Minor spoilers for season 1 of Paradise below.
Hulu’s Paradise is everyone’s latest binge-worthy obsession. The eight-episode drama (which has already been renewed for a second season) has everything you want in a political thriller: ruthless assassins, seedy politicians, and a dystopian world that ties the whole thing together. Created by Dan Fogelman, of This Is Us fame, the series takes place in the aftermath of a catastrophic environmental disaster that forces several American citizens to move to an underground bunker in order to survive. The manufactured world is intended to be a safe haven, but when the president (James Marsden) is eventually murdered there, it upends that ideal altogether. Sterling K. Brown is at the center as Secret Service Agent Xavier Collins, and Julianne Nicholson, Krys Marshall, and Sarah Shahi round out the cast.
To help you make sense of the chaotic and secretive world of Paradise, we’ve broken down everything you need to know.
What is Paradise?
Paradise is dubbed as “the world’s largest underground city” and is built right underneath a mountain in Colorado. Agent Collins first learns about Paradise after a meeting at the White House, where he’s told that the government is preparing for a catastrophe that will result in the end of humanity. So, Paradise was built in anticipation of that apocalyptic event.
The entire world, which exists inside a bunker, is manufactured. There are fake, motorized ducks that swim in the pond. If there’s a tech issue, signs get posted all over town that read, “Dawn delayed by two hours,” and the sky is powered by a large overhead light. There’s also an oxygen filtration system.
Who created Paradise and why?
Sinatra (Nicholson) is a tech billionaire who created Paradise after losing her son to a terminal illness. In a flashback scene, we learn that she attended a conference with the president while he was still a senator. The series of talks was about global security, cyber engineering, and, of course, climate change. In one of the lectures, a researcher points out that within a year, livestock will perish, and we’ll be underwater shortly after. Upon hearing this, Sinatra becomes concerned about the future of her surviving child, a daughter. When she asks the speaker what they can do to prepare for, or avoid, such disaster, he says, “You dig the biggest hole you can and you get in.” This then inspires her to create the underground world.
In order to bring her vision to life, she assembles a team of some of the brightest minds in their respective fields, including a founder of an architecture and urban planning firm, who focuses on the needs of self-sustaining communities. Sinatra’s goal for Paradise was to create a place that could safely weather anything from “a nuclear blast to an environmental catastrophe.” And it needed to feel like any other ordinary American city, with cars, trees, stores, and cellphones. She also brings on a therapist and grief specialist, Dr. Gabriela Torabi (Shahi), to help design the psychological aspects of the city. Tasked with making the new underground bunker world feel as normal as possible, Dr. Torabifully equips it with pre-recorded insect sounds, open markets to encourage socializing, and “the world’s greatest cheese fries” at the local diner.
Who lives in Paradise?
The city is comprised of 25,000 people; it needed to be small enough to retain a sense of community. Most of Paradise’s residents are government officials and their families, fellow billionaires like Sinatra, and several others who survived the environmental attack.
Who controls Paradise?
Sinatra and a team of billionaires control the underground city. They call the shots and, in many ways, supersede the authority of the president.
What are the rules of Paradise?
The world of Paradise is a little strict in terms of what they allow. For one, no one is permitted to have weapons (which makes the president’s murder all the more suspicious). They’re also not allowed to have pets—though some residents do break that rule. And because there are no animals down there, everyone’s vegan. People must also wear wristbands at all times—it’s how they unlock their car doors and pay for things; high school students even use them to open their lockers. The Fitbit-like wristbands also allow for the powers that be to track and surveil Paradise residents. With so many intricate details, Paradise makes for a unique and compelling setting for a political drama.
