‘Paradise’s twisty ending, defined: Who killed Cal?

It is easy to poke enjoyable on the melodramatic covers of ’80s hits that finish virtually each episode of Paradise. (I will always remember its weirdly unhappy tackle Starship’s “We Built This City.”) However there isn’t any denying that the nearer for each the Season 1 premiere and finale — Phil Collins’ “Another Day in Paradise” — is thematically proper on the cash.

The music urges listeners to assume twice in regards to the homeless individuals they fake to disregard on the streets. That very same ignorance of these far much less lucky is the basic foundation for Paradise, which sees billionaires dwelling within the idyllic underground metropolis of Paradise whereas the survivors of a devastating apocalypse wrestle above them.

These themes are inclined to get misplaced within the weeds throughout Paradise‘s center stretch, as most episodes primarily give attention to Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling Okay. Brown) making an attempt to resolve President Cal Bradford’s (James Marsden) homicide, then main an rebellion in opposition to Paradise head Sam “Sinatra” Redmond (Julianne Nicholson). Nonetheless, these themes come roaring again in Season 1’s devastating flashback episode “The Day,” which reveals us firsthand how Paradise‘s wealthy and highly effective escaped doomsday and left the remainder of the world to die.

Paradise‘s Season 1 finale, titled “The Man Who Kept the Secrets,” retains that thematic prepare chugging, emphasizing repeatedly the monstrosity of the Paradise mission. But it surely would not be Paradise with out a few extra jaw-dropping reveals. Let’s break down the finale, beginning with an important query of all:

Who killed Cal Bradford in Paradise?

In the long run, it was the librarian, in Cal’s bed room, with a rotary drill bit.

That is proper: Cal’s assassin was none apart from Paradise librarian Trent (Ian Merrigan), who we have met very briefly in prior library scenes. But “The Man Who Kept the Secrets” reveals that we have really met Trent earlier than. He was the person who tried to shoot Cal on the White Home garden all the best way again in episode 1.

Who’s Trent, and why did he wish to kill Cal?

Earlier than Trent kicked off his profession as a librarian and presidential assassin, he labored as a supervisor on the development of Paradise. (The quilt story for the large-scale building was that they have been constructing a recycling facility.)

Through the constructing course of, Trent discovered traces of arsenopyrite residue on the work website. The substance would sicken and kill any employees who got here involved with it, however it could dissipate by the point Paradise residents moved in. The truth that no resident could be harmed is all architect Anders (Erik Svedberg-Zelman) must push building alongside, and Trent is faraway from the mission due to his information.

Trent knew that the recycling facility cowl story was bogus, so he tried to inform the world in regards to the building in Colorado and the human toll it was taking. No one listened, which was why he resorted to making an attempt to shoot Cal.

How did Trent find yourself in Paradise?

After his assassination try on Cal, Trent wound up in a jail in Colorado, not removed from Paradise. It is destiny! Through the chaos of the preliminary phases of the apocalypse, he managed to flee and steal a guard’s uniform. He then met Eli and Margaret Davis, a pair heading to Paradise. Trent deceived then killed them, disguising himself as librarian Eli within the course of. He additionally recruited a younger girl to pose as Margaret. You could acknowledge her as waitress Maggie (Michelle Meredith), who’s at all times singing the praises of Paradise’s cheese fries.

Mashable High Tales

That love of Paradise’s deep-fried potato dish, which is slathered in cashew cheese, winds up being a pink flag for Dr. Gabriela Torabi (Sarah Shahi). Resulting from resident information, she is aware of that the true Maggie has a nut allergy and would by no means contact these explicit cheese fries. Subsequently, this Maggie have to be a pretend.

Trent and Maggie sneaking into Paradise is in step with Sinatra’s massive reveal from the tip of “The Day.” She informed Xavier that the DNA tied to Cal’s homicide did not match any DNA inside Paradise, that means the killer got here from exterior. However the killer did not sneak in after Paradise was up and operating. He’d simply been hiding in plain sight.

Within the current, Trent reveals to Xavier that his time in Paradise made him complacent. He accepted that he belonged there and will make a model new begin. But all that went up in flames when Cal got here to the library to make a mixtape. Renewed in his need to get justice for his long-dead co-workers, Trent dressed up in one of many building employee fits on show within the library, took a big rotary drill bit from the identical show, and killed Cal as soon as and for all.

That the employees who constructed Paradise come up so late within the season could first seem to be oversight, with the finale’s first couple of minutes popping out of left subject and marking a shift in momentum from the propulsive motion of “The Day.” However that late introduction is the purpose: Nobody in Paradise really acknowledges the individuals who made their protected haven attainable. (A sanitized library exhibit would not rely.) They actually do not acknowledge the development employees’ deaths. And that is a part of the horror of Paradise: It is the one stronghold in an apocalyptic future, but it was designed to withhold the established order.

As Trent says in his last speech to Xavier and Agent Robinson (Krys Marshall): “They had the chance to start over down here. Build a better world. Instead they chose more of the same. Loaded houses for the privileged few. Guns. Made this place a prison. It’s the American fucking dream.”

What was Cal’s plan along with his cigarette?

“The Man Who Kept the Secrets” would not simply reveal Cal’s killer. It additionally highlights what he was making an attempt to speak to his son Jeremy (Charlie Evans), beginning with the that means of the six-number code he wrote on considered one of his cigarettes.

The code was not a aircraft’s serial quantity, as a foreshadowing close-up on a aircraft tail in episode 2 would have had us consider. As a substitute, it was a Dewey Decimal quantity.

Xavier heads to the Paradise library and tracks down the corresponding part. (Cal’s mixtape for Jeremy additionally factors him to the library.) There, he finds James Spada’s ebook Peter Lawford: The Man Who Saved the Secrets and techniques, about actor Peter Lawford and his ties to the Kennedy household. Becoming, given the Bradfords’ standing as an influential dynasty themselves.

Hidden inside The Man Who Saved the Secrets and techniques are Cal’s notes in regards to the categorised info on his pill. These embody learn how to open the exterior doorways to Paradise and the small print in regards to the survivors on the floor. See, there’s some helpful info within the Paradise library! (Together with one assassin.)

Nonetheless, that is a dangerous plan, Cal. What if somebody had actually needed to learn The Man Who Saved the Secrets and techniques?

How does Paradise finish for Xavier, Sinatra, and extra?

Along with the case of Cal’s homicide and the cigarette code, Paradise wraps up another main free ends. Whereas Agent Jane Robinson (Nicole Brydon Bloom) may have harmed Xavier’s daughter Presley (Aliyah Mastin) on Sinatra’s orders, she would not. As a substitute, she shoots Sinatra within the throat. The gunshot is not deadly: Jane needs to maintain Sinatra alive and below her thumb.

In the meantime, Xavier nonetheless would not know Jane killed Agent Billy Tempo (Jon Beavers), or that she was Sinatra’s lackey. That spells hassle for subsequent season, particularly since Jane is a wild card whose solely purpose in life appears to be enjoying Wii video games. (She’s succeeded… for now.)

However the greatest growth going into Paradise Season 2 is the truth that Xavier is flying out of the mountain, utilizing Cal’s notes as a information as he searches for his spouse and different survivors. That leaves us with a number of juicy prospects to discover subsequent season. What does the world appear to be exterior Paradise? How will survivors react to the information of a protected underground metropolis? And is there really an opportunity for a brand new starting on this post-apocalyptic world, or is civilization doomed to repeat itself simply as Paradise did?

Paradise Season 1 is now streaming on Hulu, with the Season 1 finale airing March 4.