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Paradise Season 1 Finale: The Wild Twists You Won’t Believe!

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In January, Paradise stood out as one of the most eccentric television shows in recent times. Dan Fogelman’s sequel to his popular network series This Is Us combines that show’s heartfelt personal drama with a variety of genres: sci-fi, political thriller, and murder mystery, all blended together. The Season 1 finale on March 4 provided an answer to the series’ central mystery – who assassinated the U.S. President? However, the intrigue surrounding this plot line faded once it was disclosed that the show is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the main characters are sheltering within a billionaire’s underground bunker (please keep that secret from Apple).

Dramatic events have been unfolding rapidly in this show: It turns out the president was having an affair with one of his secret service personnel! A killer is on the run – wait, make that two killers! The protagonist is planning a coup – but hold on, the planned coup has unexpectedly been called off!

As a devoted cinema enthusiast, I find myself deeply engrossed in this captivating narrative where character progression heavily relies on poignant tragic motifs. One character carries the weight of losing her child, another bears the pain of losing his wife, and yet another grieves over the loss of his dog. To make matters more intriguing, the President’s peculiar obsession with ’80s tunes adds an unusual layer to the series. Each episode is marked by the original rendition of a tune playing in the background, such as “We Built This City” echoing as a billionaire constructs his city within a cave. The mood shifts dramatically when the same song reappears, this time in a melancholic version, underscoring tragic events like a child’s demise.

Intriguingly, one of the characters is a waitress whose defining trait is her love for cashew milk-cheese fries. Every scene she graces with her presence seems to revolve around these fries, which adds an enigmatic twist in the climax when it’s revealed from her files that she supposedly suffers from a tree nut allergy. This contradiction between her professed love for cashew milk-cheese fries and her supposed allergy opens up a mystery: is this waitress an imposter? The plot thickens, leaving the audience to ponder whether this twist is brilliant or absurd.

As a dedicated fan, I’ve found myself drawn into this captivating series reminiscent of both “Lost” and “Scandal”, particularly when those shows took unexpected turns. Yet, despite its unpredictable nature, it’s Sterling K. Brown’s powerful presence that keeps me hooked on this intriguing production airing on Hulu. Here, I’ll recap the events of “Paradise” thus far, break down the latest episode, and offer some insights as to where this engaging narrative might be headed next.

What happened in the lead-up to the Paradise Season 1 finale

In this story, Brown portrays Xavier, a Secret Service agent tasked with shielding President Cal Bradford, a light-hearted political figure reminiscent of a liberal version of George W. Bush, who is played by James Marsden. When Xavier uncovers his superior’s assassination, he meticulously searches for clues before summoning backup. As it turns out, the President was being manipulated by a wealthy individual known as Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson), who closely resembles a female Elon Musk in her influence and ambition. The series debut concludes with the revelation that a catastrophe has taken place, leaving approximately 25,000 individuals—chosen by Sinatra—to seek shelter within her climate-controlled bunker. Xavier had a complex bond with the President: he risked his life to save him, forging an unbreakable connection, but is enraged that the President failed to rescue Xavier’s wife during the apocalypse. Throughout the series, Xavier takes on the role of a single parent to his two children, frequently placing them in perilous scenarios involving dangerous criminals.

In the penultimate episode of the season, I found myself transported back to what appeared to be the day the world as we knew it ended. This fast-paced and nail-biting episode was undeniably gripping, holding me on the edge of my seat. The Earth was facing a catastrophic climate disaster, leading to a chain of devastating tsunamis that wiped out coastal cities. In an unexpected turn, Russia and China initiated a nuclear war, but fortunately, our president—in a predictably dramatic twist for this series—possessed a button capable of temporarily shutting down global power supplies, thus halting the nukes mid-air, albeit leaving those still alive at risk of potential starvation until power was restored. Despite Sinatra’s warnings, I made the decision to push that button, arguing that the people of America deserved a chance to fight for their survival.

