The Good Place - TV Series Review

The Good Place

7.5/10

I recently binged watched season 1 of The Good Place on Netflix (still not sure if I am a fan of Netflix, but that is for another post) and I have to say I was in for a pleasant surprise.

By now, I have reiterated that I am a crime/documentary junkie for the millionth time so trust me when I say that this tv show would not have been my typical choice.

People who have not watched it and are interested to watch this, I will try my utmost to keep this as spoiler free as possible.

First of all, pretty impressed with the casting. There was a good diversity, and all actors carried their roles well. The ones that were supposed to be annoying were really annoying.

It starts of with Eleanor Shellstrop ("Eleanor") played by Kristen Bell waking up to "The Good Place" which I perceived to be heaven, and unlike the rest of the movies which are based on life after death that I have seen in the past, she does not start freaking out that she is now dead. She is pleased to find out that the made it to "The Good Place" instead of the bad, until she realises that they picked the wrong Eleanor.

Eleanor continues to pretend to be the girl who belongs in The Good Place in fear that once her cover is blown, she would have to return to The Bad Place.

In The Good Place, everyone has a soul mate so once Eleanor meets hers, she confesses to him that she is not the Eleanor that they have presumed her to be and he decides to help her become a "good person" so that he feels less guilty about keeping her secret.

All houses are constructed as to each individual's preferences, which surprise, surprise, Eleanor hates (obviously as it was made based on the other Eleanor's taste).

Yada yada yada show goes on, and after getting rooted with moral lessons from her soulmate and plenty sprinkles of conscience later, she decides to come clean to the town that she does not belong there.

More drama later, towards the end of Season 1, the series takes a turn, and we find out that "The Good Place" really isn't the Good Place afterall, and the "Creator" of The Good Place, (which I haven't quite figured out who he is, he isn't God, for sure, in my opinion.) In the show, he is known as an architect of the town. Presumably, a prophet? Devil? I don't know.

Turns out that this architect got sick of the usual punishments for people who go to The Bad Place and decided to come up with a different way to punish them by brainwashing them that they are in The Good Place and surrounding them with 3 other souls, which he configured based on his calculations were perfect to drive each other crazy.

Last Episode of Season 1:

-Eleanor figures everything out;

-Architect freaks out and wipes out all their memory about everything which had conspired since Day 1 they stepped into The Good Place;

First Episode of Season 2:

-The 4 of them return to The Good Place again;

-Eleanor almost immediately senses something wrong;

Blablabla;

-Architect freaks out again and wipes their memory again.

And now, I have to wait every week for new episodes to find out what happens because Netflix has certain tv shows which are released weekly instead of what they were famously known for, i.e. releasing the whole series. WHY NETFLIX, WHY?!?!

The show does not focus on any specific religion which is good for everyone, it does not piss off believers of whichever religion(s) and the non-believers. (In my opinion, this is a smart move).

In case you are getting annoyed with my constant "in my opinion(s)", I will explain some other time why I keep emphasising "my opinions" or "according to soandso".

Funny how being a contestant of the Bachelor/Bachelorette or any other spin offs relating to the Bachelor franchise was one of their questions to determine if they were deserving to be in The Good Place. HMMMMMM.......Ok Chill out, (their criteria, not mine).

This is good, if you want something to binge watch which isn't about someone killing someone else, or if you are like me and sometimes need something light for the head apart from all the intense and gory nonsense.

I would have been more descriptive, but then, I would have spoiled everything for those who have yet to watch it.

P.s. I thought this would have been a great plot for a book.

On another note, to those who have sent their feedbacks, questions and book requests, I promise my response by the end of the week and keep them coming! Always a pleasure touching base with all of you.

Love,

Naia

#tvseries #thegoodplace #netflix #kristenbell