Paradise Recap: Just the First Act

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When Samantha Redmond cryptically says, “It was never just about the bunker,” you should take her seriously. The second season of Paradise does return to the bunker, but it quickly becomes clear that something far larger – and much more complex – is happening beneath the surface. It seems Paradise might be exploring time travel or even a multiverse! As the late Billy Pace (appearing in flashbacks) puts it, no one really understands what’s going on. The show is still keeping details vague, but connections are starting to emerge, and that’s significant.

Samantha Redmond is finally awake after being in a coma for about a month. She was shot by a fan, Jane, who intervened to save her from Xavier during a dramatic showdown at the end of last season. (It’s strangely touching that Jane said Samantha would be ‘no use’ if she died, right?) While Samantha was unconscious and following the death of President Bradford, the new, rather clueless Vice President Baines has taken over. He’s been busy putting up posters of himself everywhere, secretly imprisoning anyone who disagrees with him, and trying to keep the public distracted from the growing rebellions against his rule and the wealthy elite. It’s all pretty crazy!

Ever since Xavier publicly accused Samantha and the other bunker leaders of lying, Jeremy Bradford – Cal’s son – has joined the fight. He and his friends are spray-painting red Xes around town to support Xavier, who took the blame for shooting Samantha before fleeing to Atlanta to protect Jane, whom he still believed wasn’t involved. (Robinson is increasingly worried about all of this.) Baines, in what he thinks is a stroke of genius, wants to cheer up the bunker’s citizens by creating summer. His plan is to raise the temperature by ten degrees for a few months, but he’s repeatedly told it’s impossible. A large amount of the bunker’s power, generated by its nuclear reactors, is secretly being used for Samantha’s unknown project. Despite the warnings, Baines persists, and Anders – the bunker’s original designer, whom we met in season one – becomes blunt: the bunker is already running at maximum power, and increasing it will cause a meltdown. He delivers this message with colorful language, earning him a trip to the secret prison for speaking disrespectfully to the president – a very important man, apparently.

Baines immediately brings Samantha in from the hospital and connects her to a lie detector for questioning. He asks Gabi to lead the interrogation, and she clearly enjoys the opportunity. Their friendship fell apart last season, and Gabi hasn’t forgiven Samantha for her past actions. She starts with basic questions, even bringing up Samantha’s deceased son, seemingly intent on upsetting her. Then she gets to the core of the matter: she asks if Samantha is secretly drawing energy from the bunker for her own use. When Samantha denies it, Baines loses his temper, rushing into the room to demand respect. This doesn’t faze Samantha, who simply points out that Baines needs a breath mint. The comment does, however, amuse Jane, who has already confided in Samantha that she’s on her side.

Looking closely at the flashbacks reveals that Samantha isn’t intentionally deceiving anyone. Like her other endeavors, this secret project initially aims to save the world, not benefit her personally. The episode revisits the conference from season one, where Samantha first learned about the potential volcanic eruption and global catastrophe from Dr. Louge. This time, we see her conversation with him, and the situation is even more dire than we thought. He explains that the eruption, tsunami, and ash cloud are only the beginning of the apocalypse.

Louge then described something called the Venus Syndrome – it’s similar to what they call the ‘runaway greenhouse effect’. Apparently, things will seem to calm down after a few years, like we saw with Annie, and everyone will think the worst is over. But Louge warned that trapped gases will slowly start heating things up again, eventually leading to a massive spike in temperature. He said the oceans would evaporate, and the pressure would become so intense it would destroy everything left. He put it pretty bluntly: anyone still alive at that point would wish they hadn’t made it through the initial crisis. When Samantha asked if there was a way to fix it, Louge just laughed. He said the only solution is something even he can’t get: more time. Honestly, Louge, don’t scare Samantha like that!

