SOOTHING WATER SOUNDS
TWINKLING SOUNDS
SHE SIGHS JOYFULLY - DOOR OPENS
Eleanor? Come on in.
Hi, Eleanor. I'm Michael.
How are you today?
I'm great. Thanks for asking.
Oh, one question.
Where am I? Who are you? And what's going on?
Right. So...
you, Eleanor Shellstrop, are dead.
Your life on Earth has ended
and you are now in the next phase of your existence in the universe.
Cool. Cool.
I have some questions.
Thought you might.
How did I die? I... I don't remember. - Yes, um...
in cases of traumatic or embarrassing deaths
we erase the memory, to allow for a peaceful transition.
Are you sure you want to hear?
All right, so you were in a grocery store parking lot.
You dropped a bottle of something called
"Lonely Gal Margarita Mix for One"
and when you bent down to pick it up, a long column of shopping carts
that were being returned to the shopping cart collection area
rolled out of control and ploughed right into you.
"Oof." That's how I died.
No, sorry, there's more.
Well, you were able to grab onto the front of the column of shopping carts
but it swept you right out into the street, where you were struck and killed
by a mobile billboard truck advertising an erectile dysfunction pill
called "Engorge-ulate."
Funnily enough, the first "EMT" to arrive was an ex-boyfriend of yours.
Okay. That's... I get it. Thank you. - Okay, sorry.
Um, so who was right?
I mean about all of this?
Well, let's see.
Hindus are a little bit right, Muslims a little bit
Jews, Christians, Buddhists - every religion guessed about five percent.
Except for Doug Forcett.
Who... who is Doug Forcett?
Well, Doug was a stoner kid who lived in Calgary during the 1970s.
One night he got really high on mushrooms, and his best friend Randy said
"Hey, what do you think happens after we die?"
And Doug just launched into this long monologue
where he got like ninety-two percent correct.
HE CHUCKLES I mean
we couldn't believe what we were hearing.
That's him, actually, right up there.
He's pretty famous around here.
I'm very lucky to have that.
So, maybe my biggest question.
Am I... I mean is this...
or... you know?
Well, it's not the "heaven" or "hell" idea that you were raised on.
But generally speaking
in the afterlife, there's a Good Place, and there's a Bad Place.
You' re in the Good Place.
SHE SIGHS - You're okay, Eleanor.
You' re in the Good Place.
Well, that's good.
Sure is. Ha!
Okay. Let's take a walk, shall we?
Oh, did I have a purse?
No, I'm dead. Right. Okay.
So, are you...
I mean, this sounds like a crazy question
but are you "God?"
Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
There are many levels above me, Eleanor
before you get to the Supreme Commander
Zortraxx the Merciless Frog God
long may he reign.
I'm kidding. - HE LAUGHS
I'm sorry. - SHE SIGHS
No, no, no, no, no. It's not a giant frog.
Oh. Whew.
No, it's just my little joke.
Um, seriously, though. I'm... I'm not a god.
Eleanor, I'm... I'm an architect, and I designed this Neighbourhood.
So this is how it works.
The Good Place is divided into distinct "Neighbourhoods."
Each one contains exactly three hundred and twenty-two people
who have been perfectly selected to blend together into a blissful harmonic balance.
Do all the neighbourhoods look like this?
No - every neighbourhood is unique.
Some have warm weather, some cold, some are cities, some farmland.
But in each one every blade of grass, every ladybug
every detail has been precisely designed and calibrated for its residents.
There's a lot of frozen yoghurt places.
Yeah. That's the one thing we put in all the neighbourhoods.
People love frozen yoghurt.
I don't know what to tell you.
You're going to have a million more questions, I know.
For right now, you better grab a seat.
Movie's about to begin.
INDISTINCT CHATTER
HE LAUGHS
Hello, everyone, and welcome to your first day in the afterlife!
You were all simply-put: good people.
But how do we know that you were good?
How are we sure?
During your time on Earth, every one of your actions
had a positive... - DING
...or a negative value... - BUZZ
...depending on how much good or bad
that action put into the universe.
Every sandwich you ate, every time you bought a magazine
every single thing you did had an effect that rippled out over time
and ultimately created some amount of good or bad.
