Schur also worked on "The Office" as a writer, producer, and actor. Here's my issue with this: Doug admits to Janet and Michael that the only reason he does what he does is to get points. ", As far as we can tell, this fictional product placement was first spotted by a fan on Reddit. Doug Forsett's portrait as seen in Michael's office on season one, episode one. (Aside from the Danson fandom, Garfinkel says he was only recognized as Doug Forcett once, by someone working on another show with him. "And I did, in fact, throw up when I got home. Michael and Janet pose as reporters and visit Doug Forcett, the one human in existence to most closely accurately figure out how the afterlife works (92% accurate, in fact; by contrast, most of the world's major religions got about 5 to 10% of it right) while he tripped out on magic mushrooms as a teenager, as Michael believes that the life Doug . Incompatibalism: Incompatibalism is the position that determinism and human freedom are incompatible. In the beginning, before frozen yogurt shops permeated The Good Place and butthole spiders haunted the Bad Place, there was Doug Forcett. Thank you for bringing it to our attention, and thank you for your blog. There was a lot of misinformation about it in the news a few months ago. So Chidi offers up an ethical loophole called the doctrine of double effect, coined by Thomas Aquinas. He literally admits that his sole motivation to do good things is to get into the good place. While living so selflessly sounds good in theory, Doug illustrates how such a severe commitment to utilitarianism is actually a terrible idea. "The Good Place" is a creative and detailed comedy series beloved by fans. Also, instead of the mural outside of Michael's office reading, "Welcome! "That night, I ate a tremendous amount of food in fast bursts," he reports. Garfinkel portrays Younger Doug Forcett on The Good Place. Source: Netflixs The Good Place, S3 E8, Points assigned for a gift of flowers in 2009. Forcett (Michael McKean), whos famous among immortals for correctly intuiting the Good-Bad Place points system while high on magic mushrooms in October 1972, lives like a hermit (and a little like Chuck McGill, with a side of Desmond Hume and James Delos) in the Alberta wilderness, so Michael and Janet drop by his house posing as reporters from the Calgary Times Examiner who want to talk to him for a human-interest piece. The poetry section is all Jeff Foxworthy. By Kants rationale, lying, stealing, and other immoral behaviors can never be justifiedeven if youre lying to spare someones feelings or stealing a loaf of bread to feed a starving child. Naturally, after his brilliant turn on Better Call Saul playing a weirdo shut-in, Michael McKean is a perfect . Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. That looks like a '70s kind of dude." 10. r/TheGoodPlace. It's 'Closest Guess.'" I try to use less of those every day. For he is Doug Forcett, the fellow who Figured It All Out about the afterlife decades ago, with the aid of some mind-expanding magic mushrooms. (Poor Doug.). It was really fun.'" The "big four" are: transportation (car, plane), diet (esp beef, food waste), home energy (esp heating), and general consumption. Mondays @4:30, Strange Lounge Main Hall, everyone is welcome! Glen was the Good Place resident/demon-in-disguise who falls into the neighborhood sinkhole. Source: Netflixs The Good Place, S3 E10. Why don't we see Janet having rebooting problems after the first time she's rebooted? Parents weigh heavily in these episodes: Jason reconnects with Donkey Doug, who has been in prison many times, once for selling counterfeit truck nuts. And in each role the actor shines with tools he says hes gained from poetry, his family, and yes, even clown class. Does anyone else out there find Doug Forcett's role in this show flawed? Doug Forcett shouldn't have any points at all because he's only motivated by his own reward, right? Series creator Michael Schur called these numbers a "conspiracy theorist's dream" on "The Good Place: The Podcast," where he said he chose the numbers to make fans theorize over their meaning when in reality, they hint at nothing. says Garfinkel. This is actually the reason he does not have enough points to get into The Good Place; he has accumulated about half the required points. In six new promotional images, each of the six main characters received a plaque reminiscent of the one featuring Doug Forcett in the premiere. Inspired by Eleanors suggestion of taking the Soul Squad to the next level, Michael skips straight to the highest level imaginable: meeting afterlife icon Doug Forcett, whose portrait once adorned Michaels office wall in the Bad Place. In that sense, accumulating Good Place points may bring him some satisfaction, no matter how hard-earned. Freedom of the Will: Most generally, Michael and Eleanors discussion might prompt us to ask what is it to act freely? Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. So much so that NBC produced a weekly podcast show bringing us behind-the-scenes stories for every episode. "One of the people who works on our show may or may not have been in [Skull and Bones], and may or may not have told us he was in it when you're not supposed to do that.". The portrait of a young Doug that hangs in Michael's office is actually a picture of actor/writer. As a number of you theorized last week, we indeed went to Canada to meet Doug Forcett, the lionized Canadian who got closest to figuring out how the afterlife works: And so, who did they get to play Doug Forcett? Putting issues concerning Dougs epistemic position aside, Doug is described as ahappiness(orutility)pump, since, in an effort to maximize his chances of getting into the Good Place, he does everything he can to make others happy to accrue as many points as