The Good Place (Realm)

## Backstage

### Episode(s)

Chapter 36: Janet(s) • Chapter 37: The Book Of Dougs • Chapter 51: Patty • Chapter 52: Whenever You're Ready

**The Good Place** is the realm where the truly good people of Earth go when they die and enter their next stage of existence.

Michael's neighborhood, Neighborhood 12358W, mimics a Good Place neighborhood but is proven to be a disguised Bad Place neighborhood in Chapter 13. The first glimpse of the true Good Place is the mailroom, seen in Chapters 36-37; however, this is only the correspondence center, and access to the community itself is restricted.

Finally, in Chapter 51, the true Good Place is seen and described at a basic level. It is more modern, sophisticated, and grand than Michael's original neighborhood.

## About

The Good Place has likely existed since the beginning of time (at the very least since the case of Og and Grog, roughly 201,993 BCE) and is a Utopian paradise for those that were truly noble and good in life.

Only people with a high point score are allowed in the good place and as a reward they receive eternal happiness.

Each day in The Good Place is a blissful and beautiful existence, where a human may have anything they desire, simply by calling on their neighborhood's Janet. Humans in The Good Place also never experience any kind of pain, do not age and cannot perish.

Until Season 3, the real Good Place is not seen in any form, though its existence is confirmed by, in particular, the backstory of Mindy St. Claire and the presence of a representative of The Good Place in her orientation video for The Medium Place, as well as the origin of Janet, who was created to serve in The Good Place before being stolen by Michael.

Most of what is known about the realm comes from Michael, while he was actively deceiving the inhabitants into thinking they lived in the Good Place. Some of those details have been confirmed, but many have not.

Shortly after Michael arrived in the Good Place, the Good Place Architects conducted a ceremony to induct Michael as a fellow Good Place Architect. Little did Michael know at the time, there were problems with how to keep the residents happy and the other architects took the opportunity to make Michael in charge of the entirety of the Good Place before quitting their jobs and leaving. The Team solved the issue after remembering that humans are always a little sad and that death gives life meaning. So they proposed that when the humans are finished, they may walk through a door where they no longer exist and their essence is destroyed and returned to the universe.

The Good Place is considered to be actual, infinite perfection; anyone can see or do anything they want to do, regardless of scale, difficulty or complexity. They can live anywhere, do anything, see anything, and get anything they want from the Good Janets who service the inhabitants of the Good Place.

## Entry

### 201993 BC - 2020 AD

Gaining access into The Good Place isn't easy. According to Michael, from the moment of birth every action and decision that a human makes either had a positive or negative effect, thus affecting that human's overall point score total. Entrance into The Good Place is extremely difficult, and most people do not enter.

The standards are extremely high, as all branches of philosophy are taken into account when calculating point totals–for example, one's motivation may be pure, but their actions generate misery, like Chidi, or the opposite, like Tahani. In *Chapter 36: Janet(s)*, it's revealed that nobody has gotten into the Good Place in 521 years (since c. 1497 CE).

Only humans with an exceptionally high score value are allowed into The Good Place. The lowest score seen to be allowed into The Good Place was roughly +900,000.

Throughout Season 2, Michael tried to find a way for himself and the humans to enter the Good Place, trying one billion and seven different ways, before concluding that the only way into The Good Place is by being a good person. However, Michael does later discover a way to The Good Place through a chute in the Accounting Department where all good souls and their files enter The Good Place, but it turns out it only goes to the Good Place Correspondence Center, from which one cannot enter The Good Place. In Chapter 37, it is revealed that there is an "Official Entrance" for humans; Gwendolyn claims this the only entrance for humans, but Michael refutes this by arriving in a shimmering hot air balloon in Chapter 51.

### 2020 AD - present

*Main page: The Test*
Humans will accumulate points during their lives on Earth, and then take a test of ethics after they die. After the test, the test's designers will discuss what the person did right and wrong. This test can be retaken until success has been achieved, with a faint memory of previous tests. Passing the Test will grant admission to the Good Place.

## Inhabitants

Only humans and Janets reside in Good Place neighborhoods. It is likely that the neighborhood's architect and other angels may come and go as they please, but according to Michael, after the the first day of orientation, the architects leave and humans are left alone with their Janet. However, this may only be true of The Bad Place and be part of the lie that Michael attempted.

The inhabitants of The Good Place are determined by everything they did in their life. Everything a person does during their life gives them points, positive points or negative points. After a person's death their points are totaled. If a person has a high number of points they will go to the Good Place, but if they have any number below the threshold, they will go to The Bad Place (with the exception of Mindy St. Claire).

### Known humans

***\*** Admitted to the Good Place, but has since walked through the Last Door*
The last door was a door in the woods where only the Janet's can take the humans that wish to no longer exist in the universe.

#### Pending

 Mindy St. Claire | Electrocuted on subway rails

### Known Immortals

#### Current

* Michael
* Gwendolyn
* Multiple Good Janets

#### Former

* Chuck
* Diasuke
* Meg
* Andie
* Paula
* Kellen (retired)

* Beadie (currently administering the Test)

## Immortal Beings

Very little is known about the Immortal Beings who operate the Good Place, except that they seem to have a kind nature and want people in The Good Place (as they fought with The Bad Place for the case of Mindy St. Claire). They are, however, extremely slow, and bring their patience and respectfulness to an extent of ineffectuality.

## Trivia

* Nobody had gained entry into The Good Place in 521 years when Michael visited the accounting department circa. 2018.
* Although the inability to curse was originally used as a torture method for Eleanor in Michael's fake Good Place neighborhood, it is revealed that in the actual Good Place, people still cannot curse.
* In the first episode, Michael mentions that Abraham Lincoln was the only U.S. president to enter the Good Place. However, later in the series it is stated that no one had gotten into the Good Place since 1497 (521 years as of 2018), and Abraham Lincoln died in 1865.
* Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason died in 2019, but did not enter the Good Place officially until 2020 due to their involvement with the restructuring of the Afterlife.
* Exterior shots of the Good Place and some of the interiors used in were filmed at the Getty Center in Los Angeles.

## References

1. ↑ The Good Place has existed at least since Og's death, implying that Og was admitted.
2. ↑ wikipedia:Hypatia of Alexandria
3. ↑ Schur, Michael Herbert. “Chapter 1: Everything Is Fine.” *The Good Place*, season 1, episode 1, NBC, 19 Sept. 2016.
4. ↑ Law, Andrew. “Chapter 36: Janet(s).” *The Good Place*, season 3, episode 9, NBC, 15 Nov. 2018.
5. ↑ https://screenrant.com/good-place-nick-offerman-ron-swanson-cameo/
6. ↑ Gersten, Kate. “Chapter 37: The Book Of Dougs.” *The Good Place*, season 3, episode 10, NBC, 10 Jan. 2019.
7. ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-recaps/good-place-recap-patty-season-4-episode-11-939800/