Paradise (2025 TV series)

For the 2021 speculative fiction series, see Paradise (Spanish TV series). For the American Western series, see Paradise (1988 TV series).

Paradise is an American political thriller television series created by Dan Fogelman and starring Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, and James Marsden. It was released on Hulu in the United States on January 26, 2025.^[1] The series received generally positive reviews from critics. In February 2025, the series was renewed for a second season.^[2]

Paradise
Genre	Political thriller Post-apocalyptic Science fiction
Created by	Dan Fogelman
Starring	Sterling K. Brown Julianne Nicholson Sarah Shahi Nicole Brydon Bloom Aliyah Mastin Percy Daggs IV James Marsden
Music by	Siddhartha Khosla
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producers	Sterling K. Brown Dan Fogelman John Requa Glenn Ficarra Jess Rosenthal John Hoberg Steve Beers
Producer	Chris Nguyen-Gia
Production companies	Rhode Island Ave. Productions 20th Television
Original release
Network	Hulu
Release	January 26, 2025 (2025-01-26) – present

Premise

Set in a city-sized underground bunker in Colorado three years after a doomsday event, the series follows United States Secret Service agent Xavier Collins as he seeks to discover the truth behind the killing of the President of the United States.^[3] As Xavier comes under suspicion for President Bradford's death, he searches for answers about what really happened, and is unsure of whom he can trust as his questions lead to many shocking revelations.^[4]

Cast

Main

• Sterling K. Brown as Xavier Collins, the lead agent on the president's Secret Service security detail
• Julianne Nicholson as Samantha "Sinatra" Redmond, the world's richest self-made woman and the chief decision maker in the bunker
• Sarah Shahi as Dr. Gabriela Torabi, a psychotherapist and grief specialist
• Nicole Brydon Bloom as Agent Jane Driscoll, a member of the president's Secret Service detail
• Aliyah Mastin as Presley Collins, Xavier's teen daughter
• Percy Daggs IV as James Collins, Xavier's 10-year-old son
• James Marsden as U.S. President Cal Bradford, Secret Service code name "Wildcat", found murdered and seen alive only in flashbacks

Recurring

• Jon Beavers as Agent William "Billy" Pace, a member of the president's Secret Service detail and former mercenary
• Krys Marshall as Nicole Robinson, a high-ranking Secret Service agent who was having an affair with the president
• Cassidy Freeman as First Lady Jessica Bradford, the president's estranged wife
• Gerald McRaney as Kane Bradford, the president's dementia-afflicted father and a former oil baron
• Enuka Okuma as Dr. Teri Rogers-Collins, Xavier's wife who is presumed dead since the disaster
• Richard Robichaux as Carl, a neighbor of Collins who works in the dome light control station
• Matt Malloy as Henry Baines, the Vice President of the United States and Bradford's designated successor
• Charlie Evans as Jeremy Bradford, the president's teenage son
• Ian Merrigan as Trent the librarian
• Michelle Meredith as Maggie, Trent's wife and a waitstaff in a diner

