'Paradise' S1 Finale Recap: The Man Who Kept The Secrets
Spoilers ahead!
Chiiiilllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
What a show! What a satisfying finale!
I suspect there may be split opinions on this, but I am glad they opted to give us a finale with a resolution and falling action that sets up season two in an exciting way rather than ending with a finale that mirrored episode seven’s level of stress, leaving us in complete dismay with that cliffhanger. Real life is chaotic enough; I need to know what’s coming in my fictional worlds!
I can’t even imagine the emotional turmoil waiting for us above ground! I’m so glad we get to find out who all survived the apocalypse. But before we get into all that we have to look forward to, let's talk about the finale itself.
I know I keep talking about the parallels between Paradise and This Is Us but I’m so in awe of how clear Dan Fogelman’s writing style is despite how different these two shows are. The way this finale begins is CLASSIC Fogelman. Instead of picking up right at the cliffhanger episode seven left us on, he takes us twelve years into the past when construction of Paradise first began. Now if you’re one of the few people in America who never tuned into TIU (yes, I’m judging you!) you should know for future reference that anytime Fogleman takes the time to tell you someone random’s story, they’re going to fit into the story in a very important way. So although I was slightly annoyed we weren’t getting right to the action, I knew to pay attention. And honestly I should’ve been treating Paradise like this from the beginning but it took me a few episodes to understand what type of time Dan was on, so I missed a few key clues, including paying attention to the freaking librarian! So I’m watching the entire cold open like: “Who is this man and why is he important? Ohhh sh*t this is the backstory of the man who attempted to shoot Cal the first time! Wait, I know you’re not about to tell me that’s who– ahhhh!”
I was absolutely shook by the series of events that got that man into Paradise after escaping from prison on “the day,” as they called it. And our favorite cashew cheese fry loving waitress being part of his accomplice was a plot twist I definitely didn’t see coming. Also, if you recall, they showed them causing a scene while entering Paradise in the background while Xavier was checking-in with his kids. The clues were right in front of us all along! Shoutout to everyone who had the librarian on their suspect list because of the construction uniform on display in the library that had the flower symbol that Preseley said she saw someone wearing the night Cal was shot. Yall are the real MVPs because I was waiting for Marsha, the aide from the White House, to pop up in revenge of lil’ Eddie but I guess it wasn’t her after all.
I hate that Cal had to die behind Sinatra’s sins (this is why evil billionaires hide behind public figures btw) but he did go along with her sinister plan so I guess he’s not completely innocent. If only he had the backbone to stand up to his father and become the teacher he wanted to be! Damn damn damn. Cal wasn’t a perfect man but he did the right thing when he told everyone the truth on “the day,” and he is a hero for making sure there were enough clues to lead Xavier to the evidence he left behind to let them know people were still alive and how to get out of Paradise and find them.
I’m relieved they got to the librarian (what is that man’s name?!) before he ran away with Cal’s instructions in the book, which you may have caught is the same title as the episode, The Man Who Kept The Secrets. The librarian’s initial whistle-blowing intentions were noble, but he needed to be caught so that information could be in the hands of the only two people in this series I trust – Xavier and Robinson. I am still thinking about the librarian's last words before he jumped off the ledge. His observation on how they all had a chance to build a better, more equitable world down there but didn’t, says a lot about how deeply this country’s classist ways are embedded in its DNA.
“Paradise, what a f*cking joke.” — Trent, the librarian
Before I get into the rest of what went down, let me say this:
I had a short list of things I wanted to see happen in the Paradise finale, and I needed at least three of them to occur to be satisfied:
They find President Cal Bradford’s killer.
Sinatra gets shot, preferably by Xavier but anyone would do!
Someone kills Jane.
Presley remains alive and well.
We find out if Teri is still alive.
Much to my delight, I did get three of my wishes. Finding out who killed Cal felt like an easy bet. And I wasn’t too worried about Presley (who is just as hardheaded as her mama for not staying put!) because I didn’t think they would actually kill one of Xavier’s kids, that’s Game of Thrones level cruelty, most shows cannot get away with that. I also figured they’d hold off on finding Teri as the leading S2 plot. So that left someone murking one of those two crazy white women. I didn’t know if the writer’s room had it in them to go for the big fish, so I initially thought it would be Jane if either of them, but man oh man did they exceed my expectations!
When Xavier shot Sinatra’s security guards and put his gun right up on her forehead I was standing on my couch screaming, “DO IT RANDALL X!!!” Then Jane’s crazy ass came out of nowhere and put a hot one right through Sinatra’s neck and I – I couldn’t believe they actually went for it and took her out! She isn’t dead but that shot to the throat was enough for me, I’m satisfied with her being incapacitated in a hospital bed unable to talk (maybe ever again?) for now.
