Whenever You're Ready (The Good Place)

The episodes were both written and directed by series creator Michael Schur and originally aired in the United States on NBC on January 30, 2020.

The episode was seen by 2.32 million viewers in its original broadcast and received praise from critics, many calling it a satisfying and emotional ending to the show.

Jason (Manny Jacinto) is the first group member to realize he's ready to move on from the Good Place after he plays a perfect Madden NFL game in a simulation of TIAA Bank Field with his father Donkey Doug.

Tahani (Jameela Jamil) completes her afterlife goals when her parents arrive and apologize for mistreating her and her sister Kamilah (Rebecca Hazlewood) as children, allowing them to spend more time together.

Eleanor visits Mindy St. Claire (Maribeth Monroe) and convinces her to enter the new afterlife system under Tahani's oversight.

Eleanor persuades the Judge (Maya Rudolph) to make Michael human, allowing him to live on Earth and eventually enter the afterlife system.

One spark drifts down to a man on Earth (Kurt Braunohler), who decides to return a wrongly delivered letter to Michael.

[2] This includes Maya Rudolph as the Judge, Tiya Sircar as the demon Vicky, Mike O'Malley as Jeff the Doorman, and Ben Koldyke as Brent, among others.

[4] Schur wanted to include an appearance by Leslie Grossman, who played Eleanor's mother Donna, but the idea was dropped due to scheduling conflicts.

[6] Todd May and Pamela Hieronymi appear as themselves in a seminar hosted by Chidi; both served as philosophical advisors during the show's run.

[5] Schur explained that one of the key ideas he found when creating the show was the concept of karma in Hinduism, in which there is a cycle of rebirth and people improve and digress over time.

[11] Schur also identified hopefulness as one of the show's overarching themes and sought to create a finale grounded in that message, commenting that the decision to keep trying despite obstacles "ultimately became the thing we were arguing for".

[7] Along similar lines of reasoning, the episode proves that immortality would lead to boredom and loss of meaning and that fragility and preciousness are naturally reliant on each other.

[11] The Judge's eventual acceptance of the four humans seems to represent Schur's hope that television can make people kinder and more thoughtful toward others.

"[2][17] In its original broadcast, the episode was seen by 2.32 million American viewers and achieved a 0.7/4 in the 18-49 demographic; both viewership measures were the show's best since the season premiere in September.

He noted that the episode's similarities to the finale of Six Feet Under and remarked that it "never feels like simple feel-goodery that all these characters get into the Good Place".

[23] Kathryn VanArendonk, also writing for Vulture, appreciated that the show left some questions open instead of introducing a new twist or trying to create an unsatisfying answer for everything.

[24] Hannah Giorgis of The Atlantic called the episode "a delightful return to form" for the series and singled out the relationship between Eleanor and Michael for praise.

[26] Emily VanDerWerff of Vox also found the characters to be too thin to fully sell the ending, though she commended Bell's and Harper's performances and enjoyed the show's "gentle acceptance of death".

[13] Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic expressed concerns that the show's message might inadvertently end up coming across as a hopeless one that embraces suicide.