The Good Place: 10 Major Relationships, Ranked Least To Most Successful

NBC’s The Good Place was one of the cleverest sitcoms in recent memory, as it explored the idea of the afterlife and how paradise might not be all it is cracked up to be. But like all good sitcoms, the relationships at the show’s center are really what made it special.

As the show played around with “the Good Place” and “the Bad Place,” some of these relationships were designed to be the worst combination of people, yet there were also people who truly fell in love with each other despite the odds. From the bad to the very good, these are the major relationships in The Good Place.

10 Chidi And Esmeralda

After the main characters find out they are in the Bad Place, Michael continuously reboots the system in search of the perfect scenario that will effectively torture the humans. This included partnering them with “soulmates” that are very wrong for them.

For Chidi, the nightmarish soulmate he is partnered up with is Esmeralda. She is a sullen and cold woman who is obsessed with death and darkness, and she really makes Chidi uncomfortable. Though he gives it his best shot, he cannot stand her.

9 Eleanor And Chris

While Michael tries to torment Chidi with someone who is very wrong for him, he tries to distract Eleanor with someone who seems like her dream come true. Chris is a good-looking and muscular man introduced as Eleanor’s new soulmate. He was even a mailman on Earth, which is a personal fantasy of Eleanor’s.

However, Chris is also a demon in disguise who is meant to keep Eleanor from finding out she is in the Bad Place. Whenever she tries to talk to him about her suspicions, he says he has to go to the gym. After this happens a few times, she quickly decides she cannot trust him.

8 Janet And Derek

Janet is the all-knowing guide within the Good Place. While she is meant to be without human emotions, after getting upgraded, she develops feelings for Jason and is hurt when he is with someone else.

To get over her heartbreak, Janet designs her own artificial rebound boyfriend named Derek. But as a new being, Derek is more like a lost puppy dog than a real boyfriend. Eventually, their relationship rapidly progresses to the point where they fight constantly and Janet sends him to her void.

7 Mindy And Derek

Mindy St. Claire is the only human living in the Medium Place, which is neither good nor bad. The main characters often escape to her house as a refuge where Mindy lives a bitter and lonely life.

After helping them out countless times, Eleanor decides to send Mindy a present as Derek becomes her new boyfriend. But even after being alone for the rest of eternity, Mindy constantly gets annoyed with Derek and reboots him over and over again until he becomes some sort of celestial being that still annoys Mindy.

6 Tahani And Tomas

Another relationship that was set up to be a failure is between Tahani and Tomas. Given how Tahani has a tendency to be shallow, so while Tomas seems like a nice guy, she cannot get past the height difference or the fact that he has no fashion sense to speak of. It doesn’t seem like much, but it is enough to quickly turn this relationship into a disaster.

5 Tahani And Chidi

During the first round of torture inside the fake Good Place, Tahani begins to have second thoughts about the fact that her soulmate is Jianyu, a monk who is practicing a vow of silence. After learning that Chidi made a painting that was supposedly from Jianyu, she begins to think Chidi might be her soulmate.

Tahani and Chidi do seem to have a lot in common and enjoy each other’s company. But they soon discover that all this doubt that made Tahani think she is meant to be with Chidi was just the Bad Place messing with their head yet again.

4 Tahani And Jason

When they are together as Tahani and Jianyu, these two do not seem to fit at all. However, once the lies are revealed and Jianyu admits he is actually Jason, this couple does end up finding at least temporary happiness together.

At first, they just start sleeping together casually, but they actually find that they enjoy spending time with each other and might actually make each other better people. While they don’t end up being soulmates, after all, they were a surprisingly strong couple.

3 Chidi And Simone

After getting sent to Earth for another shot at making it into the Good Place, Chidi seeks out the help of Simone, a neurologist. They end up partnering on a study about near-death experiences which also included Eleanor, who eventually convinces Chidi to ask Simone out.

Chidi and Simone end up being a great pair and she is the perfect person to help ground him. They eventually break up after Chidi learns of the afterlife and doesn’t want to risk dooming her. They end up meeting again in the Good Place test run, but it turns out they were not meant to be.

2 Jason And Janet

Though Janet continuously reminds people that she is not a girl, she is still moved when Jason gives her a hug and thanks her for helping him. This does something to her programming that gives her the ability to fall in love.

Though it is a relationship that doesn’t really make any sense, Jason and Janet prove themselves to be ideal for each other. They share a genuine affection for one another and love spending time together even when they could be doing literally anything they could imagine.

1 Eleanor And Chidi

In the beginning, Eleanor and Chidi were introduced as soulmates as a way of messing with them. Ironically, it ended up being true. They initially seem like complete opposites who often get on each other’s nerves, but a true romantic love grows out of that over time.

Despite the many reboots and different realities, these two keep finding their way back to one another. They would never have made it to the Good Place without each other and they got to spend a long time in paradise together as their reward.

About The Author

Colin McCormick
(2030 Articles Published)

Colin McCormick is a Senior Writer with Screen Rant and has been a proud member of the team since 2019. In addition to his work as Screen Rant, Colin is also a writer of News, Feature and Review pieces at Game Rant. Colin has had a long passion and obsession with movies going back to the first time he saw The Lion King in theaters. Along with movies, Colin stays up-to-date on the latest must-see TV shows. While he loves to find interesting projects in any kind of genre, he has a special movie of crime stories that are infused with a little dark humor much like the work of his favorite author, Elmore Leonard.

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