At one level, The Good Place is an entertaining comedy that is a pleasure to watch. At another level, it is simply brilliant. The series is a contemporary version of Dante’s Divine Comedy, in which this group of friends make the same journey as Dante’s protagonist. The series explores serious philosophical, ethical and spiritual issues in a manner that is enjoyable and easy to understand. In doing so, it draws on major philosophers and ideas both classic and contemporary. They even have two philosophy professors as consultants to the show’s production staff.
While prior seasons have explored ethics, conscience, forgiveness, love and similar weighty themes, recent episodes have wrestled with the nature of heaven. This is probably the most difficult task for the writers and production staff, as they want to explore the most common understandings that have emerged, keep the images relatable, yet avoid taking on the perspective of a specific religious tradition.
For example, over time we come to see that life is about learning how to love. So, much of the series focuses on getting the characters to realize that their love and relationship with one another is the key to growth and all that is good in their lives. However, the perfection required for heaven seems to be beyond most human beings, who learn slowly and through experience. This realization sets up the necessity for something like Purgatory, where people have an opportunity to continue to learn and grow in love and relationships with one another. They don’t speak of purgatory, as that is a Catholic concept, but their “Middle Place” serves the purpose of Purgatory as found in the Catholic tradition.
Scripture tells us that we can’t comprehend the experience of heaven because it is beyond our earthly human perceptions. We just don’t have any way to visualize the nature of a reality for which we don’t have the concepts or sense perception to grasp. However, we can draw upon a variety of metaphors to use as broken symbols pointing beyond the barrier of death to the reality of heaven.
There are times in life when we have powerful experiences of what seems like pure bliss. We are overcome with the emotion of joy that is many times more powerful than anything we had previously experienced. This might happen at some major event in our lives, such as the birth of our child or our wedding. It might happen when we are sitting quietly enjoying a beautiful scene or work of art. It might happen in prayer. It might happen as we are sharing a few quiet moments with a friend or spouse. These are experiences that overpower us with joy. They may last for only a moment or two, but we seem to be one with the universe and profoundly at peace. Such experiences are common enough that there is even a technical name for them. They are referred to as “unitive” experiences. It is not unreasonable for us to conclude that if heaven is supposed to be pure bliss, then these unitive experiences must be hints of what heaven is like. In a sense, these unitive experiences are broken symbols pointing beyond the limits of our perceptions into the mystery.
Metaphors are a powerful means to give us a glimpse of what heaven is like. Indeed, they are about the only way we can say anything remotely helpful about what lies beyond our experience and comprehension. The problem is that people can forget that these images are only metaphors and they can be taken too literally.
In one of the last episodes of The Good Place our protagonists are in paradise. They meet a woman who enjoys milkshakes, especially as the milkshakes in Paradise are literally the best tasting milkshakes in the universe. The milkshakes are a metaphor for the joy of Paradise. However, if heaven is simply getting the best version of anything you desire, even something as simple as a milkshake, are we missing something important? The writers of The Good Place are trying to get across the point that Paradise is more than wish fulfilment. It is profoundly and incomprehensibly joyful not because our appetites are indulged but for a fundamentally deeper reason that has to do with love.