Who killed the President? Why is the setting more important than the murder? The second question gets answered by the end of Paradise – Episode 1 (streaming now on Hulu). The first question takes the entire season to unravel. By then, the two puzzles—the death of the president and the circumstances surrounding it—will be inextricably woven together. One problem cannot be solved unless we understand the other. If it sounds like Paradise is an apocalyptic, political thriller and murder mystery with a major spoiler that has me under a gag order. You’re right. But the big reveal, similar to the one in This Is Us, comes at you fast.
Hulu’s newly launched series, Paradise, is the kind of show you wonder if Dan Fogelman has been cooking it up for decades. He has. During a recent press event for CCA, Fogelman revealed the idea for the twisty genre-bending series predates This Is Us, his emotionally resonant and timeline-jumping hit. “When the shit hits the fan, we’re all gonna be in the same position…I started thinking about the people who take care of the people with great power,” Fogelman said, recounting the moment of inspiration that shaped the show’s themes. That seed, sparked by a meeting with a powerful Hollywood executive and a loud BOOM when a crane collapsed, grew into a story that studies the collision of power and vulnerability, humanity and isolation.
Paradise plays genre hopscotch, but it also mirrors Fogelman’s previous projects in two ways: it’s about family and what we owe each other as a society. The series begins as one thing but quickly shifts in unexpected directions. Yet that balance of character-driven storytelling and a mystery that gets messier the more you learn remains.
Further anchoring the story are several enigmatic performances: Sterling K. Brown as Xavier Collins, a grieving single father and Secret Service agent who feels the weight of protecting the president; Julianne Nicholson the commanding and self-centered billionaire, Sinatra; James Marsden as President Cal Bradford, the reluctant but charismatic leader who is burdened by legacy and power; Krys Marshall as Nicole Robinson a woman who blurs the lines between pleasure and duty; and Sarah Shahi as Dr. Gabriela Torab, a therapist and sociologist who comes in and out of focus so frequently you keep waiting for her to step out of the shadows and reveal we had it wrong all along. There’s also Jon Beavers as Agent Billy Pace, a character you’re not sure you can trust but want to because you believe he deserves it. Each actor brings intrigue to their roles, hinting at more but only delivering when the plot says so. A point Nicholson emphasized when describing the show’s characters: “All of these characters are presenting as one thing, and there’s so much going on behind.”
The world-building plays the same tricks, turning a small town into the biggest city in America. The creative team took their time in asking “What if…?” and built a detailed series bible from sociological research, creating a world that is familiar but also eerily unknown. “We watched the scariest TED Talks,” Fogelman joked about the preparation that went into imagining the fallout of political conspiracies and catastrophic stress on our societal structures. The result is a series that’s scary because of its plausibility, inviting us to unravel its mysteries while forcing us to face the fractured reflection of our world.
Since everything else is a spoiler, I’ll end where Paradise begins: With Xavier Collins, grieving the loss of his wife, as he navigates presidential protection while raising two children—the ever-evolving Presley (Aliyah Mastin) and the blissfully free James (Percy Daggs IV). Meanwhile, President Cal Bradford struggles under the weight of familial expectations (AKA his father, played with vigor and venom by Gerald McRaney), and Samantha Redmond (codename Sinatra) plays shadowy games as a foil for Xavier who is fueled by her own grief. When Xavier finds Cal dead, with both motive and opportunity making him the primary suspect, all the carefully laid lies that protect the city of Paradise start to crumble.
In the end, although we won’t know whodunit until the eighth and final episode, Paradise is a genre-bending brain-teaser that takes protecting the world’s most powerful people to its logical collisions and what conclusions happen next.
Paradise – Episode 101 streaming now on Hulu
Episodes 102 and 103 stream tomorrow Tue, Jan 28
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for fans of: Station Eleven, Under the Dome, Silo
genres: political thriller, murder mystery, speculative, conspiracy
PARADISE EPISODES:
EPISODE 101 – WILDCAT IS DOWN
Streaming: January 28
Directed by Glenn Ficarra & John Requa; Written by Dan Fogelman
Logline: It’s just another day in Paradise until Agent Xavier Collins discovers one of the world’s most powerful individuals has been viciously murdered. Xavier analyzes the crime scene while recalling his complex relationship with the victim.
EPISODE 102 – SINATRA
Streaming: January 28
Directed by Glenn Ficarra & John Requa; Written by Dan Fogelman & Katie French
Logline: Agent Xavier Collins is interrogated. Samantha Redmond (codename Sinatra) begins to reassure the community as she reflects on how she got to Paradise.
EPISODE 103 – THE ARCHITECT OF SOCIAL WELL-BEING
Streaming: January 28
Directed by Gandja Monteiro; Written by Jason Wilborn
Logline: Isolated, Xavier seeks answers on his own and cautiously turns to Dr. Gabriela Torabi. Meanwhile, Billy and Jane feel the pressure from Robinson’s investigation.
EPISODE 104 – AGENT BILLY PACE
Streaming: February 4
Directed by Gandja Monteiro; Written by Scott Weinger
Logline: The citizens of Paradise celebrate at the annual carnival. Xavier and Billy delve deeper into their investigation.
More soon…
