Here’s Why Nobody Can Get Into The Good Place on ‘The Good Place’

Spoilers for tonight’s episode of The Good Place, “The Book of Dougs,” past this point.

When NBC’s comedy The Good Place left off before its winter break, there was one main question that sent fans into a frenzy: why had nobody gotten into The Good Place (the show’s version of Heaven) in over 500 years? Michael (Ted Danson) firmly believed that The Bad Place (the show’s Hell) had been futzing with everyone’s books — you ostensibly get sent to the appropriate place in the afterlife based on points granted for your deeds in life. But it turns out he, and most of our theories, were wrong.

After presenting his case to an all-star panel in The Good Place, Michael is flummoxed to discover that it will be hundreds of years until the goodie-goodies will form a committee, let alone take action. Frustrated, he’s pondering his next course of action when Tahani (Jameela Jamil) presents a problem of her own, and mentions that, “there are so many unintended consequences to well-intentioned actions.”

That’s when a lightbulb goes off over Michael’s head… The reason people aren’t getting into The Good Place isn’t because of nefarious manipulation by demons, it’s because the world has grown more complicated. As an example, he goes to a book he stole from the afterlife’s accounting department, and walks through various Dougs’ deeds in history. Back in 1534, a Doug picked a dozen roses for his grandmother: positive points impact. In 2009, another Doug gave his grandmother a dozen roses… And lost points.

The second Doug didn’t technically do anything different, but the roses he bought were through a cell phone made in a sweatshop, the roses filled with toxic pesticides, picked by exploited migrant workers, transported in a way that left a massive carbon imprint, and his money went to a “racist, billionaire CEO who sends his female employees pictures of his genitals.”

Michael cheers, Tahani gets confused, and that’s when we the viewers get what is arguably the central thesis of the entire show.

“Every day, the world gets a little more complicated,” Michael says, “and being a good person… Gets a little harder.”

The episode leaves off on Michael ready to confront the Judge (Maya Rudolph) with his conclusions, in order to alter the entire course of the afterlife. But that point is what the show has been trying to say all along… Viewers have wondered why Eleanor (Kristen Bell), Chidi (William Jackson Harper), Jason (Many Jacinto) and Tahani were sent to The Bad Place to begin with. Okay, maybe not Eleanor, she sucked until she died. But the rest weren’t bad people, they just weren’t that great.

Turns out, the profound message showrunner Michael Schur and company have been aiming to pass along to us is that we, like the Soul Squad, aren’t bad people. It’s just hard to be good in the modern world. Whether Michael will “solve” this problem in the remaining episodes of the season, or just make things more complicated we’ll have to wait and see.

But for now, you can rest easy knowing that you don’t need to live your life like Doug Forcett (Michael McKean), who pleasantly surrenders his shoes to bullies and cries when he steps on a snail. It’s enough to try to do good, even if it ultimately spirals out into bad. After all, pobody’s nerfect.

Where to stream The Good Place