1x01 Everything Is Fine

As high-concept ideas for television shows go, The Good Place seems like it's on to a winner: Eleanor Shellstrop finds herself waking up in 'The Good Place', roughly analogous to heaven, only to realise that she has seemingly been placed there by mistake. There are all sorts of places the writers can take the concept, particularly in a light-hearted way, and there's a deft touch throughout with the humour. It never felt too much, and I liked the approach to integrating philosophical concepts. The characters all seem affable enough, and there's clearly been fun had in placing them into difficult situations from the off. Avoiding predictability shouldn't be an issue here. The rest of the cast do a good job and the comic timing is good—Manny Jacinto's silent monk was a nice touch.

What will be interesting will be how easily the concept is stretched and taken onwards; the problem with these sort of concepts is that they can quickly run out of steam if enough care isn't taken. Anchoring the show around Eleanor seems a smart idea, and whether she's able to become a 'good' person is as good a reason as any to keep watching, but the strong aesthetic and intriguing set-up bolsters it nicely.

The Good Place completely bypassed me when it first aired, and I'm not entirely sure why—a high-concept show with great writing, interesting characters and a deep focus on philosophical issues sounds as if it was tailor-made for me. I saw it first mentioned in various 'best of' lists at the end of the year, and my hopes were high for it when I finally sat down to watch it. Happily, I wasn't disappointed.

There is an awful lot of information to get across to the viewer in a relatively short amount of time, so The Good Place essentially places us in the shoes of Eleanor, who has recently died, and introduces us to the rules of the show concurrently. When people die, they are judged according to a great tally of their actions during their lives; the best people end up in The Good Place, destined to live in perfect neighbourhoods and eat frozen yoghurt for eternity. Everyone else ends up in The Bad Place, which we're treated to a live audio clip of, all horrific wailing and gnashing of teeth. Eleanor, as a human-rights lawyer, has managed to make it to The Good Place. Except she hasn't, not really—she's there by mistake, a pleasing twist that sets up the show's main drive going forward. Eleanor is, as far as we can tell, an anomaly that hasn't been detected and she enlists the help of Chidi, her new soulmate, to help her 'become good' and earn her place in The Good Place legitimately. It helps that Chidi was a professor of moral philosophy before he died, and off we go.

Any high-concept show like this will live or die by its writing and characters. Not only are the various characters interesting, the performances are superb. Kristin Bell plays against type as Eleanor, who should be a thoroughly dislikable character but somehow manages to pull off a sort-of relatable charm that's helped in no small part by excellent comic timing. Chidi, played by William Jackson Harper, is the perfect foil for Eleanor—an upright, moral character whose exasperation and ethical quandary leads to no small amount of exasperated stomach aches. Tahani (Jameela Jamil) next door is exactly the type of vacuous philanthropist who's immensely irritating and she's paired with Jianyu, a Buddhist monk who's taken a vow of silence and is played with studied put-on intensity by Manny Jacinto. They all do an excellent job of setting up their characters, and seeing these four bounce off one another is an interesting prospect; none of them have much, if anything, in common. The other significant characters are Janet, a sort of voice-assistant-made-not-quite-flesh and played with sunny bluntness by D'Arcy Carden, and the high-point of the episode: Ted Dansen's Michael, the administrator of this neighbourhood of The Good Place. He's played with gleeful aplomb, a Willy Wonka-type figure who's both avuncular and self-doubting.

The pieces all fall into place with intelligence and wit, and the stage is set going forward. I'm a little concerned as to whether the show will be able to maintain its quality and not fizzle out as the concept has nowhere to go, but with this strong start and the way it's being praised, I'm confident.

[7.2/10] This definitely does all the things a pilot needs to do, particularly for a high concept show like The Good Place. It establishes the world. It introduces the characters. It sets the rules. It starts off a conflict. And it gives you a sense for what the tone and sensibility of the show.

I have to admit, I didn’t laugh as much as I was expecting with something from the team of Michael Schur and Drew Goddard, but there was plenty of good tone material -- stuff that makes you smile or appreciate what the show’s doing even if you’re not laughing out loud.

Mostly I’m excited for the potential for this show. You don’t normally get such weird, out there premises on a network sitcom these days, so something set in the afterlife, with someone who’s not supposed to be in Heaven bluffing their way through, brushing up against the regulations of the place, and whose very presence is causing problems has all sorts of promise. That, coupled with her desire to be “taught” to be good is intriguing.

Kristen Bell is, unsurprisingly, great as the libertine who ended up in paradise. The flashbacks to her at the telemarketing company, or insulting an environmentalist are amusing in their terribleness, and it’s a nice contrast to her in her perfect surroundings full of preternaturally decent people.

There was nothing that really knocked me off my feet in the first go here, but there was a lot to introduce in a half hour, and “Everything Is Fine” does so quite nicely. Very interested to see where the show goes from here.