Commentary

In New Hulu Series, Surprise Twist Reveals Another Side Of 'Paradise'

The new Hulu drama “Paradise” would have been just fine as a murder mystery thriller, but a plot twist that comes on suddenly and unexpectedly in Episode 1 takes the show to a whole ’nother place.

The show, starting Tuesday on Hulu, centers on the relationship between a Secret Service agent and the President he is assigned to guard at the beginning of the President’s second term.

The two develop a relationship that is close, but does not quite rise to the level of actual friendship.  

It is the President who is the more loquacious of the two. Played by James Marsden, 51, the President is a youngish, tousle-haired, billionaire businessman with no prior political experience who was so popular he was elected to two terms.

advertisement

advertisement

The show’s first episode opens a year after the President’s second term has ended, and the agent -- Xavier Collins, played by Sterling K. Brown (above photo) -- is still head of the unit assigned to protect him.

In addition to the plot twist inferred (but not spoiled) above, the show takes other detours too, told mainly in flashbacks. 

In bits and pieces, they cover the five years since the President and his bodyguard first met, up to the present day, where the show’s murder story takes place.

The eight-episode series was created by writer/producer Dan Fogelman, creator of “This Is Us,” the much-loved NBC series in which Brown played a big part.

In “Paradise,” their relationship has resulted in a very different kind of show. Where “This Is Us” was emotional, “Paradise” is intense -- like a mystery thriller ought to be.

The reason for that is primarily due to Brown, who is the standout star of the show. He is a riveting, commanding presence.

When the show’s surprising plot twist was revealed near the end of Episode One, I wondered why the show would go in this direction, which seemed so out of sync with everything else that had come before it.

But I liked the show so much up to that point that this new direction aroused no other reaction than a desire to stick around and watch more of it.

“Paradise” premieres Tuesday, January 28, on Hulu.  

Next story loading loading..