Paradise, season 1, spellbinding catastrophe drama

Paradise, from This is Us creator Dan Fogelman, brings another hit for this writer and creator. Season 1 just finished on Hulu. Season 2 is already approved. Paradise is about the end of the world and is full of twists and surprises woven into a nonlinear story full of flashbacks and slowly revealed key pieces of the plot.

I’ll try to keep it vague because the enjoyment of the story depends on the slow trickle of truth and surprises that come out in the 8 episodes. The big spoiler that cannot be avoided is that 25,000 hand picked people live in a secretly created town called Paradise. It’s safe from the environmental and political disaster befalling the rest of the world.

The Key Characters

Let’s talk about some of the characters instead.

Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) centers the story. He’s a secret service agent guarding the President of the U.S. He has a wife (Enuka Okuma) and two kids – Presley (Aliyah Mastin) and James (Percy Daggs IV). He knows when the big catastrophe everyone keeps telling him is coming finally hits, his family will be among those spirited away to safety. Brown gives a brilliant performance in this.

The President is Cal Bradford (James Marsden). This is Marsden’s best ever performance as the seemingly drunk and uncaring POTUS. He and his wife are estranged but pretending not to be. His son Jeremy (Charlie Evans) is good friends with Presley Collins. Cal’s father, Kane Bradford (Gerald McRaney), is suffering from dementia but still a force in Cal’s life and in what happens in season 1.

Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) is really running things in Paradise. She’s one of several billionaires who are the real power. A government run by billionaires, hmm. Sinatra (her code name, not her real name) knows everything and gives all the hard orders.

Dr. Gabriela Torabi (Sarah Shahi) holds all the smarts about handling people and choosing who is the right person to have around. She has lots of secrets at her disposal and knows how to get people to do what she wants them to do.

Robinson (Krys Marshall) is another special agent. She’s very close to the POTUS, but also an ally in what happens with Xavier when the situation gets tricky. Other secret service characters who are important in how things unfold are Jane (Nicole Brydon Bloom) and Billy Pace (Jon Beavers).

Trouble in Paradise

The good guys might actually be the bad guys and the bad guys might actually be the good guys. The seemingly unimportant folks might actually be really important. Reality is not what it seems and lies are told. It’s an enthralling series with plenty of suspense. The season ends with a clear path ahead for what’s to come in season 2.

A key question in season 1 was what would humans do if they could start fresh? Would they make the same mistakes all over again or would they be willing to create something better? The series also touches on questions such as what will people do for love? What will people do out of anger? Who would follow orders blindly? Women directed half the episodes. They are Hanelle M. Culpepper and Gandja Monteiro.

Overall, this is a terrific television series and well worth watching. It isn’t perfect. It had slow spots and a few unlikely plot points. But it’s a great watch.