‘Paradise’ Season 2 review: A bigger, less focused world

Paradise, Hulu’s post-apocalyptic political drama, was so shrouded in secrecy that critics were asked to conceal the pilot’s greatest mystery. The cat eventually came out of the bag. Everyone’s been in an underground bunker the whole time! The world was destroyed by an extinction-level event! It was a thrilling premise for an outwardly straightforward political thriller.  While it tries, Season 2 doesn’t quite match its predecessor’s level of intrigue.

Series creator Dan Fogelman(This is Us) has made his name with high-concept series with monologues that veer from touching to saccharine. That trend continues in Paradise Season 2, as Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) ventures beyond the bunker to find out what happened after he (and what remains of America) went underground. But literally expanding Paradise‘s world and genre makes it feel like a new show entirely. It starts to feel less like Paradise and more like Paradise: Lost. (Not to be confused with, well, Paradise Lost).

Collins’ instincts were right, as there are people still alive aboveground. The most notable of these is Annie (Shailene Woodley), a former Graceland tour guide who’s made herself at home in Elvis’s mansion. We get to know her through a largely Annie-focused episode complete with, in true Fogelman fashion, monologues about the past. There’s a charm to the way Fogelman and his writing staff craft their characters’ inner worlds through words, making for earnest television in an otherwise cynical landscape.

The new world and the old world.

Like its predecessor, Paradise Season 2 weaves back and forth through time. This worked more effectively last season, because its mystery relied upon the idea of there still being life aboveground. Now that Xavier has escaped the bunker and found life outside of it, the suspense feels less palpable. His quest to find his wife, Teri (Enuka Okuma), drives him. But he’s roped into so many side quests along the way that it feels hard to remember what he’s looking for until later in the season.

Meanwhile, in the bunker, billionaire Samantha “Sinatra” Redmond (Julianne Nicholson) has survived being shot last season. She’s still up to her old enigmatic tricks, concealing a new secret that feels intended to expand the world of Paradise’s lore. Other residents of the bunker, from psychotherapist Gabriela (Sarah Shahi) to Xavier’s children (Aliyah Mastin, Percy Daggs IV), have underdeveloped arcs, filling time rather than using it. In that sense, Paradise Season 2 feels overstuffed yet underdeveloped.

Sinatra, ever enigmatic, is up to something new and secretive. And yet she has so much to compete with story-wise that her secret isn’t as much of a driving force as it could be. Having a singular mystery — finding President Bradford’s (James Marsden) killer — gave Season 1 a tight focus. Here, the strongest mystery is finding out what happened to Teri. And even then, the show loses focus there.

Charming survivalist Link (Thomas Doherty) and Bradford’s successor, Baines (Matt Malloy) round out a cast that’s given little time to breathe. The cast is top-notch, though. Brown continues to be one of the best actors working today. However, the writing propels them from plot point to plot point rather than giving them all their own time to shine.

There’s hope for Paradise yet.

Where Paradise has always succeeded is its brisk editing and sharp cinematography. Siddhartha Khosla’s score matches the tone of the series, veering from emotional to tense. And each hourlong episode flies by. The world below feels as convincing as the post-apocalyptic world above. The reliance on real sets and locations harkens back to a pre-CGI time. Were it not for iPhones and references to the Nintendo Switch, Paradise could have been made 20 years ago.

The bottom line.

In some ways, Paradise Season 2 feels inspired by Lost and The Last of Us. Lost, because it’s a high-concept series determined to keep its sense of mystery going. Albeit often at the expense of having direction. The Last of Us, because Season 2 is now a survivalist drama (maybe zombies will appear in Season 3).

All episodes but the finale were screened for critics. And they leave an impression that a possible Season 3 may take Paradise to new heights. In literature, there’s a term called the “saggy middle,” meaning that the middle of a story is weaker compared to a strong beginning and end. So there’s hope for Paradise yet, as long as it can regain its sense of mystery.

Paradise Season 2 will premiere its first three episodes via Hulu on February 23, 2026

Images courtesy of Hulu.

Claire Di Maio

Claire was once asked in elementary school why her go-to question was always, “Watch anything good lately?” It’s still her go-to question, because she loves hearing what other people are passionate about. She often sacrifices sleep in the hopes that she will one day clear her to-watch and to-read lists (a futile effort so far).