Hierarchy and Redemption in The Good Place
By Margaux Guillet
Figure 1. Opening scene of the The Good Place. Photographed by Justin Lubin from “Everything is Fine”, 2016.
Michael Schur’s television series, The Good Place, follows a group of protagonists through their journey in the afterlife. Like Dante in his Divine Comedy, Schur exercises creative freedom in his exploration, subverting expectations regarding western media’s portrayals of heaven and hell. The two works both employ hierarchical systems to arrange their respective afterlives, however, a major difference lies in the souls’ reaction to their ultimate resting place. Specifically in Inferno, the souls experiencing eternal damnation express little to no remorse regarding their actions on Earth and the implications it had. Yet, the protagonists in The Good Place, showcase humane responses, not only reflecting on their circumstances, but formulating a plan to reach redemption.
In the opening episode of The Good Place, the bounds of the afterlife are established with the hierarchy laid out explicitly by the character, Michael. For every good and bad deed committed on Earth, a point value was associated with it, therefore, at the time of one’s passing, a grand total is calculated. Those with an exemplary sum are welcomed into the Good Place, while those remaining are damned to the Bad Place (“Everything is Fine” 4:40). Schur’s hierarchical ranking is akin to the practice of simony in the church, for the practice is defined as the commerce of ecclesiastical privileges, where patrons with financial privileges advantage themselves with sacraments and blessings to reach heaven (Sherberg, 8). The point system employed makes the afterlife in Schur’s world feel transactional and closed off to humans that fell short of standards of perfection. St. Thomas Aquinas, an Italian philosopher and theologian Dante admired, stated, “By selling a gift of the holy ghost, a man declares… that he is the owner of the spiritual gift” (Serberg 12). In creating a sense of ownership for those experiencing heavenly paradise, in the church’s past corruption and The Good Place, a sense of unworthiness is connveyed to those who fell short.
Schur goes further when establishing his hierarchy as the showrunner reveals two characters, Jason and Eleanor, to be defactos that do not belong in the Good Place. Therefore, for the majority of season one, the audience and protagonists are convinced the two are set a part and are outsiders to the seemingly perfect setting. Ironically enough, as the season progresses, this presumed paradise experiences turmoil and misfortunes, leading to the Eleanor’s realization that they are residing in the Bad Place (“Michael’s Gambit” 10:09). The characters were initially shocked and confused, for this realm presented itself as picturesque, convincing the protagonists they were in high standing. However, as the souls examined their past corrupt and selfish motivations that resulted in damaging implications, it became clear that they were far from deserving of heavenly rest. This type of self-reflection Schur infuses in his characters separates them from Dante’s souls in Inferno, for they are more humanized and humbled regarding their past actions.
Michael, who reveals himself to be a demon torturing the souls, shares that the four protagonists were used in an experiment to formulate a way to have them torture one another for eternity (“Michael’s Gambit” 13:00). Again, Schur is implementing a hierarchy as these specific characters with their various personalities and motivations were intended to wreck havoc on one another, unlike the typical form of torture used in the Bad Place that included hot lava spike pits and lightning that tears off their flesh (“Michael’s Gambit” 13:40). Similar to Dante’s Inferno, where various punishments were designed for different groups of sinners, The Good Place, arranged for these particular humans to wreak havoc on one another, setting them a part from the Bad Place’s standardized torment practices.
Once the show’s protagonists realized they were not in a safe haven, remorse washed over them, questioning how they could have approached their lives on Earth differently. Giacomo Leopardi, a 19th Century Italian philosopher believed remorse to be “the most painful emotion”, which gives greater weight to the characters coping with this newfound truth (Alcorn 83). These reactions counter the tortured souls’ feelings in the early pockets of Inferno, for they remain rooted and set in their ways, like the soul in canto twenty-two, who deceives demons for his own selfish delight and does not lament his past wrongdoings (Inferno 22, Lines 102–123). Their inability to experience maximal pain and reach spiritual redemption contributes to their lack of remorse (Alcorn 82). However, the souls that reside in the final pocket of hell, who committed betrayal, seem to experience some remorse. Submerged in a frozen state with only their faces above the ice, unable to wipe away their tears, the sinners are forced to ruminate over their past and what led them there (Inferno 33, Lines 94–99).
As Dante navigates Inferno, it is evident, whether or not the souls experience remorse, that there is nothing that can be done to redeem those in hell. This is a conflict that Schur parts from in his interpretation of the afterlife, as the protagonists’ initial remorse evolves into rebellion and ultimate redemption. Throughout the series, the characters do not simply accept their current circumstances, rather challenges them, believing that humans are capable of changing for the better. From their encounter with the judge of the afterlife in season two to learning the root of the afterlife’s point tally problem, the protagonists rebute the system in place that unfairly damns a majority of humans, who fail to reach the epitome of good (“The Burrito 3:00, “The Book of Dougs” 18:00). By the end of the series, the characters reach the Good Place and spiritual redemption, having evolved into empathetic, selfless individuals. Schur’s grounded, optimistic conclusion that offers those to change their wrongdoings contrasts Dante’s work. As a result of his betrayal and exile, Dante’s cynicism bleeds through, for no Inferno souls are given any salvation or an opportunity to move forward.
The structures of the afterlife in Schur’s and Dante’s works utilize hierarchical schemes, arranging passed souls based on their time on Earth. The torment utilized in their respective hells punished sinners, yet the souls’ reactions to their punishments heavily differed. While Dante’s characters experienced pain and distress, there was little self-reflection or lamenting done on their part. Schur, on the other hand, humanized his characters in the afterlife, having them endure remorse and granted them the freedom to grow beyond their past selves. The two interpretations of the afterlife share similar frameworks, however, the creators diverged when it came to redeeming those in hell.
Works Cited
Alcorn, John. “Suffering in Hell: The Pyschology of Emotions in Dante’s Inferno.” Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture, no. vol. 13, no.1, 2012, pp. 77–84. https://read.dukeupress.edu/pedagogy/article/13/1/77/20336/Suffering-in-HellThe-Psychology-of-Emotions-in. Accessed 16 Nov. 2023.
Alighieri, Dante, and Allen Mandelbaum. The Divine Comedy. Knopf, 1995.
"Everything is Fine." The Good Place, directed by Drew Goddard, written by Michael Schur, NBC Universal, 19 September 2016.
Lubin, Justin. “Everything is Fine”. The Good Place Wiki, 2016, https://thegoodplace.fandom.com/wiki/Chapter_1:_Everything_Is_Fine. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.
“Michael’s Gambit.” The Good Place, written by Michael Schur, directed by Michael Schur, NBC Universal, 19 January 2017.
Sherberg, Michael. “Coin of the Realm: Dante and the Simonists.” Dante Studies, with the Annual Report of the Dante Society, no. 129, 2011, pp. 7–23. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23390444. Accessed 16 Nov. 2023.
“The Book of Dougs” The Good Place, directed by Dean Holland, written by Megan Amram and Joe Mande, NBC Universal, 25 January 2018.
“The Burrito”The Good Place, directed by Ken Whittingham, written by Kate Gersten, NBC Universal, 25 January 2018.