Episode guide
Essential Episodes of The Good Place
NBC, 2016 to 2020
Our 6 character guides for The Good Place point to 24 key episodes across 4 seasons. Of those, 8 turn up in two or more guides, so they come first, followed by every episode in air order.
Season and episode numbers follow the original broadcast order.
The essentials(8)
Episodes that matter to more than one character, the most shared first.
- In 5 guides
Season 4, Episode 13
"Whenever You're Ready"
- Eleanor Shellstrop: Eleanor says goodbye to her friends and walks through the final door.
- Janet: Jason gives Janet the necklace he made for her before he leaves.
- Jason Mendoza: Jason gives Janet his necklace and walks through the final door.
- Michael: The Judge lets Michael become human and live a life on Earth.
- Tahani Al-Jamil: Tahani reconciles with her parents and chooses to become an afterlife architect.
- In 3 guides
Season 1, Episode 1
"Everything Is Fine"
- Eleanor Shellstrop: Eleanor arrives in the Good Place and confesses to her soulmate Chidi that she is not who Michael thinks she is.
- Chidi Anagonye: Chidi meets his supposed soulmate Eleanor and learns she does not belong in the Good Place.
- Michael: Michael welcomes Eleanor to the Good Place and the neighborhood he designed.
- In 2 guides
Season 1, Episode 7
"The Eternal Shriek"
- Chidi Anagonye: While trying to stop Jason, Chidi ends up pushing Janet's off switch himself.
- Janet: Eleanor and Chidi use Janet's off switch, and she is rebooted with no memories.
- In 2 guides
Season 1, Episode 10
"Chidi's Choice"
- Janet: Jason decides to marry Janet, and she happily agrees.
- Jason Mendoza: Touched by Janet's kindness, Jason decides to marry her.
- In 2 guides
Season 1, Episode 13
"Michael's Gambit"
- Eleanor Shellstrop: Eleanor realizes the Good Place is really the Bad Place, and Michael admits he is a demon.
- Michael: Michael confesses he is a demon and that the Good Place was a torture experiment.
- In 2 guides
Season 2, Episode 4
"Team Cockroach"
- Michael: Michael recruits the four humans to help him fool the other demons.
- Tahani Al-Jamil: Tahani learns she died when a statue of her sister fell on her and agrees to Michael's plan.
- In 2 guides
Season 2, Episode 5
"Existential Crisis"
- Michael: Chidi's lessons about mortality send Michael into a full-blown midlife crisis.
- Tahani Al-Jamil: A rival party ruins Tahani's evening, and she and Jason end up sleeping together.
- In 2 guides
Season 3, Episode 7
"A Fractured Inheritance"
- Eleanor Shellstrop: Eleanor tracks down her mother Donna, who faked her death and started a new life.
- Tahani Al-Jamil: Tahani travels to Budapest to try to make peace with Kamilah.
Every key episode by season(24)
Season 1(7 episodes)
Season 1, Episode 1
"Everything Is Fine"
An essential, in the guides for Eleanor Shellstrop, Chidi Anagonye, and Michael. Read the notes
Season 1, Episode 3
"Tahani Al-Jamil"
- Tahani Al-Jamil: Eleanor begins to see that Tahani is genuinely kind and the two start an unlikely friendship.
Season 1, Episode 4
"Jason Mendoza"
- Jason Mendoza: Jianyu reveals to Eleanor that he is really Jason, a DJ from Jacksonville.
Season 1, Episode 7
"The Eternal Shriek"
An essential, in the guides for Chidi Anagonye and Janet. Read the notes
Season 1, Episode 10
"Chidi's Choice"
An essential, in the guides for Janet and Jason Mendoza. Read the notes
Season 1, Episode 11
"What's My Motivation"
- Jason Mendoza: A flashback shows Jason dying in a safe during a restaurant robbery.
Season 1, Episode 13
"Michael's Gambit"
An essential, in the guides for Eleanor Shellstrop and Michael. Read the notes
Season 2(9 episodes)
Season 2, Episode 3
"Dance Dance Resolution"
- Eleanor Shellstrop: Hundreds of reboots show that Eleanor sees through Michael's scheme again and again.
Season 2, Episode 4
"Team Cockroach"
An essential, in the guides for Michael and Tahani Al-Jamil. Read the notes
Season 2, Episode 5
"Existential Crisis"
An essential, in the guides for Michael and Tahani Al-Jamil. Read the notes
Season 2, Episode 6
"The Trolley Problem"
- Chidi Anagonye: Michael tortures Chidi with real-life versions of the trolley problem during an ethics lesson.
Season 2, Episode 7
"Janet and Michael"
- Janet: Michael learns Janet's glitches come from her hidden feelings for Jason, and she creates Derek.
Season 2, Episode 8
"Derek"
- Janet: Janet's relationship with her rebound boyfriend Derek falls apart, and she deactivates him.
Season 2, Episode 11
"Rhonda, Diana, Jake, and Trent"
- Michael: Michael gives up his own badge so Eleanor can escape through the portal.
Season 2, Episode 12
"The Burrito"
- Tahani Al-Jamil: During the Judge's tests, Tahani stands up to her parents over their lifelong cruelty.
Season 2, Episode 13
"Somewhere Else"
- Eleanor Shellstrop: Saved from death and sent back to Earth, Eleanor starts trying to be a better person on her own.
Season 3(6 episodes)
Season 3, Episode 5
"Jeremy Bearimy"
- Chidi Anagonye: Learning his fate sends Chidi into a breakdown that ends with a lecture over a pot of chili.
Season 3, Episode 6
"The Ballad of Donkey Doug"
- Jason Mendoza: Back in Jacksonville, Jason tries to steer his father Donkey Doug and Pillboi away from crime.
Season 3, Episode 7
"A Fractured Inheritance"
An essential, in the guides for Eleanor Shellstrop and Tahani Al-Jamil. Read the notes
Season 3, Episode 10
"Janet(s)"
- Janet: The humans hide in Janet's void and all turn into Janets, with Carden playing every role.
Season 3, Episode 12
"Chidi Sees the Time-Knife"
- Jason Mendoza: Jason gives a heartfelt speech about humanity, and he and Janet decide to date.
Season 3, Episode 13
"Pandemonium"
- Chidi Anagonye: Chidi has his memories of Eleanor erased so a new experiment can go forward.
Season 4(2 episodes)
Season 4, Episode 9
"The Answer"
- Chidi Anagonye: Chidi relives his whole life as his memories are restored and finally finds his answer.
Season 4, Episode 13
"Whenever You're Ready"
An essential, in the guides for Eleanor Shellstrop, Janet, Jason Mendoza, Michael, and Tahani Al-Jamil. Read the notes
Seen them all? Test yourself with the The Good Place trivia quiz, or meet the The Good Place characters.
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