TV Recap/Review: "Paradise" Season 2 – Episode 1, 2, and 3
Episode 1: Graceland
Opening at Graceland, we see a young girl named Annie take a tour of the famous Elvis property. From the outside to the in, we see the world of Elvis, but we also learn that some areas are off limits to the public. (Hmm, I wonder if Annie is going to visit the off-limits area after the wave hits the continent?) Annie returns home and tells her mother about the new joke introduced on the tour and quickly leaves. When Annie returns later, she finds that her mother has died and Annie sits alone at her funeral, wondering about the future.
Fast forward to the future, Annie (Shaileen Woodley) is following rounds at a hospital and guiding her peer as he struggles to diagnose a patient at the hospital. When given the opportunity to assess a patient herself, Annie struggles to relay what she knows while also trying to maintain her professionalism. The more she remembers what happened with her mother, Annie struggles to stay focused.
Upset over what happened at the hospital, Annie is parked in front of Graceland when she is met by a security guard named Gail (Angel Moore) and asked to leave. Annie confesses to the guard that she just dropped out of medical school and she has no future and she doesn’t know what to do. The guard tells her that they are looking for tour guides, and this springboards Annie into her role as the guide to the history of the King of Rock and Roll. Annie is quite happy in her new role. Until the wave hits.
Annie is at work noticing her tour group is busy on their phones when Gail shows her the epic world-ending event that has taken place. (Watching from Annie’s phone and the rest of the tourists, a recap of what happens when which forces the survivors into the cave is a pretty effective way to recap the events of last season.)
Staying alert to what is about to happen, Annie tells Gail to get supplies from the visitor’s center and bring them back to the basement of Graceland. (Annie has a plan, I like her.) She accesses one of Elvis locked guns, and Gail returns with a load of supplies from the restaurant. The shock wave hits, and items in the museum start to fall.
Annie makes a beeline for the stables and sets the horse free. Grabbing clothing and items from a bedroom, Annie notices the oncoming wave, the dark cloud approaching and the fleeing birds. The electricity cuts out, and Annie and Gail quickly make their way to the basement. (This is without a doubt the most spectacular edge of your seat opening for a show. The fact this is what starts season two has me jumping for joy.)
Waking up on Day 3, Annie assesses Gail’s injury after falling down the stairs. She reset the broken leg, but Annie is concerned about the infection. (I love the parallel of how Annie is in her cave at the same time that Xavier is hiding in his.) Making their way to the roof, they notice the darkened sky and the distant fires and terror that is taking over the nearby city.
By Day 6, Gail is looking worse. At Day 19 Gail and Annie are on top of the roof wrapped up in warm clothes and still freezing. Gail wants to know if it is summer, then why is it freezing outside. The sky is black and the weather is not nice. Annie theorizes that the ash cloud is blocking out the sun. As day 24 rolls around, both Annie and Gail are freezing, and while Gail suggests building a fire, she notices that Gail’s infection continues to ooze. When day 45 hits, Annie is awoken by Gail who tells her that what she did must have worked, because Gail isn’t cold anymore. Gail is dying, and while she is thanking Annie for saving her, Annie knows that Gail is not long for this world. As Annie cries, Gail tells her how proud her mom must be of her. (This sequence of events will hit viewers with a tidal wave of emotion. Powerful brief storytelling told in a confine of space. Just incredible.)
Day 46, in the Elvis graveyard, Annie lays to rest her friend Gail in the middle of a snowstorm. Now she is alone to face the world, or what is left of it.
At Day 689 after the wave hit, Annie walks through the house, and notices that
the sun is shinning through the windows. Opening the front door, she sees a sky that is clearing, ice is melting from the ceiling, and the sun finding a place again in the sky. The joy of getting some good old fashion vitamin d brings a smile to her face as she basks in the glow.
Back in the house, Annie waters the plants, opens the curtains, and hears a distant sound of a truck come to the front gates of estate. Annie notices that this is an armed group, and she runs upstairs for safety and her gun. Using Elvis’ own safety measures, she sees the group break through the front door. They know someone is there because Annie left her can of beans open on the table downstairs.
