The Good Place series finale recap: Season 4, Episode 13, “Whenever You’re Ready,” Aired Jan. 30, 2020
Welcome to the end, The Final Chapter, the The Good Place series finale. I was emotional from the first minute. Grab the tissues. There will be tears.
This episode, aptly named “Whenever You’re Ready,” shows our favorite humans as they get ready to leave the Good Place for good.
Jason
Jason was the first of the Soul Squad who felt ready to leave the Good Place for good. As his send-off, he DJed a rager, featuring his old dance team, Donkey Doug and Pillboi. After the party, Janet left Jason to go through the door, and I was already crying. If only he hadn’t lost the J+J necklace he made her.
Now, Janet may have walked Jason to the door, but when she returned with another human a thousand Bearimys later, Jason was still there. He got hung up on the necklace and went in search of it. When he found it, he waited patiently, letting his mind wander (like a monk!) for Janet to come back so he could give it to her. I’d like to thank Jason for waiting and making me laugh while I was sobbing through all these goodbyes.
Tahani
After accomplishing literally anything and everything you can think of and getting several thousand days receiving her parents’ love and her sister’s friendship, Tahani decided she was ready to leave. For her send-off, she planned an elegant party herself just for what’s left of Team Cockroach. Of course, she had a tearjerker scene, too, telling Eleanor how she’s always been her role model.
However, Tahani realized she was ready to leave the Good Place but she didn’t want to leave the afterlife for good. She spent her whole life pretending to help people, and now she wants to actually help. So Michael got Tahani an internship to become an architect, and he gave her his peacock bowtie. More tears!
Cheleanor
Chidi was ready to leave for good before Eleanor. And while he was ready to leave, Eleanor was not ready to let him go. She took him on a tour of his favorite places to try to convince him to stay before realizing she couldn’t make him stay if he was truly ready; it would be selfish.
And at this point, tears were streaming down my face. I might keep crying into this weekend. Not over it.
Eleanor and Michael
Eleanor went to the Medium Place to talk to Mindy. With Chidi gone, Eleanor didn’t feel complete, and none of her family or friends remaining in the Good Place fixed that feeling. She sought out Mindy to convince her to go through the system and take the test. In doing this, Eleanor confronted a little part of herself, as she saw Mindy as who she’d be if she didn’t have her friends. She succeeded in getting Mindy to go through the system, and a certified architect Tahani will create Mindy’s test.
After all that, Eleanor still didn’t feel ready to go through the door, but Michael did. Michael walked through eagerly, but nothing happened. Eleanor went to Judge Gen with the idea to make Michael a human because he truly won’t be at peace and ready until he’s gotten what he truly wants, which is, of course, to be human. She succeeded again, and Michael gets to live a life as a human not knowing what’s going to happen in his afterlife, but hopefully he’ll be able to take the test and go through the door whenever he’s ready.
Anyone catch Ted Danson’s real-life wife Mary Steenburgen as his guitar teacher?
And finally, with that, Eleanor was ready. She walked through the door, where her essence was converted into these little sparks that encouraged people on Earth to be better people. She even helped Michael finally get to reply to “take it easy” with “take it sleazy.”
The real good place was the friends we made along the way
Shawn and Glenn are killing it as architects. Vicky is doing fantastically as a trainer. Derek has been rebooted millions and millions of time, and he’s trippy now. Doug Forcett went through the door. The frog-loving doorman finally got a real frog from Michael, Mr. Jumpylegs.
Well, all our humans have gone through the door, and hopefully Michael will eventually. We may not know exactly what happens on the other side, but I have to believe Everything Is Fine.
What did you think of “Whenever You’re Ready”? Let us know at @PureFandom on Twitter!
(Image: Colleen Hayes/NBC)
