Paradise Season 1 Episode 4 Recap

Agent Billy Pace – As the fourth episode of Paradise begins, a young Billy (Beau McConnell) goes hunting with his Uncle Charlie (Micah Fitzgerald). Billy tries to shoot an animal nearby, but the dog scares it off. Uncle Charlie takes it out on Billy. He tells Billy to never hesitate. Later, Uncle Charlie wants Billy to shoot his dog. When Uncle Charlie steps outside, Billy ends up shooting him. He finds himself in a juvenile facility where he has to defend himself. Before long, Billy is released from custody. Jack Barnes (Benjamin Koldyke) greets him outside the gates. He tells Billy he’s going to give him another chance. Once they arrive at the compound, Jack introduces everyone to Bull who is a highly disciplined killing machine. Billy decides to step up to Bull who is easily dealt with.

Present – Billy Pace (Jon Beavers) wakes up from a nightmare. Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom), who is next to him, says she’s too excited to sleep because of the carnival. Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) wakes up next to Gabriela Torabi (Sarah Shahi). He begins rushing because the kids have no idea where he is. Gabriela mentions the carnival. Xavier thinks it’s odd that they’re going to throw a carnival the day before Cal’s funeral. He admits what she said didn’t track with him, but he promises to speak to him about it. Gabriela suggests she’ll see him at the carnival. When Xavier leaves, he contacts Billy to say they need to talk. A vehicle nearby triggers a flashback from the day Xavier and the kids arrive.

Past – Xavier has to tell those in charge that his wife, Teri, didn’t make the plane. They hear a noise behind them as everyone pushes to get through the checkpoint. Cal (James Marsden) sees Xavier from nearby. Robinson (Krys Marshall) works nearby. Billy approaches Xavier to say they are supposed to start securing the area and getting people inside the residences.

Present – Xavier messages Billy to say they need to talk. When Xavier makes it home, Presley (Aliyah Mastin) reminds him to tell her if he’s working the night shift. She reveals he’s going to help the band set up before the carnival. Presley explains that it’s Jeremy’s band before leaving. James (Percy Daggs IV) tells his dad he’s made a big decision and he thinks he’ll like it. He’s going to ride the big Ferris wheel this year. Xavier says he needs to run and speak to Uncle Billy. He will drop off James with Carl and Lucy across the street.

Past – Billy talks to Xavier about the weird stuff he’s seen since being down there for a week. They tell the bartender, Mark Donnelly (Michael Hogan), that they’re securing the place for the president. Mark tells Billy about the amount of alcohol in the cellar. He offers them a drink. Billy is up for a shot although Xavier reminds them they’re on duty. They begin talking about the houses they got. Billy urges Xavier to drink too but he refuses. Mark says he got the job because his wife is one of the preeminent atmospheric scientists in the world. Xavier leaves. Billy takes another shot before joining him. Cal practices his speech in front of them. Xavier insists the speech sounds fine. Cal asks Billy what he thinks people need to hear right now. Billy says this is not normal and it would mean a lot for people to hear the president say so.

Once Cal leaves, Billy makes an immature comment causing Xavier to laugh.

Present – Xavier keeps an eye on Billy from outside. Billy responds to his message and lies by claiming he’s already at work. Presley and Jeremy Bradford (Charlie Evans) arrive at the carnival. Jeremy remembers how much his dad loved the carnival. Presley reminds him that he’s making music for people who live in a cave. Xavier looks through Billy’s file and notices that a lot has been redacted. Jane interrupts. Xavier talks to her about Billy. Jane says Billy has seemed distracted lately since he’s usually more excited about the carnival. Once she leaves, Xavier continues looking through Billy’s file.

Past – Susan Donnelly (Angela Lin) speaks to Billy and Xavier at the pub. They’ve been there for two months. Xavier talks about how he sometimes forgets what he lost. Billy says the old world started kicking the crap out of him at a young age so he started kicking back. He isn’t sure Xavier would be sitting with him if he knew the things he had done. All the normal stuff down there makes Billy feel normal and good. He never had any of that in the old world. Xavier tells him he should come over sometime to meet the kids. Before long, Billy comes over in a suit. He’s introduced to James and Presley.

Present – Xavier finishes with Billy’s file. Robinson finds him looking around. Jeremy plays with his band at the carnival. Jane and Billy hang out at the carnival. Robinson approaches Billy to say they need to talk in private. She warns Billy that Xavier is on Sinatra’s radar now. Xavier walks with James at the carnival before he sees Gabriela nearby. James begins having doubts about riding the Ferris wheel. Xavier sees Sinatra speaking to Billy and Robinson. They see him as well. Billy speaks to Presley who is playing alone. He believes the president’s kid upset her. Billy decides to give her relationship advice. He told himself that the world blew up and there was nothing to be scared of. That’s how he mustered up the courage to tell Jane he liked her. Billy tells Presley to go tell Jeremy that she likes him. Later, the lights at the carnival are turned on. James continues panicking about the Ferris wheel. Xavier reminds him he’ll be with him.