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date [5]	Prod. code
1	"Wildcat Is Down"	Glenn Ficarra & John Requa	Dan Fogelman	January 26, 2025 (2025-01-26)	1PTV01
Agent Xavier Collins goes for a morning jog, then prepares for duty as a United States Secret Service agent. In the residence of President Cal Bradford, Collins discovers the president dead on the floor. Collins examines the premises and realizes that the president's safe has been raided. He also checks the security footage and finds that the footage froze for a few hours after his last contact with Bradford the previous night. Collins suspects foul play by Agent Nicole Robinson, who has been sleeping with Bradford. Collins asks Agent Billy Pace to check the perimeter outside the president's house before asking Agent Jane Driscoll to report the death. Flashbacks show that President Bradford personally recruited Agent Collins to be his lead Secret Service agent and that Collins once took a bullet on his behalf, saving his life. When Collins returned to duty after surgery and rest, President Bradford revealed a top-secret project being built inside the mountains in Colorado in preparation for an extinction-level event. A flashback of the night before the death shows that Collins was resentful toward Bradford for an unapparent reason and told the president that he'll forgive Bradford when he sleeps again, and he'll sleep again when Bradford is dead. The outro shows a digital signboard indicating that dawn is delayed by two hours due to scheduled maintenance, and a flyby shot reveals that they are living in a domed construction inside a mountain with a large, powerful light source supplying artificial sunlight to the settlement.
2	"Sinatra"	Glenn Ficarra & John Requa	Dan Fogelman & Katie French	January 28, 2025 (2025-01-28)	1PTV02
In a flashback, Samantha Redmond brings a team of brilliant people to a secret excavation inside a mountain and asks them to build her a city. In the present day, Agent Collins dreams of a memory where he speaks to his wife over a satellite phone before the white flash of an explosion blinds him through aircraft windows. Collins awakens and is taken for questioning by Agent Robinson. En route, Collins asks why the president's mistress is heading the investigation, to which Robinson replies she has a strong alibi. Under questioning using lie detector equipment, Collins openly shares that Robinson was sleeping with the president, and Robinson asks Collins if he murdered the president. After he replies that he didn't, Robinson asks Collins to walk through the event. Dr. Torabi interrupts them and asks Robinson to leave. She then asks Collins if a part of him is happy that the President is dead, and prompts him to answer yes with a hidden note on her hand. Dr. Torabi tells Redmond that Collins is telling the truth, as he wouldn't admit to hating the president if he had murdered him and is lying. The public is called to the town hall, where the death of Bradford is announced and Vice President Baines is sworn in as his successor. A flashback shows then-Senator Bradford meeting with Redmond at a conference where a speaker tries to warn that the world will end due to natural causes, but is greeted with an almost empty auditorium. Redmond asks the speaker what they should do, to which he replies to dig a hole and get inside. At the town hall, Collins tells Billy that he's suspicious of Redmond (nicknamed Sinatra), and he plans to bring her down.
3	"The Architect of Social Well-Being"	Gandja Monteiro	Jason Wilborn	January 28, 2025 (2025-01-28)	1PTV03
Agents Collins and Pace go for a run to discuss the situation, where Collins warns Pace to be careful. Collins barges into the office of Dr. Torabi to ask why she told him to say yes, to which she asks him to take a walk. A pathologist performs an autopsy on the President's body and informs that the weapon is a blunt object, and the DNA results will take a day or two. Dr. Torabi tells Collins that the president seemed disturbed a week before his death. She then asks Collins to tell her about his father. A flashback shows Collins informing his father that his wife is pregnant. In another flashback, he asks his father to retire from his job as commercial pilot due to the onset of Parkinson's disease. With Redmond's orders, Robinson asks to find out about the camera blackouts using digital footprints. Pace and Driscoll appear worried about being caught, and are overheard by Agent Brooks. The new president is worried that his own life is in danger. At a restaurant, Collins recounts the story of how he told his father that he filed his father's retirement against his father's wishes. Robinson tries to impress Redmond by catching Pace and Driscoll with the digital footprint, but disappoints her when they confess they were doing so for several months to play with the president's Wii and other entertainment systems overnight while he slept, admitting that they thought their job was redundant given the world had ended and they lived inside a bunker. Dr. Torabi shares that she specially selected Collins for the job the President assigned him to do. They begin an affair when they get in the shower together, where she whispers to him that she has a message from the president, and that Agent Billy Pace is dangerous. Pace waits outside Collins' residence with a revolver.
