Paradise Review

My one major takeaway upon finishing my screeners for Paradise was “Boy is Sterling K. Brown sensational at what he does.” And Brown is asked to do an awful lot in the series, leading a cast of heavy hitters through a thriller that is often uneven from a writing perspective and where we’re doled out key pieces of character development slowly and with seeming disinterest in painting a full and complete picture. The series certainly works as a thriller, but having watched all eight episodes in season one, I found myself wishing the series had more time to show us who the (pretty expansive) cast of characters are rather than sacrifice character driven moments in favor of pushing the overall plot forward.

Now, this is a hard review to write because the screeners came with a Do Not Reveal List that includes a huge piece of the show’s plot. That reveal happens in the pilot, and it’s pretty obvious if you’re watching just what that reveal will be, but I still can’t talk about it. Which makes it difficult to discuss who these characters are, what their lives are like, and the overall thread tying the entire series together. It’s writing a review with one hand tied behind my back. I actually considered not even reviewing the show, but Brown’s performance (as well as Julianne Nicholson, who plays a shadowy billionaire with her own agenda and does so impeccably) is just so uniformly excellent, I knew I at least wanted to write about that to encourage folks who might want to see him at the top of his game to watch Paradise. But I’ll give reviewing the show a shot – just know that I can’t really explain all the reasons the narrative of the series doesn’t quite work due to that particular embargo.

What I can tell you is what has been revealed in the show’s trailers, which in turn does set up the central mystery of the series. Brown plays Xavier Collins, the head of President Cal Bradford’s (James Marsden, also doing some great work adding layers to what could have been a one-note character) Secret Service detail. When the former president is found shot in his locked room (with a window open and a key piece of national security technology missing from its hiding place), it’s up to Collins to figure out just who would want Bradford dead – and who would know about that piece of tech and its importance. Paradise, the curated gated and guarded community Bradford lives in, is also home to some very important people – such as Nicholson’s billionaire who is known by the Secret Service under her code name of Sinatra (seriously, it’s what everyone calls her), who was instrumental in creating the community.

Now, that arc alone, the search for who would try to assassinate a president and steal State secrets, sounds like a heck of a fun two-hour movie. But of course, there’s much more to the story than that. Coming from creator Dan Fogelman, the series, like Fogelman’s previous hit series This Is Us, generously uses flashbacks to help fill in the gaps about characters, their relationships to one another (which also helps explain why Marsden would sign onto a series that saw his character getting shot in episode one – he gets a lot to do in those flashbacks and he’s great in them), and how the past actions of Bradford, and those around him, may have led to the situation Collins finds himself in: trying to solve a mystery when even his closest allies may be suspects.

I’ve lauded the show’s acting – and really, there isn’t a weak link to be found in the cast* – and the central plot is fun, so why am I still on the fence about the series? Well, without being able to talk too much about it, it’s because the series is too overstuffed. There are too many characters fighting for screen time (the first several episodes serve as character showcases of a sort, delving deeper into individual characters, such as Nicholson’s Sinatra, through flashbacks that outline how they became who they became and how their paths crossed with other key players, but then the showcases stop and focus more on the general plot in flashbacks) so you really only get to know Collins, Bradford, and Sinatra by the end of the season. And there is way too much going on with the narrative arc. Because it’s not just a story about finding out who shot the president and took the data. There’s a heck of a lot more going on and it is exhausting to try and keep it all straight. And, in the penultimate episode, even more new information is revealed that made me sigh and shake my head.

*While it’s not a weak link, I did want to mention that Sarah Shahi (another great actor in this deep cast) shows up pretty early as a psychiatrist with a link to Sinatra. And, in another example of how the writing can’t quite get out of its own way, Shahi is left more or less to chart her own path when it comes to developing her character because boy does the writing not help at all. She seems like she’s going to be a central part of the story and then disappears for stretches of time and little to no effort is made to turn her character into something more than just a tool for delivering plot. It’s really disappointing.

It’s not that Fogelman and his writing staff aren’t talented writers – they are. There are some truly great moments in the series, buffeted by some exceptional performances. But there is just so much going on, piling upon itself as plot points stack up, that by the time you get that that final reveal, you just can’t quite accept it all. And that’s a problem. I understand that a series built as a thriller needs to up the stakes until the conclusion – and leave some new plot points dangling for a second season – but the answers we do get don’t satisfy the way one hopes they would, and the new mysteries seem even more complex (and, frankly, interesting) than the ones the show is still trying to solve in season one. So, you start to wonder about the teased mysteries while still waiting for answers on the old ones.

Ultimately, I did find myself enjoying the series, largely thanks to the performances of Brown, Nicholson (who is playing such a different character than she normally gets, it’s a really great example of her range), and Marsden. But is it good? Yes, at times, but it’s not great – which it absolutely could be with a bit less in the way of plot and more focus on the key characters we want to see. I suspect this series will find an audience – and an enthusiastic one – which will hopefully allow it a second season to see if it can deliver on some of the big swings it takes late in this season. If you’re looking for a thriller – or miss seeing Brown on your TV screen – Paradise is worth a look.

Paradise premieres on January 28 on Hulu. Seven of the eight episodes were provided for review.