Redemption and The Good Place

This week we said goodbye to The Good Place. But as they say, "everything is fine." I didn't get into it until last summer when my wife and I needed a new show to watch (she'd seen it before) after catching up on Agents of SHIELD. I was immediately hooked and regretting that I hadn't gotten into it early. So obviously spoilers for the whole series are up ahead, so read at your own risk.

The show may have started with four clueless humans being tricked into thinking the Bad Place neighborhood was the Good Place, but as Season 2 and especially Season 3 progressed, the show became less about the afterlife and more about redemption. For a show that talked so much about ethics and morality, they did an exceptional job avoiding critiques on any specific religion or sect.

One thing I love about how The Good Place developed and how it ended is the assertion that no one is beyond redemption. Even in Season 4 when Brent the idiot came into play, it was shown that even he could improve and be redeemed. Isn't that what we believe anyway? So many of our favorite stories have to do with redemption. Whether we're talking about Loki, Queen Regina, King Edmund, or even Darth Vader, some of the most compelling stories in Fandom are about our ability to change and become better.

So next time you're feeling hopeless, remember there's always hope. After all, if an Arizona dirt-bag like Eleanor can grow and improve, so can the rest of us.