Gabriela comes over to speak to Xavier and James. She asks if Xavier has had a chance to speak to Billy yet. He hasn’t. Gabriela says she just saw him in the funnel cake line. Xavier leaves James with Gabriela so he can speak to Billy.

Past – Xavier tells Cal that he should’ve let them secure the area first. Cal reminds him it’s month three in an underground city with no weapons. He complains about it being so depressing. Cal questions why Xavier isn’t happy. Billy tells Cal that Xavier lost someone. When Susan Donnelly serves Cal, he remembers that she’s one of his scientists. Billy tells Cal that it’s the not knowing that’s causing problems although Cal argues they know it’s all gone. Anything left out there is fighting to survive. Xavier asks if people could’ve survived. He admits it’s the not knowing. Later, Xavier and Billy sit with the kids and watch Cal’s speech on television. Cal says no one can survive outside, but they’re going to send four explorers into the unknown to assess. Presley asks Xavier if they’ll find anything. Xavier admits he doesn’t know.

Present – Xavier finally finds Billy who is nearby with Jane. Billy warns him that he has to stop because these people are not playing. Billy asks Xavier to trust him on this. Xavier asks why he lied this morning. Billy says Jane was over and he didn’t want him to know they’re together. Xavier asks about the security cameras. Billy says he’s already explained this to Robinson. Xavier asks if Billy killed Cal and who put him up to it. He says Cal asked people to watch out for him. Billy insists Xavier and his kids are the only thing in this place that matters to him. When Xavier returns to Gabriela, he tells her it’s not Billy. Presley speaks to Jeremy while James rides the Ferris wheel. Xavier doesn’t know why Cal would tell Gabriela it was Billy.

Past – Billy hangs out with Mark at the pub while everyone is at the carnival. Mark admits he begged Susan not to go because he thought it was a suicide mission. Billy remembers a shooting incident from his past. He tells Mark he has to go. On his way out, he sees a memorial for Susan nearby. In another flashback, Billy is on a mission. He finds Susan who says they can breathe up there. Billy fatally shoots her.

Present – Billy approaches Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) to say he’s done everything ever asked of him. He claims he was starting over before she sent him out there. Billy thinks they sent him out there to do that to keep people scared of leaving. Sinatra says she didn’t dream of his life. She used to run a Cloud storage company and took pottery classes on the weekends. Sinatra claims anyone out there is likely tearing each other apart for resources right now. She says they’re sometimes forced to do the hard thing because the people there are worth protecting. Billy argues that she didn’t do anything since she just sent him. He still believes she’s the monster although Sinatra denies that. Billy tells Sinatra that she’s going to leave Xavier Collins alone or they’ll have problems. Sinatra reminds Billy it’s not his job to give orders.

She brings up his past and claims that he’s a killer. Sinatra says that’s all he can offer to the world and that’s why he was spared. She wants him to shut up and apologize. Otherwise, she’ll take away every good thing he mistakenly thinks he’s earned down there. Sinatra threatens to take Jane away. Billy doesn’t want to know what she did to the president. He says Xavier and his kids are family. Billy tells her not to mess with them. Sinatra says he’s not the only killer she brought down there. Meanwhile, Xavier speaks to Presley about her new friend. Presley believes her dad has a new friend too. They agree things are changing because they can’t be sad forever. Billy arrives a short time later. He wants to speak to Xavier in private. Billy says he didn’t kill the president. However, he has done some things that might have to do with it.

Billy believes Sinatra is a killer. He admits he’s done some things for Sinatra. Billy promises to tell Xavier everything tomorrow. He just wants to be Uncle Billy tonight. Presley thanks Billy for his advice. Billy leaves a short time later. He tries to make things up to Jane. Xavier plays basketball with James. Billy tells Jane about giving Presley some advice. Billy collapses after likely being poisoned by Jane. She puts on gloves and begins planting evidence to make it look like an overdose. Jane admits she’s the one Sinatra sent to deal with him.

Paradise Review

Much like the previous episodes, episode four of Paradise moved at a snail’s pace with so many unnecessary flashbacks. We really don’t need to know every detail about every character, especially when the character in question is going to be killed moments later anyway.

If there weren’t so many flashbacks, the story could possibly move forward more and the episodes wouldn’t be so tediously boring. The story has been fairly predictable up until this point without many surprises. The show still hasn’t done anything with the city and all of its unique features.

The characters might as well be living in any city in America at this point because the whole underground city is a moot point. The future of the show looks pretty bleak since Sinatra and Jane are going to be Xavier’s biggest enemies going forward. There really isn’t much to look forward to unless viewers have fallen in love with the characters and want to know everything about them.

Although the original idea was compelling, the show is overburdened with constant flashbacks, shallow characters, and obnoxious dialogue that ruins the seriousness of most scenes. It is going to require a lot of patience to stick with this until the end and most probably won’t.

This episode scores a 4 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.

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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.