Nickel Review: 5 Categories, 5 Words
Series Review of “The Good Place”
Cinematography: coruscated
Score & Sound: jaunty
Art & Wardrobe: chromatic
Story: immaterial
Acting: convivial
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Nickel Rating: 3/5¢
Cinematography: The Good Place is quite unique in its charge: what would heaven look like? Fortunately, they circumnavigated this existential question by framing it as: what would a demon design to convince humans they’re in heaven? Brilliant. The cinematography, in turn, encapsulates what heaven should look like: coruscated, in every sense of the word. You have lots of flat, perfectly lit people, with practically zero shadows and the camera techniques and equipment utilized allow for an angelic warm, showy vibe.
Score & Sound: Jaunty is the ideal word for the sound design as it works hand in hand with the hyper-luminous cinematography. The music retains the bubbly attitude of fake-heaven like an ominously toothy smile. As if everything is just so happy, there’s gotta be a catch!
Art & Wardrobe: Everyone embodies the heavenly spirit throughout the show by wearing particularly colorful garb. Everything from Tahani’s vast collection of chromatic dresses for every occasion, to the the simple, bold sweaters of the indecisive Chidi. Every element of this show is meant to direct you towards the pseudo-celestial world design.
Story: The show dips once you begin to realize that nothing matters. The characters are all already dead, so what worse consequence could there be? Well, as it turns out, there really aren’t any. The comedic writing is on point, but the plot is a bit immaterial, especially in reference to the second and third seasons. The characters vault over many wild circumstances with resolutions as vague as how do you design the afterlife, to ones as hilarious as tossing in a molotov cocktail.
Acting: They did a marvelous job casting this series. After finishing the final episode, Hulu brought me to a spot with Seth Meyers interviewing the main cast. You get to see just how cathartic working on this piece was for them, and their genuine love for one another really shows on screen throughout the series. This convivial rapport was necessary for landing the jokes that carry these enthralling characters.
Nickel Rating: 3/5¢: The Good Place is a fantastic series, one certainly deserving of your time. I have trouble getting engrossed in jolly comedies, but the consistent design of this series is truly superb. Anyone want to hop in the hot air balloon and head to heaven? I hear there’s unlimited shrimp dispensers.
Warm Regards,
Nick Candido