There are few genuine surprises left to reveal anymore on television, but
The Good Place pulled off a brilliant twist at the end of its first season. By
upending the premise of the show to create a world in which almost everything we
thought to be true was actually false, the series immediately created excitement
for the new season, while never abandoning its commitment to finding the funny
in the ridiculous. It’s important to note that the major revelation from last
season wasn’t a cheap ploy or an unconvincing shift; rather, it was the kind of
clever development that reminds viewers smart and skillful writing isn’t just
for prestige dramas. Michael Schur is an especially excellent example of a
showrunner and writer who understands world building and character development
in comedy.Eleanor’s search for Chidi (“Okay, Chidi, where are you? Or what are you? A type of soup, maybe?”) quickly upsets everyone’s specific roles, and the ways they attempt to right the failing experiment isn’t only funny, but also offers real stakes. What only Michael knows is that his boss, Shawn (Marc Evan Jackson), is giving him just one more chance to make his idea work. When Michael’s plan is foiled for the second time, he hides that failure, and his now third attempt, from Shawn. This not only increases the pressure on Michael, but also drives home the point that this fake Good Place is an outlier that no one really understands or believes in.
