Matching Mixed Media - Infinity Train & The Good Place
What does it mean to become a better person?
Unsurprisingly, this is a question that I frequently ask myself. And perhaps also unsurprisingly, approximately four years ago, an animated series by the name of Infinity Train came out on what was called HBO Max back in the day. So in light of its four year anniversary, I would like to dedicate some proper words to this series.
Infinity Train was an animated anthology, with each season dedicated on the journey of different principle characters as they explored the titular location, which was a not quite purgatory. Humans were taken on the train, given a number, and then placed on one of the many infinite cars of the infinite train and left to their own devices and interact with the various Denizens of the train.
Now at this point, I’d write some sort of disclaimer on spoilers, however you can not watch or purchase Infinity Train anywhere legally which is perhaps one the more salient arguments for either digital piracy or better archiving of media depending on how spicy you’re feeling at any given time. I was fortunate enough to buy the entire series before it was taken off the market. But this does mean I feel a little more free to talk about some details.
The idea behind the show was that the number represented a series of hang ups a person had to deal with and once that number reached zero, they’d be allowed to return home. Working through these hangs up mostly involved learning lessons, although this process was not always adequately described to its passengers which led to the bulk of the narrative of Book 3: Cult of the Conductor.
I loved the series for a variety of reasons. I’m a big fan of eldritch locations, surreal entities, and small robot friends.
The series was fascinating because of how it showed various people trying to overcome their worst parts. It’s kinda like the most extreme form of partially guided therapy you could ask for (or rather not ask for). I wish it got to air its fifth season that was already in production before the highers decided to cancel the critically acclaimed show that constantly top streaming charts because they hate animation and royalties. Well, I wish it got a full eight season order, but even hypothetically that feels like asking for too much.
However, this point system, eldritch location helping people better themselves does stand as a neat counterpoint to The Good Place, although it definitely feel like it started like that.
The Good Place is thankfully available to watch, so now would be the time to queue it up somewhere if you haven’t already seen the show.
But what started as a slapstick comedy about mistaken identity in the afterlife quickly revealed itself to be an intro to existentialism, an insightful look in the complexities of modern living, and one of the subjectively funny sitcoms I have seen.
The twist of the first season of The Good Place was that the cast was actually in the Bad Place, and that the demon Michael (played wonderfully by Ted Danson) was taking a page out of Jean-Paul Sartre’s playbook of “Hell is other people.” The rest of the series would be an examination of that, and the fact that there is no ethical consumption under consumption, and the fact that repeated inaction is just as damning as ill intent, and that we can not grow as people in isolation.
The Good Place is very much an examination of the classic conception of Purgatory versus the surreal Infinity Train. It’s point system exists on a plus/minus scale versus the count down to zero. But both are series about striving to become better and I don’t know. As we enter the second tertial of the year, I’m thinking about rewatching these series. I am thinking about the people we meet and the connections we form, because I guess I am always thinking about these things.