The Guest Star That The Good Place Wasted
The Good Place had some seriously great guest stars during its run... but unfortunately, the series totally squandered this comedy legend. Spoilers for the end of The Good Place ahead!
Throughout its four season run, The Good Place followed the struggles of four humans — Eleanor (Kristen Bell), Chidi (William Jackson Harper), Tahani (Jameela Jamil), and Jason (Manny Jacinto) — who find themselves in the afterlife, told that they're in the "good place" thanks to their great lives on Earth. However, as the first season comes to a close, it's revealed that afterlife architect Michael (Ted Danson) and his omniscient assistant Janet (D'Arcy Carden) were tricking the humans all along and torturing them, making them think they're in the "good place" when they're actually deep within the "bad place."
Ultimately, Michael and Janet team up with the humans to form the "Soul Squad" when it comes to light that the Bad Place has been exploiting a damaged points system for years, and nobody has even entered the real Good Place in hundreds of years. After tons of battles and even some drawn-out court proceedings, the Soul Squad fix the system and are granted spots in the real Good Place, where they meet one of the show's most famous — and seriously underutilized — guest stars and learn why the real Good Place isn't all it's cracked up to be. Here's how The Good Place completely wasted Friends star Lisa Kudrow in its final season.
Lisa Kudrow should have had more to do on The Good Place
When Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason finally get to the real Good Place, they make an unsettling discovery: everyone there has basically been trapped in "paradise" for eternity, causing their brains to atrophy as they're prevented from moving on or making any sort of personal progress. A prime example of this is one of Chidi's philosophy idols, Hypatia of Alexandria (Kudrow), who prefers to go by "Patty," and whose brain is so ruined from constant paradise that she can barely think anymore. This revelation prompts the "Soul Squad" to figure out one last huge solution — after residents of the real Good Place have achieved personal enlightenment, they can cross through a mysterious door and walk into the ether, effectively ending their heavenly existence.
Despite the fact that Patty's mental state is what prompts the gang to come up with their last kind act for the afterlife, Kudrow — a comedy veteran known for her role as Phoebe Buffay in Friends and for shows like HBO's mockumentary The Comeback — is completely wasted, only appearing in a single episode. Especially considering that Patty's brain starts to resume function after she learns about the door, as it gives her something to look forward to in the Good Place, we could have seen more of Kudrow's character before the series ended. Unfortunately, Kudrow's role is nothing more than a cameo. (This is to say nothing of a moment earlier in the fourth season where Michael directly references Phoebe Buffay, which actually makes her appearance slightly baffling.)
All of The Good Place, including Kudrow's woefully short role, is available on Peacock and Netflix now.