The Good Place (Season 1)

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The Good Place (season 1)
Region 1 DVD cover art
Starring	Kristen Bell William Jackson Harper Jameela Jamil D'Arcy Carden Manny Jacinto Ted Danson
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	13
Release
Original network	NBC
Original run	September 19, 2016 – January 19, 2017
Season chronology
	Next → Season 2
List of The Good Place episodes

The first season of the fantasy comedy television series The Good Place, created by Michael Schur, aired between September 19, 2016, and January 19, 2017, on NBC in the United States. The season was produced by Fremulon, 3 Arts Entertainment, and Universal Television.

The series focuses on Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell), a recently deceased young woman who wakes up in the afterlife and is sent by Michael (Ted Danson) to "The Good Place," a heaven-like utopia he designed, in reward for her righteous life. Eleanor realizes that she was sent there by mistake, and hides her morally imperfect behavior (past and present). William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, and Manny Jacinto co-star as other residents of the Good Place, together with D'Arcy Carden as an artificial being helping the inhabitants. Each of the episodes are listed as "Chapter (xx)" following the opening title sequence.

Contents 1 Cast 1.1 Main 1.2 Recurring 2 Episodes 3 Critical reception 3.1 Critics' top 10 lists 4 Ratings 5 References 6 External links

Cast

Main

• Kristen Bell as Eleanor Shellstrop, a deceased saleswoman from Arizona who entered an afterlife utopia called "The Good Place" seemingly after being mistaken for a human rights lawyer by the same name.
• William Jackson Harper as Chidi Anagonye, a deceased ethics professor who was born in Nigeria and raised in Senegal, supposed to be Eleanor's soulmate. Reluctantly, he had hoped to meet a soulmate he could bond with, but soon discovers that he and Eleanor were meant to be soulmates because he was always there for her.
• Jameela Jamil as Tahani Al-Jamil, a deceased, wealthy philanthropist who traveled extensively around the world. She was born in Pakistan, raised in England, and went to school in France. Tahani, whose full name means "Congratulations Beautiful," is a seemingly good-natured soul with a cheerful and helpful attitude.
• D'Arcy Carden as Janet, a programmed guide who acts as the neighborhood's main source of information, analogous to an intelligent personal assistant.
• Manny Jacinto as "Jianyu Li", a silent Buddhist monk from Taiwan and Tahani's soulmate. Later it is revealed that he is really Jason Mendoza, a deceased DJ and small-time drug dealer from Florida.
• Ted Danson as Michael, the architect of The Good Place where Eleanor and her fellow humans reside.

Recurring

• Tiya Sircar as the "real Eleanor Shellstrop", a human rights lawyer mistakenly sent to The Bad Place, whose backstory was given as having been killed trying to save Eleanor from a traffic accident, causing confusion because the two Eleanors were close to one another and died almost simultaneously.
• Adam Scott as Trevor. A sinister figure representing The Bad Place, sent upon Eleanor's true identity being revealed, vowing to take her with him. He leads an entourage of demons that parties endlessly and bullies Michael.
• Marc Evan Jackson as Shawn, Michael's boss. He is an all powerful judge who is called in to help decide Eleanor's fate.
• Maribeth Monroe as Mindy St. Claire, the only resident of The Medium Place, a neutral plane of existence between The Good Place and The Bad Place.

