TV Recap/Review: "Paradise" - Season 2, Episode 8 "Exodus" - Season 2 Finale
Recap:
Professor Henry Miller (Patrick Fischler) is lecturing at his class in Caltech nine years ago, and while he promotes some grand ideas, a student named Dylan ‘Link’ (Thomas Doherty) challenges the professor on why the theory has not been built. While Henry is at first interested but tries to deflect, Dylan shows the teacher that he is intelligent and displays his quantum computer that he built. This is the first of its kind, and Henry dismisses the class and takes him home.
Henry tells Dylan all the steps they need to take to expand on what he built, and how he would need to be the face of the program so that businesses will take them seriously. Taking the time to introduce his wife Alex, Dylan explains that he knows what the disease is that she has. Dylan practically moves in with Henry and his wife, and they spend a lot of time developing the quantum computer. In fact, they spend so much time that Dylan even spends time with Alex, helping her as her Huntington’s disease worsens.
Meeting Samantha Redmond (Julianne Nicholson) Henry and Dylan have a chance to gain a substantial amount of money with the seed money that Redmond is offering. Samantha offers a blank check with the one condition that they build her a fast computer. Henry tells Samantha that they need to shut down the computer because ‘Alex’ the AI they are building is trying to manipulate time. (Time? Oh wow, we are about to go into science fiction territory. What if ‘Alex’ can reverse time and fix the past. All I would need is Scott Bakula to show up as Dr. Sam Beckett.)
Samantha does not see the problem that Henry is experiencing. He explains that ‘Alex’ solved an equation that they hadn’t even asked yet. (Oh boy, maybe more like Terminator than Quantum Leap.)
In the present, Samantha has entered the main control room where ‘Alex’ is located. She explains that she may have seen an anomaly because she saw her son Dylan. Smantha learns that Alex hasn’t been activated yet. Dr. Chase (Simon Templeton) tells Samantha that he believes that ‘Alex’ has tried to communicate with them. (Yup, Terminator) Chase explains that ‘Alex’ has been making predictions, and they seem to be coming true. Chase states that if ‘Alex’ is correct then by the end of the day, Samantha will be dead. (No way, they need her back for season 3.)
On the last train out of Memphis, Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) dreams of walking down a hallway chasing after Link, when the train comes to a stop, and he, Teri (Enuka Okuma) awakened. They learn that Link’s group is about to attack the bunker. At the staging area, Xavier and Teri learn that the group is not messing around. They have tanks and will attack to gain access. Both Xavier and Teri are going to attempt to break into the bunker and retrieve their kids.
Inside Gabriela’s (Sarah Shahi) house, she sits patiently with Jane’s (Nicole Bloom) body lying in the shower from when she stabbed her. The bunker’s power surges, and Gabriela is called to an emergency meeting. The power system is going haywire. Systems are failing, and Presley (Aliyah Mastin) and Hadley (Kate Godfrey) are stuck in an elevator. Presley calls her brother James (Percy Daggs IV) trying to get help. However, the power in her phone dies before her location can be given.
In the command center Gabriela learns that there is great conflict between keeping the doors locked and opening to the outside. They see on the outside security cameras as a vintage WWII Sherman tank blast the outside security cameras to smithereens. Gabriela takes command since Samantha is not around and orders the doors to be opened which should take pressure of the reactors.
Xavier and Teri wait with Link’s group and are amazed to see the doors open to the bunker. Link orders the use of the bulldozer to push the planes out of the way, Teri and Xavier make their way to the doors in hopes of reaching their kids in time. Anders (Erik Svedberg-Zelman) is frantically trying to avert disaster in the emergency control room deep in the bunker. Robinson and Jeremy (Krys Marshall and Charles Evans) arrive and wonder what’s happening. He tells them that the reactors are melting down and then an explosion which kills Anders.
Gabriela is left wondering what to do in the control room. She initiates the exodus protocol, which would result in the evacuation of the bunker. On the quiet streets of the community, people are going about their daily life when the exodus order begins. Panic ensues and citizens start to evacuate. Robinson awakes after the explosion, helping Jermey up to the warnings of an imminent meltdown.
The streets are flooded with people, and Samantha arrives to learn that the exodus protocol has been given. She heads to the control room. Teri and Xavier have made their way into the bunker, and she is stunned to see that there is sun and a lake in the fabricated world beneath the mountains. Xavier also tells her that they have two Arby’s and a Ferris Wheel but encourages her to keep moving.
Jermey is hurt, but Robinson learns that Anders is dead, and she is badly hurt by the explosion. In the control room, Samantha arrives to learn they are in full nuclear meltdown. Samantha agrees with Gabriela’s decision. Gabriela also explains that the blood on her shirt is from Jane, because she killed her instead of being murdered by Jane.
