The Good Place Season 4 Will Be Back Faster Than You Can Say “Shirtballs”

Well, this is forking terrible news: the fourth and final season of The Good Place is almost over. Even worse, we're about to end on some surefire cliffhanger in Nov. 21's midseason finale that will leave us waiting impatiently for the final episodes of The Good Place to premiere in 2020.

Now that The Judge (Maya Rudolph) has ruled in Michael (Ted Danson) and Eleanor's (Kristen Bell) favor, and doomed humanity in the process, the brilliant comedy is officially winding down. This week's new episode will find Chidi (William Jackson Harper) with his memories restored and one huge philosophical problem to solve: How can the broken points system to fairly calculate a person's moral worthiness? And how can Professor Stomachache sort it all out before The Judge blips every human out of existence? So, no pressure or anything. 

The only clue NBC has offered up about how Chidi will come up with a way to sway the judge into giving Earth a stay of execution is that the philosophy scholar will be looking to his past for answers. Normally, that wouldn't be a comforting idea, but remember, Chidi and his friends have lived through hundreds of lifetimes thanks to Michael and Janet's (D'Arcy Carden) many reboots. That means the chances of him finding a solution are significantly increased — as long as he can overcome his crippling inability to make a decision. 

While the high stakes nature of The Judge's ruling is sure to take up most of the midseason finale, Chidi's memory being restored also means he's about to reunite with Eleanor after a year of believing she was some sort of higher power. Sure, Chidi's going to be busy solving the mysteries of the universe and all, but there's also got to be an epic reunion moment with his soulmate, right? It's time for Eleanor to get a win that doesn't immediately turn into another crisis. 

But, even if that all goes well, there's another crisis on our hands: After this week's episode, there will only be five episodes of The Good Place left. Ever. And no, I don't know how to process that information either. That doesn't feel like nearly enough time to say goodbye to Eleanor, Michael, Chidi, Janet, Jason (Manny Jacinto), and Tahani (Jameela Jamil).

That means fans are going to be waiting at least a month to see what happens next. Don't freak out though, it doesn't look like NBC will make the wait for the show's return too long. The network hasn't confirmed the exact date that The Good Place will be back for its final run of episodes in 2020, but with Manifest and new series Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist debuting the week of Jan. 6, and five episodes left to air before the finale on Jan. 30, it seems likely that Eleanor and the gang will be back then, too.

There's some more good news, when The Good Place is set to end on Jan. 30 it'll do so with a 90-minute block of programming that includes the one-hour finale, and an aftershow hosted by Seth Meyers. (That Seth Meyers!)

Life without this show is going to feel like being banished to the bad place, but at least there are still a few more episodes (and twists) to come before The Good Place unveils its final chapter.