You know how some people pull into the breakdown lane
when there's traffic, and they think to themselves
"Ah, who cares? No one's watching."
We were watching. Surprise.
AUDIENCE LAUGHS
Anyway, when your time on Earth has ended
we calculate the total value of your life
using our perfectly accurate measuring system.
Only the people with the very highest scores -
the true cream of the crop -
get to come here, to The Good Place!
What happens to everyone else, you ask?
Don't worry about it.
The point is: you are here because you lived
one of the very best lives that could be lived.
And you won't be alone! Your true soulmate is here too!
THEY GASP IN AWE - That's right - soulmates are real.
One of the other people in your neighbourhood is your actual soulmate
and you will spend eternity together!
So welcome to eternal happiness.
Welcome to The Good Place.
Sponsored by otters holding hands while they sleep.
ALL: Aw! - You know the way you feel
when you see a picture of two otters holding hands?
That's how you're going to feel every day.
APPLAUSE
So, who is in The Bad Place that would shock me?
Ah...
well, Mozart, Picasso, Elvis, basically, every artist, ever.
Uh... every US President except Lincoln.
ELEANOR: That sounds about right.
Walt Disney. - Really?
Oh, yeah, yeah.
They went to town on Disney.
He has to spend eternity in a broken down boat
on the "Small World" ride with eight very tired children
and they made it so he really has to pee. HE CHUCKLES
ELEANOR: What about Florence Nightingale?
MICHAEL: That was close but no, she didn't make it.
Wow, all those amazing people down there.
It just seems so hard to believe.
Again, it's an incredibly selective system.
Most people don't make it here.
But you: a lawyer, who got innocent people off death row.
You're special, Eleanor.
And by the way...
welcome to your new home. - SHE GASPS
MICHAEL: Ah! It's perfect, isn't it?
You see, in The Good Place every person gets to live
in a home that perfectly matches his or her true essence.
Cool.
So, I guess that's why my house, for example, is this adorable little cottage
whereas other people might have homes that are bigger
like that one.
MICHAEL: Exactly.
Ah, I'm so happy you get it.
As you can see, the interior has been decorated just as you like it
in the "Icelandic primitive" style.
Oh, oh! And, uh... of course, you love clowns, so...
I do love clowns.
Now, let me show you the, uh... the video system here.
You can review everything that happened in your life from your point of view.
BEEP - There we go.
This is your Human Rights mission to Ukraine.
I mean, you got a ton of points for that one. It really put you over the top.
MICHAEL: Oh.
Chidi! Come on in.
Eleanor? I'm Chidi Anagonye.
And you are my soulmate.
Cool. Bring it in, man.
MICHAEL: Now, excuse me. I have other people to attend to.
So, where are you from, Chidi?
Well, I was born in Nigeria, raised in Senegal.
But my work took me all over the place -
Australia, Hong Kong, Paris...
What about you?
I was born in Phoenix, Arizona.
Then I went to school in Tempe, Arizona.
And then I moved back to Phoenix, Arizona.
Your English is amazing.
Oh!
I'm actually speaking French.
This place just translates whatever you say
into a language the other person can understand.
So, it's incredible! - Whoa.
And now I want to say this... - Okay.
Eleanor.
I have spent my entire life in pursuit of fundamental truths about the universe
and now we can actually learn about them, together, as soulmates.
It's overwhelming!
Chidi? You'll stand by my side no matter what, right?
Of course, I will.
Promise me. Say "I promise I will never betray you for any reason."
Eleanor, I swear that I will never say
or do anything to cause you any harm.
Good.
Because those aren't my memories. I wasn't a lawyer.
I never went to the Ukraine. I hate clowns.
There's been a big mistake.
I'm not supposed to be here.
Wait, what?
BIRDS CHIRP
FROG CROAKS
CHILDREN IMITATE ANIMALS
Are you sure this isn't you?
Yeah, man, I'm pretty sure I wasn't a death row lawyer
who collected clown paintings and rescued orphans.
They got my name right, but nothing else.
I mean somebody royally forked up.
Somebody forked up.
