Club Benefits
- Rating: ★★★★ stars
- Verdict: "Paradise" season 2 ends on a shocking note, with a finale filled with seismic revelations. It also sets up the show's endgame masterfully, pointing us towards an epic series finale in season 3 that could rewrite history itself.
- Where to watch: Stream "Paradise" on Hulu
The "Paradise" season 2 finale finally arrived on Hulu, and once you watch it, your understanding of the show will never be the same. This final episode delivered seismic revelations that altered the trajectory of the series and ended a major storyline ... for now.
If you haven't seen the "Paradise" season 2 finale yet, there's really no way to discuss it other than to tell you that it is stunning. Some moments will give you chills, other moments will leave you speechless, and there are major twists, including one that you definitely won't see coming.
Article continues belowSo if you want to stay spoiler-free, leave, go watch "Paradise" season 2 on Hulu, and then come back to read on. Otherwise, let's dive in and discuss what this season finale sets up for the show's third and final season.
'Paradise' finally revealed what this show is about
For 15 episodes now, "Paradise" has felt like a show about surviving the apocalypse. In season 1, we saw disaster strike and the steps that were taken to prevent a total nuclear holocaust. We also saw what life was like in the bunker that housed the President of the United States and a select group of other elites, along with a working class to support them. Then, in season 2, we saw what life had been like for everyone outside of the bunker, and that perhaps the bunker had a bigger purpose than just housing the remnants of the government.
In this 16th episode, though, we learned that this show isn't about surviving the apocalypse at all — it's about undoing it.
"Alex" is a name we've heard mentioned with increasing frequency in season 2, and in this season finale, it's revealed that Alex is an AI-controlled quantum computer. Not only that, but Link (Thomas Doherty), who might be Sinatra's (Julianne Nicholson) supposedly dead son, is the one who created it. It's now housed in a second secret bunker underneath the Denver airport.
But that's not where the reveals stop. It appears that Alex can manipulate time. Not only can it see into the future or predict a question before it's asked, but it might be distorting time itself. It seems that Xavier's (Sterling K. Brown) strange visions and Sinatra's nosebleeds are connected to these temporal distortions as well, and that Alex is now waiting on one person to come use it: Xavier, aka "User X."
Seemingly, Xavier and Alex will be meeting with one purpose, or at least, that's what Sinatra intimates before she's killed in an earth-shattering nuclear meltdown. That purpose is to undo everything that's happened, including the extinction-level event that created the apocalypse in the first place.
Verdict: 'Paradise' season 2 sets up an earth-shattering series finale
Whether or not Alex can — or wants to — undo the apocalypse, remains to be seen. This show could just as easily end with Xavier having to destroy the god-like AI rather than helping it bring back the paradise of life before the caldera eruption.
But regardless, this season 2 finale is setting up a season 3 meeting between the two that should have earth-shattering consequences. Sure, "Paradise" literally just blew up a mountain, but that's nothing compared to a potentially world-breaking moment where an AI rewrites time and space.
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.
More from Tom's Guide
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
