Hulu’s ‘Paradise’ Had To Become Something It Wasn’t 

The first season of Paradise was something very specific. It dealt with the city of Paradise itself and its origins. There was a lot of mystery built up around the city, which propelled the plot forward. In order for the show to continue, it needed to move beyond the confines of the city and into the world at large. That’s the territory the second season moved into. However, this is something the first season never addressed at all. So the second season had to pivot and become something completely new than what the first season focused on.

Paradise is about a cataclysmic world ending event that caused a portion the US population to hide in an artificially constructed city within a mountain. The first season revolved around the death of President Bradford (James Marsden) and how Samantha Redmond (Julianne Nicholson) began tightening an authoritarian grip on the city. Secret service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K Brown) stopped Samatha’s reign, but not before she revealed to him that his wife was still alive outside of the bunker. The season ended as Xavier leaves the bunker to enter post-apocalyptic world in search of his wife.

There are many television shows and movies that focus on a post-apocalyptic world. The Last of Us, The Walking Dead, and The Road are just a few that focus on individuals trying to survive after society has fallen. Even though season one of Paradise takes place after a cataclysmic event, it did not fall into this genre at all. Paradise is an isolated ity separate from the world outside. The first season focused explicitly on the city itself, so it never had to deal with how the world looked after the event. Once Xavier ventures outside, the story was forced to examine what that world would look like. And so the show had to pivot into a territory that was never touched upon initially.

Paradise is now streaming on Hulu.