Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

The Good Place: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Holy forkin' shirtballs! A must-have TV release at a great pricepoint!

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown August 10, 2023

As Seinfeld's ratings began to decline, NBC gave us Friends. They were there for us, and we couldn't ask for more. Until a year after Friends ended its ten-season run, when NBC brought us the little mockumentary that could: a remake of Britain's The Office featuring yet another tightly tuned cast of character actors turned network stars. But what, oh what were we to do with the nasty rumors of Steve Carell departing for a career in film? Cue the launch of a slick run of inventive sitcoms at NBC that hasn't been seen since the likes of ABC's seemingly invincible TGIF block in the early '90s. Laugh riot Parks and Recreation (2009-2015), pop culture assassin Community (2009- 2015), cold open king Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013-2021), retail renegade Superstore (2015-2021) and, yet another personal favorite, twisty afterlife delight The Good Place (2016-2020), a four-season farce that walks the finest of lines between hilarious, edgy, surreal, thought provoking and poignant. The more religious among you may dismiss the Michael Schur comedy as offensively non-committal, sacrilegious even, but that would be missing the point. Rather than take digs at one faith, The Good Place allows for a safe space to examine all faiths, along with our place in the world, our treatment of one another, and our successes and failures as a western society. Not too shabby for a rapidfire NBC sitcom. Schur has big aspirations and even bigger ambitions but, by some miracle, pulls it off, delivering an unforgettable spiritual satire with a surprising beginning, a deeply funny middle and a profound ending. And in an era of ratings-driven, closure deprived, air-it-till-it-dies television entertainment, that's saying a lot.

Something wicked this way comes...

The Good Place tells the tale of amoral deadbeat Elanor (Kristen Bell), indecisive philosopher Chidi (William Jackson Harper), pompous elitist Tahani (Jameela Jamil) and dopey dime-store criminal Jason (scene-stealer Manny Jacinto) who die and find themselves in heaven, or rather "The Good Place" as its architect, the angel Michael (Ted Danson), declares it upon their arrival. High moral scores in life lead people to perfection in the skies, while low moral scores send them to "The Bad Place," a nightmarish realm that remains unglimpsed in Season One (at least at first). However, the clerical error that results in Elanor, Chidi, Tahani and Jason being admitted to The Good Place begins to spawn disastrous consequences, as the heaven-scape's underlying programming begins to break down and malfunction. With the help of AI construct Janet (D'Arcy Carden), the series' misplaced misfits struggle to retain their secret and remain firmly planted above rather than being sent below.

But that's merely the beginning. The Good Place soon nimbly twists and turns, veering off in far more interesting directions that keep the story fresh when it could have easily descended into formulaic banality. Just one warning: avoiding spoilers is a must. If you have yet to watch the series, stop here and proceed no further. You'll thank me later. Besides, at such a low price, a blind buy is relatively risk free. If you aren't spoiler averse, though, or if you've made it through the first season, read on.

Season One
13 Episodes, Discs 1-2

You could argue Season One finds its footing too late to warrant a rewatch but you'd be wrong. While the central twist at the heart of the series' opening volley of episodes seems inevitable in retrospect, knowing where our lovable losers are actually located and what Michael has been up to is only half the fun. Going back through the first season with full knowledge of what's really happening is where the true joys of the show's opening episodes lie. And what a cast Schur assembles to pull off the at-the-time carefully veiled magic trick. Bell is in her element as Elanor, embracing a sleaziness that affords the Veronica Mars comedienne plenty of opportunities to shine, or slither as it were. Harper is the straight man of the piece, though keep your eyes peeled as he slowly evolves into a source of just as many laughs as his more caricatured castmates. Jamil is perfectly off-putting, with just enough heart-of-gold hidden beneath her surface to keep her funny rather than grating. And Jacinto (after he finally begins to speak) is the most consistent gut buster, and easily the most likable and quotable of the bunch. Danson and Carden chew scenery as well, the Cheers star sinking his teeth into his devilishness while D'Arcy, the talented (and previously lesser known) improv comic, sets up more payoffs and punchlines than you'd expect. It's a light-hearted yarn with big laughs made all the better by its late season reveal; a reveal that not only drives Season One to a fantastic cliffhanger but also sets the stage for the creativity and imagination that runs wild in later seasons.

