One of the most talked-about shows of the moment, Hulu’s Paradise reeled fans in with a mystery around a presidential assassination—then kept them wanting more when it was revealed that the entire show was occurring in the titular post-apocalyptic bunker. From This Is Us scribe Dan Fogelman, the runaway hit thriller series spent its first season flashing back and forth between the past and present to unfurl the truth about what happened to the President (James Marsden) and why Paradise was built in the first place.
Within Paradise’s walls, the series follows the splintering relationship between Special Agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) and billionaire-turned-public-official Sinatra (Julianne Moore) as they search for the President’s killer. Flashbacks, meanwhile, provide depth about their relationships, as Xavier is motivated by the memory of his late wife Teri (Enuka Okuma) and the death of Sinatra’s young son haunts her.
But it turns out, Teri isn’t dead and President Bradford’s killer has been living in Paradise, under the radar, all this time. The season 1 finale, released on March 4 and titled “The Man Who Kept the Secrets” finally answers questions about the killer’s motivations, what the numbers on President Bradford’s cigarettes mean, and whether Xavier will reunite with Teri. Read on to find out how season 1 of Paradise ends and how it sets up its second season.
It’s revealed that Trent (Ian Merrigan) killed President Bradford in the Paradise season 1 finale.
(Image credit: Disney/Brian Roedel)
Who killed President Cal Bradford in ‘Paradise?’
The Paradise finale opens with a flashback to 12 years earlier, revealing the crucial set-up for the show’s big reveal. In it, we are introduced to a group of workers building what is now Paradise (though they are deceived into thinking they are building a recycling facility). But when the project manager Trent (Ian Merrigan) discovers that the work site contains lethal levels of a toxic chemical that will eventually kill the workers, he is promptly fired and becomes a whistleblower for the entire operation. Unable to gain much traction with the media, he takes matters into his own hands: He is the man who attempted to assassinate President Bradford during the press conference shown earlier in the season. (Xavier ends up taking the bullet for him.)
As the world is in freefall, Trent escapes from jail and assumes the identity of a policeman directing traffic. When he comes across a librarian and his wife who have secured positions within Paradise, he kills them and steals their identities, offering the wife role to a distraught young woman (Michelle Meredith) he meets in a parking lot. They make it through security by leaning on theatrics and staying under the radar—until now.
Trent tells Xavier that he got comfortable in Paradise and believed he deserved to live, almost abandoning his mission to kill the President once and for all. But when he crosses paths with Bradford when he comes to the library to make a mixtape for his son, Trent re-sets his plan in motion, ultimately killing the President in the name of his former coworkers and friends who lost their lives building this place.
What happened to Trent after his confession in the ‘Paradise’ season 1 finale?
Trent injures Xavier and makes a run for it, but is cornered by Xavier and Robinson (Krys Marshall) in the rafters high in the artificial Paradise sky. “Paradise…what a fucking joke,” are his last words before he jumps off the ledge, his body breaking through the LED sky and likely landing on someone’s roof down below.
Tensions between Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) and Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) reach a dramatic head in the season 1 finale.
(Image credit: Disney/Brian Roedel)
What happens to Sinatra at the end of ‘Paradise’ season 1?
Sinatra, the billionaire-turned-public official who helped orchestrate Billy’s (Jon Beavers) death earlier in the series, ends the season unconscious in the hospital. Jane (Nicole Brydon Bloom), Billy’s partner and murderer due to Sinatra’s orders, is assigned to capture Presley (Aliyah Mastin), Xavier’s daughter. Jane is a bit of a loose cannon, though: She asks Sinatra for the President’s Wii, and when Sinatra dismisses her, she goes rogue and texts her, “Problem eliminated,” insinuating that she killed Presley.
Xavier confronts Sinatra who confesses that she “didn’t intend for it to go this far.” He shoots her two guards and has his gun to her forehead when Jane appears and shoots Sinatra. Jane confirms that Presley is still alive, and after Xavier leaves to check on his kids, she ominously tells Sinatra that she’s no use to her if she’s dead and that the head honcho should have just given her the Wii. In the final montage, we see Jane playing with the Wii while Sinatra is in the hospital, but it’s unclear why this video game system means so much to her.
Paradise has already been confirmed for a season 2, meaning the bunker’s mysteries are far from over.
(Image credit: Disney/Brian Roedel)
What did the numbers on President Bradford’s cigarettes mean in ‘Paradise?’
Xavier realizes that the numbers 812092 refer to the Dewey Decimal system in the library. Shelved at this location are two books: one is a biography of the singer Frank Sinatra and the other is titled The Man Who Kept the Secrets, the episode’s title. The latter book houses detailed notes about the day the world ended and everything known about the survivors on the surface, written by the President before his death. It’s also revealed that the code 812092 refers to the date President Bradford was sworn into office.
What does Xavier do with this information at the end of ‘Paradise’ season 1?
The final shots of the season 1 finale show Xavier boarding a small jet and opening the sealed doors that separate Paradise from the outside world. The engine hums and President Bradford’s notebook is in his hands as Xavier sets out to find his wife Teri, whom Sinatra revealed is still alive via a satellite radio recording.