Watching from above while holding one of Elvis’ guns, Annie wonders what to do next. Captured in a bedroom, Annie learns from the group they want to see Elvis’ cars. Annie tells the leader of the group Link (Thomas Doherty) where he can find them. Link offers her a coat and wonders if she has been there alone this whole time. Attacking Link when he is distracted, Annie steals her gun back and runs away.
Securely locked away in the basement room, Annie realizes that the gang is not leaving and joins them in the kitchen. Link invites her to join them for breakfast and while Annie dines on their food, he tells her that they are not the bad guys, (If you have to say you are not the bad guys, then usually you are.) Link tells her that things have improved in the world after three years and introduces her to another member of his gang, Geiger (Michael McGrady). When Annie finally gives her his name, and then Link explains how he came to be where he is, and then Geiger makes fun of him and describes how he saved him.
Geiger explains that he has been recruiting a crew to go around the country to safely shutdown the nuclear powerplants. Link makes a pitch to Annie that she doesn’t need to hide or fear them. They are going to stay for a few days and then leave. Annie grows accustomed to the group’s presence, and when she talks with Link alone, she asks about the burns on his wrists. She tells Link that she believes he has a broken bone and resets it for him. Outside, Annie notices that her favorite horse has returned after three years to the Graceland stables.
On the roof Annie meets Link again and they take the moment to talk under the night sky. Link mentions that he wondered if they would ever see the stars again after the ash cloud dominated the sky. Annie casually mentions that all the shooting stars she saw, Link tells her that they were most likely satellites that were falling from to the earth. Link explains that when he was a kid they used to go to Florida, and while his sister was hyped up for Disney World (Perfect brand synergy moment), he tells Annie that he was more excited for Cape Canaveral. (I can confirm that Cape Canaveral is the best hidden gem in Central Florida.)
Annie learns that the group calls him Link because that’s the main character from Zelda. He tells Annie that they may seem like tough guys, but they are just a bunch of nerds who outlasted the popular kids. (I hope this is true, but I worry Link is Charles Manson, like Annie said he looked like.) Link tells him the group is leaving tomorrow to join up with a bigger group of people heading west to restart the world. (I suspect they are looking to find the cave.) Link invites Annie to dinner.
In the dining room, she has joined the rest of the group who have all borrowed some outfits from Elvis, and Link joins Annie and the rest of the guys at the table. When she is asked for one thing she misses from before, Annie responds that she misses giving tours of Graceland. It was a safe place for her, and she felt that comfort that rarely she got elsewhere. Link proposes that after dinner, Annie take them on a tour of Graceland.
She takes them on a detailed tour of the property. When she uses the standard joke at the end of the tour, Link doesn’t get it, and she is surprised, because it usually ended her tours with a hearty laugh. This leads to an intimate moment of crying between the two before they have sex.
Link tells Annie that they have found old vintage cars work still even after the EMP blast, and they came to salvage parts from Elvis to help them get to Colorado, where they believe is a bunker with supplies. Link asks her to join them to which she agrees.
The next morning, Annie is locked away hiding. The group is getting ready to leave, and Annie refuses to move no matter how encouraging Link is. Geiger arrives telling him they need to leave, so they can get to the bunker and kill Alex. (Oh, who is Alex?) Geiger tells him that he will only be able to give him a couple of more minutes before they need to go. Annie can’t leave and stays locked away. From the window she sees Link has locked the gates and his group has left. When she makes her way down to the living area, she sees a map of the USA with a note from Link telling her he will come back for her.
Days, weeks, and months pass by as Annie sets out her routine around Graceland, reading, knitting, tending to her plants, and we see that she is pregnant. One night, Annie hears a plane fly over and then crash. She sets out on her horse to find it and discovers Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) unconscious on the ground.
Episode 2: Mayday
Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) is asking his wife Teri (Enuka Okuma) not to leave for work, but she tells him that she must go. (This is when we get the recap of what happened in season one.)
Xavier wakes up in his plane after he crashes into a tree. He remembers the flight and how his journey was difficult at best. He remembers he was flying through a storm that has taken out his engines and the plane is going down.
