SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers from Paradise Season 2, Episode 2.

The second episode of Paradise Season 2 still feels more like a prologue to what the Hulu drama actually has planned. Yet “Mayday” stands out because of its flashbacks that give additional context to what the entire point of the season is. And that’s made possible because Sterling K. Brown and Enuka Okuma do some incredible work that makes this detour worth it.

On a surface level, viewers are technically going backwards. “Mayday” bridges the narrative gap between Xavier Collins leaving the bunker at the end of Season 1, and being rescued by Annie Clay in the Paradise Season 2 premiere. This is how he crashed the plane and what happened immediately afterward. This side quest will frustrate some viewers, because the main story is largely about how Xavier tries to help a quartet of abandoned children who are mostly interested in taking advantage of him. It’s hard not to be annoyed when Xavier gets himself further injured protecting the kids, and their response is to abandon him and steal almost all of his belongings. They do manage to patch him up before they go, at least, but the relationship is so consistently one-sided that the viewer never connects with the kids. Even though they’re children, there’s room for more emotional depth. This could have been an episode to explore his relationships with James and Presley, and contrast their early time in the bunker against how these kids have had to fend for themselves. But the foursome are not fleshed out the way other Paradise guest characters have been—maybe because they’re only present to move the story along to the point where Annie finds Xavier.

The flashbacks are the much stronger and more interesting part of “Mayday,” as audiences are treated to the explanation of how Xavier and Teri originally met. Viewers learn that they had adjoining hospital beds when both were there for different surgeries. At first, this is kind of awkward; Teri rightfully criticizes it at one point as a “meet-cute,” because Xavier is trying so hard to get her attention that audiences might likewise want to throw things at him. Sterling K. Brown’s charisma does some heavy lifting in their first few interactions, as Teri is clearly not interested and Xavier won’t take no for an answer. But when the plot turns serious, it’s another one of those emotional moments that Paradise does so well.

One of the best things about Paradise as a whole is its strong emotional component. It has an incredibly well-plotted mythology that other series should take note of, but even so, the characters have always been at the forefront. Dan Fogelman and company are telling a human story that just happens to have a post-apocalyptic, sci-fi idea in the background. That’s what makes this show so much better than all the other “end of the world or thereafter” projects viewers have been inundated with. So Xavier and Teri’s flashbacks are not just a “meet cute.” They become a very poignant story about him supporting her at a terrible time, and audiences also learn more about Teri and her goals and how she perceives the world—valuable information that reinforces why Xavier would risk so much for Teri. It’s not simply that he loves her and so the audience goes along for the ride; the fans care about her, too.

It can’t be understated how much of that comes from Enuka Okuma’s performance. TV viewers have been seeing much more of her recently with good reason; she’s an incredibly versatile performer. She’s given Teri a personality that clearly matches with Xavier, but at the same time can play all of these deeper emotions. Watching her as Teri struggles with the temporary loss of her sight is poignant. Teri is going through so much, but the performance is understated. In “Mayday,” audiences see both Teri’s strength and her vulnerability. And they understand how much else she has to offer beyond being Xavier’s wife. All of those acronyms she throws out to her future husband are an example of how much Teri has accomplished on her own.

On the other side, Sterling K. Brown has always been a master of emotional scene work. Between This Is Us and Paradise, the man has taken so many powerful moments on his shoulders—but Paradise is truly his best work. For all the charming awkwardness of the early going, “Mayday” once again says a lot about Xavier without words. Just the expression on his face as he sits next to Teri’s hospital bed communicates so much. The same can be said for the sadness in his eyes when he learns what the child survivors are facing (which makes it even sadder that they don’t show more compassion for him). There’s an expression about certain TV characters being the stand-in or the window for the audience, and Xavier is that in Paradise solely because of Sterling K. Brown. The viewer is always able to connect with him and feel what his character is feeling.

Paradise Season 2, Episode 2 goes pear-shaped at the end, when Xavier’s delerious rambling confirms to Annie that the bunker she heard about from Link is real. Annie thus declares that Xavier is taking them to Colorado, not Atlanta—which seemingly diverts the show as a whole away from the mission of finding Teri. Audiences will have to wait to see if that’s actually how the story goes, or if Xavier still finds a way to carry on. But more interesting is what “Mayday” sets up in that brief scene. It positions Annie and Xavier at odds (the handcuffs make that clear), yet they come from a similar emotional place. Will they realize that? What will this forced dynamic tell the audience about both characters?

It may be a further exercise in patience to still not see the inside of the bunker, but Episode 2 finishes establishing the new normal in the world of Paradise. And more importantly, it offers up two fantastic performances by Sterling K. Brown and Enuka Okuma. And the further fans dig into Xavier and Teri, both as individuals and as a couple, that’s just reinforcement for the entire season. Because if the viewers get as hellbent on finding Teri as Xavier does, then when he gets there (he has to get there), that resolution will be even more powerful.

Paradise streams Mondays on Hulu. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Hulu.

Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.