The Architect Of Social Well-Being – As the third episode of Paradise begins, Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) sits at home and thinks about the past again. Xavier goes for a run with Billy (Jon Beavers) who complains he’s going to pass out. Billy thinks Xavier should be in charge of the investigation. Xavier suspects it has something to do with the fact that he didn’t call it in for over 30 minutes. Although Billy thinks otherwise, Xavier insists he didn’t hate Cal. Billy thinks they should tell everyone the truth although Xavier doubts that’s a good idea. Xavier says he needs to see a therapist. He visits Dr. Gabriela Torabi (Sarah Shahi) moments later. They agree to go for a walk. Meanwhile, Dr. Montoya (Carlos Sanz) begins the autopsy on the President. Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) and Robinson (Krys Marshall) are there to hear what he has to say.
There may be soil around the head wound so Cal could’ve been hit with a large rock. Cal also has signs of a struggle on his hands. His fingernails have been swabbed for traces of DNA. It may take a day or two for the DNA results to come back. Robinson has to go to the bathroom to collect herself. Sinatra does the same. Torabi and Xavier talk about their new home and the insect sounds. She admits someone might be recording her office. Xavier blames Sinatra and billionaires. Torabi admits that Cal opened up in therapy and she even sat with him the day before his death. She believes something happened because Cal seemed tired and burdened. Xavier questions why she stepped in the other day. Torabi would rather hear about his relationship with his father and why they stopped speaking.
Past – In the past, Xavier meets with Fred Collins (Glynn Turman) so they can catch up. Fred talks to his son about the academy. He insists Xavier can fly with the best of them even if they won’t let him do it for a living. Xavier admits he was late because Teri has had better days. He has to explain to his father that he’s going to be a grandfather.
Present – Xavier insists there’s nothing to tell. Torabi agrees to tell him what she knows about Cal, but she’s going to have to take a chance on Xavier. She wants to know more about Xavier before taking that chance. Xavier agrees to her deal. Robinson thinks about Cal (James Marsden) and his death until Sinatra interrupts. They talk about finding out who did this to Cal. Sinatra also says she wants the tablet back. She can’t have Robinson daydreaming about her affair. Robinson wants enough space to do her job. Torabi talks to Xavier about the socializing among people in their new world. She reveals she knows so much about this place because she helped design the psychological aspects of it. Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom) asks Billy if he thinks they have anything.
Robinson joins them and says forensics did not find any prints or fiber evidence. They have no motive or murder weapon. The medical examiner believes Cal was killed when the cameras were down. Cal was killed with a heavy, irregularly shaped object. Billy questions why Xavier isn’t there. Robinson argues that he ignored protocol. Sinatra interrupts their brief argument. Mike Garcia (Eddie Diaz) suggests he could pull a digital footprint off the network. He may be able to get the identity of the person who turned the cameras off. Sinatra tells Robinson she wants some answers when she comes back. Meanwhile, Xavier speaks to Torabi about her relationship with Sinatra. Xavier asks if Sinatra can be trusted. Torabi refuses to say more until she learns more about Xavier’s father.
Past – Xavier continues playing chess with Fred. Xavier tells him that he was put on the VP’s detail. He notices that his father’s hand is shaking. Fred insists it’s nothing and he should just forget about it. He eventually admits that he has Parkinson’s. Fred explains he’s dealing with it and managing the symptoms with medications. He hasn’t told the company about it yet. Frank claims he’s on top of it. Xavier warns him that he could go to jail. He thinks his dad should retire. Frank says he just needs a little more time. He leaves because he has a flight to make.
Present – Xavier tells Torabi that he and his dad had a falling out. She wants to know about Frank’s last flight, but Xavier isn’t ready to talk about that. Xavier wants to know about Cal and he doesn’t care about anything else. Jane tells Billy this is bad since Garcia could find out the truth. Billy doubts that’ll happen. Brooks (Verlon Roberts) overhears them talking. He tells them that this part of the house is off-limits based on Robinson’s orders. In private, Billy tells Jane that Brooks likely didn’t hear them. He also urges her not to worry so much. He promises to deal with Robinson if it comes down to it. They kiss. Henry Baines (Matt Malloy) is told he needs to calm down. Sinatra insists she can protect him, but Henry isn’t convinced he’ll be safe. They talk about the investigation. Sinatra knows it’s unfair what is being asked of Henry.