Back in his crashed plane, Xavier must try to find a way out without falling to his death. He breaks a bone trying to get out, and this brings him back to his Secret Service training in 2004. It looks like Xavier has hurt his knee before and now it’s coming back to cause problems. Thankfully he has a proper first aid kit. Remembering how the doctor told him he would be sedated when his knee was reset, Xavier uses the knowledge from 2004, to reset his knee. (This is going to really hurt. Almost like Tom Hanks doing a root canal with a skate in Cast Away hurt.)
Just as he is about to act, the hand of stranger covers his mouth and tells him to be quiet. (I think Xavier may have crashed in a bad pocket of people that Link talked about previously.)
As the interloper searches his bag, Xavier notices that people are on their way to his crash site, and they do not look friendly. Crawling away, the young boy who stole from him offers Xavier a stick to balance on and escape. Xavier loses his guns, and escapes with the boy to safety amidst a hailstorm. The kid brings him to a boat, and they seek shelter from the storm inside the once glorious yacht. Xavier knows he needs to fix his knee but discovers that the kid who led him to safety is a part of a group of kids who come out of hiding to greet him.
Back in 2004, Xavier is in the hospital after his knee surgery and begged his nurse for a better selection of Jello. When a lime Jello is tossed over the curtain from the bed next to him, Xavier pulls the curtain back to see Teri. This is where they meet for the first time, and Teri gets up to close the curtain. She is not at all pleased to meet him. He lies about the pain in his knee to stay longer in the hospital, and the nurse jokingly tells him he doesn’t have a chance with Teri.
In the present, Xavier watches the kid gang root through his bag and despite his pleas they don’t respond to him. Amidst the storm, Xavier tells the kids that he needs to pop his knee back into place and it will most likely knock him unconscious. Using the cord from his bag, Xavier resets his knee and promptly passes out.
Walking through the hospital in 2004, Xavier starts talking to Teri and despite her reluctance Xavier learns that she is pursuing a doctorate. When Xavier gives her an extra blanket, Teri starts to open up more and tells him why she is in the hospital. While Teri is warming up to Xavier, she tells him her plans for the future and marriage and kids are not it. This does not deter Xavier.
Waking up, Xavier realizes that he has been unconscious for some time, and finally one of the kids speaks. Daniel finally acknowledges him and introduces the other kids. They don’t talk much including his little sister. Xavier asks for his bag back, and he finally gets possession of his items. Xavier learns they are in Arkansas. (Yup, he landed in one of the bad places that Link mentioned.) Xavier learns that the kids were all part of a travel team on a trip when the volcano erupted and the wave hit. The kids are the only ones alive.
In the hospital, Xavier learns that there were complications with Teri’s surgery, she has lost her vision, and as the doctor leaves, Xavier asks if she wants to talk. Teri tells him to leave her alone, and she cries alone into the night.
Xavier tells Daniel that when he finds Teri, he will bring her and the kids back to Colorado where it is safe. Daniel wonders if it is normal there, (Ouch. This poor kid has experienced some serious trauma.) and Xavier tells the boy that he isn’t sure what is normal anymore.
While reading to Daniel, Xavier notices someone has come aboard the boat, and prepares to fight to defend the kids. Outside the boat, Xavier is captured by a man with a gun and tells the man that he is from Colorado. Xavier disarms the guy and fights him. (I love the look on Xavier’s face when the man with the gun says he knows about the kids on the boat. Xavier knows this guy is dangerous, and fights to save the kids from this predator.)
The fight ends with Xavier killing the man. When the kids come out of the boat, Xavier tells them that he is sorry for what he did, but the guy was a bad man, and he was following the kids. The kids respond by burying the man in the ground, and then Daniel’s sister reveals that Xavier is hurt bad. The noble secret service agent has been stabbed, with the knife still stuck in his body.
Returning to the hospital, Xavier is awoken by Teri throwing Jello at him. When he moves her curtain, he learns that Teri is still suffering from vision loss, and she needs his help. Telling her to calm down, Teri throws everything on the ground because she is struggling with the side effects of surgery. She begs him to talk to her to help her change her mindset from the darkness of being blind.
Xavier in the present day awakens back on the boat to see the knife removed from his side, and a bandage on his wound. He can’t find the kids, because they have left taking his supplies and only leaving a picture of his two kids.
Cleared to return home, Xavier decides to stay at the hospital to keep Teri company as she recovers.
