‘The Good Place’: D’Arcy Carden Once Explained How Janet Ended up With ‘a Dumb Guy’ Like Jason
When it comes to romantic relationships in The Good Place universe, it’s clear that opposites attract. At first glance, fans of The Good Place might have found it difficult to picture Eleanor and Chidi together. Eleanor’s selfishness and penchant for only doing things that directly benefited her coupled with Chidi’s indecisiveness and overly generous nature should’ve made them sworn enemies rather than partners. But ultimately, the pair were able to foil all those who were casting doubt about whether they were a good fit for one another.
But perhaps an even odder couple than Chidi and Eleanor is Jason and Janet. The pair couldn’t be any more different if they tried. While Janet is an A.I. database of all the knowledge in the universe in the form of a human woman, Jason is a Jacksonville native with a minuscule IQ and a love for EDM. But despite their differences, they make a pretty great couple. But what is it that made them connect to begin? In a 2019 interview with Gold Derby, D’Arcy Carden (who was cast as Janet) gave an excellent explanation.
‘The Good Place’ cast member, D’Arcy Carden weighs in on Jason and Janet’s relationship
“For me, it’s always this innocent teenager love,” The Good Place star shared about how she views Janet and Jason’s relationship. “Jason’s a sweet dummy and isn’t super mature and he’s not the brightest bulb, as they say. And then Janet, she fell in love with him at this moment where she was rebooting and relearning the world so I just feel like they connected at this moment. It’s Janet’s first love and perhaps Jason’s first love as well where they’re just connected in this very innocent moment where they were like, ‘You’re nice to me. I like you.’ There’s something very sweet and teenage lovey about it that I’ve always really connected to.”
But how does Carden manage to justify her character’s persistent love of Jason given how much smarter she was than him? The Good Place star made an excellent point that, in Janet’s eyes, there’s not that much of a difference between Jason’s intelligence and the intelligence of someone as smart as Chidi. Because Janet knows literally everything, it likely feels as if everyone is on a level playing field to her.
Carden explains why it doesn’t matter to Janet that Jason is dumb
“It’s funny, Janet’s the smartest being in the universe and the idea that she’s with a dumb guy, I’ve thought about this and Mike [Schur, creator of The Good Place] and I have talked about this before,” Carden revealed. “It’s so funny because whether she’s with a dumb person or a smart person it doesn’t matter because she’s so far beyond them that it’s all the same to her.”
Ultimately, Janet isn’t with Jason because of what he can provide her with intellectually. Janet is more interested in how Jason makes her feel. “It’s not about what he knows or doesn’t know, Carden confessed. “It’s about how she feels or how he makes her feel. What does she do? Feel? I don’t know.”
Carden loved working with her castmates on ‘The Good Place’
The Good Place star continued on to share that she truly loved the relationship between Jason and Janet. Furthermore, she loved working with her castmate, Manny Jacinto, to flush out their characters’ unique relationship. “But I love, love, love Manny as an actor and I love when we get to do scenes together,” Carden shared. “Any time the writers give us little two-person scenes we always get really excited.” The excitement Carden has for working with her fellow cast mate is certainly palpable to fans of the show. Jason and Janet may be an odd couple, but they’re certainly a beloved one as well.