She insists he’s doing a fantastic job. She tells his wife, Nancy (Kristin Carey), that she’s doing great as well. Sinatra promises Henry that they’ll catch whoever did this. Torabi says hello to Maggie (Michelle Meredith) when she takes Xavier for cheese fries. Once they sit down, Torabi suggests Xavier has been scanning the room since they entered and that he picked the seat facing the door. Xavier says he’s staring at the woman sitting in the booth nearby. He explains why he would’ve considered her a threat in a different time and place. Torabi thinks it’d be difficult to see the world as a series of threats. Xavier mentions that his wife was in a different city and died because he didn’t get her on a plane. Maggie brings their cheese fries. Xavier and Torabi discuss what they miss. Xavier tells her about taking Teri to the beach. Then, he begins talking about his dad’s last flight.
Past – Xavier sits down with his father and they begin playing chess. Frank insists his medications are taking care of the tremors. He asks Xavier about his new pin. Xavier reveals he was named to the President’s detail. He asks Frank if he’d like to see Air Force One. Xavier gives his father a tour of the aircraft. Frank tells Xavier that he won’t understand how he feels until his kids get older. They talk about where they are. Xavier says they got here by doing things the right way. He tells his dad that it’s time to retire. Frank argues it’s not his decision to make. Xavier admits his dad made it his decision. He’s already filed the paperwork for Frank.
Present – Xavier tells Torabi he would see his dad on the holidays. Without the airport meetings, things shifted and their relationship was never the same. Frank’s disease progressed quickly and they lost him soon after that. Xavier admits it wasn’t difficult to do what he did. Torabi says it’s time to show her cards. When Sinatra returns, Robinson tells her she’s going to give her a show. Billy and Jane are brought into the room. Robinson says she keeps asking herself why they did it. She wonders why they would build a fireplace down there. Then, she asks why they shut down the cameras. Jane urges Billy to tell them. Billy says they don’t have the footage. Robinson points out that they’ve shut down the cameras on other nights for months. Jane yells out that they were playing Wii. Billy says it was Wii Tennis. Jane reveals they sometimes ate the candy from Cal’s junk drawer too.
Billy explains they’ve been protecting a President inside a secure bunker where nothing ever happens. Sinatra calls them idiots before asking everyone to get out. She tells Robinson to start finding some answers or she’ll find someone who will. Xavier asks Torabi if she knows anything about the numbers “812092”. He isn’t sure he should’ve been picked to be there. Torabi reveals she lost her parents when she was young. That’s why she went into palliative care. Her dad taught her to play poker. She admits everyone is there because she picked them.
Past – Sinatra speaks to Cal about picking his lead agent. Cal is introduced to Torabi who asks him to read one file first. Cal agrees to go with her gut. He learns the agent is waiting in the hallway. Once the women exit the room, Cal invites Xavier into the room.
Present – Torabi tells Xavier that her main job was choosing the thousands of people who would live down there. Xavier was her wild card because she needed someone who would do the right thing no matter what. Xavier asks if this was all some kind of test. Torabi says she needed to know the man behind the file. Xavier asks why she asked the message on her hand before she kisses him. He tells her that he’s married. They get ready to have sex. Torabi says she has a message from the president. Cal told Torabi to find Xavier if something happened to him. He also told her that Billy Pace is dangerous. Billy keeps an eye on Presley from outside.
Paradise Review
Paradise has a lot going for it, including a decent cast, an interesting concept, and the assassination of a president. Despite these things, the first three episodes have been largely dull and uneventful besides the revelation at the end of the opening episode. In particular, the second and third episodes have been sluggish.
Viewers are going to need ample patience to sit through this thing for several more weeks. Will it be worth it in the end? Ultimately, it will depend on the conclusion although I would expect an open-ended finale that tries to secure another series.
Regardless, this has turned into a dull soap opera that really isn’t going anywhere. It wants to focus on the character relationships while shifting from the past to the present so many times in each episode. None of the characters really stand out because most of them lack personality and depth.
It doesn’t help that the show has this interesting underground world, yet it hasn’t explored that aspect of the story at all. Truthfully, that could be more interesting than Cal’s assassination which has already lost steam. Something has to happen at some point to breathe life into this thing.
Otherwise, it’s just a chore to get through and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to justify sticking around for one more episode. The episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Paradise can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Join the discussion here.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.