Why can't I say fork?
If you're trying to curse, you can't here.
I guess a lot of people in this neighbourhood don't like it
so it's prohibited. - That's "bullshirt."
So, uh... if you're not this person then who are you?
What did you do for a living?
I was in sales.
So, we sell two products here.
"NasaPro, " and "NasaPro Silver," we aim this at seniors.
Now, you can't legally call it "medicine," because it doesn't technically "work"
and it is, technically, chalk.
So, what you're gonna want to do... - You need me to lie to old people
and scare them into buying fake medicine.
I get it, man.
Which one's my desk?
So your job was to defraud the elderly.
Sorry - the sick and elderly.
But I was very good at it.
I was the top salesperson five years running.
Okay, but that's worse.
I mean you... you do get how that's worse
right? - Mmm.
You know, maybe it's a test.
Maybe, if you go to Michael then you tell him the truth
you' II pass the test, and you'll get to stay.
No way, I can't risk going to The Bad Place.
Okay, well, maybe it's not actually like all that bad.
Let's just get some information first.
We'll ask Janet. Hey, Janet?
Hi, there. - Argh!
How can I help you? - What the fork?
Who are you? - I'm Janet.
I'm the informational assistant here in The Good Place.
She's like this walking database.
You can ask her about the creation of the universe, or history, or...
Oh, there was a guy who lived in Avondale, Arizona, around 2002.
His name was Kevin Paltonic.
Is he gay? - No.
Really?
Huh. I guess he just didn't want to have sex with me.
That's correct. - Well, that's fine.
I wasn't that into him anyway. - Yes, you were.
Okay, Janet. I have a question.
Okay. - What is The Bad Place like?
Oh, sorry.
That is the one topic I'm not allowed to tell you about.
I can only play you a brief audio clip of what is happening there right now.
Okay.
SCREAMS AND CRIES - MAN: Help me! Help me!
WOMAN: The bear has two mouths! - SOMETHING RIPS UP FLESH
Well, it doesn't sound awesome.
Does everyone have a huge house except me?
All right, we need a plan.
I say we just lie low and hope that they don't notice me.
I'm sorry. I don't think I can help you.
I just don't like being dishonest
and I can't advise you to be dishonest either.
Come on! I'm just asking you to fudge a little bit.
You must have told a few white lies in your life.
I mean what was your job?
I was a professor of Ethics and Moral Philosophy.
SHE LAUGHS Mother forker!
I'm getting a stomach ache. - SHE SIGHS
I'm in a perfect Utopia and I have a stomach ache.
This is awful. I, uh... I think I have to tell Michael about this.
MICHAEL: Tell Michael about what?
ELEANOR: Michael! Hi!
What have you been up to?
Oh, you know, just settling everyone into eternal paradise.
Sure, sure.
Eleanor, Chidi, I would like you to meet Tahani and Jianyu.
They are soulmates and your nextdoor neighbours.
Hello. Can I just say, I love your house.
It's just so tiny and cute.
It's like a little child's plaything!
It's a bit like one of those tinker toy houses, isn't it?
Like for a family of mice, or for a very fancy little dog!
I love it. It's just so sweet and teensy.
Just like you.
Boop! - Ooh!
Oh! - You "booped" me.
SHE LAUGHS - I did.
That's fun. - Oh, I tell ya.
The thought of you four amazing people
living next to each other for eternity just...
it brings joy to my heart.
Oh, I almost forgot.
Tahani and Jianyu are having a little "welcome party" tonight
and they've invited the entire neighbourhood.
Is that because your house is so big it can fit everybody?
Exactly, yes.
But also because I simply adore entertaining.
I just adore it.
Don't I just adore it, Jianyu?
Oh, um... yes.
By the way, Jianyu, here, is a Buddhist monk, you see
and he obeys a strict code of silence.
So when you see him smiling and nodding
that's actually his way of jumping up and down with glee!
Isn't that right, darling?
So, we'll see you tonight.
Great. - Yes.
CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS
This is a sweet dress, right?
Yeah. - I had Janet fetch it for me.
Instant, on demand, everything free.
This place is the best.
HE LAUGHS - ELEANOR: No way.
