Thank you, Andy Burns, for recommending this amazing series to me. When Agent Xavier Collins does his routine morning check-in on the President of the United States, we learn that Paradise is so much more than a murder mystery.
Paradise S01, E01-02-03
You can classify Paradise, the series featured on Hulu as a political thriller, a murder mystery or a science fiction thriller, and you would be correct on all three claims. Paradise, created by Dan Fogelman and starring Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, James Marsden, Sarah Shahi, Nicole Brydon Bloom, and Jon Beavers, premiered with its first three episodes in January 2025. As of now, the following five episodes will be released starting in February.
Paradise begins with Agent Collins (Sterling K. Brown) beginning his day as a Secret Service Agent and personal bodyguard of American President Bradford (James Marsden). It’s just a routine day, in a picturesque town where people go around doing their routine activities, unaware that things are about to change. After finding the president has been murdered, and the secret contents of the safe are missing, Collins asks his team to call in a Code Red. There are plenty of suspects. The president is cheating on his wife, Jessica (Cassidy Freeman) with a female agent, Nicole Robinson (Krys Marshall). Even Collins and his team, Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom) and Billy Pace (Jon Beavers) are suspects. The investigation is led by Bradford’s version of Elon Musk. Samantha Redmond (Julianne Nicholson) aka Sinatra. Redmond is the genius behind the creation of the town called Paradise.
In flashbacks, we watch the bond between President Bradford and Agent Collins grow. They are friends…or were. We also learn that Sinatra was instrumental in creating the town. Sinatra has the government psychologist, Dr. Torabi (Sarah Shahi), chat with Collins to see if he is keeping any secrets, but Torabi has her own dark secrets. The shocker at the end of E01 isn’t so much the murder of the president, but where and what the town of Paradise really is.
Conclusion
There are so many clues about the town, but I was so busy concentrating on the murder. Everyone wears digital wristbands to purchase food and necessities. There are no insects. The pond has mechanical ducks. What in “The Truman Show” is going on here? Don’t worry because the flashbacks will definitely catch you up to what, why and where Paradise exists. The writing is excellent, as is the acting. Paradise is a murder mystery wrapped up in high-quality science fiction, and it is a must-watch.
