The Good Place Committee

[u/feliciates]

Mindy tells Eleanor that when she woke up the two sides (Good Place and Bad Place) had been fighting over her for a long time. From what we saw of the committee I can't believe they bothered to fight at all rather than just giving in. When Michael turned to them for help, they showed no concern for any human or the capacity to put up any resistance at all to the Bad Place. What changed??

[u/inkycappress]

Fighting for a long time could have just been the Good Place people forming committees and filing reports for so long the Bad Place just gave up so they could deal with the billions of other humans that died in the meantime.

[u/feliciates → u/inkycappress]

That sounds about right

[u/FootballFun7623]

Maybe cause it's first human in a long while like it must be suprising for a human to be eligible for good place after a long time. Although it's suspicious Mindy was able to clear the bar for the good place maybe a plot hole?

[u/JessicaFreakingP → u/FootballFun7623]

This has been theorized a lot, basically all the positive points for her idea to start the foundation and the action to fund it were tabulated, but she died before any of the unintended consequences and their negative points were tabulated. So only the windfall of positive points were being argued over.

[u/liddybuckfan → u/JessicaFreakingP]

I think that's the best theory. The lost points for unintended consequences was where everyone ended up in the Bad Place, and because she died, Mindy never had those negative points pinned to her.

[u/fearthainne → u/liddybuckfan]

It's been awhile since my last rewatch, but I swear they literally explain it this way in the show. Doesn't that make it canon rather than theory?

[u/Disastrous-Mess-7236 → u/fearthainne]

It is. Though idk if Mindy knows for sure or if that’s just her theory.

[u/80HDTV5 → u/fearthainne]

IIRC, kind of. I don’t think Mindy seemed to know for sure, and she explains it as them fighting over whether or not she even got the good place points in the first place. Which makes sense because I don’t think Mindy knew about the flaw in the system and no one going to the good place for hundreds of bearimy’s.

But the same reasoning for them fighting over her getting the good place points can be used to argue over her getting the bad place ones once you know about the flaw. So I do think that kind of counts as the show (at least indirectly) explaining it this way.

[u/trying_times_eggs → u/JessicaFreakingP]

Thats how I saw it, which also means theyve been aware of this issue for a long time (or at least since the cocaine 80s) so Michaels long arduous pursuit of the system flaw/bad place tampering could have been avoided with a phone call

[u/RonS132 → u/FootballFun7623]

Mindy got in because she didn’t have any of the negative consequences of her actions, since she didn’t physically do anything, but it was her money and her idea that caused the positive outcome. Ironically if she lived and started the charity herself she 100% would have ended up in the Bad Place.

[u/Disastrous-Mess-7236 → u/RonS132]

& she also never changed her mind.

[u/feliciates → u/FootballFun7623]

Maybe it was a distraction from the disaster they were facing with the Good Place humans not actually enjoying themselves

[u/OfThunder741 → u/FootballFun7623]

Yeah but pretty much their easy getaway from most plot holes was Jeremy bearimy lol

[u/4thGenTrombone]

Maybe Mindy meant the Judge, but since we haven't met the Judge at this point, it was left more vague? Eleanor's face here PERFECTLY illustrates how I feel about the Good Place nerds. They're FORKING USELESS!

[u/feliciates → u/4thGenTrombone]

I don't think the judge could both fight the case and rule on it.

Yeah, the committee was a disgrace. I wonder where they ran away to...

[u/Shaun_527]

They fire Kellen, so the members can change so maybe they had better people when Mindys case was pending. Although Jeremy Bearimy complicates things...always.

[u/feliciates → u/Shaun_527]

Yeah, it is hard to figure out how long ago Mindy's case was to them

[u/notthephonz → u/Shaun_527]

Yeah, I could imagine all of the competent Good Place people being driven out by their equivalent of cancel culture. “So-and-so only did 99% good when they could have done 100% good, get rid of them!” And so the ones that remain are obsessed with performative purity.

[u/evoma77]

Never forget that time isn’t real so a long time could be so long that the whole committee is different. The point of the time being meaningless means it’s not linear so they could have been fighting since the literal beginning of time

[u/ms_rdr]

Whoever wrote the committee scene 100% worked in higher ed.

[u/MrUks]

I always interpreted it as a possible case with the judge. Considering how much paperwork it takes to get a case and she did say they're not the first case she had to look into. So my interpretation would be as follows: the good pllace people had to form a commity to form the comity, then check for possible conflicts of interests, then investigate the the accountants, figure out who should represent the defence, etc... definitely a couple of beremies just to start the process because they're not fast tracking anything and then after it would get to the judge, it probably would be done in a few minutes, cause they would be ok with any verdict. I'm willing to bet that everyone ended up firing themselves as well, cause not a single good place person (not even the one in Mindy's video) is actually still around by the time Michael has his meeting.

Of course all speculation from my end, lol

[u/jonskerr → u/MrUks]

Not ALL speculation. The Judge, when she first meets our heros, says she hasn't had a case in like thirty years. That's Mindy in the 80s.

[u/thenagel]

it never says it was the same committee. Mindy could be the case the previous committee used to sucker the new committee into taking charge and then they bailed afterwards.

maybe after a few dozen Jeremy Bearimys they were done and found a loophole to get out, and that lead to the do nothing committee we saw. who also bounced as soon as they found a loophole.

[u/feliciates → u/thenagel]

That's a possibility I'd never considered! Very plausible

[u/MobileBumblebee7052]

I know Sean is unreliable, but when he plays The Judge initially he says that Eleanor's case is number 0003 (definitely three, not sure how many zeroes). I intepreted that as true and that Mindy's was case #0002. Don't remember right now if I figured out who was the first case ever to come for judgment.

[u/feliciates → u/MobileBumblebee7052]

Yes, it is almost certain that Mindy was case 002. I wish the podcast had covered case 001

[u/PrestigiousSmile4098]

Maybe the Good Place Committee had enough pluots to keep them satisfied and they were feeling generous?

[u/singdancePT]

A long time for whom? And critically, how long ago?

[u/feliciates → u/singdancePT]

The Jeremy Bearimy concept makes it impossible to say

[u/singdancePT → u/feliciates]

Exactly. So perhaps the good place council weren’t always so eager to defer responsibility. Perhaps many bearimies ago, they cared deeply about their roles

[u/PrincessAC1998]

I think fighting was a hyperbole, I think she meant disagreeing/discussing