TL;DR – This is the episode that reminds us that there are some things about today’s society that we take for granted, and we really shouldn’t

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Paradise Review –

Well, the first opening triplet of Graceland, Mayday & Another Day in Paradise, is behind us, and it is now time to build upon that foundation and dive full-bore into this season’s main storyline. But as we get into the world proper, one devastated fully, we need to see who lives in a broken world.  

So, to set the scene, nothing quite says “you have to lie down and rest” like getting six stitches in your spleen, but that is the world that Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) is living in. He is forced to rest after taking a knife to the side to protect some kids. Luckily, he was found by Annie (Shailene Woodley), who had some medical training before the world fell apart. Unluckily, she wants Xavier to take her back to Colorado and not to Atlanta. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

What We Take For Granted

There is a lot we could talk about in this episode, but I want to focus on the emotional core of this episode, surrounding the things we take for granted. In the Central African Republic, maternal mortality is around 1,000 per 100,000 births, which is a huge improvement since 2019. In Australia, it is 2 per 100,000 births. Two is still two too many, but we take that statistic for granted because we have the facility, the electricity, the technology, and the medicines that help reduce what is potentially the most dangerous procedure a woman might undertake.

What happens when all that gets ripped away? This is what is at the heart of the episode when Annie’s preeclampsia leads to a dangerous birth and her death from blood loss on the floor of a waffle house. The heartbreak comes in the moment all the women realise what’s about to happen while Xavier remains oblivious. Shailene Woodley absolutely destroyed me emotionally, knowing that her character is about to die and there is nothing that she or anyone else can do to save her. Of course, this is juxtaposed with the town of Paradise, which still has all the modern medical facilities, and a dangerous pregnancy has a successful outcome. And that damned horse made me cry, that bastard, I knew not to trust horses.

Where We Go from Here

From here, the rest of the episode is all about setting up the main conflict for the rest of the season. The convoy has made its way to the gates of Paradise. Given how easy it was, I am surprised they are the first ones to make the journey. Or was it that the world had only just stabilised enough to make the trip possible? Then Xavier finally arrives in Atlanta, only to find his wife missing. Queue up the “your princess is in another castle” meme here.   

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend Paradise? Yes, we do. While I am not sure it ended quite on the note it was looking for. However, I think it had some of the strongest moments of the season so far inside. I am sad that this is probably goodbye to Shailene Woodley, who grounded the first half of the season. But hey, if James Marsden & Jon Beavers can keep popping up, so can she. Have you seen Paradise yet? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Paradise
Directed by – Ken Olin
Written by – Stephen Markley
Created by – Dan Fogelman
Production/Distribution Companies – 20^th Century Television, Hulu, Star & Disney+
Starring – Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, Sarah Shahi, Nicole Brydon Bloom, Krys Marshall, Enuka Okuma, Aliyah Mastin, Percy Daggs IV, & Charlie Evans
With – Shailene Woodley, James Marsden, Jon Beavers, Thomas Doherty, Michael McGrady, Celeste Oliva, Jessica Marie Garcia, & Cameron Britton
And – Timothy Omundson, Sal Vance, Scott Peat, Abdul Alvi, & Keegan Perez