Paradise was one of the surprise TV hits of 2025, and here’s what happens in the Season 2 return, via a recap of Episode 1-3. Meaning SPOILERS ahead…
Hulu/Disney+ drama Paradise appeared to be about the murder of a U.S. President (James Marden) and the Secret Service agent (Sterling K. Brown) trying to solve that crime.
But then the binge-worthy twist hit – a near extinction level event has decimated the planet, and everything we’re watching is playing out in a secret underground bunker.
Series 1 ended with the murder culprit found (it was the librarian!), Redmond recovering from Driscoll’s shot, Driscoll playing Wii while no one realises she’s psycho, and Xavier Collins piloting a plane out of the bunker to find his wife. While here’s how Season 2 begins via a recap of Episodes 1-3.
What happens in Paradise Season 2 Episode 1?
Episode 1 of Paradise Season 2 is titled ‘Graceland,’ and takes a wild swing, ignoring everyone from Season 1, in favor of introducing new character Annie (Shailene Woodley) and telling her story from before, during, and after the catastrophe.
We first meet Annie as a kid, visiting Graceland while her sick mom fades away. We then encounter her as a third year medical student experiencing trauma while on the job, then dropping out.
Annie becomes a tour guide at Graceland, enabling her and a work colleague to hide in the basement when ‘The Day’ happens. That friend hurts her leg, and by Day 46 the injury takes her life. While on Day 689, the ash clouds clear, and the sun returns.
At that point, men with guns arrive at Graceland’s door, and while Annie is initially suspicious, they’re revealed to be friendly and peaceful, so she lets them stay for a few days.
During that time, Annie falls for one of their number – a handsome fellow nicknamed Link – and they make love, before he tells her they are off to find a rumored underground bunker in Colorado.
Link invites her to “come save the world with me Annie,” but fear holds her back from joining the group.
Before they leave, we overhear one of the men state they’ve got to get to the bunker and “kill Alex,” while Link’s nose suddenly starts to bleed.
A montage follows of Annie alone at Graceland, one that eventually reveals she’s pregnant. Annie then hears an explosion and sees fire a short distance from her gates. She jumps on a horse to investigate, and finds the injured Xavier Collins next to his plane.
Paradise Season 2 Episode 2 recap – Xavier Collins’ story
Episode 2 is titled ‘Mayday’ and begins with Collins waking up in his crashed plane, and falling out of his cockpit and badly injuring his leg. The episode then pinballs between past and present, so we’ll divide those two time-lines into two separate recaps.
In the past Collins also injures himself, this time at the Secret Service Training Center in 2004. While recovering from the operation that follows, he meets future wife Teri on a hospital ward, and immediately develops a crush on her, though she’s having none of his flirting.
But they slowly form a bond; one that strengthens when Teri briefly loses her eyesight, and Xavier holds her hand and tells her he knows everything is going to be OK.
Collins is soon discharged, but stays to look after Teri, and when her sight does eventually return, she calls him over, and they kiss.
In the present, it’s far less romantic, with the seriously injured Collins being found by a bunch of kids, who gave us Mad Max 3 vibes. Mysterious men with torches then hunt them, and the children help Xavier back to their cabin in the woods while barely saying a word.
Collins endeavours to fix his knee, and while it heals, tries to bond with the kids, by reading them stories. He then heads back to the plane, where Xavier ends up fighting and killing a man, which the children witness.
The next time Collins wakes up in the cabin, the kids have gone, along with his possessions, with just an old photo of his own children left behind, and a message saying “Sorry.”
Back at the plane, Collins starts hallucinating, and appears to see Link in a vision, before collapsing, which is around the time that Annie finds him.
Collins then wakes up in Graceland, and is soon babbling about Teri and Atlanta. But when he’s well enough, Annie informs Collins that he isn’t going to Atlanta; rather he’s taking her to Colorado. Xavier then tries to stand, but realises he’s handcuffed to his bed.
Paradise Season 2 Episode 3 recap – Samantha Redmond’s story
With Episode 1 focussing on Annie and Episode 2 on Xavier, Episode 3 is concerned with Samantha Redmond, aka the artist formerly known as Sinatra. Once again the story bounces back-and-forth in time, so we’ll split the two streams.
In the past, Redmond talks to a science guy, who tells her what’s coming, warns her that she doesn’t have time to fix the world, and advises her to “dig a hole and get in it.”
Some years later President elect Cal Bradford isn’t convinced about the environmental threat, and while desperately trying to get the ‘Colorado Project’ moving, Redmond faces pushback from a developer who won’t sell his crucial tech.
In response, Cal’s father Kane introduces her to a “special type of person,” who just happens to be our old friend and future dead guy Billy Pace. Pace says he’ll get the papers signed one way or another, and finds his intended target in a bar.
But instead of signing, said target writes down his address, and when Pace visits, reveals that his wife is dying from Huntington’s Disease. The man gives her a lethal injection, talks about things happening for a reason, and asks Billy to not harm his young business partner, as the fate of the world might depend on him.
Pace duly shoots him, at which point Billy’s nose starts bleeding. He doesn’t kill the partner, gets paid by Redmond, and makes it clear he’s available for future jobs.
In the present, Redmond slowly recovers from her injuries in hospital, only to discover that Henry Baines is now President, with big plans to introduce seasons to the bunker.
Suspicion falls on Redmond for a multitude of issues, most notably why energy is being siphoned off for a seemingly secret project. She’s interrogated via lie detector but gives nothing away, which enrages Baines.
With Redmond saying Collins shot her, Driscoll continues to go under everyone’s radar, aside from Robinson, who suspects foul play regarding Billy Pace’s death. Searching his stuff, Robinson finds an engagement ring, suggesting he had plans to marry Drisoll, and therefore a reason to live.
But Driscoll gets wind of her investigation, and having gained the President’s trust, accompanies him on a jog, slits his throat, and frames Robinson for the crime.
Meanwhile the youth of Paradise are fighting back against the authorities by plotting and planning revolution. However, the youngsters are regularly arrested and disappeared, including Jeremy Bradford. He’s taken to a prison several stories underneath the bunker, where he vows to blow the doors off the place.
The final scene sees Redmond conversing with her shady maid, who mysteriously reveals that “she is getting closer.”
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