Completed watching on March 3, 2026.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

ok that's the final warning.

The ending

I just finished. The last episode kind of got me. Like I have mixed feelings about seasons 3 and 4, but I think the finale hit it home. I think mainly my problem with seasons 3 and 4 were that there was too much filler (and sometimes characters not being written well, but that's besides the point right now). Some of the subplots felt kind of dumb and non-meaningful/relevant (though, with some redeeming moments throughout).

But the last episode got me thinking again, and it made me feel more like how i felt in seasons 1 and 2. The finale -- finally everything that was being worked towards, from the first episode of the first season, was actually achieved. The whole reveal of { ending up in the afterlife and then realizing that everyone is just bored zombies } followed by a very fast resolution (deciding to invent a door of true immaterialization) was suuuuper rushed, which bugged me a little.

Actually, I think the big thing here -- the thing that I feel is actually causing the change in me that a piece of media like this can enact -- is that I at first scoffed at the solution. I was dismayed that they were giving an exit strategy for the eternally good afterlife heaven good place. And felt like they were making essentially the anti-longevity argument that people don't want to live longer lifespans (note I'm avoiding saying "forever" because that's the point we're about to get to) because they'll get bored and lose meaning and meaning only happens because you know it's ending soon. Okay well, they kind of did make that point, but I skimmed away from that perspective of it because it's really talking about something else. When I might contemplate longevity on earth during human life, and what we may someday achieve with { hundreds? } of years of medical advancements and such, I would be talking about maybe humans living a couple hundred years at most (who knows though -- maybe it would be much longer. but kind of besides the point and I haven't seriously ever considered that). But good place is literally portraying an afterlife-lifespan of infinity... They are vague about exact amount of time passing (jeremy beremy or whatever) but it could be the equivalent of hundreds or thousands or more years. The point is that each person gets to decide.

So what I'm getting to is: my experience of watching the finale was one of at first scoffing at the idea that anyone would/should take the exit strategy, but then gradually coming to accept that there indeed can come a point where a person may feel that they are complete and it would be completely valid and reasonable to take the exit. It's terribly difficult to comprehend, as a measly human like myself, but if I imagine spending thousands of years doing anything and everything with everyone anywhere anyhow, then it seems reasonable that the human soul may eventually feel done. This, to me, is good writing -- good, rational^[1] writing. Even if it's not something I've experienced, it makes sense. Maybe even impacts me. I mean, what's the impact here? I'm not sure. Maybe have to think about it more. Probably relating to ideas about longevity (despite the caveat I mentioned before). Anyway, main point is that I felt the ending was well-done. Somehow, from the shows I've been watching lately, it feels like that's a lot to ask sometimes. But they did it here. In my humblest opinion.