it was the bad place felt like the logical conclusion to the show, and now it’s a show about morality lead by morally driven plot points where the characters shollowly repeat themselves and learn lessons which concepts should fully familiar by now. At busy moments most characters in season 2 just came off as childish in humor and understanding, which felt like a big drop of from the first 5 episode of season 1. is it just me but what happened? Or must everything die like the inevitable heat death of our universe in an instant after enough time. Edit: also don’t get me wrong I know this is the point of the show to some end but the humor was genuinely funny and once that slowly fell off I realized there was nothing truely left so I’m done.
maeclay: “JASON figured it out? JASON? this is a low point for me. yeah, this one hurts. ow.”
Meeth Chanchawat: See, micheal said that being a human is hard as in it is impossible to get in the good place but they changed the system so by the end of it he is truly happy because he knows he just has to live a decent life and do all the human things he wanted to do. Also now he is human now so he can walk away so yeah.
ᴘʀɪɴᴄᴇ-ᴋ: ive rewatched this theory at least 10 times and the show maybe double that. i literally love this show. if theres more you could do can you make more theories on it?
Solomon Shedarowich: I loved that show, especially the ending.
Lapis Lazuli: Yeah it always struck me as odd that the plan for the humans was that "they'd experiment with a new psychological torture format and if the new way failed they'd go back to physical torture" and they never called out the parallel between that and Michael's retirement being "he'd experiment with a new psychological torture format and if the new way failed he'd be physically tortured"
Annietta: Remember when Jason figured out it was the bad place a real low point for Michael
nodsib: That's kinda silly, most of Michael freaking out in the first season was just him acting that way to torture the humans, so I don't think that should be included. Also, making this neighbourhood wasn't something forced on Michael, he was the one that came up with the idea. Would rather just watch the full Pitch Meeting for The Good Place :)
Dalton Carver: I really enjoyed this theory, and I hope you’ll revisit it and give us your other idea!
MumboJ: Probably a bit late for this, but YES I would absolutely love another Good Place theory! Such a fantastic show, please bring it on! :D
Allison Hoff: Ryan, MatPat and The Good Place all in one video!! I might just be in heaven.... ya know, after Michael fixed it.
Kiss Kiss: Okay Jason is a “pre-successful” DJ not a failed one.
goldilox369: I seriously started to think this exact thing in second season. I kept waiting for this shoe to drop. But it didn't. So I'm definitely feeling this theory. ❤️
Light_Dream: I loved this theory and I would love another one
livewireYK: The point that the show made was that only happiness will lead to emptyness and if you look at it everyone here is getting tortured,be it Shawn or Vicky ,Micheal says clearly that he looks forward to the problems of humans .
Josh Sandquist: Omg. This made me laugh myself to tears. Doubly so after going thru the bade place for a few loops, and seeing heaven was empty place where only 1 person could be. (I've had a weird decade)
Err: This is by far my favourite show, if we seen it through twice this week. I could write an essay on it
Namike: Soooo... I have just finished this show and I wanna say that you might have missed the mark there. While Micheal gets tortured when starting to learn Philosophy, He enjoys it later on even having a moment with Ellenor about it. Micheal was always a Doer so him going to Earth the first time didn't seem like torture as he enjoyed his time there with Janet and at the progress, the group was doing from the scenes showing when the time passes. Also, Micheal going to become Human at the end seems more like him retiring from all the work he has done than him becoming tortured as he finally moves on from always pushing a rock up the mountain to going down the mountain and fishing. Like Fishing, You can have a good catch and a bad catch like life but the experience of fishing is what counts like Life. Even him getting anxious is just part of his character like Chidi's stomach cramps although that disappears in the last episodes of the series. Shaun not punishing Micheal is also explained in episode 11 season 4 where they have to convince Shaun to agree to make a new system. Shaun just wanted to have fun challenging Micheal as he never really had fun except for the first time he did things so he just wanted it to continue. Wow I just realised how much I wrote. Anyway Write in Replies for counter-arguments I guess.
TheAres1999: I want a movie folliwng Mindy St Claire going through the system. It could bring back Janet, Michael, and Tahani to help her.
LegendOfZia: Loved this video! Might be enough to put me on a rewatch of this phenomenalosophical show.
shoe: actually jason figured it out. the first time he said that they're in a prank show which is technically correct edit: y’all sorry 4 this comment lmao i obviously don’t remember what happened when i wrote it but i must have not seen where he put that clip in the video
Kupkakes Korner: The good place is one of my favorite shows of all time please do more!
David: I was thinking the exact same thing about Michael so it's cool to hear a second opinion
BlossomWerecatPlays: I love this and need to know where I can stream this show! Please make another theory on this beautiful gem of a show! ☺️
Sara DiLorenzo: Matthew Patthew you always have crazy theories and I am always watching and enjoying them but you finally did it- you broke me. This is the one that finally broke me
Talea Jane: There is a significant error in this theory though. Michael is now human, so when he does reach the good place, he *will* be able to go through the door.
Tiger Stone31: I was re-watching the good place and in season 2 episode 2 when Eleanor and Chidi are at Mindy’s reading their failed plans one of them is “make Micheal think he’s the one in the bad place” I know this was 4 years ago and you already proved it but I really wanted to point that little bit out. Also what was the other good place theory? You never made it
Dante Rodriguez: Im laughing so much because in the second season they literally read one of their own plans that was "make Michael think HE is in the bad place" and you didn't even mention it
Lena R: In season two episode two one of their plans to defeat Michael was “make Michael think HE’s the one in the bad place”
MasterYogurt: A couple months ago I watched this whole series, it was very good, but the ending was sad
Phucko: This theory feels like it ignores the concept of bitter sweetness and that happiness doesn’t necessarily equate to fulfillment. Which is a huge point the show makes.
Aaron Bowers: LOVE Ryan George!! LOVE Film Theory and MattPatt. And LOVED the Good Place! Great work MP!