Commentary: ‘Paradise’ Doesn’t Know What It Wants To Be
by Frank Martin
Stories typically try to stay in one lane. A mystery just focuses on being its puzzle; an action story places the action front and center. There’s bound to be some crossover and overlap as stories try to incorporate other elements to be unique or original. Something may be firmly rooted in science fiction, but include elements of comedy or drama in order to raise the stakes. But sometimes, stories throw together so many different elements that it’s hard to know exactly what it’s trying to be. This is exactly how Hulu’s Paradise feels.
The series bounces back and forth between the past and the present as it recollects a global catastrophe and the attempt to preserve humanity within a suburban-esque bomb shelter. Tremendous tension is created as the wealthy and political elite have to keep the bomb shelter project a secret while also choosing who gets to go there. At the same time, the show begins with the assassination of President Bradford (James Marsden) within the bomb shelter — the community’s first murder. And even though he had disdain for the president at the time, his chief bodyguard, Xavier Collins (Sterling K Brown), is tasked with discovering the killer.
Every episode has a different flavor to it. Initially, the premiere focuses solely on being a political thriller as Xavier deals with the aftermath of the president’s death. But the science fiction nature of the program is only introduced at the end of the first episode as a twist. From there, other episodes deal with high character level of drama while others highlight the show’s sci-fi elements of trying to survive inside a cave. Also, an entire episode focuses on the event that ended the world, delivering aspects of big blockbuster catastrophe films. Surprisingly, the show finds moments to succeed in spite of this cacophony of genres, but it’s still interesting to see how it tries to embody all of these different ideas at once.
Paradise is now streaming on Hulu.