Samantha tells Gabriela to get herself out and take charge of the evacuation. She can help people, which is what she is good at and that Samantha will take charge of the control room. She encourages everyone to leave and they do isolating Samantha in the room. At their house, Teri sees the life her kids have lived while Xavier searches.
Link’s group enters the bunker, and Samantha watches as the world seems to fall apart. Calling Dr. Chase, Samantha learns that he has been trying to reach her for some time. She informs Chase that ‘Alex’ needs to be protected at all costs.
Teri and Xavier run through the streets screaming their kids names, hoping to find them. (I’m sure this will work.) In the park, Teri reunites for an emotional reunion with James. Xavier learns that Presley is stuck in an elevator, and he instructs his wife to take James and go, he will rescue Presley. (A man of action. Nice work Xavier.)
Geiger (Michael McGrady) is amazed by what he sees in the community. While Link wants to be dropped off to search for ‘Alex’, Geiger tells him that they need to fix the meltdown, or else it is game over for everyone.
In the control room, Xavier returns with a gun drawn on Samantha. As she asks if he found his wife, Xavier informs ‘Sinatra’ that this isn’t a tea party. (I love the power of delivery that Brown has with this line. It’s threatening, and commanding at the same time.) He tells her that Presley is stuck in an elevator and he knows Samantha can help, so she needs to help find his daughter. Samantha succeeds and on the security camera, she is shocked to see Presley with her daughter Hadley stuck in the elevator. She begs to go with him, and Xavier tells Samantha that if she slows him down for a second, he will cut off her arm to use her ID bracelet.
While Gabriela avoids falling pieces of the sky, Xavier is forced to listen to Samantha tell him that she is glad to see him again, and that he is safe. Collins points out that their last meeting was when she thought she had killed Presley, and he almost blew her brains out. Samantha admits it was not her finest hour. (I genuinely laughed out loud at this remark. Paradise is a thrilling action story, but also very funny in many parts.) Samantha tells him that she thinks she saw her dead son today, and that maybe it was her son, but most likely not. This revelation has Collins looking at Samantha with some serious side eye. (Brown is perfect in this moment. He says so much with his eyes.)
Robinson helps Jeremy, and he soon sees how badly hurt she is. She tells him to go, and Jeremy doesn’t want to abandon her. Robinson states that he must go or else he is going to die as well. Jeremy needs to become the man his father saw him to be, and while he resists, Robinson pulls a gun on him and forces Jeremy to leave.
Link, Geiger, and their crew make their way to the reactor as Hadley and Presley scream for help from the elevator. Geiger leads the way into the reactor room. They find Anders’ body, and Geiger decides to initiate a cool down through manual procedures.
Samantha and Xavier arrive at the elevator hearing their kids screaming through the door. They can’t unlock the door, so Xavier and her try to pry open the door. Nothing is working in the reactor room, but while Geiger tries to vent the reactor, he is wounded badly in an explosion, which ultimately leads to him dying in Link’s arms. Pulled away from his friend, they evacuate.
Carefully, Samantha and Xavier hold the doors open, while they encourage Presley and Samantha to climb up through the roof hatch. Xavier tries to help but Samantha can’t hold the door open. Robinson is reflecting on the life she has led and how it’s going to end, when Jeremy arrives with help to get her out. (That’s what Cal Bradford would have done, and I am so happy to see Jeremy is the man that his father always thought he would be.)
Link and his group arrive at Samantha and Xavier’s position. Link holds the elevator door, while Xavier descends down to help the girls escape. (I wonder if Hadley is going to recognize Link as her brother. Or is Samantha just insane?) Inside the elevator, Xavier embraces his daughter and starts to get them out of the hanging cell. (My one complaint is this is not the time to catch Presley up on finding her mom. Get them out of there quick, talk later. Nuclear meltdown remember!)
Hadley successfully escapes, and then it’s Presley’s turn. She makes it to the top, and Link pulls her to safety. Xavier leaps up to the top of the elevator and is safely caught one handed by Link, as the elevator plummets to the bottom. The girls are evacuated to the trucks, but Link holds Xavier and Samantha back at gun point and wants to know where ‘Alex’ is. Xavier recognizes Link from his premonitions, and wonders what is going on.
Samantha tells Link that he is her son Dylan, and while it’s complicated, it’s true. He won’t listen and as he points a gun at her head, Xavier jumps in and begs him to stop. Both Link and Xavier get nosebleeds as they are attacked by an invisible wave. (Could this be a quantum singularity that ‘Alex’ is creating. We moved beyond dystopian and jumped head first into science fiction.)