My entire house could fit in this room.
Okay, uh... help me out here.
Tell me one good thing that you did on Earth.
Just one truly kind and decent act
so that I can feel better about helping you out.
Let's forget about good.
Um... just tell me something neutral about yourself.
Like, tell me about the day before you died.
What do you remember?
Hi, there.
Do you have a second to talk about the environment?
Do you have a second to eat my farts?
You missed. - Pfft! Pick it up
if you're so horny for the environment.
I don't remember anything specific.
Oh. - Look
I might not have been a saint, but it's not like I killed anybody.
I wasn't an arsonist.
I never found a wallet outside of an IHOP and thought about returning it
but saw the owner lived out of state
so just took the cash and dropped the wallet back on the ground.
Okay, that's really specific
and that makes me think that you definitely did do that.
All I'm saying is, these people might be "good"
but are they really that much better than me?
Well, I spent half my life in North Korea fighting for women's rights
and the other half in Saudi Arabia fighting for gay rights.
So we said, "If the UN won't remove those landmines, we will."
And we dug up over a thousand unexploded landmines
from the area surrounding the orphanage.
Well, then he said
"You can't give me both your kidneys, you'll die."
What? - I said, "But you will live
and I know we just met on this bus ten minutes ago
but you seem nice." - SHE SIGHS
ELEANOR: Forget it. Heading to the bar.
Hey, Janet? - Hi. How can I help?
I've had eight glasses of wine and I don't feel anything.
Um, can we not get drunk here?
It's suddenly very important that I get drunk.
Our default setting is that alcohol has no effect.
If you want it to affect you, all you have to do is think to yourself...
Got it. On it.
MUFFLED JOY MOANS
GLASS CLINKS
APPLAUSE
Thank you. Thank you.
I promise I won't take up too much time here.
As Shakespeare once said, "Brevity is the soul of wit."
Although, he's actually...
Oop! So... HE LAUGHS
We can ignore that advice.
You all know that I am the architect of this neighbourhood
but what you don't know is...
golly, I'm not supposed to tell you this but, um...
oh, what the heck?
This is actually the very first neighbourhood that I have ever designed.
I have been an apprentice for over two hundred years
and my boss has finally given me my first solo project!
ALL: Aw. THEY APPLAUD
Yes! HE LAUGHS
Gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah! Hold on there, ace.
Let me get more of them "shrampies."
Easy.
What? They're for everybody, right?
Yes. Exactly.
MICHAEL: ...and you deserve a perfect world.
Because every single one of you
is a good person.
That's it for me. Back to you, Tahani.
Bravo, Michael! - Thank you.
Bravo!
Um, and I would just like to quickly say
if any of you would like to play tennis tonight
we have thirty-six regulation grass tennis courts.
Such fun! Cheers! SHE LAUGHS
APPLAUSE
Tahani - what a condescending bench.
Okay, okay. - Am I right?
Why does she still have that British accent? Right?
No one else here has an accent.
She's choosing to have that accent.
Shh, shh, shh, shh. - IN BRITISH ACCENT: "Ooh, hello!
I am just a big beautiful utterly perfect cartoon giraffe!"
Oh, okay, okay. - SHE LAUGHS
I think it's time to go home.
Wait, wait, wait, I just have to go upstairs real quick
and steal a bunch of gold stuff.
Okay, don't do that.
Don't do... no! Eleanor. Eleanor. Eleanor.
Hello, creepy house that I hate!
Hello, one million clowns!
Why aren't there stairs here?
Ugh! What kind of weirdo house is this?
Ooh.
Did you fill your bra with shrimp?
No. SHE HICCUPS
Yes.
Whatever, it's freakin' heaven, I'm sure they have plenty of shellfish.
That Tahani is a real butthead, huh?
SHE GASPS Hey!
At least I can still say "butthead."
Ugh, she is a butthead.
Found some pyjamas.
Chidi? Chidi? Chidi?
I'm sorry that you had to deal with this.
It's okay. - It's not, though.
SHE SIGHS
Do you think anybody cared that I died?
Maybe someone did.
I don't know. I was an only child.
My parents were divorced when I was a kid.