S1 Episodes:

• 1. Everything Is Fine
• 2. Flying
• 3. Tahani Al-Jamil
• 4. Jason Mendoza
• 5. Category 55 Emergency Doomsday Crisis
• 6. What We Owe to Each Other
• 7. The Eternal Shriek
• 8. Most Improved Player
• 9. Someone Like Me as a Member
• 10. Chidi's Choice
• 11. What's My Motivation
• 12. Mindy St. Claire
• 13. Michael's Gambit

Season Two
13 Episodes, Discs 3-4

The series' second season was the test of its staying power. Pulling off its Season One twist? Easy by comparison. Finding plenty of good soil to till after hitting audiences with such a silky smooth surprise? That was the real challenge. Thankfully, Schur and company prove their mettle, serving up a sophomore season that not only tops the first but takes the premise a full three steps farther. The cast, now given far more to play with, leans into each bit and banter, adding numerous layers to their potentially one-dimensional characters, sure, but also expanding the afterlife and its ensuing shenanigans to even more humorous ends. What's in store? Memory wipes, new world builds, angelic con after demonic con, a palpable sense of toil and struggle, and a genuine exploration of life philosophies often left unarticulated in even the most high concept sitcoms. (Amazon's Good Omens comes close.) It all culminates in yet another juke to the left, setting up another round of misadventures that promise to be even more devious than the last. But the highlight award goes to Marc Evan Jackson's eeeevil Shawn. After swiping episodes wholesale as Captain Holt's husband Kevin in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Jackson earns his place as a future series staple and infuses The Bad Place with a dim-wittedly wicked delirium only hinted at in Season One.

S2 Episodes:

• 14. Everything Is Great Part 1
• 15. Everything Is Great Part 2
• 16. Dance Dance Resolution
• 17. Team Cockroach
• 18. Existential Crisis
• 19. The Trolley Problem
• 20. Janet and Michael
• 21. Derek
• 22. Leap to Faith
• 23. Best Self
• 24. Rhonda, Diana, Jake and Trent
• 25. The Burrito
• 26. Somewhere Else

Season Three
13 Episodes, Discs 5-6

What are we missing? How about a new timeline! A bigger role for Adam Scott's smarmy demon Trevor! More guest stars and cameos! Deeper arcs for every character (Michael and Janet included)! And what a blast it all turns out to be. Maya Rudolph's Judge, or God, or whatever she might be in The Good Place mythos, spins the series on its axis yet again, giving the writer's room plenty of new ground to cover. Jokes come more fast and furious than before, and as is the case in clever comedies like Arrested Development before it, each one deftly stacks atop the next, affording every gag multiple levels of punch and pointedness. Bell and Danson rise to the surface with sneaking effortlessness, transforming Elanor and Michael into two sides of the same coin, each one bringing out the best in the other. Jacinto, Jamil, Harper and Carden follow suit with the help of scripts that seem to grow stronger the more the season gains momentum. The Good Place's third season is arguably its best simply because our four humans finally begin to feel, well, very very human. Gone are the jokes at the expense of our antiheroes' growth, gone are the deceptively dead-end detours in their stories, gone is the question as to whether the show has an endgame or is making it all up as it goes along. By the time Shawn springs his ultimate trap and Elanor takes the reigns of the Good Place simulation, you'll be left eager to see how Schur and his writers wrap it all up. Fingers crossed for a killer series finale...

S3 Episodes:

• 27. Everything Is Bonzer! Part 1
• 28. Everything Is Bonzer! Part 2
• 29. The Brainy Bunch
• 30. The Snowplow
• 31. Jeremy Bearimy
• 32. The Ballad of Donkey Doug
• 33. A Fractured Inheritance
• 34. The Worst Possible Use of Free Will
• 35. Don't Let the Good Life Pass You By
• 36. Janet(s)
• 37. The Book of Dougs
• 38. Chidi Sees the Time-Knife
• 39. Pandemonium

Season Four
14 Episodes, Discs 7-8

... which The Good Place manages, and then some. Thank the Maker. Series finales are often the low point of any show, particularly comedies. But with so much weight and trajectory to its story and the conclusion of its character arcs, the only complaint one could really level at the final episodes are how sad and serious they tend to be. That said, "sad" and "serious" are actually "moving" and "emotional", which we've been trained again and again to shrug off as unnecessary. Look closer, though. Schur has a track record of injecting heart into his shows' humor. The Office, Parks and Rec and Brooklyn Nine-Nine have touching moments aplenty, though none of them dedicate so much of their final moments to deep questions and even deeper feelings. The Good Place practically becomes a full-fledged dramedy by its finale, which might sound like a downer but spend time with Elanor and her friends and you'll be more than happy to welcome such mature sentiment into the fold. The series certainly doesn't take the easy road to its closing credits, instead offering a somber, sobering but weirdly serene sendoff that sticks the landing and makes the ultimate destination worthy of the four-season journey.

