- Warning: Spoilers ahead for the season four finale of "
The Good Place ." NBC 's "The Good Place" came to an end this January, and series star D'Arcy Carden (who plays Janet) just earned her first-ever Emmy nomination.- Carden spoke with Insider about what she thinks Janet's life is like post-finale, the sweet gift costar Manny Jacinto surprised her with, and her next series (Amazon's "A League of Their Own").
The bittersweet, heartfelt season four finale of "The Good Place" premiered early in 2020, serving as a closing chapter for the comedy series. One of the show's main stars, D'Arcy Carden, is now getting a second send-off for the series thanks to the Television Academy.
At the end of July, Carden received her first-ever Emmy nomination for her performance as the all-knowing being named Janet.
"While I was filming the show, a lot of the emotion and the tears came from how I was going to miss these people," Carden told Insider in a recent interview. "This [was] such an amazing experience. I love these people. I love this job. I love this friendship. I love this family we've made. But then actually watching the finale, the tears were about the show [and] these characters and the storyline. I'm just a huge fan of the show."
Insider spoke with Carden about what she imagines Janet is up to now in the afterlife, the surprise gift Manny Jacinto (who played Jason) had made for her, and more.
What's next for Janet in the afterlife now that all her best friends are gone
"The Good Place" left Janet as the last main character in the afterlife, with each of the humans sent off through the "last door" and Janet's demon-friend Michael (Ted Danson) now living on Earth as a human.
Showrunner Mike Schur wanted to make sure fans weren't too sad for Janet, so the finale included the explanation that Janet, in all her non-human, non-robot glory, experiences time in a special way that gives her the ability to relive moments with her friends as if they're happening right then. So she's never truly left feeling "alone," even as time goes on into infinity (tracked not in years, but in what's known as "Jeremy Bearemies" in the show).
"There's a part of me, D'Arcy, that could be sad," Carden said. "Like, 'Poor Janet, she's all alone. Now she has to make new friends or whatever.' But I do think that the reason Mike put that line in there is to [tell us] she's going to be OK forever. She got to spend Bearamies with the love of her life and her best friends. And she can live in those moments whenever she wants to. That does bring me peace when it comes to Janet."
Carden says there's another reason why she feels good about Janet's fate.
"The fact that Michael is on Earth is very hopeful to me," Carden said. "She still has something to be excited for, like he will come back at some point and they'll be together again. Her very best friend in all of the universe will come back."
Carden knows that the finale was extraordinarily bittersweet for many fans, since she counts herself among them. Carden recalled having a "crying headache" after watching the final cut of the series finale for the first time.
"As with this whole show, it's beautiful and emotional and all that, but it's not easy," Carden said. "Not that it's even dark, but it's not perfectly, sparkly, sunshine and rainbows. It's real and it's sad and it's complex."
Manny Jacinto surprised D'Arcy Carden with the 'J+J' necklace his character gives to Janet in 'The Good Place' series finale
On January 30, "The Good Place" came to an end with an extra-long finale episode which included a loving goodbye scene between Janet and Jason (Manny Jacinto). Jason surprised Janet with a purple heart necklace engraved with "J+J," a small token to remember him by after he'd walked through the door that would end his existence.
The finale episode went over it's usual allotted time slot with a 53-minute runtime. To fill the airtime left on NBC, Seth Meyers hosted the cast for a post-finale special. This meant the whole main cast flew to New York City for a special last hurrah.
"The night before, we watched the finale together and then we went out to dinner afterwards and had some drinks," Carden said. "I think we closed the bar down — we were out pretty late. And at one point, we were all sitting together at a table, everybody was drinking and talking, and Manny tapped me on the shoulder and I leaned over and he was like, 'Hey, I have something for you, but I don't know how to give it to you.'"
Carden told Jacinto to just give to her then, but he warned her that she might cry.
"He took me over into the corner and it was truly the sweetest little move," Carden said. "I am going to cry thinking about it. He had it in a little jewelry box and opened it and that necklace was inside. I was so touched. It's so Manny of him. He's so thoughtful and sweet and such a good friend and scene partner and he's just a special person."
You could see the "J+J" necklace wrapped around Carden's wrist during the Seth Meyers special the following night, giving one last tribute to Janet and Jason on air.
What's next for Carden now that 'The Good Place' is over
Days after Carden's Emmy nomination was announced, she received more great news. After filming the pilot this past February (just before COVID-19 shut down Hollywood productions), Amazon's "A League of Their Own" reboot was ordered to series.
Carden will costar in the series, which was co-created by "Broad City's" Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham. The show will be a "reinterpretation" of the 1992 Penny Marshall film, as Jacobson explained in a tweet.
"It's such a beloved movie, and one that I grew up with and I loved so much, but I'm really excited that we're opening the world up a little bit and digging deeper into these characters and all-new characters," Carden said. "It just goes a little further."
Carden says filming the pilot felt like "summer camp," with the cast all staying in a hotel together. Leading up to the actual filming, the women all started playing baseball together a few times a week.
"It was so fun — just a bunch of gals playing baseball together," Carden said. "It really felt like we were a team. In such a strange way I almost forget that we were going to make a
You can stream the final season of "The Good Place" on NBC, and watch the upcoming Emmy Awards on September 20 on ABC.
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