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Maya Rudolph Showed Up on ‘The Good Place’ to Eat a Mysterious Burrito

The burrito wasn’t topped with hot sauce, it was topped with envy

The Good Place characters stare at a mysterious burrito. The Good Place/NBC

The Fake Good Place and all of its wonderfully punny restaurants might be gone, but on this week’s episode of NBC’s afterlife sitcom The Good Place, a mysterious burrito makes a cameo appearance. Oh, and the Mexican dish is joined by guest star Maya Rudolph.

Considering the episode’s title — “The Burrito” — one wouldn’t be crazy to expect this tortilla-wrapped delicacy to play a significant role in the proceedings. Upon first glance, Eleanor (Kristen Bell), Chidi (William Jackson Harper), Jason (Manny Jacinto), and Tahani (Jameela Jamil), who are attempting to migrate from the Bad Place to the Good Place once and for all and need a judge to give them the official okay, think the burrito may be some sort of test, or, maybe, it is actually the judge they seek.

“Hello, your excellency, my name is Eleanor Shellstrop,” Eleanor says, addressing the food item. “We doth seek thine judgement. We’ve traveled a long distance to see you, oh great one.”

On the contrary, the burrito just happens to be lunch for Rudolph, who acts as the judge, an ancient, omniscient being named Jen (or maybe Gen; it’s short for hydrogen, the only thing that was in existence when she was born). Judge Jen (or Gen) is tasked with administering tests to determine the foursome’s eternal fate.

Maya Rudolph eats a burrito on The Good Place. The Good Place/NBC

Now what, exactly, is in that burrito? It’s hard to tell. There doesn’t appear to be any meat, but the standard rice, beans, lettuce, and salsa fresca are present — a pretty basic order and not very exciting for an all-knowing life form. Any hot sauce connoisseur will recognize the bottle of Cholula on the table, but, as Judge Jen reveals, “it’s actually not hot sauce, it’s envy.”

“The concept of envy, it’s really good on Mexican food,” she explains between bites. “It gives it a little kick.”

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