It’s hard to imagine how The Good Place‘s ending over five years ago could have been any sadder than it already is, but a new, dark Reddit theory does just that. While The Good Place is a comedy series, the story has always had an underlying sadness given its premise. In the show, Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) is a deceased woman who finds herself in the afterlife, seemingly having mistakenly been placed in the Good Place rather than the Bad Place despite her poor behavior while alive.
The Good Place boasts many unexpected twists that complicate the premise further. However, the show never changes the fact that Eleanor has died and tragically waited for death and the afterlife before ever trying to be a better person. Fans, though, have found a way to make the show even more tragic by suggesting one more, unexplored twist to the story.
Is Eleanor Really Dead in The Good Place?
She Could Be in an Altered State of Consciousness
The Good Place quickly establishes that Eleanor is dead, although she doesn’t have any recollection of her death. Michael (Ted Danson), an afterlife architect, is the only person who knows how she died. According to him, Eleanor had quite the freak-accident death, in which she was pushed into the path of a truck advertising erectile dysfunction pills by a long column of rogue returned shopping carts while shopping for margarita mix. The surprising revelation of her death was one of The Good Place‘s most iconic moments and perfectly set the ironic tone of the series. However, viewers later learn that Michael had lied about the Good Place, raising the question of whether his explanation of her death is reliable.
Hence, one Redditor came up with the theory that Eleanor isn’t actually dead throughout The Good Place but rather in a coma. Such an idea isn’t too far-fetched, as it seems The Good Place would either be the afterlife or the product of an altered state of consciousness. If the show made it all a dream, it would be pretty cliché, but a coma-induced state is believable. The Redditor’s primary evidence is the ending of The Good Place, in which Eleanor decides to exit the afterlife and, essentially, cease to exist. The theory is that her experience in the Good Place and Bad Place occurred while she was in a coma, and when she ceases to exist, is when she is removed from life support in real life.
The theory means that there actually is no Good Place or Bad Place. Perhaps it was some realm between life and death, or created wholly by Eleanor’s mind. When death actually arrives, though, Eleanor simply ceases to exist because there is nothing beyond death. Another Redditor responded to the theory in support, pointing out it could explain some plot holes, such as how Michael somehow manages to save the lives of all the characters in a new timeline in season 3, seemingly at the same time. If it was all just a coma fantasy, there aren’t any limits on what Michael can do. Additionally, it would explain why viewers never see Eleanor’s death onscreen and why her memory of it was conveniently wiped.
How the Coma Theory Aligns With The Good Place’s Themes
Her Personal Growth Could Still Be Real to Her
The Good Place outside the coma theory is already rife with thought-provoking and ethical ideas. It’s a story about self-improvement, morality, what it means to live a good life, and what humans owe each other. These themes still exist in the context of the coma theory, but it would change the show into a much more personal, psychological story. If true, the theory would likely mean that the afterlife and its inhabitants are manifestations of Eleanor’s life story and psyche.
Perhaps the characters represent both her strengths and shortcomings–Chidi (William Jackson Harper) represents her yearnings for moral understanding and desire to improve. In contrast, characters like Jason (Manny Jacinto) represent her shortcomings, like impulsiveness. Throughout The Good Place, every character develops and grows to some extent. If they all represent Eleanor’s development, it would mean she learned a lot more than just selflessness through her journey, also learning empathy, patience, and self-worth in her fantasy. Eleanor’s emotional growth is still real, even if it is a fantasy, with every character and event mirroring her internal struggles in her final moments of life.
Some of the most substantial evidence for the coma theory is how well it aligns with The Good Place‘s final episode and message. The final episode, «Whenever You’re Ready,» sees the characters decide what their ultimate fates will be. Several of the characters make the surprising choice to go through The Door and end their time in the afterlife and their existence. Eleanor is the last character to go through The Door, the perfect representation of removing life support. Both scenarios explore the idea of letting go and that actual death and potential nothingness are preferable to living an existence that is anything but fulfilling.
How the Coma Theory Makes Eleanor’s Arc More Heartbreaking
She Walked This Journey Alone
While the coma theory works with The Good Place‘s themes, it makes Eleanor’s character arc even more heartbreaking. Viewers had long raised the coma fantasy theory before the show’s finale. For some viewers, it gave hope of a happier ending. It raised hope that Eleanor would wake up at the end of everything as a changed person with a second chance at life on Earth. While this wasn’t the reality, The Good Place‘s official ending offered the next best thing. Eleanor didn’t get her second chance on Earth, but she did live out her second chance in the afterlife. She became part of a community, found her soulmate, improved herself, and ultimately felt so satisfied that she decided to end her existence.
In the coma theory, though, Eleanor doesn’t get a second chance at life in the afterlife. It’s hard to imagine how real the experience would feel to her. However, the inescapable reality is that it’s not real. Eleanor never met her soulmate in the afterlife or navigated all the ups and downs of the afterlife with a close-knit group of people. Instead, she was on a lonely, solitary journey in her mind while hanging precariously between life and death.
Not only that, but this theory significantly changes the ending of The Good Place by making it not quite Eleanor’s choice to go through the door. Perhaps she has learned to let go and garnered comfort from her imagined journey, but she has to go through The Door. She isn’t in control of her own fate, but is at the mercy of whoever pulled the plug. Then, of course, there’s the realization that there is no afterlife. The idea of non-existence is already a bit difficult to come to terms with in The Good Place‘s original ending. However, the coma theory means that there is always nothing. Everyone who dies ceases to exist, and, outside of fantasies, there are no second chances at life.
Ultimately, instead of Eleanor’s journey ending with her choosing, of her own free will, to end her existence after a satisfying stint in the afterlife, the coma theory means her journey ends with her alone in her mind, accepting her inevitable death and the nothingness that follows. Even if her spiritual journey felt real and was fulfilling for her personally, Eleanor doesn’t redeem herself in anyone else’s eyes. At the end of The Good Place, Tahani (Jameela Jamil) chooses to stay in the afterlife, so the memory of Eleanor and her self-improvement lives on in that scenario. In the coma theory, though, literally no one knows the better version of Eleanor, and she’ll always be remembered as the person she was the day she was hit by that truck.
As dark as the coma theory is, perhaps it would have been more effective for viewers. The Good Place demonstrates that Eleanor could’ve been a good person if she had the right environment, but she didn’t have that until it was too late. This remains true with the coma theory, but erases the existence of the afterlife. Outside her fantasy, she never had the right environment, living or dead, to live up to her true potential. There’s some comfort with the idea that her unfinished business occurred in the afterlife in The Good Place. However, the coma theory creates a new sense of urgency to better oneself and overcome one’s environment because death could truly be it.
