Hulu's Paradise

A TV Series Review

What if there were a super volcano explosion in Antarctica which resulted in an extinction level event? What if the American government had known it was coming and prepared a bunker for its highest ranking officials and others who were useful? What could possibly go wrong for the people inside the bunker after the dust settled? Hulu’s show Paradise asks those very questions. The answers will shock you.

Paradise starts off weird, slowly gets weirder and then goes straight off the deep end. The truly crazy part is how much all of the weird makes sense. The audience is introduced to the world of Paradise slowly, but the further we get drawn in and the crazier it gets the more sense it makes.

I’d like to meet the people that write for Paradise. They’ve found a way to tell a story that’s partially in the present, partially in flashback and is always engaging. I want to pick their brains about how they did it. This story is amazing. It’s layered. It’s immediate. The characters quickly become people that you respect and care about. They took approximately elebenty bajillion different factors, threw them in the blender, and came out with a concoction that has me craving more.

Keep your heads on a swivel while you’re watching Paradise, folks. Everything changes all the time. Go ahead and think you’ve got it all figured out. I dare you. Just know that you’re wrong. I almost feel like the aforementioned writers of the show get together to write scripts like “Okay, things are bad. How do we make them worse?” Then everybody comes up with the most terrible thing that can happen to the characters and they go “Okay, now how do we get there?” and that’s how they write the scripts. It was like watching the world’s most awesome train wreck. Like, I knew something terrible was about to happen and I just couldn’t wait to find out what the next disaster was going to be.

Unfortunately, they’ve only released two seasons to date and I just finished the last episode but that falls under the Jimbo Rule: If I don’t write it, produce it, or act in it, and I’m not a member of the crew for it, it ain’t my fault if it don’t come out faster.

Or sumfin’

Anyway, blame Hulu because there’s not more Paradise. I’m innocent this time. Google says no more episodes till February of next year. Oof.

The main character is Secret Service member Xavier Collins, played by Sterling K. Brown. Xavier is the guy you want in your corner. He’s loyal. He’s smart and he is freaking unstoppable. Xavier is the guy who won’t be deterred by the other side’s deterrents, won’t stop at the stop sign and won’t break when pressure is applied.

Xavier is a bodyguard. He is a family man. He is the guy who will do whatever he needs to for his family. He’s been through hell and he’s come out stronger. Watching Paradise, you get to see Xavier take care of his own family. I’m here to tell you that if the worst happened, this is the guy I would want watching over my family. He’s that good.

Xavier also seems to be the only character in all of Paradise who is who he actually is. You’ll get that once you’ve seen it. There are a lot of people doing a lot of things and it’s not always obvious what they want or how they’re planning to get it. At least not until it’s too late. It seems like everyone has an agenda. I didn’t start off knowing what any of them were, with the exception of Xavier’s agenda to protect the president.

There is a lot more action in Paradise than I expected to see in an isolated community living underground. That sounded like the recipe for some vanilla flavored pap. It wasn’t. There is always something going on. There is always a scheme unfolding. There’s even a bit of old school violence to spice things up. It’s like fresh blood on the wall in Chicago. That’s the old saying, right? Something like that. Well, I mean, except that it’s not Chicago and I don’t remember any blood on the actual wall.

Look, it’s called a simile, okay? You don’t have to take everything so literally all the time.

At any rate…

I know I had a lot to say about Xavier but he’s not the only Paradise character worth watching. Samantha “Sinatra” Redmond is another favorite. She cuts an extremely interesting figure. I don’t want to spoil too much, but she’s definitely worth keeping an eye on. You’ll figure out why eventually. Julianne Nicholson does an amazing job of presenting this complex character. As much as I hate the Sinatra character, I love the Sinatra character. I really don’t know what to do with this woman. One minute she’s acting like a loyal follower, the next minute she’s trying to take over. We’ll see where the character goes next, but there’s something going on there. I can tell.

I’m both disappointed and relieved to state that I only found Paradise a couple of weeks ago. Disappointed because I really wish I had been on the Paradise train when it pulled out. Relieved because waiting for the second season would have sucked. I mean it. This is the kind of show that gets in your head and won’t let go. It’s not fun having to twiddle my thumbs while I’m waiting for the next season to start. It’s like going to your crack dealer’s house and finding a line six blocks long.

And now I’m stuck waiting for Season Three. I have a feeling that the totally awesome massively exciting thing is going to happen. I have no idea what that might be, but I feel pretty confident that it will be something. I haven’t exactly found myself bored up to this point. I can’t wait for the journey to continue.

Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Broken Elevators

Paradise
Dan Fogelman
Hulu, 2025-26