As a thriller, Paradise is very careful about the amount of suspense it leaves its audience in.
“We have a marching order for ourselves, which is not to frustrate,” says executive producer John Hoberg.
A bit of confusion, however, is allowed, as the season two finale of Dan Fogelman’s Emmy-nominated Hulu drama introduced quantum physics into the postapocalyptic survivalist narrative, with bunker-in-chief Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) believing vigilante newcomer Link (Thomas Doherty) to be her son in another time frame.
Hoberg tells THR all will be revealed in the show’s forthcoming third and final season and explains Sinatra’s decision to sacrifice herself in the end.
Given the show’s mandate, were you concerned that the complexity of the finale, which identified the elusive “Alex” as a quantum computer, might, in fact, frustrate viewers?
The reason we felt confident we’re not going to frustrate with all of this stuff is because it’s not about that — it’s about human beings reacting. [This] is about Xavier [Sterling K. Brown] and his family and his love for other people and people’s love for other people in front of something extraordinary. What do they do? How do they react? And I think one of the reasons it’s resonating with people, and the audience went with us as we shifted a little bit — I don’t think you saw this coming from the pilot — is because we’re all in a world that feels a little unsettled in some ways and confusing and magical. And we’re probably feeling a little bit of how Xavier felt when Sinatra said, “This is for you,” with the card [to Alex, housed in a mysterious second bunker], not because of any technology we’re talking about, just because of the great unknown of it all.
Sinatra has this softness that we suddenly see after being so cold in season one. How do you explain her decision to go down with the ship, so to speak?
Her arc is one of my favorites of the whole show. Our introduction to Sinatra is this great trauma that she went through with losing a child. And already you’re like, “OK, I can start to see [her motivation], but man, she seems like she’s tipped over to the other side.” Sinatra did a lot of bad stuff, but then we discover she wasn’t just trying to keep everybody down here, it’s because she thinks — and I would stress she thinks, I’m not saying she does know the answer — “Maybe I’m just finally processing my grief and I’m buying into something that may not be true.” And you could view her either way in that. But from her point of view, she thinks she has served her purpose and she believes Xavier is the one who’s going to have to follow through to this second bunker. So it’s a no-brainer for her. It’s like, “I will save the world by letting this come down on me, saving those people so Xavier can do what he has to do.” And to me, one of the most emotional parts of the entire season is when a younger version of her son shows up and they walk into this blinding light, and it feels like she’s whole, and she smiles in a way that you really haven’t seen in the show. That to me is why, naturally, her arc was leaving her there.
The User X connection to Xavier — is that telling us he has saved the world already in an alternate universe at some point? Or is that just Sinatra’s confirmation that he’s the one to do it?
It’s definitely her confirmation when [Alex] says, “Awaiting User X,” but for all you know, that’s an input that it’s just awaiting. Again, it’s a big question of, is she right? And like we always do in the show, we’ll answer it because we are ending at the end of season three, and I promise that we will answer every question I believe you have. And if not, then people can direct message me on Instagram and I’ll answer questions because our goal is to let you have an answer to everything.
This story first appeared in an August stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
