Diksha Sundriyal
The second season of Hulu’s ‘Paradise’ comes to an end with a finale that changes everything for the characters. The season started with the introduction of new characters and setting up the mysteries that persist even with the shocking ending. The last episode ended with the revelation that Link, aka Dylan, is connected to Sinatra and might actually be her dead son. The finale delves further into that reveal, but it ends up raising more questions than answers. One of the mysteries it does answer is the identity of Alex and how it is connected to the Colorado bunker and saving the world. There are some much-awaited reunions and a shocking death that completely rewrites the story and what’s next for the characters. SPOILERS AHEAD.
What is Alex?
One of the major mysteries of this season has been the identity of Alex. The finale opens with the answer, taking us several years before the events of the show. We see Henry as a professor at CalTech, giving a lecture about a hypothetical quantum machine that could change the world. One of the attendees is Dylan, who is frustrated with the theories and believes that they should just make the machine. He has created something that will make the task easier. Henry and Dylan start working together, and he even introduces the young prodigy to his dying wife, Alex, who becomes the namesake for their project. When Sinatra hears about the AI they have been developing, she gives them a blank cheque, which pushes their innovation in a whole new direction. However, after a while, Henry tells Sinatra that they need to shut down the project because, apparently, the AI, Alex, has started to manipulate time. It answered a question that would take supercomputers billions of years to calculate without even being asked the question.
While Henry was worried about what Alex might do with this unprecedented power, Sinatra clearly thinks that it’s not a problem. So, years later, when she walks into another bunker and greets Alex, she still believes they made the right decision by having Henry killed and keeping Alex. The AI’s power has expanded beyond solving equations, and it is now making predictions about time and people. It predicted that Sinatra would come to see it, which she did, and it predicted that she would be dead by the end of the day. It has also left a card for a user “X,” with some numbers on it, though no one knows what those numbers mean. After the conversation, Sinatra heads back to the bunker and notes the power fluctuations, realising that something has gone terribly wrong.
Meanwhile, Xavier once again has the dream about Link, but is woken up when the train reaches its destination. He is informed that the attack on the bunker is about to happen. When he sees the tanks, he realises that things are going to get messy, so he and Teri decide to join the group to get their children out safely. At the gates, the first shot is fired, which takes its toll on the security of the bunker, which is already dealing with a lockdown and the oxygen problem. The nuclear reactors are on the verge of meltdown, and any effort to stop that is met with yet another problem. With Sinatra missing, Gabriela takes control of the situation. Realising that the reactors can explode at any moment, she orders Exodus. This means that the bunker must be immediately evacuated.
Is Sinatra Dead? What Happens to the Bunker?
By the time Sinatra arrives, Exodus is already in motion, and she is not averse to the decision. She tells everyone, including Gabriela, to leave, promising that this is not the end and they will recover from it. She watches the whole thing happen in front of her, especially as Link and his friends drive in. They were supposed to stick to the plan and find and kill Alex, but then Geiger points out that if they don’t stop the nuclear meltdown, everyone will die. So, that’s what they decide to do. However, their efforts go in vain, and Geiger loses his life in the process. So, they decide to ditch the bunker completely. Meanwhile, Xavier and Teri find James, who tells them that Presley had called him shortly before from an elevator she is stuck on. Xavier tells Teri to leave with James while he goes to find their daughter.
At the command center, he finds Sinatra, who is pleasantly surprised to meet him. She helps him find the elevator, only to discover that her daughter is also stuck there. Together, they find the elevator but struggle to open the door and get their daughters out before the whole structure falls down. At the same time, Link and his group show up and lend a hand. Once the girls are saved, Link turns his attention towards Sinatra, asking her about Alex, but she is insistent on not giving up anything. Seeing that everything is going to come crashing down on them in a minute, Xavier tells Link about Annie and his daughter. They also have a bizarre, unexplainable moment, which makes them both dizzy while also giving them nosebleeds. But there is no time to figure out what’s happening, so they decide to leave the bunker. There is, however, still the problem of a nuclear explosion.
Sinatra reveals that the place was designed to withstand a nuclear attack from the outside, which means it should also be capable of containing one. For that, they need to manually initiate the lockdown, so they head back to the command center. When Link calls out to Xavier, Sinatra realizes that he is the “X” that the note from Alex is meant for. Once they are at the command center, she tells him that whoever starts the shutdown will have to stay back to see it through. She tells him to leave and locks herself in, so he doesn’t have a choice but to run back. As the doors start to close, the bunker starts to fall apart more vigorously. She walks around the streets, taking one last look at the place she’d built. She stops at the display of a toy horse, thinking about her son and the day that changed her entire life. She sees the young Dylan take her hand, and they walk away together. Outside, the people who have been evacuated watch the mountain collapse, marking the end of the Colorado bunker.
Does Xavier Die? What does the Card Mean?
Xavier’s quest for the season was to find his wife and reunite his family. But then the time comes to shut down the bunker and contain the nuclear disaster so that no one on the outside dies. He goes with Sinatra, but she decides to sacrifice herself for the greater good. However, before leaving, she tells him about another bunker, about 100 miles from the current one. While she doesn’t have the time to reveal the full picture, she tells him about Alex, who is necessary to save the world. She gives him the card, believing that Alex gave it to her because Xavier is the one who actually saves the world. Neither of them has any idea how that will happen, nor do they know what the numbers on the card mean yet. But Sinatra is convinced that if Alex has singled out Xavier, then it means that he is their best bet at saving the world before things get worse.
With the card in his hand, Xavier runs towards the door and makes it out just in time. As soon as the doors close, the nuclear explosion goes off, and the mountain comes down. It takes him a little time, but he is reunited with his family. This is what he had wanted all along, and now that he has it, he knows that he must look forward and find Alex. He also talks with Link, who is united with his daughter. Because Xavier has not named her yet, they decide to go with Annie. The last scene shows Xavier looking in the direction of the second bunker. Even if he might not want to return to another bunker just yet, especially when the world on the surface seems to be doing just fine, he knows that there is a reason Sinatra told him about her best-kept secret.
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