4	"Agent Billy Pace"	Gandja Monteiro	Scott Weinger	February 4, 2025 (2025-02-04)	1PTV04
Billy Pace’s past is revealed through a series of flashbacks: his abusive upbringing under his uncle, who instilled in him the philosophy of never hesitating; killing his uncle to save his dog; surviving in juvenile detention; and becoming a ruthless mercenary. In the bunker, Pace forms an unexpected bond with Collins. Over time, he embraces the bunker’s new normal, seeing it as a second chance. Collins eventually introduces him to his family, and Pace becomes “Uncle Billy” to the kids. Three months in, Pace suggests to Bradford that people need closure about the world outside. A surface expedition is conducted by some scientists, including Susan Donnelly, but they do not return. In the present, Collins begins to doubt Pace after finding inconsistencies in his past and receiving a warning from Bradford through Dr. Torabi. When confronted, Pace denies involvement in Bradford’s death but is hurt by Collins’ suspicion. Through further flashbacks, it is revealed that Pace was sent to eliminate the scientists; before he killed Donnelly, she tells him that the air is breathable and the surface is harsh but somewhat habitable. In the present, Pace confronts Redmond, demanding she leave Collins and his family alone. Redmond dismisses him, reminding him that a barely habitable world is meaningless, and he only exists to serve as her enforcer. Pace enjoys some time with Collins' family, telling Collins he will tell him the whole truth in the morning. Pace returns home to his girlfriend, Driscoll. She is revealed to be working for Redmond and kills Pace with poison, silencing him forever.
5	"In the Palaces of Crowned Kings"	Hanelle Culpepper	Stephen Markley	February 11, 2025 (2025-02-11)	1PTV05
Washington, D.C., is submerged under 500 feet (150 m) of ocean.[a] In 1997, Bradford tells his father that he wanted to be a teacher, but his father forces him into politics. In the present, Collins suspects that a camera is being installed in his street lamp. Flashbacks show that Jeremy despised his father for being complicit in allowing only billionaires to survive the apocalypse, but later speaks nicely at his father's Presidential funeral. Robinson tells Collins that the DNA samples from the crime scene disappeared, suspecting Redmond. In a flashback, Bradford accesses files on his tablet describing a potential supervolcanic eruption caused by deglaciation in Antarctica and its social effects, including a nuclear exchange, but finds that he lacks access to files in the tablet related to the surface expedition. Bradford uses his sleeping father's handprint to gain access, learning that Pace was ordered to kill the scientists; he confronts Redmond, who warns him to keep it secret. On what became his final day, Bradford suddenly made a CD of music files for Jeremy, but is slighted in his effort to spend time together. That night, Bradford tells Robinson where and how to access a stockpile of guns, outlawed in the settlement; later, he talks with his father about a bookmark used as a secret signal with his (since deceased) mother. After the funeral, Collins and Driscoll find Pace dead in his house and Driscoll feigns grief. Robinson tells Collins about the guns, and they plan to take Redmond down. Bradford's father, suffering from dementia, believes Jeremy is Cal and apologizes for how he treated him, saying that Cal was a good man. Collins tells Presley about Uncle Billy and asks her to pack a bag and get her brother, but she's seen looking at the President's tablet, hidden under her mattress. On Collins' instruction, Carl encodes a message in a computer, which appears in red on the nighttime dome: "They're lying to you."
6	"You Asked for Miracles"	Hanelle Culpepper	Gina Lucita Monreal	February 18, 2025 (2025-02-18)	1PTV06
Flashbacks show Collins' previous life with his wife, and as the President's security detail, where he once showed the President the quickest route from the Oval Office to the White House bunker. During the tour, Collins asked Bradford about what was going to happen, but Bradford refused to share more details. He promised Collins that he would pick up Collins' wife. In the present day, Dr. Torabi meets with Collins in the diner to find out what's happening. Meanwhile, Robinson raids the lethal weapons cache and clears it out. When Robinson alerts Collins, he cuts off his wristband in front of Dr. Torabi and declares war on Redmond. In the control station, Redmond tries to track Collins and his children, but their trackers are offline. She dispatches Driscoll to find the children. Collins meets with Robinson who has started assembling a team. The message on the dome changes to "Do you want to know the truth?". Jeremy offers to help Presley by asking his grandfather to unlock the