If you’re still mourning the loss of Parks and Recreation, the glorious US sitcom which made the wider world aware that Amy Poehler is possibly the greatest person to ever live, then chances are you’re already obsessed with that show’s creator Michael Shur’s current show, The Good Place.
And your love for both should be enhanced with the news that Ron Swanson, played to gruff perfection by Nick Offerman, was responsible for the death of The Good Place‘s Jason Mendoza (Manny Jacinto).
There have been a couple of hints that Parks and Recreation and The Good Place exist in the same universe, albeit one on Earth and the other in a non-denominational afterlife, including that the awful champagne created by Jean-Ralphio Saperstein is advertised on both places.
Just discovered that The Good Place takes place in the Parks and Rec universe and now by whole brain is crying. pic.twitter.com/UjtJLSclrA
— Words From Darran (@ShinraAlpha) February 6, 2018
And then another eagle eyed viewer noticed that the safe in which the gloriously stupid Mendoza met his end was made by the Swanson Safe Company.
In The Good Place, the safe Jason buys is from the Swanson Safe Company, a nod to Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec. pic.twitter.com/xX6TDLnU8N
— TheCriticalReviews (@CritiReview) August 6, 2018
And that was just a throwaway reference until an ad for Swanson Safe Company was read out on The Good Place: The Podcast, in which a series of disclaimers are read for folks that might choose to seal themselves in such a safe.
Over swift jazz vibes, Offerman intones the following:
Swanson Safe Company, making high quality safes for your valued foods since 1838. Due to a recent legal entanglement which is frankly absurd, we are now required to say the following: do not lock yourself inside a Swanson safe under any circumstances. In addition: do not lock yourself inside a Swanson safe with a snorkel thinking the snorkel will somehow let you breathe. It won’t. Furthermore, and I can’t believe that I the representative of the Swanson Safe Company even have to say this, but apparently I do: inhaling nitrous oxide inside a Swanson Safe is not a good idea, especially if you are already running out of oxygen. Swanson Safe Company: we make safes. You know, for things. Don’t get in our safes.
In other words: oh it’s absolutely canon now.
So yes, it is the dedication to craft of Ron Swanson and his quality safesmanship that leads to the passing of Mendoza and his passage to the titular Good Place.
And of course, the next obvious question is at what point Li’l Sebastian turns up. Come on: we know he’s no longer with us and there’s no way he went to the Bad Place…
