‘The Good Place’ Finale Dares to Ask “Can Bad People Be Good (Again)?”

[Warning: This story contains major spoilers from the season two finale of NBC’s The Good Place, “Somewhere Else”]

NBC’s The Good Place, the show that rose to popularity after ending season one by starting completely over, has started over again. And no, it’s nothing like before.

After a critically acclaimed second season, The Good Place ended its 13-episode run by bringing each of its four main characters back to life.

Following a long journey back to judgment, the judge (guest-star, Maya Rudolph), introduced in the last episode, and Michael (Ted Danson) decide the true test for the four main characters would be to send each of them back to Earth, allowing them to narrowly miss their own deaths and make good with a second chance at being human.

Throughout the second season, viewers followed Eleanor, Chidi, Jason, and Tahani on their personal journey through ethics and self-improvement. That journey eventually led all six characters out of the “Good Place” community, through the “Bad Place” and into judgment where the judge tested each character for moral fitness.

The second season finale focused on Eleanor (Kristen Bell) and her journey back in particular, which started out hopeful before she turned back to her original, selfish ways. With her advocate/demon seeing her going astray, Michael returned to Earth as a bartender in a bit of an homage to Danson’s iconic Cheers character, Sam Malone. One year later, with a serious talk about what life really means, Eleanor wakes up to Google the secret to life. It leads her to a YouTube video of Chidi (William Jackson Harper), who served as her mentor and eventual lover throughout season two. The season ends with the two meeting again on Earth.

As for the season ahead, Michael and Janet remain posted at a ticker that follows the four characters on their path to redemption.

NBC renewed the critically acclaimed comedy for a third season. Like its first and second seasons, the third installment of the sitcom will consist of 13 episodes. 

As far as any hints for the season ahead? Danson told THR, “I’ll leave you in mystery. I am eager to see what next season is like because wherever we’re walking, it won’t be the same.”