tablet, where they discover the secrets Collins knows and decide to tell the public. Collins gives a speech to rally the team to his cause. Meanwhile the boardroom panics on knowing the weapons cache has been raided. Hiding the weapons from the public, Collins, Robinson and their team start a countdown on the dome, and then shoot decoy flares at the control station's window. This rattles Redmond who calls for a reboot of the dome lighting. While the settlement has plunged in darkness, Redmond and the other billionaire board members collect their families and head to a bunker. However, the bunker gets ambushed by Robinson's team. Realizing what's happening, Dr. Torabi redirects Redmond and herself to a house. Collins follows them and confronts Dr. Torabi on the porch when the dome lights come back on. When he confronts Redmond in the house, she admits to killing Pace and then offers Collins a chance to find his wife who is still alive.
7	"The Day"	Glenn Ficarra & John Requa	John Hoberg	February 25, 2025 (2025-02-25)	1PTV07
Flashbacks show the day of the Antarctic supervolcanic eruption, instantly melting thousands of cubic miles of ice, causing a world-encircling megatsunami. The US government is caught unprepared, as scientific analysis had predicted weeks of warning, rather than minutes, and the White House begins its evacuation plan. When Collins learns that his wife Teri in Atlanta is stranded at the airport, he tries to secure a seat for her on a military flight. He inadvertently alerts unauthorized White House staff that his family will be saved while theirs will not. A guilt-ridden Bradford decides to give a live address to America, so people can decide how to spend their final moments. Realizing that this will spark desperate violence from abandoned White House staff, Collins and Robinson lead the agents hurriedly evacuating Bradford, shooting several staff. Arriving at Air Force One, Collins blames Bradford for keeping the impending disaster a secret and for leaving Teri no hope of evacuation. Bradford tells Collins to get onto the plane to be there for his children, who were safely evacuated. Planes carrying the Supreme Court, Congress and Joint Chiefs of Staff either crash or become too damaged to continue. Russia and China launch nuclear weapons in a race to claim what’s left of Earth's resources. Airborne to Colorado, Bradford provides Collins with a satellite phone so he can say goodbye to Teri. Bradford activates a secret EMP network installed after the Cuban Missile Crisis to deactivate all nuclear weapons at the cost of taking out the world’s electronics. Redmond insists on launching nukes for a quick death to the doomed, but Bradford tells her that the EMP will give survivors a fighting chance. In the present, Redmond reveals to Collins that the EMP was used, and thus Atlanta was not destroyed by missiles; the DNA samples from Cal's murder revealed that the perpetrator was someone from outside the bunker. She also plays a recording of Teri actively searching for her family, to which, Redmond demands that Collins surrender and capture Cal's murderer if he wants to see Presley and Teri again.
8	"The Man Who Kept the Secrets"	Glenn Ficarra & John Requa	Nadra Widatalla	March 4, 2025 (2025-03-04)	1PTV08
Twelve years before the present day a project manager demands that the bunker construction be shut down due to arsenopyrite poisoning of the workers but instead gets fired and locked out of the site. Disgruntled and aware of the prediction of imminent destruction, he infiltrates a press conference in the White House lawn to assassinate the President but fails, shooting Collins instead. In the present day, Collins, Robinson and their team surrender and return the weapons. Driscoll assures Redmond that Presley will stay quiet, but is denied the Wii as a reward for her loyalty. Robinson and Dr. Torabi examine the arrival list and confront the diner waitress Maggie who confesses that she was forced to sneak into the bunker. Meanwhile Collins finds notes hidden by Bradford in library books; librarian Trent knocks him unconscious and steals the notes. When Collins awakens, Trent recounts the story how he attempted to assassinate the president and escaped prison. He and the waitress then stole the identities of the real Trent and his wife Maggie. Initially comfortable with life in the bunker, the false Trent's hatred of the President resurfaced upon meeting him; Trent snuck in Bradford's bedroom, then killed him with a construction tool on display at the library. Trent leaves, then commits suicide in front of Robinson and Collins by jumping off the skylight's maintenance station. Collins confronts Redmond and demands his daughter back. Before Redmond can explain anything Driscoll arrives and shoots her non-lethally. Presley and Robinson encourage Collins to find his wife and other survivors using Bradford's notes. Redmond is in recovery, Driscoll enjoys the Wii, Jeremy gathers supporters, President Baines takes charge of the suddenly leaderless billionaires and Collins pilots an aircraft out of the bunker to search for his wife.

