Stephen King Is Obsessed With This Hulu Sci-Fi Series That Just Keeps Getting Better
by Debopriyaa Dutta · /FilmStephen King, who knows a thing or two about great storytelling, often turns to social media to share his opinions about art. For example, King thinks that Netflix's "Dark" is a terrific mind-bending sci-fi show, and he is absolutely correct. On the other end of the spectrum, King is pretty straightforward about disliking certain titles, such as when he didn't mince words about Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill," which he thinks is "full of itself." That said, King recently shared a glowing endorsement for Hulu's "Paradise" on Threads, where he praised the post-apocalyptic thriller for being consistently compelling:
"'Paradise' (Hulu): First season is good, second season is even better. How rare is that? The acting is good, the story actually hangs together, and the dialogue is the best part. Sharp. Few cliches. Highest praise: Elmore Leonard would watch this."
The last part of King's reaction references novelist and screenwriter Elmore Leonard, whose short story "Three-Ten to Yuma" was adapted into the Glenn Ford-starring "3:10 to Yuma" and its 2007 remake. Leonard has written acclaimed crime thrillers like "City Primeval" and "Hombre," while he also has a book named "Mr. Paradise." This is the highest praise indeed, as Hulu's "Paradise" kicked off as an underrated survival saga that takes place after the end of the world, and its ongoing second season is aiming for grander stakes.
Series creator Dan Fogelman ("Pitch," "This is Us") has created a fascinating world filled with conspiracy and intrigue, whose grounded origins seem to be hiding fantastical concepts like serendipity or time travel. What begins as a thrilling mystery surrounding the murder of Cal Bradford (James Marsden) — the former president of the United States — devolves into a full-blown epic that uses a copious amount of flashbacks to tell an immersive story.
Hulu's Paradise knows how to keep its audiences hooked
Spoilers for "Paradise" ahead.
"Paradise" opens with a melancholic Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown), a U.S. Secret Service agent still mourning the death of his wife, Teri (Enuka Okuma). After Xavier discovers President Bradford's body, a tense mystery unfolds. We're drip-fed information about the world Xavier inhabits, which seems perfectly idyllic until the season premiere reveals the truth about what's going on. As it turns out, Xavier and a handpicked group of survivors now live inside a massive underground bunker in Colorado, insulated from a supposed extinction-level event that destroyed the surface. Season 1 confines the tension within the bunker, which feels more unsafe by the second.
What "Paradise" does best is tune into the messiest aspects of interpersonal dynamics, which are defined by loss, grief, or resentment. Xavier's uneasy relationship with Bradford before his death weighs heavy on him, more so because the truth about the world outside is more complicated than it seems. The past and the present bleed into each other whenever the show uses its trusty flashbacks to provide crucial context. While this trope has the potential to become stale in future seasons, "Paradise" has done a brilliant job of keeping its flashbacks seamless so far. With season 2 taking a more confident approach to the show's tendency to take wild swings, there's hope that season 3 might aim even higher.
There has been a major shift in priorities from Season 2 onward, which bodes well for a dynamic show like "Paradise." There's a solid chance that the sci-fi series might venture into bonkers time travel territory for the next season, but this sounds like a welcome development for those who love heady, ambitious storylines.