The original post: /r/television by /u/Iaintyourbabysitter on 2026-03-31 17:53:18+00:00.
Obviously this is subjective, but personally this is as a 10/10 for me. I had just finished watching From, Silo and Severance, all of which I thought were incredible and was looking for something with a similar Drama/Mystery vibe. I was vaugely interested after the first episode, the 2nd and 3rd episode even more so, but only to the point I was expecting maybe a 6.5 out of 10 show. Episode 4 proved me wrong, episode 5 made me feel stupid for judging so early.
I see alot of people say it is a slow burn, and I somewhat agree, as someone that has a low attention span and will often give up on shows if I’m not hooked by the first 2/3 episodes. I will admit, after the first 2 episodes I tried to find something else that would hook me in, but failed to and thought I’d push on. I’m so glad I did.
The last episode of season 2 aired yesterday, now we are waiting for the third and final season, so I will vaugely lay out some reasons why I encourage people to give this show a proper try.
- Julianne Nicholson. One of the best acting performances I’ve ever seen, coupled with an amazingly written character. She doesn’t miss a beat. Her character is nuanced and varied, and the arc from the first episode to the last aired one is phenomenal.
Sterling K Brown. Another phenomenal performance. I’ve well attributed with his other roles so wasn’t surprised, that’s why I had Julianne first, so what I said previously applies to both, but Nicholsons character/performance stood out to me more purely because I wasn’t familiar with any of her previous roles and her character arc was, to me, objevtively more interesting. Honourable mention to James Marsden.
I think all of the actors did a phenomenal job, and were all well written and acted, I could say similar for others but these 2 for me stood out.
The twists. I feel like the show perfectly balanced, answering questions and creating more. Giving you answers without exaggerated cliff hangers to make you feel like you have to tune into the next episode in a “ugh I need to know what happens next but why is it taking so long”. The season 2 finale is a perfect example of that. I feel like there was a specific cliffhanger a lot of other shows would have ended it on, but it gave a satisfying conclusion to a specific element. I don’t want to go into detail for spoilers sake.
The soundtrack/score. The show features covers of some popular 80’s songs, as well as original scores through being, in my opinion, just perfect. The ending of S1E5, combined with that cover honestly blew me out of the fucking water.
When I initally googled “what is Paradise about” it sounded very underwhelming, which in hindsight is good because it made every discovery that much better. It’s so much more. It’s very much a sci-fi/mystery show even though I hadn’t seen it described as a sci-fi show. From where it starts to where it ends, is so different, and for me was paced so well, as I said earlier, giving and taking in a very satisfying way.
Lastly, to clarify, this is all obviously subjective, and I am an idiot and not well versed in properly fleshing out the reasons why a tv show is good, at least in the way a smarter person would, as they could come up with more points and explain them better I imagine, but I genuinely think this show is slept on. I loved From, Silo and Severance. I thought after those I wouldn’t find anything I like as much, but Paradise is very much in the same echelon for me, and honestly my favourite. Others might disagree but if you liked any of those 3, you will at LEAST find it a 7/10. This is the first time I’ve tried to give a ‘thoughtful critique’ on a show and I probably didn’t do it that well, so go easy on me.