Paradise Season 1 Episode 8 Review: The Man Who Kept the Secrets

On Paradise Season 1 Episode 8, “The Man Who Kept the Secrets,” we find out who killed Cal. Unless you’re very good at both the long game and seeing through disguises, all your guesses are wrong.

We watch Paradise be built by men we know won’t be allowed inside when the end comes. One supervisor is outraged by the cavalier attitude toward this—so much so that he tries to kill the president in the attempt Before that Xavier prevents.

Afterward, Trent initially resigns to accept his fate. But circumstance (that involves him killing two people) brings him to Paradise under another name. He becomes the town librarian, is there when Cal comes to make a tape, and has his rage reignited.

After all that, the assassin is someone we barley know. That’s kind of the point. After confessing, Trent jumps to his death from the rafters above the city, leaving behind a book in which Cal recorded all the secrets he was privy to.

But what of the revolution? Sinatra’s cold demeanor falters for the first time when she realizes how fare gone Jane is. Both she and Xavier briefly think Presley is dead. He kills two guards in response. She is shot, too… by Jane.

Jane maintains her image as she tells Xavier his kids are fine. Just as she intends, Sinatra is alive but with long-lasting physical damage. The truth of Cal’s murder and other secrets come out, prompting Xavier to prepare to leave Paradise by plane.

As this first chapter of the series draws to a close, we’re left with a theme of characters making choices that reflect on the best and worst of themselves. Nobody, not even those we’ve followed from the start, gets away clean.

At first, the solution to the mystery that’s hovered over everything feels almost random. We’ve had few moments to remember Trent. But it’s partially because of that that he becomes so notable now, setting up actions that will change everyone.

Though his motivation is righteous outrage, there’s no denying the cruelty he chooses, killing two innocent people to take their place and brutally murdering Cal, who, even as the president, only had a limited hand in the dark origins of Paradise.

After seeing Sinatra as cold and unflinching for most of the season, we finally see just a glimmer of her humanity again. She’s horrified by the possibility of Presley’s death and bluntly acknowledges her own sins. She nearly pays with her life.

And then there’s Jane. In a place of such flawed people, she may be the only true sociopath. Even Xavier ends the season still believing her act. Why, then does she let Presley live and viciously wound Sinatra? How will it help her story in season 2?

But he isn’t the only killer here. Given that Xavier briefly believes his child is dead, we can’t be too critical of his frame of mind when shooting two men. Yet these are still the actions of our central protagonist– the hero we’ve been rooting for.

Add in Dr. Torabi finally seeing Sinatra’s true nature, Nicole’s helplessness as Xavier abandons their plans to save his family, the woman Trent manipulates and more. We’re left both judging choices and wondering what our own would be.

It’s all heavy stuff, at least broken up by a few clever touches that make solving crime a bit more intriguing and fun. I love the touch of the code Cal leaves behind referring to a Dewey Decimal number. I love the book he chooses for his secrets.

After all the betrayals, death, and grief in the episode, the actual ending note for the season is almost optimistic. This is helped by seeing Xavier reunite with his unharmed children, but it’s also about the tone for the future.

We don’t see much of the city’s reaction to the bits of truth they get, but what we do lacks the trauma Sinatra and others feared. There’s a sense of hope amongst many, and Xavier turns that into resolve as he prepares to strike off on his own.

Given what has happened in every other attempt to explore the surface, we can’t expect a second season to be any less dark than this one. But finally a people resigned to stasis have a hope for change in what they left behind. Xavier’s promise to Terri– “I’m coming, baby”—speaks to them all.

 

What did you think of this episode of Paradise? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Paradise first streams on Tuesdays on Hulu.

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