The 25 best episodes of 'The Good Place,' ranked

We talked about how this show could be so emotional and existential, and then we started with something supremely silly. Janet, who is not a girl and not a robot, creates Derek so that she can have a rebound boyfriend. Derek is, well, he’s a lot. He’s played by Jason Mantzoukas, after all. This episode is mainly about Mantzoukas doing his thing and the very idea of Derek.

Man, is it complicated to talk about episodes of The Good Place out of order? We kind of have to mention things we didn’t know at the time of watching the episode. For example, Michael is saying he will be “retired” (i.e., tortured) for failing as an architect of a Good Place neighborhood. Of course, this is all a ruse, but the ruse requires the people in the neighborhood to act selfishly. Then, Eleanor admits she isn’t supposed to be in the Good Place. We don’t know how much of a twist this is at the time.

Well, we see that Jason “Bortles!” Mendoza died suffocating in a safe when left there by his dear friend Pillboi. Also, we see Eleanor working to accrue enough points to earn her spot in the Good Place. The episode also features an exciting escape, as Jason, Janet, and Eleanor hijack Bad Place leader Shawn’s train and take it to the vaunted “Medium Place.”

After so much trying, our crew makes it to Gen, the Judge. In addition to her love of Timothy Olyphant, she’s the last word in everything that goes on in life and the afterlife. Gen subjects the four humans to specific tests. While three of them pass, Chidi fails. This will get them all sent to the Bad Place, but it’s the penultimate episode of the season, so it ends on a cliffhanger.

Can you trust a demon? It really depends on how much you think somebody can change. Has Michael, the aforementioned reformed demon, actually sold out his human compatriots to the Bad Place? Does Eleanor think Michael is actually trying to give the humans a code but is it true? Can they take…a leap of faith?

Early in the run of The Good Place, they showed us a lot of flashbacks into the lives of our human characters when they were on Earth. The Chidi episode was held back a bit, but we got it just when we needed it. We see how much indecisiveness and paralysis of choice hindered the life of not just Chidi but the others in his life. Also, Jason and Janet get married, even though she is neither human nor robot. And definitely not a girl.

Gen is planning to reset Earth. You know, like it’s a router or something. Once she finally finds Janet with her remote in her void, everybody is screwed. Even a cameo from Timothy Olyphant can’t change things. What finally works is when Shawn admits that his battle of wits with Michael is the only thinking making eternity worthwhile these days, so he and Michael agree to work together if Gen doesn’t reset Earth. Quite the ticking clock.

The flow of time looks like the name “Jeremy Bearimy,” the kind of joke you only find in a show like The Good Place. In this episode, Michael and Janet are goaded into confessing to the humans, who have been returned to Earth for a second chance with wiped memories, the truth. This leads Chidi into a hilarious freakout. We also find out that the humans spent 300 years in the Bad Place, which is trippy.

This third episode in the show is a look into what makes Tahani tick, to be sure. It’s also the episode where we find out the monk Jianyu is actually Jason, a doofus from Jacksonville. Janet gets to go through a bunch of personalities, which is a ton of fun from D’Arcy Carden, who was great on the show.

Well, Chidi does indeed see the Time-Knife, for starters. There’s a lot more to this, though. Gen spends some time living on Earth. Derek has been rebooted so many times he’s now suave and sophisticated. A lot of stuff is put into place in this episode, but the storytelling is so sharp that it doesn’t feel like setting the table.

Ted Danson is a sitcom lesson. We should have mentioned him by name already. He plays Michael, and this episode is a great showcase for his classic sitcom chops. Michael's crisis plays out a lot like a stereotypical midlife crisis. It’s broader than what The Good Place usually does, but when Ted Danson is doing it, who cares? He could do this stuff in his sleep.

The humans, Michael, and Janet are trying to get to see the Judge. To do that, they have to go through the Bad Place. We get to see Jason do what he does best, throw a Molotov Cocktail while yelling, “Bortles!” Also, Michael gets to put what he’s learned about ethics to use, sacrificing himself by giving Eleanor the last pass through the portal into the Judge’s chamber.