S4 Episodes:

• 40. A Girl from Arizona Part 1
• 41. A Girl from Arizona Part 2
• 42. Chillaxing
• 43. Tinker, Tailor, Demon, Spy
• 44. Employee of the Bearimy
• 45. A Chip Driver Mystery
• 46. Help Is Other People
• 47. The Funeral to End All Funerals
• 48. The Answer
• 49. You've Changed, Man
• 50. Mondays, Am I Right?
• 51. Patty
• 52. Whenever You're Ready Part 1
• 53. Whenever You're Ready Part 2

The Good Place: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

True to its HD broadcast source, The Good Place boasts a striking, vibrant 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer that rarely, if ever, falls short. Standard TV rules apply: 1) later seasons look aesthetically a bit better than the first (due to budget bumps and a growing stable of FX assets), 2) the already cartoony CG beasties and eruptions of angelic/demonic fantasy are occasionally hit or miss, and 3) a small handful of shots scattered across the four seasons are softer than others, or touched up with slightly heavy-handed sharpening. And none trace back to shortcomings in Shout Factory's encode. Otherwise, visually, there's zero complaints to be had. Colors are strong and exacting, skintones are lifelike, contrast is excellent and shadow delineation is notably precise. Edges are crisp too, with revealing textures and notable detailing in both close-ups and wide shots of ordinary and otherworldly locales. Again, the series' CG is occasionally a tad glossy or rubbery by comparison, especially when dealing with fully computer generated characters (e.g. everyone's favorite Bad Place torturer, Eater of Souls Toddrick Hemple. Ahem... I mean Todd). And those same FX have more apparent compositing seams on disc than when streaming. But hewing so close to the original source is a petty grievance. Artifacting, banding and other anomalies are virtually MIA, and background elements are crystal clear, with enough easter eggs and tiny jokes packed into various scenes to provide numerous new laughs on rewatch. All told, the Blu-ray release of The Good Place earns top marks and does the series proud.

The Good Place: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout Factory's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track isn't the involving and immersive experience I was hoping for but, like the broadcast of the show, the series' mix isn't exactly home to a rousing mix. Dialogue is clean, clear and well-grounded in the soundscape, and flourishes of music and explosive sound effects don't impede clarity. The subwoofer gets a mild workout when demonic whimsy is afoot but boasts little more than decent low- end heft on the whole. The Good Place is the chattiest of sitcoms, with fun but infrequent bursts of magical zaniness, and the rear speakers follow suit. When misadventures erupt, things get lively. When things settle? The rears remain largely quiet, as Elanor, Chidi and the gang are too busy debating philosophy or arguing with devilish entities to make for more engaging sonics. Likewise, pans are smooth and directionality is just accurate enough to avoid negative marks, crafting a solid if unremarkable soundfield. There isn't anything out of sorts that, to my ear, doesn't trace back to the front-heavy lack of ambition in the series' original mix (which is typical of NBC and other broadcast networks). All in all, Shout Factory's lossless track gets the job done. You'll be so busy laughing you won't be paying attention to the particulars of the track anyway.

The Good Place: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries (Discs 1, 2 and 3): The nine-disc Blu-ray release of The Good Place includes three audio commentaries - "Everything is Fine" with series creator Michael Schur, EP Drew Goddard, and actors Jameela Jamil and D'Arcy Carden; "Michael's Gambit" with Schur, Goddard, Jamil and Carden; and "Dance Dance Resolution" with Schur, Goddard, producer Megan Aram and actor Ted Danson.

• Four Gag Reels (Disc 9, SD/HD, 36 minutes): The rest of the set's features are included on a ninth bonus disc, rather than alongside their corresponding seasons. First up is a relatively amusing quartet of gag reels -- one for each season -- that are packed with line flubs and miscues galore. Fun because the cast is clearly having so much fun with one another.

• Seasons 1-3 VFX Reels (Disc 9, SD/HD, 5 minutes): Before and after comparisons of key FX scenes in the first three seasons. It's all divided into three short season-centric reels that promise more revealing looks behind the scenes than are delivered.

• "Mindy St. Claire" Table Read (Disc 9, SD/HD, 29 minutes): Oh the possibilities. Imagine multiple table reads, all as good natured and engaging as the one included this Season One episode. Ah well, better than nothing!

• 2019 San Diego Comic-Con Panel (Disc 9, SD/HD, 52 minutes): Marc Evan Jackson hosts a panel for the series' final season. There's some great Q&A bits and plenty of self-deprecating humor. Worth the watch.

• Series Finale After Show (Disc 9, SD/HD, 12 minutes): A much-too-quick sitdown with the cast that aired along with the series finale in early 2020.

Not included in Shout Factory's nine-disc set is the series' six-part webisode, "The Selection," which takes place between Seasons Three & Four and finds Shawn and his demons selecting challenging humans to send into the neighborhood to thwart Michael, Elanor and the crew's latest stab at being good.

The Good Place: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Shout Factory's nine-disc Blu-ray release of The Good Place is a must-have, not to mention one that (at the time of this review) is available at a steal of a pricepoint. The series itself only gets better with each passing season and the laughs come fast and come often. Its AV presentation is excellent as well, with little (if anything) to complain about. A beefier supplemental suite would have been appreciated but the relatively small selection of commentaries and features on tap are decent enough. If you have yet to watch The Good Place, don't waste time streaming Season One. Nab this BD set and enjoy a seriously funny trip into the afterlife.