Dan Fogelman, Sterling K. Brown, James Marsden, and Julianne Nicholson owe me a therapy session for the anxiety-inducing season finale of Paradise. It's one of the best new TV shows of 2025 and has left viewers on edge as we've tried to solve multiple riddles about the show's plot. Questions like, "Why are people living under a mountain?" or "Who killed President Cal Bradford?" were answered, but that's not all! Fans of the show also got a chance to see how easy it is to miss red flags even if they're right under our noses.
P.S. This contains major spoiler alerts!
Scroll to learn why my heart keep jumping during the finale of Paradise season 1 with our Paradise ending explainer.
Pivotal Flashbacks Reveal Who Killed President Bradford
Disney/Ser Baffo
If there's one thing Dan Fogelman loves, it's flashbacks to help explain characters' thought processes and decisions. As realistic as the underground bunker is, viewers knew it wasn't built overnight and finally met some of the characters who helped construct it. There was a focus on a construction manager (Ian Merrigan), his camaraderie with his co-workers, and the devastation he experienced that turned into rage.
Between trying to signal concern for his and his employees' health to being fired immediately after, it's not hard to see why he began researching everything he could about the bunker. What's funny about this is that viewers watched as he resolved to execute the head of state. This flashback coincides with Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) and his fervent search for answers about President Bradford's death.
Personally, my jaw dropped when I realized he was the one who shot at the president during an outdoors press conference. Unfortunately, Xavier Collins took the bullet and this landed our perpetrator in prison. But, he didn't stay there!
Disney/Brian Roedel
He found a way inside of the underground bunker and went undetected because he went to great lengths to change his appearance. His primary disguise? A harmless and friendly librarian named Trent who could go undetected. It's why he was so flustered when President Bradford strolled into the library in his bathroom to make a mixed CD and record a heartfelt message for his son Jeremy. Heartbreakingly enough, this one interaction triggered the eventual death of the President, and we finally get a clear answer: Trent the Librarian killed President Bradford.
Sinatra's Lost Control Of Her Idea Of Paradise
Disney/Brian Roedel
Sinatra's the character we all love to hate which means Julianne Nicholson fully committed to this role. Viewers knows she's a wealthy billionaire who poured her resources into building the underground bunker, but we also found out how psychopathic she is. However, she may not be residents' primary concern anymore.
After playing one too many mind games with Xavier Collins about the location of his wife, scientist Teri Collins, and his daughter, she realizes she's gone too far when he shoots the agents she silently signals to kill him. Witnessing the fall of her smug mask to reveal a frightened woman was rewarding to see because her psychological warfare wasn't working anymore. But, he's not the one who shot her!
Jane's Revealed To Be The True Psychopath
Disney/Brian Roedel
Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom) may be many things, but innocent isn't one of them. From the time viewers watched her poison Agent Billy Pace (Jon Beavers), we knew she wasn't to be underestimated. Based on Paradise's season finale, this was Sinatra's grave mistake.
During the tense scene where Agent Collins has his gun trained on the heartless billionaire again, we see Jane miraculously find them to let him know his daughter Presley was safe with her. I rolled my eyes at this scene, but I know Collins isn't aware she's the one he'll have to watch next.
But, he leaves the two women alone and we see Sinatra receive a nearly fatal shot that lands her in the hospital. It's not that she won't survive, but she'll likely be in a helpless situation as Jane happily plays the Wii she kept requesting and waits for her next calculated move.
Jeremy's Prepared To Start A Revolution
Disney/Brian Roedel
Once President Bradford's son Jeremy truly listens to his father's mixtape for him, he comes across a heartfelt message that makes him smile. He realizes that his dad did love him and is left with an encouraging push to change the world in a way the late president didn't get a chance to.
Near the Paradise ending, viewers saw Jeremy standing in front of a monument with the word "Murdered" spray painted across it. As he stands, a group of people slowly walk up to him and appear to listen earnestly as he shares an unheard speech. Given their reactions, I'm confident Jeremy Bradford will be leading the revolutionist charge in the underground bunker.
Agent Xavier Collins Is Going To Find His Wife
Disney/Ser Baffo
With President Bradford's death explained and Sinatra out of the way, Paradise ends with Agent Collins hopping into a plane to leave the bunker. Viewers don't know what he'll find, but we know he's going to search the ends of the earth for his wife Teri. He's convinced she's out there and it looks like he's not going to let anyone or anything stop him.
I don't know how Paradise season 2 will unfold, but it feels like there will be even more questions about if life is sustainable outside post-Tsunami and whether more people survived than originally thought.
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