Ted Danson’s Michael and his alternate approach to torturingThe Good Place’s main human characters sets the entire story in motion, but it also forgets about one of those characters' traits that should have brought Michael’s plan crashing down sooner than it did.The Good Place’s core group of characters, human and otherwise, actually spend very little time in the show’s titular location. Instead,most of the story unfolds in the Bad Place and back on Earthamong the living. AlthoughThe Good Placedropped several clues about the show’s first big twist, they’re only possible to spot in retrospect.
The Good Placeended with season 4, as was always the intention. The high-concept afterlife sitcom thankfully resisted the urge to extend its run despite its success. As a result,The Good Placemanages to tell a profound and heartfelt storythat finds humor in all the most unexpected places. That said, the larger plot has a notable problem in its earliest stages, and it all came down to one of the humans Michael had chosen to psychologically torment in his fake version of the Good Place.
Michael’s Original Plan In The Good Place Overlooks One Of Jason’s Biggest Flaws
Jason should have been too chatty & dim-witted to get away with being Jianyu
As a sort of non-secular version of Hell, the Bad Place’s role within the show’s canon is to torture those who end up there for all eternity. The demons responsible for this task often favor gruesome acts of violence, butDanson’s character strays from the beaten pathto come up with a new way to make the lives of those in the Bad Place a living nightmare. In short, he creates a false version of the Good Place (which is essentially heaven) and populates it with four humans who become certain they don’t belong there.
Every other resident in Michael’s false Good Place other than the four humans is a demon in disguise as an especially wholesome resident.
The four misplaced humans eventually band together to support one another in upholding the illusion, but Michael chooses to give one of them far too much credit when it comes to his ability to keep the secret. Manny Jacinto’s Jason Mendoza is the group’s lovable idiot, and he is a massive chatterbox who is often impossible to silence. Regardless,Michael somehow manages to fold Jason into the deception before he gets a word in, and also achieves the task of keeping him silent for a long time after.
Danson’s character is able to bring Jason into his office and explain everything without so much as a “Yo, dawg.”
Michael addresses Jason as Jianyu, a Buddhist monk who has taken a vow of silence. Jason is given the option to uphold this vow in the afterlife, and he accepts. This is an understandable tactic by Michael, but it fails to account for just how much Jason loves to talk, and Jacinto’s character’s proclivity to not read the room. Danson’s character is able to bring Jason into his office and explain everything without so much as a “Yo, dawg,” which would have derailed the entire experiment, as Michael wouldn’t have been able to feign ignorance of Jason’s true identity.
The Show’s Jason Reveal Was Still Great, Despite The Good Place Ignoring His Struggles Staying Quiet
The Jianyu/Jason twist was worth ignoring Michael’s confusing risk
Eleanor Shellstrop’s (Kristen Bell) presence in what appears to be the Good Place initially appears to be an isolated case. Chidi Anagonye (William Jackson Harper) and Tahani Al-Jamil (Jameela Jamil) have both lived seemingly worthy lives, andJason’s initial silence makes it easy to assume that he is actually Jianyu, a Buddhist monk. As such, the audience gets to know the real version of the other three characters from the very beginning, whereas Jason/Jianyu is impossible to get a read on due to his vow of silence.
Without that trait, the great reveal of Jason’s true self wouldn’t have been as effective. So, I’m willing to overlook the writing decision of Michael putting so much faith in something that hinged so much on Jason staying quiet long enough for Danson’s character to deliver his Jianyu gambit. It’s not completely unreasonable to assume that this would work, but I still have my doubts that it would be a successful part of the plan afterThe Good Placereveals Jason’s true personality.
