Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for the Paradise Season 1 finale.
Political thrillers are a dime a dozen on the screen; simultaneously, many TV series and films have explored the end of the world and the post-apocalyptic wastelands they often produce. However,not untilParadisehas a piece of media managed to blend the twoso well. Many TV viewers will have spent nights and nights flicking through show after show, bored by the fact that it feels like we can predict exactly what will happen based on premise alone. This is somethingParadisedoes not allow as it spools out information exactly when we need it most.
In every episode, new questions are posed to the audience as old ones are answered, and this has created an incredibly fun and emotional ride this season, with mysteries that feel like they run deeper than the bunker itself. However, this does mean that, despite answering the mystery of who killed Cal and what could be outside the bunker,we are still left with many unanswered questions that set up a fascinating second season. These include mysteries surrounding Xavier’s (Sterling K. Brown) journey out of the bunker,Jane’s (Nicole Brydon Bloom)growing villainy, and what kind of power dynamic Xavier will return to in the bunker.
What Will Xavier Find in ‘Paradise’s Surface World?
It felt like an impossibility, but the finale confirms thatwe will see the outside world in Season 2 ofParadise, with Xavier getting on a plane and presumably taking off to findTeri (Enuka Okuma)and other survivors. However, there isno guarantee that this will lead to a happy ending for Xavier. Firstly, we don’t know if we can trustSinatra’s (Julianne Nicholson)word that Teri is alive, as she revealed to Xavier in Episode 6, “You Asked For Miracles,” and Episode 7, “The Day.” The evidence Sinatra gave was a recording of Teri which identified her and how she was the wife of Xavier. Such a specific audio clip feels almost too good to be true, and when you listen you’re able to hear what feels like a subtle shift in the quality, which could hint it isn’t real. We saw how losing his wife has already broken Xavier once, and how he almost executed Sinatra after believing Presley (Aliyah Mastin) was dead, so losing his wife all over again could be an emotional brink he cannot come back from.
Even if Xavier does find Teri, the potential issues don’t end there. We do not know what state the world is in three years after it ended, what society has become, or how the survivors will perceive the bunker.They may not see Xavier as a savior, but instead as part of the same lot of people who left the world to burnwhile getting cozy underground. Furthermore, what if Teri takes this viewpoint as well? We know she was on board to head to the bunker during the end of the world, but three years in the wilderness might mean she has more affinity with the people left behind. In the end, it could cause strife for Xavier whether his wife is alive or not.
The 10 Best Characters in ‘Paradise,’ Ranked
We can’t wait to see more of them in Season 2!
What Are Jane’s Plans in ‘Paradise’?
Perhaps the hardest-to-read character this season has been Jane, as we can never predict what will motivate her and, therefore, don’t know what her next steps will be. During the finale, “The Man Who Kept the Secrets,” she gives us the biggest shock when she shoots Sinatra and reveals to Xavier that his children are safe. We think Jane might be about to change, finding redemption for whenshe killed Billy (Jon Weavers), but this is ripped away from us when we realize she only did this because Sinatra didn’t give herCal’s (James Marsden)Wii that she wanted. When she tells Sinatra that she is “no use to me dead,” it’sfrightening to think what Jane will use Sinatra for, as she may work to undermine Xavier’s efforts to bring survivors to the bunker to keep the resources spread around as few people as possible.
Who Will Take Control of the Bunker in ‘Paradise’?
Following Sinatra being shot, the billionaires are shown to be rudderless, and with Xavier leaving and Jane holding more control than we thought, it sets up a fascinating power vacuum. During the final montage, the new president takes control of the billionaires whileJeremy (Charlie Evans)uses his father’s tablet to revealthe truth about Sinatra and the outside world. Two factions are now forming between the politicians/billionaires and the people, and since we don’t know how Sinatra will reintegrate back into society or how Jane will exert her control over Sinatra, it raises the question of who will assume authority among the others left behind after this season.Even if Xavier brings his wife back and all goes well outside, will the bunker still be recognizable to him? A new conflict could brew where suddenly, after fighting to get out of the bunker, Xavier must fight to enter it.
In the end, there is just no wayParadiseis going to give us a simple second season where everything we think we know is true. Xavier’s search in the wilderness is fraught with potential issues, as there is no guarantee he’ll find Teri alive, and he doesn’t know what kind of civilization will be left in a world barely held together. Furthermore, if Jane is as selfish as she has shown herself to be so far, then it is unlikely she will be fine with Xavier bringing survivors back into the bunker, and she has left herself in a frightfully powerful position at the end of this season. Ultimately, the bunker will never be the same again, with splits already appearing between the people and their leaders, and with Xavier leaving,who will be the hero to keep everyone safe until he returns?
All episodes ofParadiseSeason 1 are available to stream on Hulu.
