'Paradise' Season 2: Who is Alex?
Paradise Season 2 introduces a whole new host of post-apocalyptic survivors, those who didn't have access to the Colorado bunker during Season 1's volcano-tsunami mass extinction event. Among them are Link (Thomas Doherty) and Geiger (Michael McGrady), two leaders of a group heading across the United States to get to the bunker.
When we meet them in episode 1, they're making a pit stop at Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion, where tour guide Annie (Shailene Woodley) has been hiding out for the past three years. Before the group moves on, Annie overhears Link and Geiger talking about their next steps.
"We've got to get to the bunker, we've got to get inside, and we've got to kill Alex," Geiger tells Link.
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Sounds like a plan, guys! I just have one teeny question: Who the heck is Alex? No Season 1 character had that name, especially none of the major power players in the bunker.
Thankfully, Paradise Season 2 does reveal who Alex is in its third episode. Unthankfully, the reveal raises more questions than answers. Let's get into it.
We've already met Alex in Paradise.
In the flashback portions of episode 3, Samantha "Sinatra" Redmond (Julianne Nicholson) hires Billy Pace (Jon Beavers) to take out professor Henry Miller (Patrick Fischler). He's the owner of Vestige Quantum and developer of a technology that she desperately needs for a secret project tied to the bunker. In refusing to sign it over, he signed his own death warrant.
Billy goes to Henry's house, where he finds him caring for his bed-ridden wife (Gwen Holloway), who has Huntington's disease. Her name? Alex.
Not only does the name match up to Link's target, but Alex also knew Link. He was her husband's ace student-turned-business partner, and the closest thing to a son the couple had.
Case cracked, right? Not so fast. Knowing he's about to die when Billy shows up, Henry euthanizes Alex, telling her he'll be seeing her again soon. That means Alex is long dead by the time Link and Geiger head to the bunker. However, there's no such thing as a coincidence in Paradise. There has to be some tie between the late Alex and the Alex whom Link is determined to kill.
My guess? We're looking at some sort of time travel or multiversal shenanigans. That could explain why Link kept getting nosebleeds at the mention of Alex in episode 1 — maybe she's an anomaly in our reality.
Alex is involved in Sinatra's secret project.
Episode 3 reveals that there's even more to the Alex puzzle than meets the eye. During a conversation with her housekeeper (and apparent co-conspirator) Carmen (Maria-Elena Laas), Sinatra asks, "How is Alex?"
"Alex is well," Carmen responds.
The following conversation is extra cryptic, all concerning Sinatra's secret project, which is big enough that it requires her to siphon power from the bunker.
"Any other messages? Do they have an estimate?" Sinatra asks.
"No messages," Carmen says.
"Any estimate?"
"It's too unpredictable," Carmen replies. "But she is getting closer."
What are the messages? Who are "they," and what are they estimating? And what is Alex getting closer to?
More importantly, is Alex even a person? Could "Alex" be a code name for the Henry's technology that Sinatra co-opted? And if so, why would Link want to destroy — or "kill" — it if Sinatra is so sure it can save the world?
Paradise hasn't given us any of those answers yet, but it did give me a nosebleed just thinking about all of it.
Paradise is now streaming on Hulu, with new episodes every Monday.
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Belen Edwards is an Entertainment Reporter at Mashable. She covers movies and TV with a focus on fantasy and science fiction, adaptations, animation, and more nerdy goodness. She is a member of the Critics Choice Association and the Television Critics Association, as well as a Tomatometer-approved critic.
