Season 2 of Paradise came to an explosive end on Monday, but by all accounts, this isn’t the end (it’s been renewed for a third season, after all). The second installment of Dan Fogelman’s hit Hulu series took a major genre turn, straying from the dystopian disaster-drama vibes of season 1.
Over the past eight episodes, the show, which stars Sterling K. Brown as fugitive Secret Service agent Xavier Collins, has expanded into sci-fi territory. Now that a giant AI quantum computer named Alex has been revealed as the one running things, all sorts of questions are swirling about where the story will go in its third season.
Season 1 ended with Collins charting a plane out of the bunker to track down his missing wife. Most of season 2 followed him as he completed his mission. That process played out with him acquiring a newborn baby, contending with a lonely mailman with a deadly crush and venturing back to the bunker to reunite his family, only to be faced with a pending nuclear meltdown and the reveal that he’s probably the only one who can save the world and make it all go back to normal.
OK, I admit — that was a lot. Honestly, I’m unsure how things will pan out moving forward. But, like all of you, I’ve got some pressing questions about how it all ended. There are major story spoilers ahead, so tread lightly if you’re not caught up. Otherwise, let’s unpack the Paradise season 2 finale.
So, is Dylan Sinatra’s dead son?
Thomas Doherty stars in Paradise on Hulu.
Let’s start here. Season 2 of Paradise introduced a woman named Annie who found shelter in Graceland, of all places. After living there for some time, a group of marauders entered Elvis’s old home to find shelter and supplies. It took some time for them to all get cozy together, but the group eventually earned Annie’s trust. And then she got intimate with Dylan.
It was in these early moments that she overheard the group’s plan to head to the bunker in Colorado to “kill Alex.” Annie didn’t go with them on the trip, but months later, she met Xavier after his plane crashed. Annie, now very pregnant, wanted him to take her to the bunker for safety, while his whole thing was tracking down his wife. And then she died during childbirth and left the baby with Xavier.
This whole time, Dylan and his crew continued their mission to infiltrate the bunker. He ended up meeting with Sinatra face-to-face, who became fully convinced he was her dead son and that Alex was to blame. How is that possible? Well, I admit that quantum computing is super confusing to me, but the idea is that Alex is a technological marvel that can predict the future, but also plays with time and presents anomalies to those affected by it — which is, I think, everyone.
In simpler terms, I think we’re dealing with alternate realities here. This would explain the appearance of Sinatra’s dead son and her message to Xavier at the end of the episode, which implies that he’s the only one who can save the world and make things right — because it was already decided by Alex.
What’s the deal with Alex?
Alex is an AI quantum computer in season 2 of Paradise on Hulu.
I wasn’t expecting Dylan to be Alex’s creator, but here we are. The finale provided some flashbacks regarding the inception of the computer, Dylan’s partnership with quantum physicist Dr. Henry Miller (who Sinatra ordered dead, so she could get the schematics to build Alex to its full form) and that moment where Sinatra discussed using Alex to stop climate change — you know, because AI uses a lot of water and energy and isn’t great for the environment.
But I digress.
Miller had seen the damage Alex could cause with its ability to manipulate time and called for the project to be shut down. But as we saw in this episode and the ones leading up to the finale, that didn’t happen.
Is Alex the HAL 9000 of Paradise? I don’t think so. The real question is, how can Xavier use Alex to save the world? I don’t know the answer, but I really hope he doesn’t hit a button in season 3 only to have everyone wake up from a dream to find none of this ever happened to begin with. We’ll see how that goes when the show returns.
Is Sinatra really dead?
Julianne Nicholson stars in season 2 of Paradise on Hulu.
Season 1 of Paradise ended with Sinatra being shot by Jane (Nicole Brydon Bloom), the Secret Service agent who became a murderous monster in these new episodes. She didn’t die then. But is she dead, now?
The finale ended with Sinatra coming to terms with the choices she made and the damage she caused, all through her skewed lens of saving humanity. When Dylan and his crew showed up, it was decided to put the bunker on lockdown. Little did they know that the late President Bradford’s son, Jeremy (Charlie Evans), had gone deep into the bowels of the bunker with the scientist who helped build it and Agent Robinson (Krys Marshall), the president’s former lover, to destroy everything and force the doors open.
Having these two things happen simultaneously overloaded the system, causing a meltdown that prompted Dr. Tarabi (Sarah Shahi) — who, in self-defense, killed Jane in her shower — to call for Exodus, the name of their evacuation plan. After a visit with Alex, Sinatra returned to all-out chaos and decided to stay while everyone else fled.
As the mass exodus of the bunker’s population came to its end, the large crowd of survivors outside watched as the mountain inside of which the bunker was built imploded and crumbled. Sinatra was last seen walking the streets of the utopia she helped build. By all accounts, she died in the bunker’s destruction. But if Alex does indeed mess with time and timelines, something tells me this won’t be the last we see of her.
Surprise: There’s a second bunker
Verlon Roberts, Krys Marshall and Charlie Evans in season 2 of Paradise.
The final moments of the episode found the survivors in an encampment not far from the bunker. Dylan met his infant daughter, and Xavier’s family was back together, and it felt like everything was coming to a happy end. That is, until a brief flashback sequence between Xavier and Sinatra took place.
Earlier in the episode, Sinatra was handed a card that was printed by Alex that featured a bunch of numbers and someone named “User X.” She realized X was for Xavier and handed him the card with the mission to set things right with Alex and the world.
How does he do that? I don’t know. But it’s in this conversation that she tells him a second bunker exists beneath Denver International Airport, roughly 100 miles away. That’s where Alex is. So, if he’s humanity’s savior, all signs suggest he’ll be leading a group to infiltrate this other bunker. I bet it won’t be easy — can you imagine the security measures put in place to protect this giant supercomputer?
Moreover, now that the series has evolved from dystopian drama to sci-fi adventure, I wonder what genre form it’ll take in season 3. Hopefully, we won’t be waiting too long to find out.
