Diksha Sundriyal
Hulu’s ‘Paradise’ transports the audience into a world destroyed by a natural calamity. By the end of the first season, it is revealed that while some people survived the apocalypse by hiding in a bunker, there were others who weathered the storm on the surface. Another thing that the show hinges on is a bunch of mysterious characters and even more mysterious deaths that carry the plot forward. The second season introduces several new such characters and scenarios, which begs the question about the fate of the ones whose arc has seemingly been resolved. With a new president taking over Paradise, does it mean that we won’t see our beloved but very dead Cal Bradford again? SPOILERS AHEAD.
James Marsden’s Cal Bradford was Always a Part of the Whole Plan
Cal Bradford plays an integral role in setting up ‘Paradise,’ as it is his murder that kickstarts the story. By the end of Season 1, however, his murder has been solved, and some very important things about him as a person have come out to show the audience that all is not what it seems with people in this show. This is exactly what creator Dan Fogelman intended when he came up with the story. Having worked on ‘This is Us,’ he was familiar with the trick of using two timelines to reveal the true nature of a character to the audience. But more importantly, it allowed the character to grow and experience an arc, even if they are supposed to be dead in one of the timelines. “There are ways when you have flashbacks where, if it’s not moving the plot forward, it can move somebody’s character forward. And it keeps them in the ether of the show,” he explained, in a conversation with Entertainment Weekly.
The story of ‘Paradise’ was always intended to be told over flashbacks, which also serve as a great way to make key revelations while also explaining certain aspects of the story to the audience without drawing out the mystery unnecessarily. And James Marsden’s character perfectly fit that plan. Fogelman revealed that when he pitched the idea of the show to Sterling K. Brown, Cal Bradford remained a key character in the three-season arc he laid out for the Emmy-nominated actor. This means that Cal is not only supposed to return in the second season, but he will also be a crucial part of the storyline in the third season of the show.
Since the character is dead in the present timeline, it makes sense that we will most likely only see him in flashbacks as more light is shed on how Sinatra and her billionaire collaborators executed the plan of building the bunker, and what price they exacted from the people around them to see it through. And Cal will serve as an important point of view for the audience to understand the true scale of the apocalypse and the measures used in light of it. It remains to be seen how the former president fits into it all.
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