Making his way back to the plane, Xavier is struggling to stay upright as he navigates his way with a busted knee and a stab wound. When he makes it to the main fuselage, Xavier is exhausted, in pain, and ready to pass out.
When Xavier returns to the hospital to visit Teri, she is still blind, and worried that it may be permanent. She asks him to sit with her, and they start talking about small things with little meaning. (This is a well-crafted scene of sweet intimacy between to people that is rarely caught on camera. Kudos to Brown and Okuma for making these hospital scenes so meaningful.)
In the present, Annie (Shaileen Woodley) arrives and finds the unconscious Xavier. Loading him up on her horse, Xavier rambles in his delirium about finding Teri, to which Annie tells him that he won’t be able to get to Atlanta today.
In the hospital, Xavier asks Teri if she can see anything yet, which she can’t. While he fixes the blanket on her feet, Teri tells him that he doesn’t have to be there if he doesn’t want to be. He knows and insists on staying. (The mirroring of how Teri is going to regain her sight through seeing vague shapes at first, and having Xavier experience these moments in his pain after being stabbed and having to reset his knee, is symphonically creative, and a visual that heightens the mood of the story.)
Teri gains her eyesight back, and when Xavier awakens, he asks Annie where he is, she tells him he wouldn’t believe her if she told him. Annie holds up the picture of Xavier’s kids and wonders if they were on the plane with him. He tells her they are in Colorado and confirms the existence of the underground bunker.
Begging her to help him get to Atlanta, Xavier is told by Annie that they are not going to Atlanta, but he is going to take her and her unborn baby to Colorado. Xavier realizes he is handcuffed to the bed, and Annie has a gun.
Episode 3: Another Day in Paradise
Samantha ‘Sinatra’ (Julianne Nicholson) is laying in the hospital recuperating from her gunshot wound. She’s remembering back to when she chased after the scientist who warned everyone about the coming global cataclysm. She proves early on that she is willing to spend whatever money she needs so that it will save people. He warns her that not everyone will be killed by initial event. The temperature might ease and things resort to normal but the trapped greenhouse gases will eventually create so much pressure that it will crush everything still standing. (Oh my, I see why they needed a second season. It’s never the first punch that knocks someone out; it’s the fall to the ground that does the most damage.)
While Samantha says she has more than enough money to solve any problem, she is reminded by the lecturer that billionaires seem to think because they have money, they have a superpower. In the present, she awakens from her injury.
She might be awake, but she remembers when Cal Bradford (James Marsden) won the presidency. (Thank god James Marsden is back in this season.) While Bradford is excited, Samantha tells him that she is concerned by the delay in the bunker construction. Cal tells Sam to relax, now that he is president, all red tape will be removed from the project. Kane Bradford (Gerald McRaney) joins them as well. Cal leaves and Kane and Sam are left alone, and the father calls his son a moron. Sam defends Cal and Kane agrees with her and then launches into what he has learned about the problems she is having on her Colorado project. Kane tells her that he trusts her instincts, and he plans to introduce her to a new type of person. (Ah, now we see where Sinatra gained her ruthless behavior.)
Awake in the hospital, Samantha learns she has been asleep for a month and asks her nurse what has happened. A lot has happened in paradise, President Baines (Matt Malloy) has gone full fascist with his picture promising security and stability everywhere, while the library is closed, and kids are chased by police with their guns drawn. Presley (Aliyah Mastin) is forced to receive messages hidden in books stashed in free lending libraries throughout the community. The message from Jeremy (Charles Evans) tells Presley that his friends are disappearing and being locked in secret prisons. He and his group are painting x’s in commemoration of her dad.
Robinson (Krys Marshall) thinks about her last conversation with Xavier (Sterling K. Brown). She tells him that they need to know who is alive outside of the bunker and that she would do anything to protect his kids. Jane (Nicole Bloom) comes into the house and informs both that Samantha is alive, and she is worried about her future. She is worried, but reassured by Xavier, but Robinson is suspicious.
Xavier tells them that all the heat needs to come down on him. He is going to take the blame for shooting Samantha, and that neither of them is to fight back until he gets back with his wife from the outside. When Presley and James (Percy Daggs IV) join her at the kitchen, Robinson talks about how she was demoted but she would do anything to keep the two of them safe. Robinson asks both of them to stay out of trouble, and she addresses this remark to Presley.
