by Chantal Ashford, Contributing Writer
It’s still trouble in Paradise. Season two picks up right where we left off, with Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) finally reaching the surface in search of his missing — and hopefully still alive — wife. The world above is just as uncertain as expected, introducing us to new faces like Annie (Shailene Woodley), a medical school dropout hiding out in an abandoned Graceland, and a group of survivors led by the determined but mysterious Link (Thomas Doherty), who’s searching for the rumored Colorado bunker. Xavier’s journey intersects with theirs, expanding the scope of the series beyond the controlled environment of the dome.
Meanwhile, things are far from stable below the surface. Samantha “Sinatra” Redmond (Julianne Nicholson) awakens from her coma and immediately tries to regain control of a system that’s clearly slipping through everyone’s fingers. People are disappearing, tension is rising, and no one seems to have answers. With chaos brewing both above and below, the show tries to juggle two parallel worlds — survival on the surface and unraveling order within the dome — but not always successfully.
This season leans heavily into flashbacks, bouncing between past and present to flesh out the characters. We get deeper looks into Xavier and Teri’s (Enuka Okuma) relationship, Link’s backstory, and even secret agent Jane (Nicole Brydon Bloom). While I can appreciate the effort to give everyone more depth, these origin-style episodes feel oddly placed. After how tightly Season 1 was structured, not all of these backstories felt necessary, and at times they slowed the pacing rather than adding to the urgency.
The standout episode is easily Episode 4, “A Holy Charge.” It’s where the emotional core of the season really clicks. Watching Xavier and Annie navigate both physical danger and emotional vulnerability brings out some of the best performances of the series. Annie, in particular, goes through a full spectrum of emotions — fear, distrust, hope — and there’s a genuinely touching moment between her and Xavier that almost got me.
Still, the season as a whole feels uneven. The finale lands on a somewhat lukewarm cliffhanger — not quite satisfying, not quite frustrating, just… there. There are moments of intrigue and even a few genuine surprises (including one major “WTF” moment that left me more confused than shocked), but overall, the show feels like it’s starting to go through the motions rather than pushing the story forward in a meaningful way.
By the end, I found myself more ready for it to wrap up than eager for more. There are still flashes of what made Paradise compelling in the first place, but the momentum is clearly fading.
With Season 3 confirmed as the final chapter, that feels like the right call. This story deserves a proper ending — not a drawn-out continuation that risks losing what made it interesting to begin with.
Rating: Liked It
Paradise is currently streaming on Hulu.
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