Chidi had been placed in stasis effectively, and Michael needed to bring him back so that he could come up with an idea for how to revamp the afterlife and save Earth. To do that, he needed to experience his entire life, including all those years in the afterlife, in a moment’s time. What works best is the stuff built around Chidi and Eleanor’s romance. Eleanor, it turns out, is the answer.

The second season ends with the humans getting a second chance. They are sent back to Earth in a new timeline to see if they will truly improve as people. Michael does grease the wheels a bit, but what’s great is he does it by appearing to Eleanor as a bartender. Danson as a de facto Sam Malone? We’ll happily take that.

In the penultimate episode, the humans arrive in the true Good Place. It turns out not to be as perfect as hoped. Sure, it’s fun at first, but eternity is a long time. Take, for example, Hypatia, aka Patty. Played by Lisa Kudrow, she was once a brilliant philosopher. Now, centuries in the Good Place have left her a “happiness zombie.” Her brain is turning to mush. This leads to Michael creating a door in the Good Place people can walk through at any time and end their time in the afterlife for good. Death within death. Heavy for a sitcom, huh?

People who are still alive giving one another funerals is a television trope. In a show like The Good Place, it packs more of a punch. For starters, they actually are dead. Secondly, they are waiting for an all-power judge to decide what to do about the afterlife and Earth.

For starters, this is one of the best titles for an episode of a TV show ever. Donkey Doug, by the way, is Jason’s dad. He’s basically only in this episode, but what an impact Donkey Doug makes in such a limited time. Jason has returned to Jacksonville to save his dad from a life of crime and misdeeds. When that proves a lost cause, he instead turns to try to save his friend Pillboi.

The third season begins with the humans back on Earth and coalescing down in Australia, thus the title. The Good Place was revamping itself all the time, and this was a good example of that. It’s fun watching Michael and Janet watch their human friends and try to improve their lives.

The titular Mindy St. Claire is the one and only person living in the Medium Place. She was an attorney in the ‘80s but right before her death helped set up a huge charity fund. Thus, she was placed in the brand-new Medium Place. The Medium Place is hilarious in execution, and Mindy is great. Maribeth Monroe is excellent in the role.

So much time is compressed into this one episode in a way that is kinetic and fantastic. We see at the end of the first season (we’re getting there!) that Michael can reset the neighborhood and the memories of the humans. In this episode, Eleanor (and one time Jason) keeps figuring out his scheme, so he has to keep rebooting. We find out Michael has rebooted the neighborhood hundreds of times and that Eleanor and company have escaped to the Medium place 16 times. That’s right, more Mindy!

In the previous episode, a new experiment is conducted with new humans. Eleanor is posing as the architect because Michael has freaked out. Then, Shawn shows he has a trick up his sleeve by introducing Simone, with whom Chidi had a relationship on Earth, as one of the new test subjects. To not ruin the experiment, Chidi is willing to have his memory wiped, which means forgetting Eleanor. It’s bittersweet, but the show nails it in the third-season finale.

The premiere of The Good Place had so much work to do. It had to establish the world and the characters. It had to leave breadcrumbs for all future storytelling. Oh, and it also had to be funny. Obviously, “Everything is Fine” crushed it. It’s a great way to ease you into the series.

We go from the beginning of the first season to the end of the first season. This is not the first time we get a twist on The Good Place. However, it is the first huge twist. Eleanor realizes they are not actually in the Good Place but in the Bad Place. Michael drops his façade, and Danson gets to play evil and smarmy. Then, with one snap of the fingers, everything is reset. Except for how much the viewers have seen the show rewrite the whole script on the universe.

There’s good storytelling stuff and philosophical stuff here, yes. However, it’s all about Carden's tour de force performance as multiple Janets. When the humans are hidden away in Janet’s void, they all look like Janet. That means Carden plays not just Janet, but Eleanor, Jason, Tahani, and Chidi. It’s incredibly fun to watch. Carden deserved an Emmy.

The Good Place was telling a serialized story. As such, it’s fitting our list ends with the series finale. The hour-long episode is a nearly perfect conclusion to the story. There’s a ton of humor and heart. We watch all our main characters live out the ends of their after-lives, sometimes before stepping through that door. Also, Michael gets his wish granted: to be human. That’s great, too. Basically, everything in “Whenever You’re Ready” is great. Talk about going out on top.