Xavier’s daughter is not going to take that criticism well. Though Robinson describes how Jeremy’s actions are the wrong thing to do at the wrong time, Presley sticks up for him and says at least he is doing something unlike all the adults. Presley agrees to be good but then passes Jeremy’s note to James.
Robinson is forced to work for Jane, and while Jane is not pleased with the position, she certainly shows she is enjoying being in charge. She reminds Robinson that if it wasn’t for her, she would be changing batteries and not acting as her driver.
President Baines is addressing his cabinet and business leaders of the community. He informs them that despite the hooligans causing trouble, he has worked hard in the last few weeks to turn the corner on the whole Xavier Collins fiasco. Baines seems to think that the introduction of seasons will help everyone. He then instructs everyone that this is the moment where they should clap. (Oh, Jeb Bush reference.)
Baines is informed that they do not have enough power to warm the bunker to summer levels, and that a large portion of the nuclear power they have is siphoned off for Sinatra’s project. (Oh this would be what started with that conversation over drinks over a decade ago. I like a villain who is one step ahead of everyone.) Insisting that they should just go ahead, Baines is insulted for his stupidity by a member of the executive committee who is promptly arrested. President Baines also learns that Samantha is awake and has been for the last two days.
Samantha tells her daughter and husband that she will do better, and she apologizes for what happened. When Jane interrupts they have a moment alone. (This is like watching a lion and hyena stare at each other.) Jane asks Samantha what she remembers about the night she was shot, and Samantha confirms that she doesn’t remember anything that happened and then asks Jane to explain what happened. Jane explains that Xavier shot her and she saved her life. (Naturally, Samantha knows what really happened.) Jane tells her that if she does remember things differently that Jane only did what she did to keep her clean. She then tells Samantha that Baines wants to bring her in for questioning.
At the executive building Samantha meets up with Gabriela (Sarah Shahi) and tells her that she wants to talk to her because she has so much to share. Gabriela agrees, and Samantha meets with her interrogator.
James relays a message for Jeremy from Presley, and he learns that Jeremy needs to hide for a bit but wants to meet Presley tonight. He takes the letter and throws it away. James wants to protect his sister.
In the interrogation room, Samantha is not happy with Gabriela for going along with Baines to question her. She calls out the president from behind the two-way mirror, and he responds. Gabriela begins and starts questioning her former patient.
Past Samantha meets with Billy Pace (Jon Beavers) and gives him the name and photo of a competitor that she wants to sell his company. Samantha is awkward at best and the hitman takes the photo and leaves.
Samantha is defensive in the interrogation and refuses to answer as to whether she is taking power from the reactor. When President Baines bursts in to prove that he is in charge and demands honesty, he threatens Samantha and tells her that if she underestimates him, it will be at her own peril. (Absolutely love Julianne Nicholson’s reaction during this exchange. You can tell who has the power in the room and it is not President Baines.)
In the distant past, Pace sits down at a bar where the target of Sam’s ire is sitting watching tv. Pace buys him a drink, and they start getting along. Pace eventually shows the contract that the target needs to sign, and Pace tells him that there is a more difficult way if he doesn’t sign the paper. He wisely does and then leaves. Pace learns that he didn’t sign but rather leaves an address to meet him at.
President Baines is fuming over what happened with Samantha. Gabriela is trying to tell him that he needs to remain calm, and that the understanding they had was that Gabriela would lead the questioning not Baines. Jane interrupts and tells Baines that she thought what he did was amazing. When she stops, Baines prods her more and tells her that she is very good at her job, after all she stopped Xavier Collins and Baines is a great judge of character. (LOL, no you are not President Baines. You are a POOR judge of character.)
Police cars patrol the streets, and Samantha sits at home watching tv with her family. When her daughter asks why the cops are outside, she tells her not to worry. She seems to be enjoying the relaxing time at home, and when her husband asks how long the house arrest is going to last, she doesn’t care.
In the personnel office, Robinson is looking through Jane’s personal file. She learns that most of Jane’s files are redacted but that she was dismissed from the CIA for serious misconduct, which leads her to investigate what happened to Billy Pace. (I always liked Robinson.)
