Why Is This 2nd Season of 'Paradise' So Fucking Good?!

When it comes to creating good-ass television, Dan Fogelman is in a league of his own.

Photo courtesy of Hulu.

SPOILER WARNING: Don’t read another word unless you hate yourself enough not to be keeping up with the latest episode of Paradise.

Yo, I don’t know what type of performance-enhancing drugs Dan Fogelman is on—this man needs to be tested IMMEDIATELY—but he took a series that was already exceptional, sprinkled it with pixie dust, and has somehow made it even better during its sophomore season.

Considering this is the same dude who subjected millions to unspeakable amounts of emotional torment every week with his most popular creation, This Is Us, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. But Dan has become synonymous with the Emmys for a reason, and he’s definitely keeping that same energy with his latest concoction, Hulu’s Paradise.

We Outside!

When last we left Sterling K. Xavier Collins, he had escaped the Ninja Turtles’ lair and taken to the friendly skies after learning that his beloved, beautiful, Black-ass wife, Teri, had survived the zombie apocalypse. Naturally, after spending eight straight episodes inside that sealed bunker, we all could use a little fresh air. But instead of picking up where Xavier’s trek to Atlanta left off, we’re cordially introduced to…

…a post-apocalyptic Graceland, of all places.

Such a seismic shift in setting was jarring at first—trading in all the chaos and claustrophobia of last season for sunshine and rainbows stolen car batteries was not on my bingo card—but it’s nice to finally get a little elbow room. We went from sleeping on the bottom bunk to swimming in a sea of sheets and pillowcases in a California king.

I mean, sure, life on the surface isn’t exactly ideal: billions of people were either nuclear wintered, supervolcanoed, or megatsunamied, so what’s left of Trump’s America is in worse shape than his ankles, but this expansion in scope offers limitless story potential. No longer are we trapped in the library with Jeremy, or in the shower with Xavier and that Gabriela lady that wasn’t Teri. Now we get to frolic and play in Elvis’s basement, scour for blankets to swaddle in a Waffle Barn, and pick fresh tomatoes at an Atlanta post office.

I guess the end of the world ain’t so bad after all—especially when you’ve got some unexpected company.

Who All Gon’ Be There?

You really thought we’d finally escape that stuffy-ass bunker and wouldn’t stumble upon some new friends to play with?

From the jump, we’re introduced to Annie—the should-be doctor whose years of solitude at Graceland greatly contribute to her childhood trauma and inability to trust others. This, of course, becomes a bit of a problem when Link magically appears to knock her up. But even more so when—after he’s forced to chuck up the deuce and leave her behind—she’s reluctant to seek help during the birth of their daughter. Thankfully, everyone loves Xavier, so naturally, Annie takes a liking—and a gun—to him before bestowing upon him his “holy charge”: he’s gotta take the baby to its father because ummm…Annie’s dead, y’all.

Photo courtesy of Hulu.

Yeeeeeah.

So as if Xavier doesn’t already have murderous scavengers stabbing him in the ribs in this dystopian wasteland, now he’s gotta burp babies and heat up bottles because Link doesn’t do condoms?

A Black man’s burden, indeed.

But with Annie buried next to Elvis in the backyard somewhere, don’t think the parade of new faces comes to an end. Oh, no no no. We’ve got a cartel of thieving-ass kids; Henry Miller, a quantum entanglement professor who was kind enough to euthanize his wife before headbutting a bullet; Henry Baines, the Trump-adjacent successor to President Cal, whose necktie of choice is a slit throat; Bean, whose adolescence and curiosity bring some much-needed levity to an otherwise forlorn future; and punk-ass Gary, who needs his punk-ass beat expeditiously.

Considering mailmen are entrusted with everything from Christmas gifts to dildos, you’d think they’d be some of the most virtuous inhabitants in the entire universe. But nope! Apparently, a nuclear winter brings out the worst in all of us, because this motherfucker Gary really aint shit. While the depths of his ain’t shitness have yet to be determined, murdering your best friend is a pretty good start—and it’s safe to assume he’d love nothing more than for our lord and savior Xavier to suffer a similar fate.

But it’s Link in particular who’s the most compelling of this new influx of allies and antagonists. As the de facto leader of the largest faction we’ve come across yet, who is Alex? And why is Link so hellbent on killing them?

So many new friends! So little time!

#ThoseFlashbacksTho

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And with all the success he’s had with This Is Us and Only Murders in the Building, Dan Fogelman continues to tantalize us with delicious tidbits of the past.

Oh, so that’s why Gary’s descent into villainy is so tragic.

Oh, so that’s how Xavier and Teri met.

Oh, so that’s why Graceland meant so much to Annie.

Oh, so that’s why Billy and Jane ain’t shit.

Oh, so that’s why [a bunch of other things I can’t speak on yet since I’ve already watched the rest of the season]!

Photo courtesy of Hulu.

Hell, if it wasn’t for flashbacks, we’d have no idea how charismatic and layered our favorite corpse, Cal, was. So shoutout to them for doing the Lord’s work in both providing context and raising the stakes to astonishing heights.

Now, who needs a breath mint?