Paradise Season 2 Review: The Post-Apocalyptic This Is Us Remains As Emotionally Potent As Ever

Last year, Dan Fogelman's "Paradise" exploded onto television out of nowhere, gradually overtaking the zeitgeist of the small screen for a month or so. It first seemed like a whodunnit with a charismatic Secret Service agent named Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) investigating who killed the U.S. president Cal Bradford (James Marsden), then graduating into a full-blown conspiratorial post-apocalyptic thriller stacked with mind-blowing twists and intrigue. The debut season felt so compact that it could've easily been a miniseries if not for one (or two?) humongous cliffhangers in its finale.

The one thing you need to know about Fogelman (if you haven't seen his magnum opus, "This is Us," which is full of huge twists) is that he's a master of connecting subplots and backstories through expansive flashbacks. The reason I'm telling you this upfront is that the majority of "Paradise" Season 2 is made of flashbacks with new characters virtually created out of thin air. I did not think there was much story left in the series after the freshman season, and boy, was I wrong.

Once again, Fogelman proved that sometimes going backward and digging around in the past is the most effective way to move a story forward. The possibilities, connections, and fascinating individual stories feel never-ending in this follow-up, bearing the kind of rewarding fruit in long-form storytelling that's quite rare these days. Peak TV might be over, but Fogelman certainly didn't get the memo.

Season 2 doesn't immediately pick up where "Paradise" left off last year. Instead, it spends some time in the past to show us the other side of the coin — of what happened after The Day to those who weren't fortunate enough to make it to the bunker before s*** hit the fan. We begin with Annie (Shailene Woodley), a lost young woman who dropped out of nursing school, as she finds her new home at Elvis' Graceland as a tour guide — the very place that also becomes her and another woman's shelter when the world ends. Through her eyes, we get to peek into the nuclear catastrophe that obliterated most of the world's population and the effect it left on those who survived it. She's just the first of many survivors that Dan Fogelman introduces and seamlessly weaves into the narrative fabric of "Paradise" this time around. With this approach, he evokes the kind of character-driven storytelling that made trailblazers like "Lost" so immersive and captivating.

There's a connection behind every new face and backstory, and it doesn't take long until they lead to our hero, Xavier. As we know from the Season 1 finale, he's now on the mission to find his wife Teri (Enuka Okuma) outside of Paradise, while the people he left behind — including his family, the bunker's ruler Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson), and the unhinged Jane (Nicole Brydon Bloom) — are dealing with the aftermath of the rebellion he started to reveal the lies they were fed by the government. In the seven episodes that were provided for review, we follow Xavier on his journey as he encounters survivors of various intentions, while Sinatra and the leaders of Paradise attempt to restore order and stop those who want to fight the power and break above ground — like Xavier's teenage daughter, Presley (Aliyah Mastin), and her boyfriend, Jeremy (Charlie Evans).

In terms of main plot progression, Season 2 might seem disproportionately slow, but Fogelman and his writers give us so much else to care about that it almost doesn't matter. Instead of leaning into the actions and the feud between Paradise and the outsiders, they focus on the smaller, more intimate moments, and that's where the series excels far better than anything else on TV right now.

Your mileage may vary depending on your expectations, but I personally preferred the stand-alone episodes that take place almost entirely outside of Paradise. In those, Dan Fogelman manages to channel his peak "This is Us" moments, transforming them into a completely different series without disrupting its tone, atmosphere, or flow. Without spoiling anything, I must say there are stories wrapped in this season that are complete and potent enough to stand on their own — yet Fogelman somehow infuses them with nuance and character development that effortlessly feeds into the more major arcs that are quietly brewing under the surface.

At its best, "Paradise" Season 2 plays like a painstakingly perfected emotional symphony held by a master conductor. Whether it's finding love in a hopeless place, dealing with grief, facing trauma, or being undone by an overwhelming loneliness, the dramatic beats here link together like indelible notes to form a flawless melody of the heart and soul (underlined by a fantastic score that keeps using alternative covers of classic songs just like the first season did).

Where Fogelman's genius falters, however, is when he's forced out of his comfort zone to build up to and execute murders, physical altercations, or gunfights that at times fall flat and feel clunkier than they should. While he's elaborate and gifted at forging suspense — especially by interweaving flashbacks with present threats — he can't always nail the crescendos they inevitably lead to. Thankfully, these mishits happen very seldom since he's aware of his own limitations (as well as the medium's).

Ultimately, "Paradise" rides on masterfully constructed mysteries and beautifully drawn characters, and those still abound in Season 2. And so do the twists, with the biggest one remaining a secret, even to us critics who got early access to several episodes (but not for the finale). What I can confirm is that the episodes leading up to that something are truly spectacular, enthralling, and immersive television that follows in the footsteps of "Lost" with the heart of "This is Us." If that's not a good enough recommendation, I don't know what is.

"Paradise" Season 2 hits Hulu on February 23.