1. Only the 55-foot (17 m) pyramidion of the Washington Monument is shown protruding from the ocean; later, the USS Gerald R. Ford, damaged and lifeless, is shown nearby.

Production

In April 2023, it was reported that Hulu had commissioned the series by 20th Television written by Dan Fogelman who is also executive producer via Rhode Island Ave. Productions, along with Jess Rosenthal. Sterling K. Brown and John Hoberg are also executive producers.^[6] Brown was also expected to star in the series.^[7]

In February 2024, James Marsden was cast as the president, with Julianne Nicholson and Sarah Shahi also joining the cast.^[8] In November 2024, Nicole Brydon Bloom, Aliyah Mastin and Percy Daggs IV joined the cast.^[9] In February 2025, Hulu renewed the series for a second season.^[2] In March 2025, Shailene Woodley joined the second season in a recurring role.^[10] Thomas Doherty was added to the cast of the second season as a recurring guest star.^[11]

Filming began under the title Paradise City in Los Angeles in February 2024.^[12][13][14] Production on the second season began in March 2025.^[15]

Release

Paradise premiered on Hulu early on January 26, 2025.^[1] The series was originally set to premiere with the first three episodes on January 28, 2025.^[9] Internationally, the series was released on Disney+.^[16]

Reception

Viewership

The premiere of Paradise drew 1.4 million viewers in a special 10:09 p.m. broadcast on ABC on January 29, according to Nielsen's Live + 5 Day ratings. Its cable debut on FX on February 1 at 10 p.m. attracted 250,000 viewers per Live + 2 Day data. Hulu reported that the show's TikTok account received the most views and shares among first-season scripted Hulu shows in the past twelve months.^[17][18] The Walt Disney Company announced that the premiere episode of Paradise garnered seven million views globally within its first nine days of streaming.^[19][20] Luminate, which measures streaming performance in the U.S. by analyzing viewership data, audience engagement metrics, and content reach across various platforms, calculated that Paradise was the ninth most-streamed show from Q1 2025, with 3.9 billion minutes of watch time.^[21]

Paradise debuted on Hulu's "Top 15 Today"—a daily updated list of the platform's most-watched titles—on its release day and remained on the list for its entire first week.^[22] JustWatch, a guide to streaming content with access to data from more than 45 million active users across more than 4,500 services worldwide, reported that the show was the top streaming series in the U.S. from January 27 to February 2.^[23] It was also the top-ranked show in Canada during the same week.^[24] Paradise remained the most-streamed series in the U.S. from February 24 to March 2.^[25]

Analytics company Samba TV, which gathers viewership data from certain smart TVs and content providers, announced that Paradise was the third most-streamed program in the U.S. from February 3—9.^[26][27] The streaming aggregator Reelgood, which tracks 20 million monthly viewing decisions across all U.S. streaming platforms for original and acquired content on SVOD and AVOD services, reported that it was the second most-streamed series during the week of February 13.^[28] It subsequently reached the first place for the week ending February 27.^[29] Paradise also ranked No. 1 on Hulu's "Top 15 Today" list on March 7.^[30][31]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 56 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "Teeming with heady concepts and themes, Paradise is an overstuffed but addictively ambitious reunion of Sterling K. Brown and creator Dan Fogelman."^[32] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 69 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[33]

Amy Amatangelo of Paste rated Paradise 9 out of 10 and said it showcases Dan Fogelman's talent for emotional manipulation, drawing viewers in with engaging storytelling and emotional depth. She complimented Sterling K. Brown's performance, noting his ability to convey stoic rage, while James Marsden was lauded for his portrayal of a complex and flawed character. Amatangelo appreciated the series' blend of family drama and sci-fi mystery, with its underground society setting offering an intriguing twist. She stated that while the show's premise may fall apart under close scrutiny, it remains an enjoyable, fast-paced thriller with strong performances and a nostalgic love for the '80s and '90s.^[34] Lucy Mangan of The Guardian gave the show 4 out of 5 stars and described it as a highly entertaining and thought-provoking thriller, with standout performances from Sterling K. Brown and James Marsden. She praised the series' mix of a classic American setting and a gripping plot that unfolds through flashbacks, where the investigation into the president's death reveals personal and political tensions. Mangan found the character-driven storytelling engaging, with an exploration of psychological depth, grief, and trust. She stated that Paradise balances a well-crafted whodunnit with emotional complexity and that Brown's performance adds gravitas to the series.^[35]

Josh Rosenberg of Esquire complimented Paradise for its intriguing blend of political-espionage and sci-fi elements, and found its premise and its mysterious technological backdrop refreshing, noting that it evokes the feel of early 2000s sci-fi dramas. He stated that while the series could potentially fumble its concept, the reunion of Sterling K. Brown and creator Dan Fogelman brings significant promise, with Brown's performance adding depth to the show. Rosenberg suggested Paradise has staying power due to its ambitious storytelling and strong performances, though he acknowledged the difficulty of recommending shows that take such narrative risks.^[36] Peter Travers of ABC News praised Sterling K. Brown's performance and found the time-jumping structure intriguing, with James Marsden's portrayal of the murdered president offering humor and heart in flashbacks. He stated that the show's dystopian setting and soap opera elements provide an engaging, though at times confusing, viewing experience. While Paradise is not considered brilliant, Travers noted that it is "wonderfully bingeable" and ideal for viewers seeking escapism.^[37]

Accolades

At the 2025 Gotham TV Awards, Sterling K. Brown was nominated for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Drama Series, while James Marsden received a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Drama Series.^[38][39]