A joyful end

I finished watching The Good Place this week.  (Substantial spoilers ahead, though I don't think it will ruin the show for you at all.)  The show is a bizarre hybrid of silly jokes and philosophical musing, a mishmash of pop culture riffs and deep examination of the meaning of life.

I love that combination.

I cried most of the way through the final episode.  It wasn't because the end of the show was sad, as it was most certainly a happy ending.  The characters completed their bizarre journeys across the boundaries of life and afterlife and concluded their adventures through The Good Place, The Bad Place, and The Medium Place.  The story ended, the plot resolved, and they went on to find their eventual end.  Wendy asked me what it was about the episode that made me weep throughout and after some consideration I have a couple of answers.

First off I love the idea of a properly finished story.  A character ending their arc and being done, finished, complete, has a huge emotional power over me.  I can be happy with a 'happily ever after' sort of ending, but if you really want to yank on my heartstrings you need to finish the character completely.

The characters in the show absolutely got their proper end.  Their adventures stopped, and they had the time needed to rest, grow, improve, and become their best selves.  Then, when they had done all the things, become beautiful butterflies, they ended.

Ended.  Not dead, not 'no more to say', actually ended.

I love that so much.  Something about an actual end, a proper one, one that comes when the character is truly ready for it, has immense power.

This leads into my second point, which is that I am so interested in how relationships end.  I love the idea of people accepting their partners for who they are, and not clinging on to a relationship that is no longer truly serving them, or being true to who they are.  I love watching people who love one another but who are capable of accepting that their partner may need to leave, and that this is the best thing.  Often a partner leaving is portrayed as a thing you must fight, or hate, but The Good Place absolutely took a stand that I love:  Sometimes someone leaving is simply the best thing that can happen.  That doesn't mean the relationship isn't important, that you now hate each other, or that the relationship failed.  It simply means it needs to be over.

You can love someone deeply and watch them leave you without anger or bitterness.  Set them free, and let them fly, and wish them only the best.  When we talk about children people mostly get this, and I wish we all saw our relationship partners the same way.

This is all most potent because of choice.  The characters *chose* their fate.  This wasn't the universe sweeping in and killing them randomly - they decided to be done.  I don't know why exactly, but watching someone come to that place of contentment, of satisfaction, of completeness, and looking into the void without fear or worry... so powerful.

Something about having done enough, having learned enough, *being* enough, that you can comfortably say that you need no more hits me square in the feelings.  I have often said that mortality is defined not by the fear of death, but the experience of fear, doubt, and worry.  Seeing people who have gotten beyond that, who no longer face those demons, because they have done all they need to do; it gets me.

I love that The Good Place managed to tackle the philosophical trolley problem with a trolley that runs over screaming people, covering the person riding the trolley in blood, with a cackling eternal being taking notes the entire time.  I love that it never stopped having Tahani drop names, or Jason be a doofus.  But while having all this silly humour they also taught us things and told a wonderful story.

You should watch The Good Place.  Whether you are there for the silly fun or the deep stuff, it delivers.