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	1	"Everything Is Fine"	Drew Goddard	Michael Schur	September 19, 2016	8.04
Eleanor Shellstrop wakes up in an afterlife utopia called the "Good Place", where she is welcomed by her "neighborhood" architect Michael. Admission is based on how ethically a deceased person behaved in life, with positive points accrued for ethical decisions and negative points for unethical decisions. Very few people qualify; all else go to an afterlife of torture in the "Bad Place", which, based on "live audio" provided by Michael's assistant Janet, seems synonymous with Hell. Michael praises Eleanor for being a lawyer who helped innocent people off death row, then escorts her to a home designed to her preferences where she can access memories from her life. She is also paired with a soulmate: Chidi, a Senegalese ethics professor. Eleanor tells Chidi that all of Michael's information about her is wrong because the biography, memories, and home preferences are someone else's. Eleanor made a living by knowingly selling a worthless supplement to the sick and elderly and was crass and uncaring. Chidi has a moral crisis over whether or not to help Eleanor, who becomes frustrated and angry at a party hosted by her neighbors, soulmates Tahani and Jianyu. The next morning, the neighborhood is attacked by representations of elements from Eleanor's life and her misbehavior in the Good Place.
2	2	"Flying"	Michael McDonald	Alan Yang	September 19, 2016	8.04
Eleanor avoids suspicion in the aftermath of the chaos, while Michael fears he has failed in his first big project. Introducing Immanuel Kant's Metaphysics of Morals, Chidi considers teaching Eleanor to be a good person. Tahani organizes a clean up day, but anyone who volunteers will miss out on the opportunity to fly. Chidi suggests Eleanor volunteer in order to prove that she has the capacity for selflessness. She does, but she hides the trash to go flying after all, causing a trash storm to occur. Chidi loses faith in her and refuses to help. That night, Eleanor feels guilty and cleans the neighborhood herself. Chidi sees her and agrees to teach her to be good. A note is slipped under Eleanor's door, warning her that she doesn't belong in the Good Place. Flashbacks to Eleanor's life show that she habitually shirked the responsibility of acting as a designated driver.
3	3	"Al-Jamil"	Beth McCarthy-Miller	Aisha Muharrar	September 22, 2016	5.25
Eleanor suspects Tahani of writing the note but ultimately accepts that Tahani is genuinely good and begins to form a real friendship with her, comforting her over her dissatisfaction with Jianyu's vow of silence. Michael tries to get Chidi to take up a hobby, but Chidi only wants to work on his ethics manuscript. After Michael says that it is difficult to read, he agrees to become Chidi's advisor in rewriting it. Janet cycles through a series of bizarre personalities. Michael recruits Eleanor to help investigate the problems in the neighborhood. That night, Jianyu finally speaks aloud when he tells Eleanor that he wrote the note, explaining that he also doesn't belong in the Good Place. In Eleanor's flashbacks, her boyfriend Andy makes a conscious effort to be good, but Eleanor concludes that being good is pointless and too much work in a world full of bad things.
4	4	"Jason Mendoza"	Payman Benz	Joe Mande	September 29, 2016	4.45
Jianyu tells Eleanor he is really Jason Mendoza, a Filipino American drug dealer and amateur DJ from Jacksonville, Florida who has gone along with the fiction of being a monk because the supposed vow of silence enables him to avoid detection. Jason decides to express his true identity, while Eleanor and a stunned Chidi try to convince him to stay hidden, fearing Eleanor will also be exposed. Tahani helps plan the gala opening of Patricia's restaurant. When Jason plans to share the real details of his life at the event, Eleanor creates a distraction by destroying Patricia's masterpiece cake, causing a sinkhole to open. Jason agrees to join Chidi's ethics class, but is an even less apt student than Eleanor. Tahani discovers that the sinkhole is growing, not closing as Michael expected. Flashbacks show that Jason Mendoza was hired as a famous EDM DJ's stand-in and was rejected by the crowd when he played his own music. He tells a friend that he longs to be appreciated as his authentic self—and then vandalizes the DJ's boat.
5	5	"Category 55 Doomsday Crisis"	Morgan Sackett	Matt Murray	October 6, 2016	4.97
Eleanor is pleased that she is learning to be considerate of others and learning about John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism, but Chidi is dissatisfied with spending all of his time teaching Eleanor. Michael protects the neighborhood from the sinkhole by quarantining all of the residents. He insists that Eleanor and Chidi host a couple who live near the sinkhole; the observant couple concludes that Chidi is hiding something. Chidi admits he never had a real relationship with a woman before; Eleanor realizes he's disappointed that she's not his true soulmate and decides to be a better friend to him by arranging the exact leisure activities he described to her. Meanwhile, Tahani reads Michael's private documents and learns that she has the second-lowest score in the neighborhood. She tries to raise it by aiding Michael, who has to save her from the sinkhole; he tells her that scores don't change after death and that she should be satisfied to be one of the best people who ever lived. The sinkhole closes after Eleanor's kind gesture and Michael informs her that she must help him uncover the cause. Tahani's flashbacks show that she lived her entire life in the shadow of her sister, Kamilah, finally deciding to live independently after their parents' deaths.
6	6	"What We Owe to Each Other"	Tucker Gates	Dylan Morgan & Josh Siegal	October 13, 2016	4.23
Eleanor distracts Michael from his investigation in order to avoid detection. He tells her that architects don't normally live in neighborhoods; doing so was his own idea and will be discredited by his failure. Meanwhile, Tahani tries to bond with Jianyu, forcing Chidi to go to great lengths to protect Jason's secret. Chidi and Tahani end up bonding, but Tahani ultimately accepts Jianyu as her soulmate after he gives her a gift that Chidi arranged. Michael concludes that he is the cause of the problems and announces his impending departure. In the past, Eleanor ditches house-sitting for a friend in order to attend a Rihanna concert, resulting in her friend's dog suffering a permanent disability; Eleanor doesn't care.

Critical reception

Critics' top 10 lists

2016

Ratings

No.	Title	Air date	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total (18–49)	Total viewers (millions)
1	"Everything Is Fine"	September 19, 2016	2.3/8	8.04	1.2	3.65	3.5	11.69
2	"Flying"	September 19, 2016	2.3/8	8.04	1.2	3.65	3.5	11.69
3	"Tahani Al-Jamil"	September 22, 2016	1.4/5	5.25	N/A	2.39	N/A	7.64
4	"Jason Mendoza"	September 29, 2016	1.3/5	4.45	0.8	2.24	2.1	6.68
5	"Category 55 Doomsday Crisis"	October 6, 2016	1.4/5	4.97	0.8	2.01	2.2	6.98
6	"What We Owe to Each Other"	October 13, 2016	1.2/5	4.23	0.8	N/A	2.0	N/A

References

External links