Veronica Mars and The Good Place present its audience with competing theories of morality. Because of this, Veronica Mars would not go to The Good Place. We learn in the first episode of The Good Place that morality is about consequences. Each action a person does generates a positive or negative effect. That effect is then quantified. The total sum of the effects of one’s actions throughout a life determines if one goes to The Good Place or The Bad Place.
On the other hand, Veronica Mars has a justice based view of morality. The moral action is not about consequences. Rather, it is about what people deserve. In Season 1, Veronica is motivated to discover who killed her best friend. She wants the guilty person punished. She also wants to know who raped her. Veronica is the seeker of truth. Her role is to uncover the guilty and punish those who deserve it. A fact she essentially points out throughout the series along with Wallace and Logan.
Why would such a concern of justice preclude her from going to The Good Place? If all we are concerned about are the consequences, then this means justice is not a moral consideration. Doing a just act does not count because it is just. Doing a just act only counts as good if it produces good consequences. Unjust acts can also be considered good if they produce good consequences.
A common complaint against utilitarianism, the basic foundation of the morality of the morality of the afterlife in The Good Place, is that utilitarianism can justify sending an innocent person to jail. For example, a vigilante group may destroy a part of town and kill many innocent people unless someone is arrested. The sheriff can falsify information to arrest and send one innocent person to jail. Is it not better that this one person goes to jail, even for life, than many people die?
If one is concerned about justice, then sending an innocent person to jail is always wrong even if it produces the best consequences. Given that most people probably have not seen Veronica Mars, I will not give away any spoilers. However, suffice to say, there are multiple instances in each season why the best consequences are probably not finding out the truth of pursuing justice.
Does this mean Veronica is a bad person? No. It means that the moral system of The Good Place is likely the wrong one. This is not because Veronica should go to The Good Place, but rather, that the afterlife fails to take into account of important moral considerations such as justice.
