Here are the “Leftovers” Easter eggs in “The Good Place,” so you can stop looking for them now
The most beautiful bromance to come out of television over the last few years isn’t actually one on-screen. Rather, it’s the friendship between Mike Schur and Damon Lindelof, two television showrunners who are behind some pretty big series: Schur is responsible for Parks and Recreation and The Good Place; Lindelof was behind Lost and The Leftovers.
And talk about two completely different types of shows — NBC sitcoms and prestigious dramas aren’t exactly the type to hang out together. But, that hasn’t stopped Schur from hiding Leftovers Easter eggs throughout The Good Place. You see, Schur is such a fan of Lindelof’s work, that his admiration and respect for him has literally spilled out onto the screen. If that’s not the true meaning of friendship, I don’t know what is.
During this weekend’s Vulture Festival in Los Angeles, the two sat down for an in-depth discussion about television, life, and the afterlife. Story goes that when Schur first dreamed up The Good Place, he needed to know if he had something, so he reached out to Lindelof for help, or as told the crowd, “I wrote an email to my agent agent and I said ‘I would like you, a grown man, to set me, a grown up, up on a playdate with Damon Lindelof, because I am a fan,’ and it was like a weird, arranged date.”
The initial help and guidance that Lindelof gave Schur during the early days of Good Place really paid off (and you know this, because you’re watching The Good Place, RIGHT?), and Schur was so thankful, he started hiding Leftovers Easter eggs in his series, explaining, “There’s a few thank yous to Damon in the first season, and there’s more in the second season.” He’s teased them before, but pointed out three during his Vulture Fest Panel:
1. “One of them is in the pilot, there’s a picture on the wall of a stoner, who is the human who has come the closes to guessing what the afterlife is like. The date on the picture of his guess is October 14, 1972, and October 14 is the date of the departure in The Leftovers.”
2. “At the end of the end of the season, Eleanor gets a new soulmate. and that soulmate is a jacked idiot from Teaneck, New Jersey. Teaneck was Damon’s hometown.”
(After he saw the episode, Lindelof explains, “I emailed [Mike], “I don’t want to make an assumption…is this a reference [to me?]”)
3. “There’s one, and I won’t give it away, and it’s the best one that we’ve done, and I don’t think it’s going to make the finale cut, sadly. But after the finale of Season 2 airs, I’ll put it online. It’s my favorite. It’s such a deep cut. You have to be as an insane Leftovers fan as I am, but I was very proud of it for several reason.” Schur then pauses before quipping, “This is such a bad panel, I’m talking about something that hasn’t aired, and I can’t even describe.” So remember this moment when we get to the end of Season 2 of Good Place.
So now we know that Schur is hiding Leftovers Easter eggs, is Lindelof going to return the favor? Sure is. Lindelof is currently working on a Watchmen adaptation for HBO, and joked, “What I will say about Watchmen, and I can’t say anything about it, but it’s wall to wall Good Place [references]. If you don’t watch The Good Place, Watchmen is going to get confusing.”
We can’t forkin’ wait.