“You probably should’ve just let me have the Wii,” — the most lunatic thing an assassin has ever muttered to their victim in all of television!
Of all the things for Sinatra to go and get shot over I did not see this petty ass reason coming LOL. I’ve seen some people suspect that the Wii has some sort of secret information on it, but I think we’re just underestimating how boring it is being trapped underground with no internet or digital entertainment. I love to read, but having no TV shows to watch and having to share CDs with the entire city would’ve been enough to have me losing my mind. I think the more interesting question is why does Jane need Sinatra alive? She’s the only person who can expose Jane for who she really is, and what she’s really done (#JusticeForBilly), so there must be something we don’t know about their arrangement that makes Sinatra still more useful to her alive.
The rest of the episode serves mostly as a set up for S2. We see Cal’s son Jeremy listening to the message his dad left him on the CD mixtape he made expressing his love (When Cal said, “I’ve always believed that you are the things you love… and if that’s the case then I am you, my boy. And I think you’re me.” – I WEPT!) and essentially setting him up to be a leader in the resistance by telling him he should do what he can to change Paradise for the better.
Back at the Collins household, Xavier reunites with his children and Robinson, Presley is safe and sound as Jane promised. And they all agree Xavier needs to use the instructions in the book to go above ground and investigate what’s going on (Robinson’s ask) and bring back Teri (Presley said, find my mama bring her home! IKTR!). We see the new president, former VP, take charge of the 1% Paradise leadership, foreshadowing that he’ll be the new Sinatra figure in S2. The episode closes with Randall X successfully opening Paradise’s doors and preparing to fly one of the small planes (looks like he gets to live out his dream of being a pilot like his dad afterall!) to Atlanta to look for Beth– er I mean Teri – and find out the actual state of the post-apocalyptic world.
It’s a setup ripe for storylines:
How will Paradise continue now that its citizens are aware Cal was murdered and there may be survivors above?
What will Xavier find above ground?
Is Teri still alive? If so, what has she been up to these last few years?
Because Dan Fogleman loves to layer plots by jumping through timelines and introducing new characters and their backstories – the amount of ways this series could go are unliiiimmiiiteeeeeedddd *Cythia Erivo voice*
My S2 prediction: Whatever Teri was working on in Atlanta also has something to do with D-Day, or how people may be able to survive in the new world. Xavier told Cal that Teri is a scientist working on an important career-defining project in Atlanta after giving up time to raise their children. I know that’s got to have something to do with something!
All I know for sure is that I need Dan and the rest of the Paradise writer’s room to have the scripts turned in by the end of the week! And cameras up by Monday! I don’t want to see Sterling at a single event now that awards season is over! We need filming to resume NOW!
Sincerely,
Sylvia
PS: If you’re wondering what shows can fill the void now that our new favorite emotional, political, sci-fi thriller is over. Here are a few other shows out right now that either match Paradise’s excellence or come close enough for the time being:
Severance (Apple TV)
The Pitt (Max)
Lioness (Paramount +)
Zero Day (Netflix)
I really want to add The White Lotus (Max) here but this season is draaaagging!
I cannot thank you enough for sharing all of these thoughts because they match my feelings about the show, PERFECTLY! I wanted Sinatra to die honestly, she got off too easy, like bitch bye, we hate you! Jane is a psycho, for real and I was a little lost as to why she would text Sinatra that the situation with Presley was handled??? Like, how did she know when Xavier would arrive at her office to give her the news and find out where his daughter was?..I dunno, but anyway, and I'm backtracking here because I am bad at keeping things in order but, I had a hard time believing that the audio of Xavier's wife was real, simply because I hate Sinatra so much and she was going to do everything in her power to, well, keep her power. I was pissed at that idiot therapist for tipping her off, and that they had to give the guns back. The way she would keep attempting to calm Sinatra her down was irritating AF, like don't you know this woman is insane? I was jumping on the couch when the story of the killer librarian was unfolding, like whaaa!!??
Okay, back to the ending. Very relieved to see Presley safe and sound and Xavier heading out to go find wifey, and season 2 can't come quickly enough because I need answers!!
Yesss! Okay I admit I wasn’t exactly sure about this show, being a fan of Sterling I had to see it through. But it made so much sense as a TIU fan that there would be so many backstories to cover. And the Wii quote…insane! And thank you I was trying to remember Cal’s quote about love. And come on, did everyone have to be so freaking rude to Cal on his last day, I get it he did let a lot of people down.
So is season 2 going to be this apocalypse world where Sterling is battling zombies. But maybe it’s going to be completely different from what we’re thinking but of course we probably missed some clues.