Paradise’s ending answered the biggest question of the show: Who killed President Cal Bradford? The narrative hit the ground running by killing the most powerful man in the United States of America and revealing that most of human civilization had been decimated by a natural calamity, instead a select few people were living in an underground dome-like structure. Special Agent Xavier Collins was tasked with finding out who the killer was, and since all clues pointed to the fact that the “chief decision maker” of the titular facility, Sinatra, had a hand in the murder, he staged a rebellion to corner her. Sinatra was 2 steps ahead of Collins, because she put him in a fix by disclosing the fact that his wife, Teri, was alive somewhere up on the surface and that his daughter, Presley, was in her custody. And until Xavier got a hold of Cal’s murderer, who was allegedly someone who had illegally entered the township, Sinatra refused to cater to Xavier’s demands. So, did Xavier nab the killer? Did he execute Sinatra for taking things too far? What can we expect from Season 2? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
The Librarian Killed Cal
I like that the main twist in Paradise comes from an aspect of the show and the facility that hasn’t been discussed at all, but staring us in the face this whole time: health and safety regulations. Throughout the last 7 episodes, we’ve been looking at this massive dome-like structure where every luxury known to mankind and the most cutting-edge technology is available. And even if we don’t realize it consciously, the thought that some ethical and moral lines were crossed to make this happen is undoubtedly at the back of our minds. So, it’s kind of satisfying to see that it’s one of the workers who built it who killed Cal, that too after a failed assassination attempt. I mean, that’s commitment. Of course, not every act of violence can be justified, and it hurts to see a character like Cal lying in his bedroom with his skull cracked open, especially after we’ve seen the kind of man he was. But the show uses the Rashomon effect one last time to give viewers another perspective on the incident, and makes you wonder if Trent’s actions were justified or if he was in the wrong. For starters, Trent and his whole team were lied to. They were told that they were building a recycling plant, not a shelter for the elite to camp out the impending apocalypse.
Secondly, when Trent tried to alert the authorities that the materials that were being used to build the underground township were poisonous to the workers, he was fired. Thirdly, when he got in touch with the mainstream media to inform them about this bunker in Colorado, nobody believed him. So, he tried to assassinate Cal and screamed to the world that they deserved to know that the President of the USA was planning to abandon everyone and live in his bunker. When that didn’t work, on doomsday, he faked his identity, brought an innocent along with him (Maggie), and entered Paradise with the intention of having another go at Cal. However, fortunately or unfortunately, he forgot about his mission as he began enjoying the simple pleasures of the city as a librarian. It wasn’t until he saw Cal a second time at the library that he reignited his zeal to kill him. Now, here’s the confusing part: I am not sure if Trent wanted to assassinate Cal just to get revenge for his workers (especially for Adam, who was probably the love of his life) or if he knew that there were people suffering up there and wanted to find a way to reach out to them so that they could also enjoy the simple pleasures of Paradise.
I guess that, initially, he just wanted to kill Cal. That said, when he learned from Jeremy Bradford’s speech that there were people out there looking for shelter, and he saw Xavier discovering the location of the survivors, he cooked up the plan to exit the facility and bring them in. Sadly, on his way out, Trent was cornered by Xavier and Robinson. They didn’t want to kill him, but they probably wanted to apprehend him because, at the end of the day, he had killed Cal. If he hadn’t, maybe he could’ve joined Xavier on his journey to help the survivors. So, instead of spending the rest of his life in prison, Trent decided to jump off the rafters, piercing the surface of the dome, and breaking the illusion of homeliness for the privileged folk down there. By the way, was the shot of Trent falling from the artificial sky supposed to be a reference to Lucifer, the angel who fell from Heaven? Biblical experts, please let me know in the comments.
Jane Put Sinatra in a Coma
After the revelation that Trent had killed Cal, I was under the impression that Paradise had run out of twists. So, you can only imagine how surprised I was to see Jane putting Sinatra in a coma, that too to get access to Cal’s Wii console. As you all know, Sinatra employed Jane to abduct Presley so that Xavier could be pressured into doing Sinatra’s bidding. While detaining Presley, under the pretext of saving her from the chaos going on outside, Jane never let her know that she was doing what she was doing on Sinatra’s orders. Now, I had always given Sinatra the benefit of the doubt because her motivation to protect the city was very clear: the place had resources for a limited number of people, and if it was overrun by folks from the surface, then their safe haven would go up in flames instantly. She was unsure whether the surface was irradiated or if the survivors would bring some kind of disease into this protected space. But she probably had a feeling that if the citizens knew that there were people outside, they’d want them to come in. Hence, she decided to keep the existence of life on the surface a secret by any means necessary.
