The Good End

Tonight we say goodbye to a friends. A good, thoughtful, hilarious, philosophical, zany, unpredictable, romantic, compassionate, and always entertaining friend – who also swears kinda funny. Sure, some may argue you can’t actually be friends with a television show. But then some others may argue you can’t premise an entire television show on the question, “What does it mean to be a good person?” Yet here we are.

I have absolutely no idea how “The Good Place” will end tonight. This series has been predictably unpredictable throughout its four seasons. While it’s painful to let it go after such a small handful of years, it also feels right. All stories, even the great ones, come to an end.

What makes “The Good Place” so good is not only its quality – which has never truly wavered – but its insistence that answering life’s biggest questions is something a network sitcom should totally tackle. It helps that the cast is beyond fantastic. The writing is top notch (not that we would expect less from the guy behind “The Office” and “Parks & Rec”).

Like I can’t wait to catch all the forkin’ amazing details I missed when I do an entire series rewatch. I mean, I’d watch a whole spin-off about Janet and all the Janets alone. And, look, I’m a full-on lesbian, but Manny Jacinto’s cheekbones can call me anytime.

Granted, Eleanor’s bisexuality may be relatively canon, but alas it was never truly acted upon on screen. But, goodness, what other delights this show has given us. And in a way it’s a perfect antidote to the cynical and tribalistic times we live in. To be able to enjoy “The Good Place,” you have to look beyond yourself. A narcissist would hate this show because it asks us to examine at our shared humanity. Just ask reformed narcissist Tahani Al-Jamil.

And, in the midst of addressing all this big-ticket The Meaning of Life stuff, the show was also fun. Like a lot of fun. So yes, Virginia, a show can be deeply fun and deeply deep at the same time. It’s sort of like magic. Or, you know, just really good TV.