Yahoo Lifestyle Paradise’s Big Mysteries: Join TVLine’s In-Depth, Ongoing Investigation
When “Who killed the United States president?” is a TV show’s second biggest mystery, you know you’re in for a ride.
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From its very first episode, Hulu’s Paradise has proven itself to be a puzzle-box series that invites viewers to pay close attention to every single frame. Was that close moment between two Secret Service agents a loving touch or an intel handoff? Why is one of the show’s key players such an enigma? And what, exactly, brought about the end of the world as we know it?
To get things started, check out my recaps of the series premiere and Episodes 2 and 3. Then, below, we’ve gathered a few hints from what’s been shown on screen so far. We’ll update the list at the bottom of this page any time the show delivers new information, so make sure you bookmark this post and check back frequently throughout the season.
Here’s where you come in: TVLine readers are the absolute best at catching things others don’t, especially when it comes to solving TV-related riddles. So if you see or hear something that we don’t during an episode, make sure to shout it out in the comments or hit me up on social media @kimroots: If your tip is a good one, it’ll be included (with credit!) in our updates.
So scroll down and have at it, Paradise sleuths!
WHAT, EXACTLY, HAPPENED TO WIPE OUT HUMANITY?
During a flashback in the series’ premiere, Gen. Curtleigh informs Xavier that the United States government is preparing for “a massive catastrophe that could cause an extinction-level event for humanity in the very near, very real future.” In response, they’re building “the world’s largest underground city” in Colorado, which may be the world’s only chance at survival. But the exact flavor of catastrophe is unknown. Is it the tsumani that the climate scientist warns about during the conference Cal and Samantha attend in Episode 2? Is it a nuclear attack, as potentially evidenced by the bright flash Xavier sees out the plane window on the day everything goes down? Or is it something else altogether?
WHO KILLED PRESIDENT CAL BRADFORD?
Amid all the questions raised by the show’s premiere-ending twist, it’s easy to forget that there’s another mystery afoot: Who offed the Commander-in-Chief?
WHAT DOES THE NUMBER WRITTEN ON THE CIGARETTE MEAN?
Xavier asks several people about the number he finds inscribed on one of President Bradford’s cigarettes, in a pack marked with a big X. But no one knows what the digits might reference.
HOW DO YOU BUILD A CITY THAT SIZE WITHOUT DRAWING MORE ATTENTION?
Sure, via flashback we see that some people noticed something hinky going on in Colorado. Cal’s wannabe assassin shouted “The world deserves to know!” as he was tackled. But how did the Bradford administration (and friends) construct the planet’s biggest bunker in relative secrecy?
WHAT, EXACTLY, WAS CAL’S ROLE IN XAVIER’S WIFE’S DEATH?
“I didn’t lose my wife,” Xavier tells Gabriela in Episode 3. “I know exactly where she was. She was in a different city, and she died because he didn’t get her to a goddamned plane.” And while that’s an answer of sorts, Cal’s involvement in what happened to Terry is still murky.
WHAT WAS REALLY HAPPENING IN THIS BILLY-JANE MOMENT?
Were the illicit lovers merely touching hands in a moment of tension, soon after the president was found dead, or was one slipping something to the other?
WHY DO WE KNOW SO LITTLE ABOUT GABRIELA?
Aside from the story about her parents, both of whom died long before the catastrophic event, and her involvement with Samantha’s grieving family, what do we really know about the architect of social well-being?
WHY IS BILLY PACE ‘DANGEROUS’?
“I have a message from the president,” Gabriela tells Xavier at the end of Episode 3. “He said if something should happen to you, I should find you. He said Billy Pace is dangerous.” But how? (We’ll admit — Billy parked outside Xavier’s house with a gun in the passenger seat doesn’t earn him any checks in the Not Dangerous column.)
WHAT DOES SINATRA KNOW?
We don’t, for one minute, believe that Samantha “Sinatra” Redmond is being forthcoming with all of the intel she possesses. Might she actually know what happened the night Cal died? Might she (whispers) have been involved?!
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