I think I figured out what makes a soul go to either Heaven or Hell!!
In the latest episode Welcome to Heaven, we see a moment during the trial where Charlie asks Adam what he thinks it takes to get into Heaven. And he doesn’t actually seem to know. He makes a list of what he thinks got him there, but when provided evidence of a demon doing the same thing, defaults you “then why isn’t he here?”.
We realize that NONE of Heaven actually knows what gets someone to Heaven, and the characters acknowledge that angels are free to be as sinful as they want, but they still get to stay.
Which got me thinking, yeah, how did Adam get into Heaven? He’s awful. Then it hit me: he’s there because he thinks he deserves to be. Think of the demons we know. Alastor, Angel, Husker, Cherri, Valentino. These are all people who have done wrong and they know it. If you were to ask them, I think they’d tell you they deserve to be in Hell.
Isn’t it strange? That we’ve never met a demon who thinks there’s been some mistake? That they deserve to be in Heaven and they shouldn’t be in Hell? Hell should be chock full of people like that, but it isn’t.
I think it’s because if you think you deserve to be in Heaven, that’s where you go. And if you think you deserve to go to Hell? That’s where you stay. It explains why Adam is an angel-despite being a horrible person, he’s completely self righteous, even saying “I’ve never made a mistake in my fucking life.” Of course he’d think he deserves to go to Heaven! It’s how Molly went to Heaven and Angel went to hell, despite them leading similar lives-she thought she should go there.
If this is the case, then all the good deeds in the world won’t redeem a sinner. The only thing that will is repairing them and their mental state enough that they truly feel they deserve better. And I’d be fascinated to see how that goes!