Vote up the fan theories that are as tasty as frozen yogurt.
From theories about shared universes to ideas on Micheal's true nature, fans of The Good Place are still speculating about Team Cockroach long after the show ended. Here are a few favorite fan theories that made us say, "Holy forking shirtballs."
In The Good Place, the committee from the Good Place are comically useless, never managing to take any action because they're too busy forming committees upon committees, investigations, demoting themselves for the slightest upsets, etc. While at first this might have seemed a gag about how over the top good the Good Place is, Season 4 shows another possible reason.
Given the state of the Good Place with everyone as pleasure zombies, and how quickly they shoved responsibility onto Michael and fled (which would seem contrary to the long lengths of time it took them to decide anything), it's possible they were deliberately impeding the efforts of the main party.
They want to prevent any new people getting into the Good Place or any system changes that would make it easier to get in, because more people means more problems they can't solve. They can't drop their good guy personae and tell the truth, so they use the facade of being comically ineffectual to keep their problems from getting worse.
Modern psychology says that tight relationships, and responsibilities are what make us happy. Always having something to focus your energy on, and having a good system of people around you.
In The Good Place, the entire cast of characters are extremely close to each other. They have a group of five people (and one Janet) and they all trust each other and confide in each other regularly. On top of that, they have constant "responsibilities" or things to focus energy on. It seems like there is a never ending barrage of problems for the group to solve. The Good Place was designed to give each person in it a tight social group, and constant projects that feel important.
35 votes
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19 VOTES
'Groundhog's Day' Takes Place In The Universe Of 'The Good Place'
I wasn't sure how to phrase the title since this this is equally relevant to both Groundhog Day and The Good Place.
But anyway, spoiler warning. If you've been watching The Good Place, you know that the characters are tricked into thinking they've made it there, when in reality they are actually in The Bad Place. A demon is in charge of tormenting them for as long as possible, resetting the timeline and their memories whenever they figure out what's going on...
I propose that Phil Conners, the main character of Groundhog Day, has entered the actual Good Place.
Through Groundhog Day, we see Phil become a better person and eventually enrich his surroundings and community. This fits the logic of the lore of The Good Place and sounds like how the place would actually work...
So when I watched the finale of The Good Place (which is amazing) I thought about something when the characters walked through the doorway.
My theory is that they were never in the Good Place or the Bad Place at all. They were in limbo the entire time and the whole points system, reboots, even Shawn, etc., were all part of an ultimate test to see if they were actually going to the Good Place (going through the doorway).
The main reason why I feel this is the case is the extreme uncertainty of "what will happen." They would not have had this feeling if the "Good Place architects" they met were actually from the Good Place. While I know the architects are immortal beings, the fact that there are in fact architects should make for less anxiety and less of an unknown.
30 votes
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23 VOTES
Michael Based His Neighborhood On Eagleton From 'Parks And Recreation'
The root of this theory is that Michael, the Architect, bears a resemblance to Preston St. James, the architect, of Eagleton, IN. Also, the outdoor spaces and residences of Michael's neighborhood look similar to what we've seen of Eagleton [from Parks and Recreation].
The residents of Eagleton, being largely made up of comfortable rich snobs, probably held a special significance to the demons in the Bad Place. It's possible that Michael had an awareness of this and designed his neighborhood after the town he'd heard so much about.
