Tonight’s second season finale of The Good Place and pretty much everybody is expecting a giant shake-up of a twist. Whether or not tonight’s episode is the same sort of all-encompassing reset button as last season’s finale, the show has been building all season to something big. As we count down the hours till tonight’s episode, here are some of my (and the internet’s) favorite fan theories.
Can’t wait for all of these to be destroyed in a few hours!
Potential precognitive spoilers ahead!
This is Michael’s Bad Place
The most common theory I’ve seen is that Michael is actually the one being tortured. Maybe this is his Bad Place; maybe he was “retired.” Given how stressed out he’s been trying to keep his job and now to keep the others safe, not to mention the struggles with his own moral issues, that’s certainly believable.
It’s Purgatory
There’s been lots of speculation that this isn’t the Good Place or the Bad Place, but a sort of limbo space where people can work to improve themselves enough to graduate to the Good Place.
The Group Will Get Their Own Medium Place/Something Else
This one is also a pretty common theory. We know that Medium Places can exist, so it’s not that out-there of an idea to think one could be created for this group. Especially since, as one Reddit user pointed out, last week’s episode made such a big deal out of how bored the Judge (Maya Rudolph) is. This could be a fun project for her. On top of that, we know that tonight’s episode is titled “Somewhere Else.”
My only issue with this theory is that, while it’s the ideal solution for everyone involved, it doesn’t really lend itself to the kind of conflict necessary to keep a show going.
Some theories though (including from the comments on our last Good Place article), have suggested that “Somewhere Else” is a new Middle Place, not just for them, but a sort of purgatory school for people on the cusp. It’s someplace to work at getting their points up high enough for the Good Place, and that’s the premise for the next season, as new characters filter through.
Another test
At least one Reddit user has proposed that since Michael became part of the group over the last season, and since so much depended on his ethical evolution, he’ll convince the judge to give them another test. And then … something. Maybe that’s how they’ll get their new Medium Place.
There is no Bad Place
The points system for determining where humans end up has always been upsettingly strict (as many of you discussed in the comments last time). That these four characters would end up in the exact same place as murderers and the like is pretty harsh. So I love this theory, also from Reddit, that there is no such thing as the Bad Place. Or the Good Place, really. Rather, the idea of an afterlife is all about personal growth.
Where does the show go from there? I don’t know, but is one of my favorites.
Good Place gone bad
One theorist makes a great point: if these characters could improve themselves while in the Bad Place, what’s to stop “good” people from turning bad? If the group does make it into the Good Place, it’s possible all the once-highly moral residents have turned hedonist now that there’s no fear of the afterlife to keep their ethics in check. And once those doors are open, all forking heck might break loose.
What do you all think? Do you have a theory I missed? Will Janet save everyone and take them back to her void to live in blank, empty peace forever? Let’s squeeze all the Good Place we can out of this before the long, sad wait for season three.
(image: Colleen Hayes/NBC)
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