They were both crummy people
so they're probably... SHE MAKES A MOCKING NOISE
...in The Bad Place.
Maybe they're being used to torture each other.
It would work. - HE CHUCKLES
I bet way more people cared that you died.
Because you're a nice person.
SHE CLEARS HER THROAT
You're a nice person.
Chidi Anaconda.
Anagonye. - "Aginoncamunga."
Anagonye. - "Ag..." - say it again.
Anagonye. - No, say what you said before.
I did. It's Anagonye.
You just changed it. - I didn't change it.
It's my name. - "Aragugronde," Ariana Grande!
SHE GASPS That's a person.
I did it!
Good night.
CIRCUS MUSIC - CHEERING
Well, that's terrifying.
SHE SNORES
Thirty glasses of wine and no hangover.
SHE LAUGHS
This place rules.
THUNDER CRACKS
MUSIC PLAYS: "Break Free" by Ariana Grande
♪ This is the part when ♪
♪ I break free ♪
♪ 'Cause I can't resist it no more ♪
ELEANOR: Oh, fork!
♪ ...the part when I say I don't want ya ♪
♪ I'm stronger than I've been before ♪
♪ This is the part when I break free ♪
♪ 'Cause I can't resist it no more ♪
Michael? - Hmm?
Is that giant, terrifying ladybug supposed to be there?
Ah! Well, great question, Tahani.
No. No, it's not.
I have no idea why any of this is happening or how to control it.
Should we run away then?
Yes!
♪ It was lethal. ♪
Right-o! - ♪ It was fatal. ♪
♪ In my dreams it felt so right. ♪ - FROG CROAKS
♪ But I woke up every time. ♪
♪ Oh, baby! ♪ - PEOPLE SCREAM
♪ This is the part when I say I don't want ya. ♪
♪ I'm stronger than I've been before. ♪ - ELEANOR: Chidi! Chidi!
What's going on?
Why are there giant animals everywhere?
Do you hear Ariana Grande playing?
Why is everyone wearing blue and yellow?
You're not.
You're... you're the only one who's not.
Eleanor, this is all happening because of you.
Ah, fork me!
Okay, okay, we don't know this is because of me.
Eleanor.
This place is a perfectly made Swiss watch, and you are a wrench in the gears.
Actually, you' re a hammer, just smashing the gears into dust.
Oh, hang on.
Not everybody here is perfect, okay?
Tahani is totally condescending and there are a couple of, you know...
"chunksters." - Oh, come on!
No judgment, I'm just saying I'm not the only one with flaws
so how can we be sure this is my fault?
You hogged all the shrimp, and now there are shrimp flying around.
You called Tahani a giraffe, and now there are giraffes everywhere.
Okay, fine. Turns out there are many ways to know that it was me.
Let's just face it, Eleanor.
You don't belong here.
Well, then this system sucks.
What, one in a million gets to live in paradise
and everyone else is tortured for eternity? Come on!
I mean I wasn't freakin' Gandhi, but I was okay.
I was a medium person.
I should get to spend eternity in a medium place, like Cincinnati.
Everyone who wasn't perfect, but wasn't terrible
should get to spend eternity in Cincinnati.
Look, apparently it doesn't work that way.
I'm sorry, Eleanor, but there's nothing anyone can do.
Unless there is something we can do.
Unless you could teach me.
Teach you what?
How to be good!
That was your job, right?
A professor of Ethics?
No one knew I was a problem when I arrived.
Things only started getting crazy
after I was an ash-hole to everyone at the party.
Ugh!
You know I'm trying to say "ash-hole," and not "ash-hole, " right?
I got that, yes. - Okay.
Give me a chance.
Let me earn my place here.
You spent your life wondering what makes someone good or bad.
Now you have the perfect test case.
Let me be your ethical guinea pig!
KNOCKING - MICHAEL: Hey, guys!
Uh... Emergency neighbourhood meeting! Now!
We'll be right there, Michael.
If I walk out of here in these clothes, I'm toast.
My soul is in your hands, soulmate.
What's it gonna be?
KNOCKING
THUNDER CRACKS
Oh! Stomach ache.