The Good Place swept audiences away with its nuanced yet hilarious portrayal of life after death, based on a points system which had gone out of date before plucky Eleanor, Tahani, Chidi, and Jason question and change it. With the help of a converted demon and a heavenly judge, the four strangers turned friends make afterlife in both The Good Place and The Bad Place more tolerable for its inhabitants.
While The Good Place was highly acclaimed for its premise and the way the topic was handled, there are some audiences who have unpopular opinions about how the show should have progressed and ended. Let's take a look.
Eleanor And Chidi Should Have Stayed Friends
The romance between sassy Eleanor (played by Kristen Bell) and ethically confused Chidi (William Jackson Harper) was one of the longest running arcs of the show, and most fans shipped them right off the bat.
However, many Reddit contributors think that the romance felt forced and one-sided from Eleanor, and that the chemistry that the two protagonists shared was better off platonic than romantic.
Jason Is Actually The Smartest
This theory is genuinely wild, since Jason was clearly the silliest and most oblivious character on The Good Place. However, some fans believe that what Jason lacked in conventional intelligence, he made up for in the intuition, emotional intelligence, and leadership departments.
His intuition was on point when his first reaction to The Good Place was that it's a prank show, he called out people's rudeness in social interactions without hesitation giving him an average EQ at the very least, and he mobilized and led a dance troupe during his short time on Earth.
The Plot Twist In Season 1 Was Obvious
Fans loved the plot twist in season 1, where the flawed inhabitants of The Good Place learn that Michael is actually a demon, and they're in The Bad Place disguised as paradise as an experiment to torture Tahani, Jason, Eleanor and Chidi.
Some Reddit patrons insist that the twist was predictable, since Eleanor was already revealed to be bad, Tahani was too self-absorbed and vain to be good, Jason was essentially a petty criminal, and Chidi was helping a fugitive bad person in The Good Place. Nobody was ever convincingly good so it was obvious that they were in The Bad Place all along.
Simone Is Irritating And Flawed
In the show, Simone was portrayed as a woman who was very smart, cheerful, and a good person overall. She is sweet to Chidi and they bond instantly after she did an MRI scan on his brain.
Despite this, audiences were not fully convinced of Simone. They felt that the show didn't focus on her development and ignored her flaws even though she had several. She was used as a device to improve John and Brent and make them better people. Additionally, some fans found her Australian accent unreal and annoying too.
Mindy St. Claire Should Have Ended Up In The Bad Place
Dark horse Mindy St. Claire confused the custodians of The Good Place and The Bad Place as she had decided to withdraw all her money to start a charitable organization just before she died, but had lived a life of debauchery before that.
They decided to build The Medium Place for Mindy as a compromise, but the unpopular opinion is that Mindy should have ended up in The Bad Place. After 50 years in The Medium Place, she was still a drug addict who messed around with Derek and drowned herself in cocaine sent by Eleanor.
Janet Fakes Becoming More Human
Through the series, Janet was "killed" and comes back more human than before. She started off as an Artificial Intelligence assistant for the people of the experimental The Good Place who mimicked social courtesy but had no real emotions. She was seen to be developing emotions like love, respect, and fraternity with each death.
However, some fans think that Janet faked all of it, and she was just becoming more intelligent with each death. Her AI system was learning and absorbing more information as she interacted with the humans, and only got better at imitating humanity and feelings with each iteration.
Eleanor's Growth Doesn't Seem Natural
The Good Place gave the most screen time to Eleanor, who was a certified bad person on Earth, but redeemed herself completely after she thought that she was mistakenly sent to The Good Place by studying ethics and slowly incorporating them in daily life.
This premise was also the main reason why the four challenged the existing system of sorting people into the two Places, but some audiences thought that Eleanor's growth and transformation was unnatural and impossible. She had spent so long being cruel and petty that fans were not convinced that studying ethics suddenly made her a good person.
None Of The Characters Should Have Been In Love
There were several romances over the course of the series, the most notable being Eleanor and Chidi, and Janet and Jason. Tahani had brief stints with both the men too but unpopular opinion is that none of them should have dated each other.
Fans think that each character was so strong and unique by themselves that they didn't need romances and would have been better off as just becoming friends who really trusted each other.
Tahani Is Insufferable In Season 1
Though Tahani appeared a very good person at first glance, if one scratched the surface they would realize that her motivations for all her charitable acts were all wrong, making her a bad person. Some fans think that she contributed nothing to the series in season 1.
While Eleanor and Jason showed initiative to become better people by learning from Chidi, Tahani's only character trait seemed to be name-dropping, high fashion, and vanity through the first season. Her character evolved a lot in subsequent seasons, though.
The Show Is Not Funny
For a show that is firmly rooted in the comedy genre, one would expect all audiences to agree on at least the fact that it's funny.
Some audiences believe that the show's humor is immature, and most of the jokes don't land, even though it is written and developed by comedy king Michael Schur. Tough crowd.