possible. Some incompatibilistscalled hard deterministshold that determinism is true, and so we lack free will. Doug is described in the series as the first and only human being to discover the point system for getting into the Good Place. Doug once said that the last time he went to donate blood, they ended up giving him more because he had already donated too much. Under normal circumstances, motivation doesn't seem to actually be a determining factor for how one accumulates points in The Good Place. It's explained in the very first episode of The Good Place that Forcett is a renowned afterlife celebrity for actually figuring out, during a magic mushroom trip, how the mechanics of post-death life actually work. NBC Noah Garfinkle is best friends with one of "The Good Place" writers, Joe Mande, which is how he wound up as the face of . For more information, please see our As the series progressed, Doug took on an afterlife of his own. It also involves him doing whatever the local teen sociopath (or anyone) tells him to do. But it also happens to cover some impressive philosophical ground in a way that advances the plot and adds intrigue without weighing the story down or feeling like you're trapped in a classroom. But, then, Michael says that, In one of the reboots, you and Chidi fell in lovedeeply, and you told him that you loved him, and he told you that he loved you back. Episode Seven opens with Michael and Eleanor having wandered into a public library, because they need somewhere quiet for the Earthly Eleanor to experience memories of her afterlife (and, as Michael says, theres no place more deserted than a public library in Arizona.) Eleanor views her afterlife memories. . ), and he's simplistic or "Ya Basic!". Express / Weekend Express Community Calendar "So in the finale, when Noah was actually there, it felt like 'Oh, this is the natural end. Why does the impeller of torque converter sit behind the turbine? Other terms, however, are delivered via quick character dialogue or single-episode arcs that might leave you under-appreciating the artful manner in which creator Michael Schur has just fed you a giant, delicious meal of moral philosophy. Jason and Tahani balance each other out, which explains the hookups in the season. Ultimately, the 6 together as a unit are each others soul mates or it may be even include Trevor or a few others going forward. In the beginning, before frozen yogurt shops permeated The Good Place and . In season 3, Michael and Janet even traveled down to Earth to meet the older Doug Forcett (played by Michael McKean), and that visit helped lead the Soul Squad to understand and later upend the way the afterlife's points system worked, which directed people into the Good Place or the Bad Place. How did StorageTek STC 4305 use backing HDDs? He has become what Janet calls a happiness pump; in other words, hes trying to pump as much happiness into the world as possible at his own expense. The number 322 refers to Skull and Bones (also known as Order 322), a Yale secret society. "Noah asked if he could stop by [the set], and when he walked into the room, it was like a rock star had entered," Schur recalls. Michael uses Doug Forcett as proof that something must be very wrong since Doug should obviously have more than enough points to get into the good place. When Team Cockroach arrives at the Good Place, a party is designed to perfectly suit their desires. Forcett has turned himself into an ultra-utilitarian happiness pump, functioning solely to serveand avoid impedingthe desires of others. (The date of that guess, Oct. 14, is a nod to the Great Departure on The Leftovers. He's revealed to have 520,000 points and was briefly deemed by Michael to be a possible prototype for how to get people into the Afterlife, in spite of the fact that all of his actions are explicitly motivated by a desire to get into the Good Place (edit: or, at least, to avoid going to the Bad Place; whether that distinction is relevant is actually a fascinating question in and of itself). Sign up to be notified of new posts by this blogger. SPOILER. One example in a later season compares two people, a medieval peasant who picked flowers for his mother and a modern day man who bought flowers for his mother. He did, however, take it out to snap a self (selves?) These projects span 23 different states/regions and 16 different countries. Their intent and mindset where not taken in to consideration. Why isn't Mindy St Claire asking Janet to conjure up some cocaine? In turn Michael brings in the 4 humans, each who died based on their major flaw, the deaths can be assumed to be due the fact that their counterparts / soul mates haven't been with them in life: Eleanor died because she didn't have a moral compass, which she desperately needs to guide her as she knows deep down she wants to do the right thing and be a good person. It should be noted that I absolutely love this show. Even if that warmth comes with a comment about a best friends grating speaking voice.. If his only motivation is his own reward, how is Michael confused when he learns that Doug Forcett isn't getting into the good place? Finally, yeah, I offset all of our household emissions, including streaming, but also things like our portion of health care and the military, etc. Everything is fine," like it did throughout season one, in the second version of the neighborhood, the mural says, "Welcome! It holds that if determinism is true, we are not free. He seemed to be truly concerned about the snails on his garden, not just acting to "cheat the game". Please enter a valid email and try again. This is all fine, and everything's happy and pleasant and has a warm and inviting vibe about it," says Schur. ", Shepard plays a sleazy demon attending a party in the Bad Place, and tells Bell's