PARADISE – Review by Susan Granger
Ready, set – stream Paradise, the most exciting new drama series of 2025!
This action-packed political thriller combines a sci-fi apocalyptic theme with a compelling whodunnit. The plot follows Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown), assigned to guard U.S. President Cal Bradford (James Marsden), a smarmy Southern Democrat from a wealthy family.
Problem is: When Collins reports for work one morning, he discovers that Bradford has been brutally murdered in his bedroom and the President’s personal tablet, containing highly classified state secrets, is missing.
Collins’ Secret Service colleagues include Nicole Robinson (Krys Marshall), who was Bradford’s lover; roguish Billy Pace (Jon Beavers), who is hiding a shady past; and Wii-obsessed, sociopathic Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom).
But everyone has to report to controlling, powerful billionaire Samantha “Sinatra” Redmond (Julianne Nicholson), the world’s richest self-made woman.
To complicate matters, after a global catastrophe, 25,000 ‘chosen’ individuals have taken refuge in omnipotent Redmond’s massive underground bunker/community in Colorado called Paradise that appears to be an idyllic Anytown, USA, replete with all conveniences, climate control and a fake sky to replicate day-and-night.
Hovering on the doomsday event’s periphery are Collins’ beloved wife Teri (Enuka Okuma), seemingly stranded in Atlanta; their children (teenage Aliyah Mastin, younger Percy Daggs IV); Bradford’s teenage son Jeremy (Charlie Evans) and psychotherapist Dr. Gabriela Torabi (Sarah Shahi).
Created by Dan Fogelman (“This Is Us”) with multi-layered, thought-provoking Biblical allusions, Collins’ conspiracy story unfolds in a non-chronological order, utilizing a myriad of apocalyptic flashbacks which can be a bit confusing, particularly as various characters de-age.
But viewers will learn who killed Bradford – and why – in the cliffhanger conclusion with production on Season 2 already underway and Season 3 in planning stages.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, Paradise is a fast-paced, enthralling 8 – with all eight episodes now streaming on Hulu & Disney+.
