Paradise hits the mark again in season two
James Cox
Paradise has matched and surpassed the brilliance of its first season with an action-packed follow-up.
Before you read on, there are spoilers in this piece if you have not seen Paradise season two.
The twist at the beginning of season one set it up as one of the best post-apocalyptic thrillers of recent years. What looked like a presidential assassination thriller, we soon learned that the death of Cal Bradford (James Marsden) was far from what it seemed.
Paradise follows survivors in a high-tech bunker built deep underground in Colorado, after a seismic climate event ended the world as we know it.
His Secret Service lead Xavier Collins (Sterling K Brown) was tortured by the assassination and soon became the standout character in Paradise.
Season two is no different as Brown's character gets a glimpse of the outside world in the search for his long-lost wife Teri (Enuka Okuma).
This is where we meet a new addition in season two, Annie (Shailene Woodley). A tour guide at Graceland, the former home of Elvis Presley, Annie has survived against all the odds.
This type of storytelling was part of season two's brilliance as viewers were shown what had occurred outside the bunker, while flashbacks were also used expertly.
This medium helped us learn more about the dark characters of agent Jane Driscoll, played by Nicole Brydon Bloom, and Samantha "Sinatra" Redmond (played by Julianne Nicholson).
The eight episodes build suspsens for a confrontation that always seemed invetiable as a an eclectic but organised group of outsiders demand entrance to the bunker.
A few show favourites meet their grisly ends, but Xavier emerges as the key to the survival of not just our heroes, but humanity itself.
We are left with the revelation that he is the only one who can help a mysterious supercomputer called Alex in its quest to keep the survivors from total destruction.
Paradise is a thrilling watch and the eight episodes, all available to watch on Disney+, will leave viewers wanting more.
A third season has already been finished by writers with production set to begin soon.
