What We Want from ‘The Good Place’ Season 3

Caleb Woods
TV
TV

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for The Good Place Season 2 and POTENTIAL SPOILERS for Season 3. Proceed at your own risk.

The Good Place follows the recently deceased Eleanor, played by Kristen Bell, as she navigates the afterlife. At first, she thinks she’s landed in the ‘Good Place’ — a version of Heaven — but soon realizes there’s much more to the afterlife than meets the eye. At the end of Season 2, Eleanor and the friends she acquires find themselves transported back to earth to see if they can live better lives this time around. Witty writing combined with thought-provoking themes are the key to the series’ success, and ever since the Season 2 finale, we’ve been thinking hard about what Season 3 could bring. So here’s what we’d like to see in Season 3 of The Good Place.

More Earthly Experiences

Characters from The Good Place
From left to right: Michael (Ted Danson), Janet (D'Arcy Carden), Chidi (William Jackson Harper), Jason (Manny Jacinto), Tahani (Jameela Jamil) and Eleanor (Kristen Bell).

After bouncing around the Good and the Bad Place for quite some time — not to mention the Medium Place — Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason finally find themselves back on earth in the Season 2 finale. Now that they finally have a chance to start over, will they change for the better?

In the Season 2 finale, we saw how Eleanor’s first year back on earth went – she started off great, quitting her drug sales job that took advantage of people. She also joined the Clean Energy Crusaders, helping promote a cleaner environment. She did all of these things expecting good things to happen to her. But, the opposite happened and she soon gave up, returning to her old habits – selfishness and greed. This caused Michael to step in and give her a little push. In the final moments of Season 2, Eleanor arrives in Australia to meet with Chidi and learn more about philosophy and enlightenment.

It would be interesting to see each character’s first year back on earth, perhaps within a single episode. Since Jason is the king of crazy antics, he’ll likely backslide rather quickly. However, the show tends to take viewers’ perceptions and spin them. A true twist would be if Jason changed for the better — and quickly. As far as Tahani goes, her first year back on earth would probably be pretty difficult considering her family dynamics. She would probably crack sooner than expected due to her obnoxious parents and celebrity sister. Meanwhile, you’d expect Chidi to lighten up a bit, but return to his inability to make choices.

Leaving the Medium Place Behind

The Good Place-Mindy-Eleanor
Maribeth Monroe as Mindy (right) with Kristen Bell as Eleanor.

A welcome addition to The Good Place was the concept of the Medium Place and the character of Mindy St. Claire. Mindy’s character is put into a position that would drive anyone mad, spending eternity in neither the Good Place nor the Bad Place. Mindy was a corporate lawyer in the 1980s and a bad person for most of her life. But she did one good thing. Because of this, the Good Place and the Bad Place argued over where Mindy should spend eternity. Because they couldn’t agree, the Medium Place was created just for Mindy.

Always surrounded by mediocrity, Mindy’s situation makes for hilarious television as viewers constantly see her in a somewhat desperate state of mind. At some point, it might be nice to see Mindy leave the Medium Place and join the rest of the gang on their adventures — if that’s even possible.

Janet To Interfere With Jason’s Life on Earth

Janet and Derek from The Good Place
Janet, seen here with Derek, played by Jason Mantzoukas.

Let’s face it – The Good Place would be nothing without the character of Janet. Her infinite knowledge as well as her ability to teleport makes her not only a unique character but a powerful one as well. After declaring her love for Jason in the Season 2 finale, we can’t wait to see how the characters interact going forward. Since Michael went to earth to interfere with Eleanor’s life, we’re reckoning that Janet will be able to do the same with Jason. Janet has rebooted so many times, gaining more and more knowledge each time, she probably has quite a few ideas for messing with his life up her sleeve.

Tahani’s Backstory and a Cheers Reunion

Tahani from The Good Place

Over the first two seasons, the character that’s grown the most is probably Tahani. At first somewhat annoying, she quickly won the heart of the audience. We’ve caught a glimpse of her backstory and her life before death, but we’d like to see more. The fact that she’s from an extremely rich family gives plenty of opportunity to show her in extravagant situations, surrounded by countless celebrities. She’s always bragging about her celebrity friends, so this would be the perfect way to add more guest stars to the show. Maya Rudolph. Adam Scott. Dax Shepard. The Good Place has already featured a batch of well-known cameos, so it’s safe to assume there will be more in Season 3.

We’d specifically like to see Shelley Long alongside Ted Danson again. And while we’re talking former Cheers co-stars, how about Kirstie Alley too, currently tearing it up as a housemate in Celebrity Big Brother in the UK? Perhaps Shelley and Kirstie could team up as architects for the Bad Place as well.

Michael’s Backstory

Michael from The Good Place

We already know Michael has several crazy powers. He can manipulate memories, alter reality, and much more. However, we’ve yet to see much of his backstory. He claims he has existed since the beginning of time, but is that truly the case or is that all he can remember? As with most things on The Good Place, we’re certain there’s much more to the story and Season 3 needs to give us more of it.

The Bad Place

Characters from The Good Place

There’s been a lot of talk about the Bad Place, but what if it’s really not that bad after all? What if Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, Jason, and even Michael have been avoiding the Bad Place for no reason? In a twist typical of the show, we can see the Bad Place actually being an All Right Place – especially if the gang decides to all go together. Maybe a bad place is only bad if you don’t have your favourite people there with you. Have some of that Good Place philosophy to chew on.

Catch season three of The Good Place on NBC premiering Thursday, September 27 in the US. For the UK and Australia, the date is not yet confirmed.

Caleb Woods
Caleb Woods is a freelance writer with a love of pop culture. The TV Show LOST inspired him to learn more about the power of film and writing. With a Communication Arts degree in both English and Film & Digital Media, Caleb uses his diverse knowledge to express himself in a variety of ways.