Samantha is facing a major challenge, and it’s getting more difficult as Cal Bradford wins the presidency. She’s already working on a secret project alongside the Colorado bunker, but she’s hit a dead end. She explains to Cal’s father that this involves someone who possesses incredibly important technology – technology that could determine the future of the world – and this person refuses to sell it to her, even after she’s made several substantial offers. Kane Bradford advises Samantha that she needs to try a new strategy.

Kane arranges for Samantha to hire a hitman, and surprisingly, that hitman turns out to be Billy Pace – a darkly humorous pairing! Samantha simply wants tech entrepreneur Henry Miller to sign over his company, and if he refuses, she reluctantly admits Billy would have to kill him. Billy tracks Henry down at a bar, and they end up having a friendly conversation. Henry is a professor who specializes in quantum physics and has a brilliant young partner, whom he considers like a son, named Vestige Quantum. When Billy presents Henry with the contract and demands his signature, Henry cryptically states that Billy is missing some crucial information and curiously asks if he believes in fate. Instead of signing, Henry writes down an address for Billy.

The next day, Billy arrives at the address and discovers it’s Henry’s home. Henry leads him to the bedroom where his wife, Alex, is lying unconscious due to Huntington’s disease. Things quickly take a disturbing turn when Henry injects Alex with a substance that kills her. He then reveals a strange belief that Billy was meant to be there, and that everything happened for a reason. He desperately wants to believe his plan worked, and asks Billy to promise he won’t harm his protégé when he arrives. He insists this is crucial, even suggesting the fate of the world depends on it. Billy immediately shoots Henry. Stepping back into the living room, Billy’s nose begins to bleed – he grabs a tissue. Just then, Henry’s protégé, a young genius named Link, walks in. Billy tells him to run and considers letting him live to be a stroke of luck. This explains Link’s Caltech ID and his knowledge of ‘Alex’ – the name Henry gave to his technology – found in the bunker. The frequent nosebleeds and headaches are increasingly connected to Alex as well. While many questions remain, the season is starting to feel like it’s heading towards a specific conclusion.

We’ll have to put aside the details about Link, the nosebleeds, and Alex’s technology for now, as more urgent problems with the bunker have come up. The recent flashback concludes with Billy telling Samantha that Henry is no longer with them and that she now controls the company and its technology. She asks if she can still use Henry’s services, but Billy tells her to be patient and explains that all she needs to do is provide a name and photo and use the code phrase, “needs a breath mint.” This reveals that Samantha is now involved in arranging assassinations, and the earlier comment about Baines needing a breath mint wasn’t just a random remark – it was a secret order to another assassin, Jane, who was present.

Okay, so get this – Jane has somehow become Baine’s golden girl, the only agent he’ll let join him for a run. The poor guy’s been totally overwhelmed with stress and hasn’t had a moment to himself since getting all this power. They’re barely two minutes into the jog when she just… slashes his throat. But here’s where it gets really interesting. Robinson, a detective, has been getting suspicious of Jane – something about her just doesn’t check out. Her file is completely scrubbed, and her story about Billy doesn’t hold water. When she finds out Jane is alone with Baine, she goes to investigate. Of course, Jane sees her coming and manages to knock her out, then brilliantly frames her for the murder! Turns out, she did the hit for Samantha, and she really went all out with it.

Okay, so the issue holding up Samantha’s little side gig is finally dealt with, but honestly, she’s still in trouble. Jeremy actually got himself arrested – he intentionally landed in that secret prison to talk to Anders and figure out how to really shake things up in the bunker. Meanwhile, things are getting seriously creepy with Gabi. She pretended to have a falling out with Samantha just to get access to her office and plant a bug – a listening device hidden in a framed photo. Now she’s eavesdropping on Samantha’s conversations, and we just heard Samantha talking to Carmen, her housekeeper, about how close Alex is to discovering something. Carmen’s response? Just chillingly, “She is getting closer.” And the real signal that everything is about to explode? The emo ’80s covers are back! I’m getting major Venus Syndrome vibes – things are seriously heating up down in that bunker, and I’m on the edge of my seat!

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2026-02-24 02:55