The minute that I heard that the legendary Sterling K Brown was starring in a new thriller, I was invested.
All I needed to know about Paradise before I watched the first season was that the This Is Us actor was the lead star. I was convinced that it would be a brilliant watch if he was on board… and boy was I right.
Just like the rest of the world, I was sucked into the engrossing story instantly. What began as a crime drama about the murder of the President quickly turned into a post-apocalyptic tale when it was revealed that the characters were all living in a bunker following a cataclysmic world event. And then the twists just kept on coming.
Now, Paradise is back for season 2 on Disney Plus, and the anticipation from fans couldn’t be higher. The trailer for the second outing has 29million views on YouTube, a fact that appeared to stun the main cast when Metro spoke to them.
‘There’s a couple of things that I think are completely beyond our control. The writers probably feel more pressure than we do, because when we read the scripts, we get pretty giddy and excited. If we can show up to the level of material that’s presented to us, then we should be ok,’ Sterling says humbly.
In Paradise, the 49-year-old plays Xavier Collins, the lead special agent in charge of protecting President Carl Bradford (James Marsden), who becomes a prime suspect in Carl’s murder in season one.
In season two, Xavier steps outside of the bunker for the first time in years after learning that his wife Teri Rogers-Collins (Enuka Okuma), whom he presumed dead, might actually be alive in the outside world.
But he still has his nemesis to contend with – Samantha Redmond (Julianne Nicholson), otherwise known as Sinatra, who is the billionaire in charge of the bunker.
‘In this season, I think it’s genius to go outside of the bunker and explore the storyline of Xavier searching for his wife and meeting some fresh blood and some new storylines and relationships, while also reinvesting in the bunker and those characters as well,’ Julianne, 54, tells Metro while sitting beside Sterling.
‘I think Dan’s genius [creator Dan Fogelman] is to be able to take these good ideas and develop them, watch them grow and give them the freedom to be something different.’
What does Metro think of Paradise season 2?
Deputy TV Editor Tom Percival shares his thoughts:
Paradise season 1 blew me away like a caldera explosion in the Antarctic when it debuted last year.
A strange mash-up of a murder-mystery and post-apocalyptic thriller set in an underground bunker, the sci-fi series followed the last remnants of humanity after a mass extinction event known as ‘The Day’.
So, what did I make of season two? Well, it’s complicated.
Despite being overstuffed and vaguely incoherent at times, Paradise season two just about manages to keep you on the hook, even if it doesn’t live up to the first series.
To read the review in full, click here.
Xavier and Sinatra have a fascinating dynamic. They hate each other, but they clearly respect one another, too. In the new episodes, Sinatra is more vulnerable than she’s ever been before, after recovering from a gunshot to the chest. But revealing to Xavier that his wife Teri survived the global catastrophe saves her life.
‘At the end of season one, Xavier was really wanting to shoot her in the head. He thought that she had killed his daughter, and he was none too pleased about it,’ Sterling summarises.
‘There is a reunion of sorts, and I think both people are in very different places than where they were at the end of season one. It makes for a very interesting dynamic.’
Dan, who also wrote Crazy, Stupid, Love and This Is Us, previously confirmed that he plans on Paradise ending with a third season, telling The Hollywood Reporter: ‘We have a three-season story that’s bigger than what people think it is right now, and it’s going to span a couple of genres.’
So how will viewers feel when they reach the end of season two, knowing that the next batch of episodes will be the last?
‘A number of questions will be answered with season two, but I think that you’re left with so much more to be wondering about and wanting to tune in for,’ Julianne promises.
‘We try to leave them wanting more,’ Sterling adds. ‘You try to exit while people aren’t tired of you. You hope they’re saying, “Is it over so soon?” Rather than, “Is that show still on?” I like the first one better than the second one.’
One of the biggest themes that courses through the core of Paradise is moral ambiguity. Is anyone truly good, or truly evil? Can a person be excused for doing something bad if they believe that doing so will save the world?
Three characters have big question marks hovering over them. Special agent Nicole Robinson (Krys Marshall), who was having an affair with the married President before his death. Psychotherapist Gabriela Torabi (Sarah Shahi), who appears to have a kind heart but is a close ally of Sinatra’s. And special agent Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom), who is revealed to be a secret, cold-blooded killer.
Krys, 37, reveals that while she couldn’t understand the decision to become the ‘other woman’ when she took on the role, it was ‘easy for her to fall in love with Robinson, despite her making some pretty unsavoury choices’.
‘Going into season two, we will spend less time with her relationship with Cal – of course, because he’s dead – but start to understand more about who she is as an individual, irrespective of that relationship,’ she tells Metro.
Nicole, 31, admits that she’s also ‘super curious’ about Jane’s backstory, and how she came to become a henchwoman for Sinatra.
‘In the third episode, when we return to the bunker, there’s a really interesting conversation between Jane and Sinatra, and I think the power dynamic has definitely shifted,’ she teases.
As for Gabriela, Sarah doesn’t believe that viewers will ‘feel more torn’ about whether she’s a good person or not, despite her pivotal role in deciding every person chosen to live in the bunker.
‘I’ve always felt no one person is 100% a saint or 100% a sinner, and it’s always fun as an actress to play those cracks in someone’s veneer,’ the 46-year-old actress states.
‘I think I was always wanting for Gabriella to be the moustache-twirling villain, but very quickly, Dan was like, nope, she’s going to the sense of hope. She’s the sun in this very artificial place, she has to be the one thing that feels very authentic.
‘Her altruistic nature is real, but I think in the second season, she starts questioning things. The walls are crumbling, and it’s hard to ignore or justify. So she does manipulate. She gets violent. We see other shades of her in the second season.’
Paradise season 2 is available to watch on Disney Plus, with new episodes released on Mondays.
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