All The Forking Easter Eggs From 'The Good Place' Season Premiere!

By Dan Hamamura | TV | September 28, 2018 |

By Dan Hamamura | TV | September 28, 2018 |

Like so many of you, I love The Good Place, which has consistently proven itself to be simultaneously smart and entertaining, hilarious and heartfelt. It makes us laugh, it makes us think, and it’s easily one of the best shows on television. (side note: I will never forgive Dustin for the poll-based mental anguish he forced upon us earlier this year.)

One other thing that’s become apparent as the show has gone on (highlighted wonderfully by the official podcast, which you should definitely be listening to if you enjoy the show) is the focus and care given to even the smallest detail by both cast and crew.

This level of craftsmanship is, of course, the reason why The Good Place is incredibly successful. But it also means there are so many other tiny things - callbacks and easter eggs and weird jokes - that go by in the background, a series of blink-and-you-miss-them kind of moments that make the show even more enjoyable (as well as imply the existence of characters from Parks and Recreation, like an ad for Dennis Feinstein’s cologne, or a safe made by The Swanson Safe Company, which have been cited as proof of the expanded Schurniverse).

So here, in their honor (and definitely not because this is something I would be doing on my own regardless), is an attempt to catalogue (in chronological order) all of the new moments that we would have missed if we didn’t live in this glorious age of DVR, the pause button, and frame-by-frame advancement:

[INADVERTENT SPOILERS BELOW!]

The Afterlife Uses A Dingbat Font

If you look at Michael’s travel papers (and also computer screens later in the episode), the Afterlife seems to incorporate a font full of symbols which, knowing this show, probably actually says something if you translate it.

Even In The Real World, Punny Shops Are Still A Thing

Tahani Still Works With International Sophisticate Magazine

In Eleanor’s flashback in the season one episode Mindy St. Claire (Chapter 12), you may remember seeing Tahani on the cover of International Sophisticate Magazine. Here, she does a video interview with them as she shows off her home.

Chidi Can Speak English… For Real

When Mike Schur originally created the show, he explained that The Good Place translated everyone into languages the listener could understand, which was why Chidi spoke English to Eleanor even though he was speaking French.

But now that we’re back in the real world, the writers came up with a quick and easy explanation to solve this potential logic bump: Chidi actually can also speak English. And a bunch of other languages. SATISFIED?

Schurniverse Name Alert

Mike Schur shows are always filled with odd names, and even random names on a directory are no different. My personal favorite here is Dr. Pamela Watermelon.

EP Morgan Sackett Cameo!

Executive Producer/Director Morgan Sackett has a graphical cameo - that’s him on the bulletin board, running for some kind of office… despite having committed (at least) two crimes.

Tahani’s Book Has Consequences

Does getting Malcolm Gladwell and Cormac McCarthy to quit writing add or subtract to your Good Place score?

Oh well. At least Gladwell can fall back on his podcasting career.

Nick Has A New Restaurant!

In previous episodes, we’ve heard about Jason’s favorite restaurant, Stupid Nick’s Wing Dump, and Nick’s second, post-pelican accident venture, Ugly Nick’s Meat Trench.

It’s pretty tough to see, but here it looks like the dance competition Jason wants to enter is sponsored by Nick and his new restaurant, Weird Nick’s Chili Hole.

We Finally Meet Donkey Doug!

After so many stories about the infamous Donkey Doug, we finally get to meet him! He’s played by Mitch Narito, and he’s pretty much what you’d expect, right?

That’s all the new stuff I could find in this episode. Did I miss anything? Should I do this again next week? And oh man, we didn’t even talk about the ending! Can you believe that Trevor is back? HOLY MOTHERFORKING SHIRTBALLS!