At President Baines’ house, he is about to go for a jog, and while the Secret Service are adamant that he wait for them to clear the neighborhood, Baines insists, and Jane volunteers to go with him, which Baines likes.
Gabriela arrives at Samantha’s house and explains that she wanted to talk to her even though it was very late. They reminisce about old times, but Samantha starts it off by saying how grateful she is to Gabriela for giving her another chance. The doctor tells a story about her dad and essentially tells Samantha that she is done with her, and their friendship is over. (Really Dr. Torabi, is this a wise idea. Samantha has lots of power.)
Presley paces back and forth at home wondering why Jeremy didn’t leave a note. James comes clean and tells her he was trying to protect her. He tells her what the note said, and Presley takes off, but Jeremy is arrested by the police, and Presley arrives in time to see her boyfriend hauled away.
Robinson breaks into Pace’s house and decides to investigate what really happened the night he died. She’s remembering Jane’s statement about Billy and seeing the evidence of someone who was not what was portrayed in the paperwork. She even found an engagement ring which negates any statement that he had nothing to live for.
Back in the distant past, Billy Pace arrives at the address and plans to kill the man who refuses to sell to Samantha. Inside the home, Pace sees the man as he cares for his wife who is dying of Huntington’s Disease. While he’s talking to Pace, he injects his wife with a poison that kills her and promises to see her soon. Pace kills the man and promises that he will not kill his partner.
Downstairs, Billy Pace honors his deal and allows the kid to go free telling him this is the luckiest day of his life.
Pace meets with Samantha and tells her that everything is done. Samantha pays him and tells the killer that what he did will save billions. Pace doesn’t care and tells her that if she needs him again all he needs is a name and a photograph. Pace leaves by saying all she needs to say is that the target needs a breath mint. (Nice callback to what Samantha said after Baines screamed in her face in the interrogation room.)
Jane and President Baines are jogging alone, and when she convinces him to stop and walk, he agrees. The moment he stops, Jane pulls a knife and slices Baines’ throat. (Wow, that is cold blooded and ruthless. Jane is the true psycho of Bunkerville.) She marks his back in blood in the shape of an 'X.' Robinson arrives to find Baines dead. Jane subdues Robinson and blames her for the murder.
Jeremy is brought into the secret prison where he meets the advisor who called President Baines stupid. While the man admits that he helped design everything in the bunker, Jeremy tells him that together they will blow the doors off the place.
Back at Samantha house, she speaks with her housekeep Carmen, and it is obvious that Carmen is more than just a housekeeper because they speak about the power problem that Baines wants information on. On her desk is the picture that Gabriela gave her, and a hidden microphone that leaves the good doctor stunned by what she is hearing.
Review: 4 stars
Explosive to say the least, the first three episodes are dynamite television. The first episode gives us a brilliant introduction to Shaileen Woodley’s character, allows her to have the premiere, which enables us to connect with her, and reflect on everything that happened in season one from a very different perspective.
Woodley is masterful as Annie, and her presence in the show is felt immediately.
To add layers and depth to an intricate story, we get another murder, and more intrigue. I love the fact that Xavier gets to be the hero, but also shows what type of person he is in how in acts with the people he meets on the outside.
The backstory between Xavier and Teri is a much-needed journey to the past, which allows the audience the chance to connect with Teri in a far greater way than what season one allowed. We care about Teri, and thanks to the second episode we get to see why Xavier Collins would traverse a wasteland to find her.
President Baines was not long for this world. Matt Malloy is a wonderful actor, but his character was doomed. He may have been a governor and senator, but he was way out of his league with his opponents.
Julianne Nicholson was perfect as Sinatra last year, but the softening of her this season is evident. She has had a plan all along, and she knows more than anyone else, and her attempt to keep everyone safe is noble, but she lost her altruism and only wants to have everything her way. I am rooting for her but wouldn’t be surprised to see Samantha end this season as a true villain again.
Nicole Blooms Jane is a genuine crazy person. I am terrified of her. Her murdering skills are top notch, and her ability to hide in plain sight is phenomenal. However, I predict by the end of this show, Jane and Robinson are going to have an epic fight.
Sit down and relax and quality story telling is on display with the first three episodes of Paradise starts season two.