Sure, Billy’s killing was awful, but he had taken innocent lives, and despite being a good guy at heart, he sort of deserved that ending. On top of that, she’s a mother who had already lost her son and was desperate to protect her daughter, so I kind of understood her dictatorial stance. With that said, all my sympathy for her went out of the window as soon as she asked if Jane could kill Presley. No, killing Presley didn’t depend on whether or not Xavier would have solved the murder mystery. She wanted her dead regardless of the outcome of Xavier’s actions because Presley “knew too much.” She also intended to kill Xavier once he had dealt with Trent. I shudder to think what she’d have done with James. Thankfully, none of those scenarios came to pass because Jane, out of nowhere, turned against Sinatra and said that she’d gladly kill Presley if Sinatra gave her access to Cal’s Wii, i.e., the gaming console that Jane and Billy used to play on. It was really shocking that that was the thing that caused Jane to betray Sinatra. I mean, it was so shocking that even Sinatra couldn’t believe her ears, and by the time she could wrap her head around what Jane was saying, the psychopath had left the building to prevent Xavier from killing Sinatra.
Jane shot Sinatra in the neck after Xavier had dispatched Sinatra’s guards, and she helped Xavier reunite with Presley. After Xavier was gone, Jane told Sinatra that, in a way, she gave her the punishment she deserved while also saving her from getting her head blown off by Xavier. Sinatra was put on life support, Jane got her Wii, Xavier’s conscience was clear, and Presley was unhurt. With Sinatra unable to speak, or take any pivotal decisions for that matter, maybe some form of democracy will be established in Paradise, with Henry taking Sinatra’s place and Jeremy continuing Cal’s legacy. But, yes, it was truly wild how things took a turn for the worst for Sinatra just because she refused to give Jane the only thing she had probably asked for. Do I think that Jane did what she did to save Xavier from the trauma of killing Sinatra or to keep Sinatra from getting killed? I don’t think Jane is capable of having such feelings. She seems like a cold-blooded killer who can put on a great act. Right now, she is happy in her world, playing Wii Sports. By chance, if the electricity in Paradise shuts down, I suppose we’ll get to see her true face.
Xavier Leaves Paradise
The big question in the end was whether or not Sinatra’s information about Teri’s survival was true or not. Sure, Cal kept the nukes from dropping on the United States of America, but the country was still affected by the nukes that dropped everywhere else around the world, and then there was the climate apocalypse as well that had engulfed continents. Yes, there were some survivors out there, i.e., the ones that Susan Donnelly was planning to bring into the facility and were killed by Billy. But what were Teri’s chances of survival? Slim to none, because certain pockets of the planet had healed, with signs of healthy flora and fauna popping up at a few places, e.g. in St. Louis, Portland, Manchester, and Atlanta. However, radiation poisoning was still a threat, thereby reducing the lifespan of a survivor. So, there’s a possibility that Sinatra was lying and either playing an old recording of Teri’s message or an A.I.-generated voice note that sounded like Teri. Maybe Teri was already dead, which was why Xavier was skeptical about leaving his kids behind and venturing out there based on the information given to him by Sinatra and the stuff he had learned from Cal’s secret notebook. To be honest, I assumed that Xavier wouldn’t waste a second and would immediately go outside to look for Teri. However, when he deliberated on his decision to go outside until Robinson and Presley gave him the push he needed, I thought that a bit of Sinatra had rubbed off on him. As in, he was not willing to risk what he had right before him just to see what existed beyond the boundaries of Paradise.
Thankfully, Xavier was open to suggestions, and he was brave enough to go into the great outdoors to not just look for Teri but also check out if it was safe to go outside. The illusion had been broken, especially after Jeremy’s speech on Sinatra’s lies. So, they’ll need some answers, and Xavier basically decided to sacrifice himself by heading into the apocalyptic landscape upstairs in a plane. I suppose many viewers will wonder why nobody was sent along with Xavier, or even volunteered to go with him. You tell me; if you were given the option to send one highly trained special agent into uncharted territory, send every highly trained special agent in Paradise into uncharted territory, or send a bunch of scientists with no survival instincts along with that one highly trained special agent, what would you do? In my personal opinion, I’d send just the one special agent who was motivated enough to overcome every obstacle. If every special agent was sent outside, who’d deal with the chaos that was brewing inside? And I’m sure that a bunch of living scientists in the dome will do more good than a bunch of dead scientists on the surface. Hence, Xavier had to go on the mission alone. I just hope he has packed a hazmat suit, a Geiger counter, plenty of fluids, and a lot of food. He’ll definitely need it.
