by Cate Cowger-Wesley
The Good Place is a show on Netflix that aired first in 2016 and recently released the final season of the show October 2020. The show follows Eleanor Shellstrop, Chidi Anagonye, Tahani Al-Jamil and Jason Mendoza who have each just passed away and found themselves in the afterlife. They were told that they were in The Good Place which would be the equivalent to heaven, but they find themselves in for a wild ride with the fate of humanity on their hands. Each Character has their own special things about them, and here’s my ranked order of them based on who the best characters were and why they have that rank.
- Eleanor Shellstrop gets the number one spot because she is the main character in the show. She has some funny moments and shows great leadership later on in the show which really shows her character’s growth from the crazy, stay out all night type girl she was at the beginning.
- Micheal falls in the number two spot because of the heartwarming moments he brought to the show. Although he was a demon he showed he could care about people and ended up saving humanity in many ways. Whenever Micheal was on the show from seasons 2-4 he made the show more sentimental but also more funny.
- Chidi Anagonye is number 3 because of his nerdy charm. Chidi and Eleanors relationship brought a new element to the show and gave me something to invest in. Chidi although annoying and a stickler for the rules at times was a great character that found good in life and the afterlife through small things. He also brought a level of humor through his indecisive mind.
- Jason Mendoza is placed at number 4 for his humorous personality and the element of surprise he had in the show. Jason was funny but would also surprise me at times throughout the show where he would share his opinion and it would actually benefit the group.
- Janet is number 5 for being a pain and a bit annoying at times with her robotic ways but was also the character that sparked the most action. She was a robot so she could do anything she wanted and can make anything appear that any human would want. She ended up helping the humans become better people and save the rest of the still living humanity. Jason and Janet had a relationship throughout the show that was intriguing and kept me wanting to watch more.
- Tahani Al-Jamil gets number 6 for being an important character to the show but overall very snooty and rude. She did have her kind moments but was always talking about herself and her accomplishments which at times could be interesting but were overall annoying. She played a big role in helping with the afterlife although was mainly talking about herself along the way.
HB IN RETROSPECT 
I love this show! I agree that Eleanor should take top spot because she grew the most as a character.
While I agree with these rankings, I do not agree with the reasonings. Though Eleanor is the main character, her status as the main character does not immediately give her the number one spot. Her actions and character growth give her that — not her role in the storyline. What if Jason were the main character? Would he then be number one? Janet, though a robot, played a crucial role throughout the entirety of the show. Rather than her robotic ways being annoying, I believe that they made her even more of an intriguing character. She was not a normal human and her being a robot simply gave the character arches more diversity. As for Tahani, yes, she was a bit egocentric, but this also let her grow as a character. Tahani had good reason to be proud of her accomplishments and achievements, and her “snootiness” gave her character texture. In the final season of The Good Place, her regal mindset also plays a very crucial role. Everyone enjoys talking about themselves — it’s only human. While Tahani did enjoy flaunting her feats, in the end, she grew greatly as a character. Her narcissism was used against her plenty of times and through that, we can see her growth as a character. So while I do agree with the listed rankings, I disagree with some of your reasonings.