10. You've Changed, Man

Complete story — includes the ending

While the Judge searches the Janets, Chidi tries to devise an alternative proposal for the afterlife. Michael proposes admitting most dead humans to a Medium Place, while only exceptional outliers will go to the Good or Bad Places. Shawn rejects this offer, even after Michael and the humans offer to let Shawn torture them in exchange. Together—aided by a cameo appearance of Timothy Olyphant —they present a new vision to replicate the results of their own afterlife experiences: each dead human will be subjected to personalized tests of moral development, and will be rebooted as many times as they need until they pass the test (possibly never passing it); in each successive try, they will retain some of what they have learned in the form of a conscience. Shawn still refuses. But when Michael suggests he will give up and they will go their separate ways until humanity re-evolves, Shawn admits that torturing humans has become mundane while their battle has been enjoyable. Shawn accepts the proposal when Michael points out that their conflict has reached an ending regardless of his decision and that even the Bad Place is failing under the current system; Shawn's acceptance convinces the Judge to abandon her plan to reset Earth.