Explosive ‘Paradise’ Premiere: Unpacking the Biggest TV Twist in Years

(Warning: Spoilers ahead)

On the surface, Hulu’s Paradise is set in an exclusive community good enough for a president. By the end of the premiere, it is clear just how exclusive this picture-perfect location is. All of it is a fabricated version of the outside world—including the ducks on the pond. They are literally living in a cave.

No, creator Dan Fogelman isn’t doing a spin on The Truman Show, even if the horizon is equally staged. Rather than a TV set, the idyllic town is nestled inside a Colorado mountain as a refuge for survivors of what we learn is an “extinction-level event.” And here I was, tuning in to watch a conspiracy thriller about who killed President Cal Bradford (James Marsden).

I should have known something was up by the overwhelming manicured sheen of this setting, which gives an air of uncanny valley. Well, that and Fogelman’s fondness for juggling multiple timelines and throwing a delicious twist at the end of an opening episode. For This Is Us, it was the decade head-fake, and Milo Ventimiglia’s patriarch, Jack Pearson, was dead in the present day. Instead of the 1970s, we witness the post-apocalypse in a rather luxurious setting. Well, for those lucky enough to end up in this haven.

Usually, when the world ends on TV and film, humanity is sent scurrying onto a train divided by class (Snowpiercer) or underground in a range of conditions (Silo, Fallout) that tend to lean dystopian. Here, the fortuitous few score a coveted spot in a plush neighborhood. We don’t know what happened to the rest of the world yet—or what led to this massive catastrophe—but it probably isn’t a slice of utopia.

Bookending the episode with Agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) running through the town is like revealing the secrets of a magic trick. In the opening, Xavier talks to his neighbor about the weather. It is innocuous enough that it barely registers. Ditto the digital advertisement for a forthcoming carnival (though the absence of a date seems odd). The illusion of normalcy is shattered when Xavier sprints home from work in the final five minutes.

Smartwatch-style bands open cars and make purchases, the ducks on the pond are mechanical, and the digital board now reads, “Scheduled maintenance: Dawn delayed by two hours.” The camera moves upward to reveal that the mountains in the distance are also digital; the sun in the sky is a powerful light, and they live in the world’s largest underground settlement. By the time the closing credits hit, we have far more questions than who bludgeoned Cal (and why). Suddenly, everything slightly off makes sense.

Even before the twist, I was sucked in immediately, in part, because of the three leads, Brown, Marsden, and Julianne Nicholson. The latter doesn’t get a ton of screen time in the pilot, but she makes an impact as Sinatra (a code name if you hadn’t realized). In the present, Xavier recalls hearing her rebuke Cal the day before the murder: “Say it to my face. I want to see what it looks like when you have balls. Sir.” Already obsessed and terrified by the woman with more power than the president.

Another connection to This Is Us comes from Brown as Xavier, the head of security assigned to President Cal Bradford. “Wildcat is Down” establishes Xavier’s years-long service to Cal—even an odd-couple BFF vibe—and the friction preceding the murder. Xavier has taken a bullet for Cal in the past, but as the last person to see the president alive, he is (rightfully) under suspicion.

“Will you ever be able to forgive me for what happened?” a drunk Cal asks. Cal’s attempt at contrition offers a jumble of clues mixed in with nonsense like slur-singing “Another Day in Paradise”—which irritates Xavier further. Moments are serious, but there is also a playfulness that ensures it doesn’t feel too heavy or bogged down. It’s goofy, bombastic and then hits you in the heart.

Even before Xavier replies, it seems unlikely. For reasons unknown (so far), Xavier’s wife, Terry, isn’t with him in the dwelling in a cave, and he is left to raise their two children alone. Anyone who has seen Brown in anything knows he can convey mood without saying a word. Here, the character is stoic. However, the more pieces fall into place about the scale of loss and the personal toll on Xavier, the more he cracks open with Brown, making every inflection and gesture count.

Given that the episode toggles between Xavier examining the crime scene and his time in the White House, it is very easy to be distracted by events leading to Cal’s murder. Marsden excels at dialing up intrigue without giving the game away. He plays Cal as an easy-going prankster with much more beneath the surface. He is charming (duh), which is lucky as some of his attempts at humor could become grating without that smile and cheekbones.

The flashback scenes make more sense in hindsight. A drunk Cal tells Xavier it is probably for the best he doesn’t have more children. There is also the assassination attempt. A journalist from the press pool asks about an explosive New York Times report about recent revelations in Colorado. There has been wild speculation about what people have been seeing—it would be impossible to hide construction on this scale, no matter the security clearance. Cal rebuffs the claims, but a man with a gun hidden in a boom interrupts. “The world deserves to know,” he yells after he pulls the trigger. Xavier is hit in the shoulder, pulling focus from everything said in the lead-up.

Early on, I fell for hints that Cal isn’t the current president and his McMansion abode is the post-POTUS retirement pad he describes to Xavier in a flashback. He had just won reelection, but Cal is already thinking about his post-prez years. Cal envisions living somewhere beautiful, filling his home with art and booze, and spending decades lying on a pool float. Considering Cal has a Rothko, it would seem he got his wish. Well, the murder wasn’t part of it. Nor the existential threat come true.

Since streaming shows tend to delay significant reveals, it is refreshing to see this exclusive community’s literal nuts and bolts by the end of the premiere. Fogelman is not content with throwing only one mystery our way. Thankfully, he has already provided some juicy and out-there answers. I’m sure there will be more.