It turns out that a significant number of people did make it through. At the episode’s conclusion, it becomes clear that approximately 55 million Americans lived beyond the apocalypse outside the silo, including Xavier’s wife. Sinatra has been working behind the scenes to keep this information hidden, aiming to prevent anyone from leaving her bunker—she struggles with control issues.

As a passionate film buff, I find myself immersed in a gripping narrative where Xavier spearheads a defiant uprising against the iron grip of Sinatra, who persists in wielding power over our nation following Cal’s demise. However, Sinatra employs his personal enforcer, Jane (Nicole Bryden Bloom), to kidnap Xavier’s teenage daughter (Aliyah Mastin) as a means of control. To add fuel to the fire, Xavier is presented with a recording that verifies the survival of his wife in Atlanta.

The librarian tried to assassinate the President twice

In my perspective as a movie critic, Sinatra shrewdly thwarts Xavier’s rebellion by abducting his daughter, an unexpected move that leaves one puzzled. However, it’s perplexing when Sinatra grants Xavier and his cronies their freedom, allowing several of them to retain their firearms – a decision that seems uncharacteristically imprudent from a paranoid ruler. Instead of promptly seeking his daughter or addressing his family’s safety, Xavier exhibits an odd choice by delving into the investigation of the president’s assassination rather than tending to his immediate concerns.

Returning once more to the president’s residence in search of additional evidence, Xavier stumbles upon a CD that Cal had crafted for his son – you’ve probably guessed it – filled with ’80s rock anthems. This seemingly insignificant discovery leads Xavier to a book concealed within the library, where the President has hidden all the secrets regarding the apocalypse and instructions on how to exit the bunker.

In a few scenes throughout the series, the library attendant named Ian Merrigan unexpectedly knocks out Xavier. Upon waking up, the librarian confides in Xavier that he is actually the individual who attempted to assassinate the president, though his new bald appearance seems to have gone unnoticed, suggesting that the country’s most wanted criminal was casually organizing self-help books.

Xavier is compelled to hear a lengthy, melancholic account from Sinatra, who was previously a construction manager overseeing the building of a survival shelter (silo). His workers unearthed a unique chemical that would be lethal to them but would disappear before the silo’s inhabitants moved in. (Quite handy!). Determined that these construction workers would perish during the apocalypse he believes is imminent, Sinatra chose to continue the work, figuring it was irrelevant if they fell ill in the meantime. This former construction manager-turned-librarian attempted to inform the media about the silo and the dangerous working conditions that were claiming his employees’ lives, but no one would pay him heed. In an effort to bring attention to his predicament, he makes an attempt to fire a gunshot at the president on the White House lawn.

During the apocalypse, a man escaped from prison during a riot, disguised as an officer, coldly murdered a librarian and his wife using their credentials for access to the bunker. He then picked up a woman who loved cashew, cheese, fries in a parking lot, pretending she was his wife. To bypass ID checks at the silo entrance, he feigned a panic attack since his face didn’t match the photo on record. He settled into living in paradise and took some time to relax before realizing that he should seek vengeance for the president who doomed millions to climate catastrophe while the wealthy hid in a fabricated suburb. Despite being an ordinary guy, he executed the assassination with precision, similar to a trained professional. After confiding in Xavier about his actions, the librarian-assassin took his own life.

The murderer turned out to be someone we’d been watching among us all along, yet it was impossible to predict this ordinary-looking individual was involved in the failed assassination attempt on the president outside the White House. This is partly due to the preposterous chain of events that led him to the bunker. He serves as a secondary character in a secondary mystery, one that initially drew viewers to the show but lost its appeal once the main twist—the world’s end—was disclosed.

There’s a psychopath on the loose who really likes the Wii

Meanwhile, as Xavier is busy unraveling a murder case, Sinatra phones Jane to express concern that Xavier’s daughter might know crucial details. This daughter is involved romantically with President Evans’ son (Charlie) and they’ve stumbled upon information about survivors beyond the silo, which was found in Charlie’s father’s house.