character, Eleanor, "You got that good stank.". The joke is that this all-seeing genius was a Canadian stoner kid named Doug Forcett, who solved the riddles of existence while stupendously high. About this blog: Climate change, despite its outsized impact on the planet, is still an abstract concept to many of us. Which of these positions seems most plausible to you? @PrincessAda Nice. THEORY: Doug Forcett was 100% Correct This got long on another post so I thought I'd put it here: Essentially, Doug Forcett wasn't 92% correct, instead he was 100% correct it wasn't what the angels and demons wanted to hear so they couldn't understand it or outright rejected it. How Marvel went big with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Then, on season three, a slug-like creature from another dimension drapes itself around Tahani's neck when they enter the Interdimensional Hole of Pancakes to meet the judge. Though the doctrine of double effect fuels that episode-specific plotline, it also subtly advances the story of Eleanor and Chidis relationship by prompting Eleanor to show Chidi the video footage from an earlier reboot in which they confess their love to each other. Pam Grier reflects on her most iconic roles, from, Ted Danson goes deep on the series finale and that final line. Mobile site. She also wears University of Michigan shirts throughout the first season. . It's a fitting and fittingly meta conclusion to the story of Doug. The Good Place: Welcome, Everything is Fine, Press J to jump to the feed. Every establishment is used to shoot pornography after closing. Join. For instance, when the neighborhood is first rebooted in the season one finale, the clown paintings in Eleanor's house have been slightly rearranged. Michael (Ted Danson) and Janet (DArcy Carden) finally meet Doug Forcett (Michael McKean) to learn about how he lives his life. Subscribe for More: http://bit.ly/NBCTheGoodPlace Stream Anytime: http://www.nbc.com/the-good-place/episodesTHE GOOD PLACE ON SOCIAL:Like The Good Place on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NBCTheGoodPlace/Follow The Good Place on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nbcthegoodplaceFollow The Good Place on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nbcthegoodplace/#DougForcett #YouKnowForACelebrityHesAmazinglyDownToEarth #TheGoodPlace #NBC #EverythingIsFine #Highlight #Michael #TedDanson #Janet #DarcyCarden #MichaelMcKean #IDesignedALifeThatWouldMaximizeMyPointTotalAndHelpMeGetIntoTheGoodPlace #HeIsTheBlueprintJanetHeFiguredItAllOut #IHaveMyCompostingToiletHookedUpToAWaterFiltrationSystem #OneMansWasteIsAnotherMansWaterAndBothMenAreMeNBCs The Good Place follows Eleanor Shellstrop, Chidi Anagonye, Tahani Al-Jamil, and Jason Mendoza as they seek redemption in the afterlife, aided by Good Place Architect, Michael, and a human-esque repository for all of the knowledge in the universe, Janet.Find The Good Place trailers, full episode highlights, previews, promos, clips, and digital exclusives here. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. For example: Michael could tell Jason that he was married to Janet in a previous reboot, knowing that this would cause emotional pain for Jason and Tahani (and could also result in Janets decision to off Derek in favor of Jason), as long as his primary goal in spilling the beans is to spare them all from Vickys future wrath and Janets potentially catastrophic future glitches. Chidi gets better when Eleanor can take in and translate his knowledge to make right decisions. The Good Place Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. Doug Forcett's portrait on display in Michael's office on 'The Good Place', | Credit: Justin Lubin/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images, Noah Garfinkel and William Jackson Harper on 'The Good Place', Noah Garfinkel and his 'Good Place' portrait. Oops. "In this show, I ended up not changing them. In Chapter 36: Janet(s), it is revealed that Doug's point total is 520,000 about half the required points to enter The Good Place. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. As Michael explained to the Brainy Bunch in Jeremy Bearimy, As soon as you learned about the afterlife, your motivation to be good was corrupted. In the inscription, it appears all six characters . We know Eleanor is reading the Libra entry because she mocks the tip given in that paragraph: "Live every day like it's your last" (an ironic piece of writing given that she's about to enter the afterlife). In season 2, episode seven, Janet has created a doltish rebound boyfriend named Derek to help her get over her lasting feelings for Jasonfeelings that generated a slew of malfunctions like spontaneously summoning a roughly 10-foot-long sub and vomiting thousands of pennies. Why was he able to continue to earn points after 1972? Its just hot ocean milk with dead animal croutons. All six of the portraits seem to be mimicking the photo of Doug Forcett that hangs in Michael's office. Can you come to the Universal lot and do that?'" Mande's recurring character Todd shows up on the first season, and then again on season two when Eleanor and Chidi overhear a group of demons talking about Michael's failed experiment. Garfinkle is not an actor, but his face wound up in many scenes of the show thanks to Doug Forcett's portrait placement in Michael's office. Elinor & co have certainty that the points-system is real, because Michael gave them positive confirmation. "[The panda] is teleporting around the scene, it's eating bamboo, and it's causing destruction," said the show's editor, Eric Kissack, on "The Good Place: The Podcast.". Good Place, S3 E8, points assigned for a gift of flowers 2009. Welcome, everything is fine, and so we lack free Will, before frozen shops! 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