Here's Why The Gallery Changed In The Final Episode Of The Good Place
After four seasons of deception, torture, the fate of humanity hanging in the balance, and giant flying shrimps, NBC's uniquely ethical sitcom "The Good Place" ended in, well, a good place. Our group of four humans and their demon pal have done it! They've reshaped the afterlife system, found happiness, and settled into an existence more fulfilling than anything they had in life.
Amidst all the scenes showing how things have changed since they arrived in the Good Place, there are clever details like the sneaky Fibonacci reference that calls back to Season 1 and a meaningful modification to the decoration on Michael's (Ted Danson) office wall. He's long displayed a portrait of teenage stoner Doug Forcett, the only person to ever get close (92%!) to describing the true nature of the afterlife. Instead of an established idea from any number of religions, the series' version is a mathematical system in which everyone earns points for doing good and loses points for doing bad.
Doug had been high on mushrooms at the time, but that didn't stop him from becoming a celebrity to the immortal beings of the afterlife. Michael is very fond of his portrait and giddy when they actually meet Doug on Earth, but in the final episode of the series, Doug's picture has been replaced.
Portraits of Team Cockroach are on the wall
When Team Cockroach finally gets to the real Good Place — and after solving their little eternal boredom problem — Michael remakes Eleanor (Kristen Bell) and Tahani's (Jameela Jamil) houses from their original neighborhood. Plus, he recreates his office nearby, now using it for his work as the head of the Good Place. While it looks mostly the same as the first version, which we last saw just a few episodes previously, there's one significant difference hanging on the wall: In place of Doug Forcett, there are four new portraits, of Eleanor, Chidi (William Jackson Harper), Tahani, and Jason (Manny Jacinto).
It's a sweet homage to the four humans, who certainly earned their place on that wall after fixing the entire afterlife system and saving countless human souls from the inescapable, infinite torture of The Bad Place. That is, perhaps, a little bit more impressive than Doug's high musings, no matter their accuracy.
This actually isn't the only change to these familiar sets: Eleanor and Chidi's house, once decorated with all manner of creepy clown paintings to torture Eleanor, now has abstract — but still colorful — art adorning its walls. All of it is a sign that things are, finally, good.