The second season of Paradise is nearing its conclusion, with only one episode remaining after this week’s “The Final Countdown.” This series—set before and after an environmental apocalypse devastates the planet, tracking survivors both on the surface and deep within a luxurious underground bunker—is slated for a third and likely final season, consistent with the narrative outlined from the start by series creator Dan Fogelman.
Consequently, it’s improbable that every pressing question will be answered in next week’s season finale, as there’s still an entire subsequent season. However, we anticipate that most of season two’s primary enigmas will find some clarity.
Be advised, spoilers follow if you haven’t watched through episode seven, “The Final Countdown.”
Who or What is Alex?
The enigmatic figure known as “Alex” has been a persistent thread throughout the season. At Graceland, it was revealed that Link (Thomas Doherty) and his followers planned to locate the bunker and “kill Alex” as part of their strategy to “restart the world.” This quickly emerged as the central mystery of season two, much like “Who killed President Cal Bradford?” propelled season one.
In episode three, we were shown a flashback to the pre-apocalypse days, when the bunker was still under construction. Billy Pace (Jon Beavers) was hired by Samantha “Sinatra” Redmond (Julianne Nicholson) to assassinate Henry Miller (Patrick Fischler), an inventor who refused to sell or peacefully surrender his highly mysterious technology.
The flashback depicted Henry tenderly caring for his ailing wife—whose name is Alex—and euthanizing her just before Billy fatally shoots him. We also see that Henry’s protégé, a brilliant young man who helped develop his technology, is Link, then still in his fresh-faced, college-student phase.
Throughout the remainder of the season, we received occasional hints about “Alex,” though none as detailed as what transpired in that flashback. We were also privy to an extended conversation between Sinatra and the doomsday-predicting scientist, first seen in season one, where he warned her about “Venus syndrome.” Essentially, after the supervolcano erupts, the tsunami waters will recede, and the ash cloud will dissipate. This will create the illusion of nature healing. However, the atmospheric damage will be permanent, and the greenhouse effect will eventually intensify to irreversible, uninhabitable levels.
We also heard him scoff at Sinatra’s readiness to spend vast sums of money to solve the problem—because the one thing she truly needs is more time. And time, he insisted, cannot be bought.
Or is it?
Based primarily on episode three, including Henry’s very loaded remarks to Billy (“Do you think that things happen for a reason, or are they just random?”), it seems probable that Sinatra’s “Alex” is connected to time travel or possibly a multiverse.
The fact that in episode seven, Sinatra refers to Alex as “her,” and the final shot shows her traveling to some undisclosed, hidden area of the bunker and cheerfully greeting whoever/whatever is being kept there with a “Hi, Alex”—well, it only makes it all the more intriguing.
Could Link Be Sinatra’s Son, Dylan?
A significant detail about Sinatra’s past is that years before the apocalypse (what Paradise refers to as “the Day”), her young son Dylan died from a rare but unspecified illness. In “The Final Countdown,” it’s revealed that Link—a tech genius and natural-born leader, much like Sinatra—is actually named Dylan.
He is also 26 (the same age Dylan would have been if he had lived) and shares the exact birthday, May 16, with Sinatra’s son.
This revelation causes a profound shift in Sinatra—she suddenly appears much happier and more at ease than before—and she tells her husband, “I think it worked,” after her meeting with Link. It must be noted that during this meeting, Link likened their dynamic to Luke and Vader—a famously fraught parent-child relationship, if ever there was one.
Is Sinatra somehow Link’s mom, even though her Dylan passed away years earlier? How could this be possible?
Xavier and Link’s Connection—and the Nosebleeds?
Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) has experienced strange visions of Link, whom he has never met but recognized upon seeing his photo on an old student ID. Xavier describes these visions as resembling memories of events that have not yet occurred.
Then there are the nosebleeds. Xavier has one while piloting the plane away from the bunker. Later, Link experiences a nosebleed while trying to convince Annie (Shailene Woodley) to accompany him to the bunker—immediately after his survivalist companion mentions “Alex.” We also see Henry hand Billy a tissue, seemingly anticipating Billy’s nosebleed. The nosebleed happens after Billy has shot Henry, precisely as he encounters Link on his way out.
In “The Final Countdown,” both Link and Sinatra wipe their noses during a tense moment after their summit. (During that meeting, Link had mentioned Alex and was quickly dismissed by Sinatra.) Could this be some sort of Stranger Things-style shorthand for “unusual psychic activity is occurring,” or is there another explanation?
The Bunker’s Impending System Collapse: What Now?
We have a strong feeling that Xavier’s daughter Presley (Aliyah Mastin) and Sinatra’s daughter Hadley (Kate Godfrey), now newly formed teenage adventure companions, will manage to escape that stuck elevator. Despite their somewhat peripheral role in the plot thus far, they are too integral to the show’s main characters to be lost.
However, we are quite concerned about the other 25,000-plus people (and one dog) who call the bunker home. Thanks to the events of “The Final Countdown,” they are now facing a total system failure due to the coincidentally launched decisions to sabotage the oxygen supply (thereby forcing the exterior bunker doors to open) and enact a total lockdown (as a measure to prevent Link and his group from invading).
That concern does not extend to the bratty Jeremy Bradford (Charlie Evans), who—to quote a very accurate Agent Robinson (Krys Marshall)—is nothing like his father. He can rot down there. But for everyone else trapped deep underground with, presumably, a dwindling air supply, a possible radiation leak, and who knows what else… it’s a terrifying situation.
Is Jane Truly Gone?
At the conclusion of “The Final Countdown,” Agent Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom) is in dire straits, bleeding out in Gabi’s shower. But can we truly trust that Paradise’s petite yet terrifying resident psychopath is permanently gone?
Speaking of Jane, we’d also love to uncover more about “AlexQ,” who sent those “a killer will be born” warning messages regarding Jane’s arrival in the world to that random computer repair guy back in 1997. Was that an AI or something even more bizarre and complex?
The Paradise season two finale is scheduled to arrive on March 30, available on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.
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