'Good Place' Season 4 theory may reveal Michael isn't what he seems

The Good Place Season 4 is finally here, and fans are already speculating about what is actually going on with Team Cockroach. Now that the core four have graduated to being good people, they’ve been tasked with mentoring the newbies to teach them how to be better versions of themselves. After all, the goal is to fix the broken points system that had sent everyone to the Bad Place. However, head demon Shawn is a notorious schemer, and a new theory suggests Michael might have been switched out and replaced with a demon at the end of Episode 1. So is this bullshirt or what? Let’s dive in.

At the beginning of the Season 4 premiere, newcomer Linda was welcomed to The Good Place. After being told that she’d done everything right over the course of her life and had been justly rewarded, Linda nonchalantly shrugged. Nothing pleased this woman, not even a baby elephant of pure light that blurted out the secrets of the universe. No, all Linda wanted was a peppermint.

So boring, right? However, in a delightful twist, Linda turned out to be none other than Chris Baker, a demon sent by Shawn to fork with Team Cockroach’s plans. At the end of the episode, Michael and Janet boarded Chris on the train for a one-way trip back to the Bad Place and all seemed right with the world again.

What if Shawn knew that Chris would be discovered, and used the train distraction to switch out Michael with the obnoxious demon Trevor? It’s not impossible on The Good Place, right? After all, demons wear their human bodies like suits. Trevor could have zipped Michael right up and no one would’ve been the wiser.

Redditor u/Steelspy is on the case, speculating that “When Michael and Janet got off the train at the end of Season 4 Episode 1, that wasn’t Michael. It was Trevor in a Michael suit. Booyah! The message to Shawn was to communicate his success in nabbing Michael.”

This theory would come as more of a surprise if The Good Place wasn’t so good at plotting out interesting roadblocks for its characters. Still, if Michael was switched out (and he very well could have been), then it throws a wrench in the entire plan, giving Shawn and his demons the upper hand. But, why use Trevor and not Vicky? After all, the theatrical demon loves putting on a good show, and she’s much better at pretending to be other people than Trevor.

If Michael has indeed been captured and replaced, there’s still hope Eleanor will realize what’s happened and strive to fix the situation. She has historically been the one to deduce that the Good Place is actually the Bad Place in almost every experiment. And if the demons have Michael, they won’t have him for long. Shawn may be working hard to win, but Team Cockroach always manages to come out on top.

The Good Place Season 4 airs Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC.