Reviewing Paradise, Starring Sterling K. Brown

Paradise Series Review

The show is Paradise and it is filled with everything most of us want in a television show. There's mystery, intrigue, complicated interpersonal relationships, a strong protagonist, and an insidious antagonist. Paradise stars the remarkable Sterling K. Brown and showcases James Marsden at, perhaps, his best.

In a world where a good-looking, honest, whiskey-drinking, imperfect man can become the president, who does he turn to when he needs someone to trust? He trusts the relentless, unstoppable, unyielding sentry that keeps him safe every day, Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown). The series starts with a brief introduction to the hero, the head of President Cal Bradford's (James Marsden's) secret service detail.

Initially, we learn that he's an athlete, committed, and a single father carrying a chip on his shoulder. Brown's intensity is perfect for the character. Agent Collins reports for his shift, and we soon discover things aren't what they seem. The President of the United States has been murdered.

Throughout the series and the introductions of different characters, audiences are taken on a hunt for the truth as Xavier wants to find the killer responsible for his frenemy's death. As he stops everything in its tracks, including the Secret Service response, we start seeing the flashback sequences that fill in the backstory and context.

Along the way, audiences who didn't know the backstory about the show developed their own questions. Why is the current president not at the Whitehouse? Why does Xavier have a beef with the current president? It doesn't take long before we understand that not only is this the first time Xavier is working the murder of a US President, but it's also the first murder in Pardise.

Paradise's main antagonist won't be the person or persons who murdered Cal Bradford and set the community of Paradise up for what was to come next. She's a psychotically driven billionaire tech mogul (yes, I see the comparison) who gathered the right people together to build the city. Julianne Nicholson plays Sinatra, the leader, and more evil-minded than the murderer who comes for the President.

Paradise is ripped from the stories and headlines in some ways. It's all about life in a massive, subterranean, mountain bunker in a post-apocalyptic world. The worst has already happened, and the president's most dedicated sentry is also the man who feels most betrayed by the president because Bradford couldn't get Xavier's wife to safety with the rest of the world.

The list of suspects begins to grow, and people show their true selves. From the best friend with a history he hasn't acknowledged to Xavier, to Sinatra herself, who's on Xavier's side becomes a shorter and shorter list as each episode unfolds. Turning to Robinson (Krys Marshall), the president's love interest and a director of the secret service, Xavier vows to take down the bad guy and hold her accountable for Bradford's murder.

Is he misguided by his anger or resentment of their lives beneath the mountain? Or is Xavier seeing one bad guy where another should be? Like any heroic journey, there's more to the story that Xavier will have to contend with. Because, like any villain, Sinatra manages to stay steps ahead of the hero until the end of the first season of Paradise.

With some incredible performances from stars like Gerald McRaney as the aging father Kane Bradford, to the bromance that Xavier has with his best friend Billy Pace (Jon Beavers), onto the bond villain like twist at the end that finally answers two questions, but leaves many more, Paradise is an intriguing mix of mystery, suspense, thriller, and undying devotion that desperately needs a second season.

Note: One of the most interesting things about this, from my perspective, is because of the story I wrote last year about the bunkers being built beneath the ultra-rich's personal properties and the businesses already developing mountain bunkers in the United States.