‘Paradise’ Review: Sterling K. Brown Beefs Up a Stupid-Fun Sci-Fi Show Told with Extravagant Sincerity
A white, rich, drunk man in his late 40s (or early 50s) heads to bed in the bathrobe he’s been wearing all day and says, almost to himself, “So concludes another day in paradise.” Seconds later, sure enough, he’s singing Phil Collins’ song of the same name and flipping through his CD collection so he can listen to the track. Considering the frenzied context surrounding the scene, one might be forgiven for assuming it’s a relatively minor moment. After all, we already know the warbling Gen X’er will be dead the next morning. (His nighttime jam session is told in flashback.) The evidence indicates he was murdered, and the only party present for his mumbled a cappella number is also the last guy to see him alive (Sterling K. Brown). Oh, and it just so happens the singer is the President of the United States, and his lone audience member is the head of his secret service detail.
So who cares about a little late-night Phil Collins crooning, right? Everyone. Literally everyone watching is on high alert as soon as James Marsden (our inebriated Commander in Chief) says the word “paradise.” Why? Because it’s the name of the show. In the increasingly cursed year that is 2025, audiences know enough about TV to know when the name of the show gets awkwardly dropped into a seemingly random bit of dialogue, that moment usually comes with a little extra meaning. Marsden may as well have looked directly into the camera, winked, and said, “Huh, that’s weird!“
Instead, one of our finest thespians does his damnedest to make a forced reference to paradise come across as innocent rambling — or, at least, mask some of its weirdness. Sure, the president is living large — his all-day sleepwear and fancy whiskey speak to a comfortable lifestyle, as does his mansion with a pool — but his remark implies there’s a problem with where he lives, not how he lives or what he does. And we don’t know much about where he’s lounging. Is paradise a bland suburbia with a quaint downtown selling specialty ice cream to be eaten under a nearby gazebo? Should it read like a posh, private part of Los Angeles or San Diego? It’s certainly nowhere near Washington D.C., which would normally indicate the president has chosen his heavenly home… right? How could he not? He’s the president! Unless… maybe… his weird reference means… there’s a twist!?
Welcome back, dear readers, to a brand new edition of “Twist Is Us” (©️2016, Michael Schneider). Long-time Dan Fogelman fans likely remember the high times of Fall 2016, when viewers were Googling “how to watch NBC” so they could piece together the Pearson family’s turbulent timelines. Every week, for many, many weeks, new episodes divulged different details about The Big Three, their parents, or their extended family, often via a final act reveal meant to blow our freakin’ minds. Some twists worked better than others, but the combination of a bonkers mystery and tear-jerking sentimentality proved surprisingly enticing. The series premiere of “This Is Us” was seen by 14 million people. Meanwhile, last year’s highest-rated scripted TV episode, “Tracker,” reached just under 12 million viewers (helped along by its star, “This Is Us” breakout Justin Hartley).
But now, thanks to Hulu, Fogelmaniacs don’t have to settle for a single “This Is Us” actor in a routine broadcast procedural. They can have the “This Is Us” creator writing for the best “This Is Us” actor (Sterling K. Brown, duh) in a show that’s weirdly similar to their Emmy-winning hit. “Paradise” may embrace enough characteristics of its superficial genre to serve as an effective thriller, but don’t be fooled: For better or worse, this is “Us” all over again.
So, of course, it starts with a twist. For those who don’t want to be spoiled by a premise, let’s set the scene as Hulu (and, presumably, Fogelman) would like it to be set: Sterling K. Brown plays Xavier Collins (which can be pronounced, conveniently enough, like “Savior” Collins), a father of two, a widower of one, and the president’s top protector. He takes both jobs seriously, going for a run in the dewy morning hours to maintain his taut physical condition and to be back in time for breakfast with Presley (Aliyah Mastin) and James (Percy Daggs IV).
Xavier sticks to his early riser routine even though he’s not sleeping well, a problem that some may assume stems from grieving his late wife. But “This Is Us” fans know better. If it’s not undeniably true, than it’s almost certainly false. Anything kept purposefully vague can’t be trusted and it’s best to treat such vagaries as an open question. “Why isn’t Xavier sleeping well?” “Oh, I assumed he’s just sad about his dead wife.” “WRONG! You just got ‘diced!” (Like “Paradise-d”? It works, just go with it.)