You might remember that Jane was pretending to be an ordinary secret service agent with a quiet demeanor, who was dating her coworker Billy. One fateful night, the president was assassinated and they turned off the security cameras to play Wii tennis undetected. This is why there’s no footage of the assassin. It turns out they played video games almost every evening, with Xavier’s daughter included. Initially, it seemed like Jane was just a cold-blooded murderer after she killed Billy on Sinatra’s orders earlier in the series because he refused to harm Xavier or his family. However, it appears that Jane is not only a killer but also a psychopath.

Jane informs Sinatra that she’ll handle the matter concerning Xavier’s daughter, but as payment, she demands use of the Nintendo Wii. This request puzzles and troubles Sinatra, making her question whether Jane intends to harm a child. In the end, she scoffs at the idea of playing the Wii and ends the call without understanding if this woman is planning to endanger a teenager, which appears careless for a villainous character. Later on, a text conversation shows Sinatra asking about Xavier’s daughter and Jane confirming that the situation has been resolved.

In the end, Xavier recollects he needs to verify on his children and hurries back to Sinatra. He informes her that he has cracked the case and demands the liberation of his daughter. Sinatra reveals his daughter is deceased, causing Xavier to brandish a weapon. However, Jane suddenly appears and shoots Sinatra instead. Jane then reassures Xavier that his daughter is unharmed. Once Xavier exits the room, Jane explains to Sinatra that she has spared her life: Xavier intended to eliminate Sinatra, but Jane only wounded her. Now, Jane intends to manipulate the mastermind. “Perhaps I should have just let me keep the Wii,” she remarks.

The peculiar Wii storyline raises several intriguing points. Could it be that the world ended in 2006, given that the Nintendo Wii is quite antiquated and there have been more sophisticated video game consoles introduced over the past two decades? Furthermore, if the iPhone technology featured in the second-to-last episode is any indication, the series might be set in the 2020s. This leads one to wonder, was the President’s fondness for video games as outdated as his musical tastes?

In addition, wasn’t it standard practice for Sinatra to require psychological assessments when selecting her secret bodyguards within the secluded community? Despite keeping her psychologist on retainer to compile profiles of every resident, she neglected to administer additional psychological tests to the potential suspects?

Xavier is headed out of the silo

In summary, despite a short-lived relationship with Dr. Gabriela Torabi (portrayed by Sarah Shahi), who was Sinatra’s therapist, Xavier was determined to leave the silo to search for his wife. Clues suggesting his wife was still alive were subtly introduced throughout the season. A group of scientists departed the bunker with much excitement, but Sinatra ordered their deaths, fearing that the discovery of an outside world would lead to an invasion of the shelter. To emphasize Xavier’s fascination with aviation (his grandfather was a Tuskegee Airman, and his father was a commercial airline pilot), a flashback episode was dedicated to this background. Given this, it’s no surprise that Xavier, equipped with his pilot’s license, will pilot a plane out of the very hole he’s been confined in. One of the initial locations attempting contact with the silo was Atlanta, where we know Xavier’s wife was working before the catastrophe. Now, we have evidence confirming her voice.

Xavier chooses to entrust his children to fellow agent Robinson (Krys Marshall), a decision that raises concerns given their complex past. Indeed, she has solved the cheese fry lady mystery and aided Xavier in starting a coup. However, for most of the series, they both harbored suspicions about each other regarding the death of Cal. Therefore, their alliance is not exactly solid. Moreover, she is likely unwelcome among Sinatra and the powerful figures governing the silo, making her a potential target for harm or arrest. If that were to happen again, Xavier’s children would be in danger once more.

Instead, let’s see where Xavier ends up as he ventures into the world outside! Will it be a flourishing community, or one that resembles the post-apocalyptic setting of “The Last of Us”? The world of “Paradise” is gearing up for significant growth in its second season.

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2025-03-04 22:08

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