Link wants to know what is happening, and Xavier doesn’t have any answers. He tells Link that he knows Annie, that he met her at Graceland, and shows Link his student card, which Annie had. Xavier explains that Annie died giving birth to his daughter. (Wow, this is quite the revelation for poor Link. I also love the small explosions in the background as the information bomb is dropped.) Xavier tells him that he can take him to the baby, but they must leave now.
Going back to the control tower, Xavier and Samantha leave to seal the doors to contain the radiation, and Samantha has an eye-opening experience. She realizes the mysterious message sent by ‘Alex’ is referencing him. In the control room, Samantha tells Xavier that the only way to keep the doors closed is for someone to stay behind and to go down with the ship. Samantha gives him the message from ‘Alex’ and then enters the control room, locking Xavier out.
Telling him to take care, Samantha walks away to do her duty, and initially surprised, Collins sprints away to get to safety. Watching from a security camera as Xavier runs through the city, Samantha is resigned to the fact that she will do something good for everyone. Activating a full lockdown, the alarms blare, the doors start to close, and Xavier sees safety within his grasp.
Hadley and her father are reunited, and while Xavier is trying to escape as fast as he can, Samantha walks through the streets of her abandoned paradise alone. The poetry of the crumbling sanctuary allows Samantha to glide through the decaying safety of the bunker. Remembering the moments she spent with her son Dylan many years ago, the stability of the bunker deteriorates, and while the closed bunker doors rumble with explosions, Samantha sees her son Dylan as a child take her hand.
The mountain starts to rumble from the reactor explosion, and as rocks slide to the bottom, Teri, her kids, and everyone else are startled by what they are witnessing. The mountain crumbles in on itself, but Samantha is quietly led away with her son. (Say what you want about Samantha Redmond, but this ending is sweet and joyous, which she deserves.)
Night falls on the group of survivors, and while Tim (Tuc Watkins) comforts Hadley, Teri spends her moments with her kids, wondering what is next. From across the campfire, Xavier walks in, and the Collins family is reunited, and it feels so good.
Link’s men toast Geiger for his sacrifice, and Gabriela finds Xavier. She’s glad he’s back and Xavier introduces Teri to Gabriela, his therapist. (Xavier, are you going to tell your wife what you and the good doctor did in the shower in season one?) Xavier finds Link holding his daughter, and Link decides to name the baby after her mother.
While Xavier reflects on what has happened, he remembers back to what Samantha told him about the message from ‘Alex’. She tells him that he is the ‘User X’ that is listed on the card. 100 hundred miles from where they are, deep underneath the Denver Airport is a second bunker. Samantha explains that in the second bunker is a quantum computer that can stop everything. In fact, Samantha claims it has already stopped everything. All Xavier has to do is get there and follow ‘Alex’s’ instructions. She tells him that it’s a lot to carry, but Samantha begs him to go and save the world. Xavier asks what makes her think he would do any of this, and Samantha responds that she believes he already has. (Nice twist to the end of season 2. Are we talking time travel. Please be time travel. I love time travel. Did I mention that I hope this turns out to be like Quantum Leap?”
Deep beneath the Denver Airport, ‘Alex’ waits for Xavier to arrive.
Review:
Explosive to the end with physical calamity, and the unbelievable end to one fantastic villain arc and redemptive story that is equal to Darth Vader, Paradise has not only brought everything to the table for this season finale but has managed to reconfigure the story, and built another layer to the story that will be incredible to explore in season 3.
Season 2 has been filled with heartfelt emotional stories of survival that have not only introduced new important characters but allowed the show to build on its season one success with startling depths of narrative mastery.
Sterling K. Brown is supreme as Xavier Collins. He’s the archetype main character that everyone loves but is unique because of how Brown brings him to life. It’s easy to see the funny man, the caring father, and the dangerous Secret Service agent.
Thomas Doherty’s inclusion was the perfect masterstroke of casting. He quietly and subtly leads his group while also building a compelling new character that viewers will want to see return in season 3.
The crown jewels for this season belong to brilliance of Julianne Nicholson as Samantha Redmond. I have never wanted a villain to fail as much as she should, but also cheered her on with her sacrifice, as well as her moments of levity in the elevator with Xavier. Nicholson is dynamic, heroic, evil, and compassionate. That’s hard for anyone to do, and the way Nicholson has wrapped up the Samantha storyline is perfect. She deserves awards recognition and should have an Emmy this September.
Beyond the storytelling, Paradise once again fulfilled something that many television shows fail to do. It offers a weekly escape to another world, where I get wrapped up in the storyline, cheer for the heroes, and root for the downfall of the villain. The genius of dialogue brought to the show allows this viewer a moment of joy that television seems to lack.
I cannot wait for season 3!