SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Paradise Season 2, Episode 3.

Paradise Season 2, Episode 3 feels like the season premiere—and would probably have been on any other show. It has the perfect title, “Another Day in Paradise,” and features the return of the classic song of the same name that was such a powerful motif in Season 1. But the Hulu drama holds all of this action back until almost halfway through its eight-episode season, so that viewers can once again see all the pieces come together.

There’s a lot happening in this episode, and credit to the Paradise writers’ room for weaving it into one tapestry so masterfully. They essentially have to provide updates on every main character not named Xavier Collins in one hour, thanks to the previous two being spent on a pair of largely standalone stories. Yet nothing in “Another Day in Paradise” feels rushed, everybody is accounted for, and viewers can see the care that’s taken to maintain the show’s already meticulous continuity.

The main storyline involves the future of Samantha Redmond, better known as Sinatra, as Julianne Nicholson’s character wakes up a month after being shot in the Paradise Season 1 finale. Physically at a loss and with so much of her work exposed, Sinatra has gone from the woman pulling all the strings to being a victim. The only person less liked in the bunker is Xavier, and that is largely because—as seen in a flashback—he instructed Jane Driscoll and Nicole Robinson to use him as a scapegoat for Sinatra’s shooting. Smart, since he wasn’t going to be physically around anyway. Nicholson is wonderful as someone who has lost her power and has to come to terms with what that means. She’s been trying to solve problems in her own way for so long, and now she is the problem.

There’s an interesting contrast between Samantha’s present-day dressing-down by new President Baines, and further looks backward at how she started on the “Colorado project” idea. (Geoffrey Arend is perfectly cast as the scientist Dr. Longe, having had a career of playing characters who are quirky in watchable ways—going back to his years voicing “Upchuck” on Daria. He also gets a brilliant foreshadowing line about how everything viewers have already seen is just going to be “the first act.”) In the past, Samantha is confident and that confidence has bred respect; in the present, she gets routinely disrespected. It forces the audience to reconsider their opinion of her, and they don’t necessarily come to a conclusion. She was the clear antagonist of Paradise Season 1, yet in this episode there’s an empathy that exists for her because she really is treated badly. At the same time, she still has to be held accountable for her actions.

That happens through the person of Samantha’s former best friend, Dr. Gabriela Torabi (an excellent Sarah Shahi). As the person closest to Samantha, Gabriela is enlisted to break her down, but what actually happens is incredibly bittersweet. Both in the interrogation room and in Samantha’s home, Gabriela spells out all the hurt that she feels from the events of Season 1—and then she cuts ties. Viewers will be honestly sad that this relationship, which at first seemed like it could just be a villain team-up, is over. And that’s a credit to Shahi, Nicholson and how much both the characters of Gabriela and Samantha have evolved past those first impressions.

But all of that is also Paradise‘s way into its latest massive plot bombshell—or actually, there’s at least three of them. This is the kind of show that can set up three different plot twists and viewers won’t see any of them coming. One happens in the flashbacks, when Samantha needs a developer named Miller to sell her his company in order to use it within the bunker. Kane Bradford refers her to a “different type of person,” who turns out to be Billy Pace. First and foremost, it is such a pleasure to see actor Jon Beavers back in the fold. His return—as well as that of James Marsden—was spoiled by Hulu’s Season 2 press release. It would have been cool not to know, but at the same time, one can’t really blame the streamer because Beavers and Marsden are so damn good at these roles that it’s something to get excited about. From his first minute back on screen, Beavers is so much fun to watch, and then he once again pulls out the inner torment within Billy.

This time, he has help from NCIS: Origins star Patrick Fischler, who plays Miller. One wonders if the credit for this goes to Gina Lucita Monreal, who worked on Paradise before becoming the co-showrunner of Origins. If she came up with this idea, she deserves a gold star as Fischler is likewise the exact right person to play Miller. He brings the same kind of hopeful angst to his Paradise character that he’s played so well as Cliff Wheeler on NCIS: Origins, but here he’s even more earnest. Miller refuses to sell the company, instead writing down his address in full anticipation of Billy coming there to kill him. Once Billy arrives, Miller introduces him to his bedridden wife Alex—and administers a dose of medication into her IV before Billy shoots him in the head. His whole character arc is only a few minutes long, but there’s so much emotion and tragedy packed into it. Viewers will be weeping for three characters who deserved better, which includes Billy.

The second plot twist is the name of Miller’s wife, which is repeated twice to make sure fans hear it. Her name is Alex, which is also the name of the person Geiger and Link were plotting to murder in the Season 2 premiere. Plus, Samantha and her housekeeper Carmen have an episode-ending discussion about the status of someone named Alex, related to a secret project Samantha claims to know nothing about. Alex is a fairly common name, but Paradise is too deliberate of a show to have two coincidences. So the question becomes how and why is Alex Miller still alive—and why would Samantha care, especially when (albeit reluctantly) she had Alex’s husband killed?

But wait, there’s more. The third plot twist is that Miller’s last request is for Billy not to harm the grad student who has become his protege and surrogate son. He believes the fate of the world may depend on the young man—who is revealed to be a young Link, whom audiences met in the Season 2 premiere. The scene in the premiere of him showing Annie his old college ID was actually a hint. But if Link was so close to the Millers, why would he likewise seemingly want Alex dead? The whole situation is surprising, messy and completely backwards, which is exactly the kind of complex writing that viewers love Paradise for. It never stops being a challenge.

Last but definitely not least is the tale of two Presidents. Marsden makes some brief appearances, most notably as Cal celebrates being elected President. (Who knew he was also a Bruno Mars fan?). But even in those small moments, there’s another contrast between him and Baines that shows viewers how much of a loss Cal Bradford’s death was. Cal may not have been a prototypical politician, and his dad may still call him a “moron,” but he had hope. And he actually cared about what he was doing, even if it wasn’t what he wanted to do. The joy that Cal brings is a welcome respite from Baines throwing temper tantrums like an overgrown child (and so many other TV politicos). In addition, seeing Cal again adds a little more color to the subplot involving his son Jeremy. As foreshadowed at the end of Season 1, Jeremy is now leading his own resistance against the police state instituted by Baines—which ends with him intentionally getting thrown into the bunker’s secret prison so he can find the architect, Anders, and tell him that they’re going to “blow the fucking doors open.” Cal’s presence highlights how much of Cal is in Jeremy.

In contrast, Baines’ story comes to a sharp end, quite literally. Paradise neatly addresses its Jane dilemma and creates immediate chaos by having Robinson catch on to who Jane is, but then having Jane murder Baines—at Sinatra’s behest—and blame it on her old boss. It’s fair to point out that Paradise Season 1 kicked off with the President’s murder and a Secret Service agent being blamed for it, and now Season 2 is going down the exact same road. But selfishly, Baines’ murder is forgiveable because it’s so clear that he doesn’t have a lot of mileage as a character. There’s more to do without him than there is with him. And there are so many interesting character questions that come out of that: does this mean Jane and Samantha are back on the same page? Or does Jane simply see this as an opportunity for whatever agenda she may have? Furthermore, who the heck is going to want to be President after this?

The Phil Collins cover that helps conclude the episode is just the icing on the cake. From style choices like that, to the individual arcs that emerge, to new plot mysteries to untangle, everything is here and it’s all laid out in ways that anyone can follow. Paradise is the smartest show on television, but it never tries to be too smart for its viewers. It guides them along until it drops the floor out. “Another Day in Paradise” is a flawless hour that rewards the audience in so many ways—just before sending them on another roller coaster ride.

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.