Purgatory is the place where a dead person goes after they die if they don't accept their death. Purgatory appeared in the Season Thirteen episode, "Dead Celebrities", with the celebrities who died in 2009 stuck in purgatory because Michael Jackson wouldn't admit he was dead.
Background
In "Dead Celebrities", purgatory is presented as several rows of airplane seats, minus the plane itself. It has attendants, an intercom system, and a portal to the cockpit. Purgatory requires everyone currently residing in it to accept their death before all passengers can go to the afterlife. If even one person does not accept that they are dead, then they can never leave, have anything to eat or drink, or even get out of their seats to go to the bathroom, similar to how everyone must remain seated on a plane until at a certain altitude. Souls can only leave when they are summoned to the world of the living.
Celeberties
- Dom Deluise - Cancer, respiratory failure
- Ed McMahon - Natural Causes
- Bea Arthur - Cancer
- Patrick Swayze - Pancreatic Cancer
- DJ AM - Drug overdose
- Walter Cronkite - Cerebrovascular disease
- Natashia Richardson - Skiing accident
- Ted Kennedy - Brain cancer
- David Carradine - Hanging (confirmed to be a result of Auto Erotic Asphyxiation)
- Farrah Fawcett - Anal cancer
- Billy Mays - Heart disease
- Michael Jackson - Cardiac Arrest
- Ricardo Montalbán - Congestive heart failure
- Steve McNair - Murdered
The Plains of Purgatory are seen and referred to in the Season Nine episode, "Best Friends Forever", when the angel Gabriel reports that Satan's army has been seen crossing them.