SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Paradise Season 2, Episode 4.

Paradise Season 2, Episode 4, “A Holy Charge” is the midpoint of the season already—which means the Hulu show has to start dropping its story bombs. Anyone who watched Season 1 knows that this series throws haymakers on a regular basis. Plus, it has a couple of places it needs to get to. The script by Stephen Markley hits its targets—while also being reflective of how powerful this show is.

The parallel storylines are Xavier Collins and Annie Clay starting their journey (to Atlanta, not Colorado) and the birth of the first baby to be delivered in the bunker. Once viewers realize that, they know that Annie will be delivering her baby in this episode. This makes sense logistically because there’s only so much Paradise can do with a very pregnant character. Yet there’s a underlying expectation of a “but” coming, more than once, because of the natural paranoia the writers have cultivated among the audience. This is a drama, so something bad has to happen at some point to create said drama. And it does, yet Markley picks the far more interesting option.

The easy route—the melodramatic route—is to kill the baby. Either one, or possibly both. Make it a societal commentary on the cruelty of the post-apocalyptic world. And from a production standpoint, it’s also very hard to keep writing about and/or around a baby, so doing that makes future episodes less complicated. But mercifully “A Holy Charge” opts not to do that, nor to play the usual fourth-act twist of having the helpful locals turn on Xavier and Annie for dramatic effect. Instead, it’s Annie who dies, making Xavier promise to reunite her daughter with Link.

This is a surprise, not only for the aforementioned story reasons but because it says goodbye to high-profile addition Shailene Woodley, at least for now. It is possible that Annie returns in flashbacks, especially since Link has come back into the spotlight. Yet usually TV shows hold onto their big names as long as possible, especially when those names are used to promote the season. In fairness to Paradise, Woodley has always been billed in the closing credits as a “special guest star,” but it’s still a bold move—especially since the first three episodes dropping at once mean the audience just got introduced to Annie a week ago.

Markley deserves props for how he handles the other story just as much, too. Luisa and her baby are (presumably) one-episode players; he could easily have done something tragic there and gotten away with it. Yet the Paradise writers’ room chooses the mostly good ending. It’s sad that Annie dies, but an episode that could easily have been about people being terrible to each other because “survival” is actually about the goodness of people and a reason to hope. This show has gone to some incredibly difficult places—the Season 1 episode “The Day” is one of the hardest episodes in TV history—but Paradise has always been an ultimately good-hearted show, which is what makes those struggles worth it. It’s not dragging the audience down an endless rabbit hole of pain and tears.

This is also another episode where fans need to appreciate the talent of James Marsden. He gained a lot of notice for his comedic work, and he’s great at it, but it’s been a pleasure to see him back in the dramatic lane. The development of Cal Bradford is continuing in Season 2 even though the character is dead, and it’s something really interesting to watch. Paradise Season 2, Episode 4 once again cuts through the fun attitude to show that Cal is a smart, compassionate guy who actually made a pretty damn good President. His decision to accompany Luisa into surgery and the way he stays with her afterward show both Cal’s character and Marsden’s talent. Cal might be able to crack a smile or a joke easily, but there’s a character of real weight under that.

The one thing “A Holy Charge” is light on is plot reveals. There’s a hint when Samantha arrives at Luisa’s house and tells Luisa’s son (whom she named Calvin!) that he’s going to see the real sky someday, because she “has a plan.” Then there’s the cliffhanger of what Xavier learns when he gets to Atlanta. But some fans may be frustrated that other than Annie’s passing, there’s not any other huge on-screen moment. Yet that’s a testament to what Paradise has accomplished. It can tell a largely isolated story about babies. In the four episodes of Season 2, three of them have been more character than plot-driven, and the season only has eight episodes. There’s zero room for error and yet this works, because Xavier still gets to Atlanta and Link still gets to Colorado.

Plus, there is a massive win at the end: the arrival of Cameron Britton. Britton is one of the most underrated actors working today, from his bone-chilling work in Mindhunter to the wonderfully nuanced performance he gave in Manhunt: Deadly Games. To bring such a smart and powerful actor onto Paradise just catapults this show further into the stratosphere. Plus, his character’s connection to Teri means that there will be scenes with him and Enuka Okuma—which should be a great combination. For all its sadness, “A Holy Charge” throws fans a huge present before the credits roll. Just when one thinks Paradise can’t get any better, it does.

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.