That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to guess what’s coming. Take, for instance, the premiere’s close examination of Xavier’s shirtless torso. Directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (both “This Is Us” veterans) linger on a small, circular scar on Xavier’s back (like a bullethole) and a large, jagged scar on his chest (like he’d get from emergency surgery). While Xavier’s trouble sleeping is rushed past, there’s nothing obscure about two prolonged close-ups of two unmistakable scars. Given his job is to keep the president alive, the safe assumption would be that Xavier was hurt in the line of duty. But how? When? Why? Don’t worry, those answers are coming, and you can trust they always will. “Paradise” doesn’t introduce an obvious question without looping back to a definitive explanation, usually within the same episode.
Distinguishing between what’s suspicious for being under-examined with what’s suspicious for being over-examined may seem irrelevant in a show built under a mountain of mysteries, but learning to speak “Paradise’s” language should help to enjoy it, especially when once you’re clued in to what’s really going on. After Xavier reports for work and finds President Cal Bradford dead in his bedroom, he starts an unofficial investigation all his own — and he starts reminiscing. A series of flashbacks show us how they met five years earlier, how they grew closer than your average defender and defendee, and when they had their falling out, highlighted by an argument the night before Cal died. Only then, as the past and present start to paint a picture of what might have happened in between, does Fogelman drop the bomb:
[Critic’s Note: The following portion of the review contains spoilers for “Paradise” Episode 1, aka the show’s premise. Skip to the end if you want to watch without knowing what the show’s about.]
The world as we know it has ended. Not long ago, there was “an extinction-level event” that wiped out the majority of the Earth’s population, and the only known survivors are living in an underground city deep within the Rocky Mountains. That’s where Xavier, his kids, and the President have been this whole time. That’s the “paradise” Cal quipped about in his last drunken rendition of Phil Collins. That’s the setting of a show about so much more than just who killed the President.
But “Who killed Cal?” is still Season 1’s central question. Across seven of the eight episodes, we find out about the people involved in building this billion-dollar bunker, the circumstances that led to everyone living there, and plenty of the key players’ personal backstories. Lurking within the various plotlines is a critique of the greed and selfishness baked into Baby Boomers and Gen X, who used up the planet’s resources without concern for the fallout faced by their offspring. It’s not an important theme, nor is it all that thoroughly fleshed out, but it is there, and it is palpable. It’s also one of the few ways “Paradise” centers its big swing of a premise over its character-driven melodrama (and it’s much more effective than the morbid, feel-bad vibes driving Episode 7, which revisits “The Day” the world ended in consistently painful, sometimes laughable, detail).
Despite its science-fiction trappings, “Paradise” ultimately feels like a return to Planet Pearson. Bouncing between the present and the past mirrors the various timelines used to tease out all those “This Is Us” mysteries. (It hasn’t happened yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the upcoming seasons introduced a future narrative as a way to reset the show’s “fill in the blanks”-style mystery.) Traditional families are still of paramount importance, whether it’s Xavier and his wife, Xavier and his kids, Cal and his son, or (among many others I dare not spoil) Cal and his aging father (played by “This Is Us” Emmy winner Gerald McRaney). The apocalyptic stakes are certainly different than what the Pearsons faced on a day-to-day basis, but when Fogelman conveys those stakes through individual characters, the end of the world isn’t any different than your father dying in a housefire.
“Paradise” isn’t a brilliant brainteaser or a mind-blowing science-fiction story — far from it — but Fogelman’s latest serialized endeavor is a sturdy combination on a number of levels: It’s a satisfying mystery (most of the time) and a moving melodrama (some of the time). It’s absurd in its galaxy-brained plotting and searingly intimate when it dials in on its characters. It looks enough like prestige TV and plays like trashy network television, which has been a particularly successful combo of late. Granted, the dialogue can shift from genuine to grating at the drop of a hat (Marsden does an admirable job charming his way through a few clunkers), and its attempts to deliver actual action leave much to be desired (especially when explicitly inviting comparisons to “Die Hard”).
But “Paradise,” like “This Is Us” before it, prioritizes entertainment over all else — except, perhaps, prying a few tears out of even the most cynical viewer’s eyeballs — and in doing so, Fogelman finds a fitting new home for his unflinching brand of twisty, sentimental TV. What initially hooked viewers on “This Is Us” was the pilot’s closing reveal. “Paradise” is relying on a similar wow moment to lure viewers into a new story. Sure, this one shifts the genre from mystery-thriller into science-fiction territory, but it’s really just another day in FogelLand. And to many of us, that’s a weird little paradise all its own.
Grade: B-
“Paradise” (officially) premieres Tuesday, January 28 on Hulu. The first episode was released early, on Sunday, January 26. Two more episodes will be released on January 28, and then one episode per week through the finale on March 4.