What’ll be the outcome of Xavier’s adventure, though? Well, that’s for season 2 to answer. What I liked about that ending was that Xavier’s aerial trip to Atlanta is an extension of his father’s legacy. Fred Collins was a proud pilot, and maybe his only regret was that he couldn’t do more to help Xavier with his relatively poor eyesight, which kept him from being a professional pilot. Fred was of the opinion that despite Xavier’s genetic disadvantage, he was still the best of the best and capable of beating the most elite fliers out there. Sadly, Fred didn’t live to see the day Xavier sat in the cockpit with the aim of reuniting with his wife and rescuing those who had somehow managed to survive the apocalypse. Also, I love Sterling K. Brown’s delivery of “I’m coming, baby” (please, turn off your dirty minds) after setting the coordinates to Teri’s last-known location, i.e. Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia. It’s so reminiscent of something that action heroes from the ‘70s and the ‘80s used to do. Modern storytelling and filmmaking have become so serious and are so afraid of being seen as corny that the viewing experience sometimes gets really boring. I’m glad that the showrunners knew that Brown has the caliber to pull off a line like that with ease while looking really cool and just let him act like a quintessential hero. It’s stuff like this that makes Paradise so much better than a lot of other sci-fi action IPs.
Season 2 Theories
Yes, Hulu has greenlit a second season of Paradise. So, I’m glad that, for a change, I’m not theorizing while hoping that I’ll get to Season 2 of a show that I really liked; I actually know that it is being actively developed. On that happy note, allow me to pitch some of my theories, most of which are pretty basic in nature. For starters, there’s going to be political unrest in the city. It’s been proven that Sinatra’s ways aren’t sustainable. Secrecy doesn’t exactly solve anything; it only delays a problem. So, maybe Henry is going to change how the government functions and instill a sense of democracy. Jeremy is becoming something of a people’s hero. I don’t think Kane Bradford is in any state to judge or manipulate Jeremy. Hopefully he’ll be glad that Cal was a better father to Jeremy than he was to Cal before his mind fails. Robinson is going to hold down the fort until things calm down or Xavier returns with some answers. The cat’s out of the bag, and I’m talking about the weapons cache. Therefore, you can bet that someone is going to make a beeline for that stash and try to take control of Paradise. Since the only thing standing between absolute anarchy and partial stability is Robinson and her agents, she has to stay strong and maintain some form of peace.
We should be worried about Jane because she is wildly unpredictable. That said, as mentioned before, as long as she has electricity in her house and is busy playing Wii Sports, I guess she’ll stay out of everyone’s hair. If something happens and the lights go off in Paradise, then everybody should start panicking. Apart from that, I think Jane will be keeping tabs on Sinatra to make sure that she doesn’t blurt out anything that she doesn’t want Sinatra to say after she has recovered. Since Sinatra has been shot in the neck, or around that area, I have a feeling that Sinatra won’t get her voice back, which will put her on the back foot. Given how much she loves being in power, she’ll probably try to take back control of the proverbial steering wheel. If the whole ordeal of Season 1 has knocked some sense into her, maybe Sinatra will focus on her family, especially her daughter, instead of squandering the rest of her life on politics. As for Xavier, I don’t think he is going to find Teri in Season 2. Maybe he’ll reunite with the love of his life in one of the last episodes, but not before that. The showrunners will likely try to show the extent of the damage that has been done to the world (maybe they’ll take a page out of Fallout and introduce some radioactive monsters created by the nukes), thereby underscoring what it has taken the survivors to, well, survive. Much like Season 1, there’ll be a lot of flashbacks that will highlight Xavier and Teri’s relationship; that’ll make their reunion all the more impactful.
In addition to all that, what I really want from Paradise Season 2 is for the showrunners to maintain or improve the quality of writing, direction, and acting. I really hope that they don’t just go for spectacle and inject every frame with plotlines and dialogue that have substance in them. That’s one of the biggest reasons why this show has managed to stand on its own two legs instead of being labeled a “Silo rip-off.” The producers and the streaming platform should give the team behind the show the time and resources they need and not even think about rushing them because “the hype will die.” I’ve seen several shows suffer because of this mindset, and I don’t want Paradise to go down the same route. It’s better to deliver a good second season a long time after the first season was released rather than a half-baked season 2 soon after the release of season 1. Anyway, those are my thoughts on the ending of Paradise. Please feel free to share what you thought of the series in the comments section below.
