If Paradise Season 1, Episode 5 “In the Palaces of Crowned Kings,” proves anything, it’s that whatever you think is going to happen next in this show…you’re probably wrong. Unless it’s that Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) will do the Right Thing. That, at least, I’m pretty sure you can always count on.
I think.
Okay, I’m 98% sure you can always count on that. When he discovers the truth, all bets may be off.
Poor Little Rich Boy
Paradise Season 1, Episode 5 focuses on President Cal Bradford (James Marsden). As the President of the United States, one might assume his life would be blessed. Even if he did…you know…oversee the End of the World, so to speak. Told primarily through flashbacks, however, we see that this is not the case.
Of course, in episode 2, we’d gotten the impression that he’s…let’s just say “not the apple of his father’s eye.” The relationship between father and son is fractured, to say the least. And not just because of his father’s dementia.
Though seemingly leading a charmed existence (until his murder), Cal’s life has very much not been his own. Pushed to follow his father’s footsteps at first, and then pushed to go into politics when that failed, he’s fairly miserable with his own life. And even when he’s staring death in the face, he can’t get his father to say he’s proud of him. Or his son to forgive him. Not until it’s too late.
That hurt, show. That hurt.
Patsy or Figurehead
In the wake of last week’s revelations, I wondered who knew the truth about the surface and why they’d cover it up. It turns out that Bradford, at least, didn’t know that anyone survived the extinction-level event. (Although his father did – or at least probably did at some point.)
Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) seems to be pulling all the strings. Putting cameras all over Paradise. Keeping the truth from the president. Making him a figurehead for the office, as she has with his successor. If not a patsy to take the fall, if the truth had come out before his death.
She makes a good villain (even if part of my heart hurts to think of her that way.) But she also makes a fairly obvious one, doesn’t she? Too obvious, I think. This isn’t to say that I think she’s entirely innocent in this entire affair, but I do think more is going on than meets the eye.
Just as there is with Xavier’s daughter Presley (Aliyah Mastin). Paradise Season 1, Episode 5 reveals she has the tablet everyone’s been searching for. If Kane Bradford’s (Gerald McRaney) moment of lucidity can be trusted, she was there the night Cal died. How did she get it? Did she kill him?
I can’t believe that she did. However, if she did, it would have to be because she suspects her mom is still alive. So is that why she’s getting closer to the Bradford Heir Apparent, Jeremy (Charlie Evans)? That’s a little Machiavellian for a teenager, but I’m putting nothing past this show right now.
Gauntlet Thrown
It seemed like this season was shaping up to be one in which Xavier would go rogue, conducting his investigation into the truth by himself. Under cover of the strictest secrecy. But nope. Xavier clearly subscribes to the “Go Big Or Go Home” school of criminal investigation.
He’s not about to shy from the spotlight. He doesn’t shy away from letting the bad guy know he’s after him. Or her. Nope. He sends a literal message in red letters in the sky. “They’re lying to you.” Which is really a bold move, on several fronts. Of course, it lets Sinatra know he’s onto her. Which, let’s face it, she probably does know on some level. Still, it removes any shadow of a doubt.
He also doesn’t know how they’re lying to everyone, exactly. He doesn’t know that there’s anyone alive on the surface. And he doesn’t know that Agent Jane (Nicole Brydon Bloom) killed Billy (Jon Beavers). Although he’s keeping his circle of trust pretty close to his chest, which might just save his life. If Sinatra couldn’t stand Billy or the president standing up to her, there was no way she was going to take Xavier’s antics lying down.
Breadcrumbs
Xavier undoubtedly feels like he has to go it alone – or perhaps begrudgingly accepting the occasional help from his boss, Robinson (Krys Marshall). But he isn’t as alone as he thought.
Upon discovering the truth, the president knew he was likely going to die. And it turns out he’s not quite the heartless, self-centered jerk people (including Xavier and Jeremy) might have believed. He wanted to do the right thing and tell people the truth. He wanted to find out if there were survivors. And he knew he could trust Xavier – not just to do the right thing, but to figure it out.
So he left breadcrumbs. We know about the numbers on the cigarette. But he also made a mixed tape for Jeremy. Which makes me believe there’s a clue on the mixed tape. And who knows where else? In the programming for the golf game that he loved so much? Time will tell.
All I know is, I wasn’t expecting to love this show. But just like everyone that came before it, Paradise Season 1 Episode 5, “In the Palaces of Crowned Kings,” had me on the edge of my seat. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Paradise airs on Tuesdays on Hulu.
