Our heads are still spinning from that Paradise season two finale, and while “Exodus” didn’t answer all of our questions, it set things in motion for a third season with amplified sci-fi elements. While of course Paradise‘s creative team isn’t going to offer up any spoilers, one of its key members—executive producer John Hoberg, who co-wrote the finale with Seena Haddad—talked about what’s coming next in the Hulu show’s post-apocalyptic world.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter—in an interview that includes an extended metaphor involving cheese to explain the show’s approach to quantum physics—Hoberg agreed that “What is going to happen?” is what fans will be waiting to find out.
At the end of season two, Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson), the billionaire who funded not just the bunker but also the secret AI supercomputer that might have the ability to alter time and reality, sacrificed herself to save thousands of people from an exploding nuclear reactor.
She accepted her fate partially because she’d already entrusted the next part of her plan to save the world to Xavier (Sterling K. Brown), who at the end of “Exodus” still looks like he’s deciding whether to do it or not.
“Is he going to follow through on this? What is he going to do? He’s being left in that last shot being told ‘go save the world, Xavier.’ And he has no reason to. He’d be like, ‘Why am I doing this?’ What is going to happen? is the big question we want to ask,” Hoberg told THR. “Sinatra was certain enough that she was at peace when she was walking through her crumbling bunker city. There’s just a lot more to unpack about whether that’s the reality of all of that.”
Hoberg said Paradise creator Dan Fogelberg and the other writers didn’t know from the start that Sinatra would perish in season two. But they eventually realized it would help redeem her after we saw her do a lot of terrible things to keep her plans on track.
“Hopefully you understand her a little bit more now. And the fact that she’s now come to peace with it all means she truly believes she’s fulfilled her goal,” Hoberg said. He also added that just because Sinatra is dead doesn’t mean she won’t be back. After all, President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) died in season one, episode one, and he appeared in plenty of flashbacks throughout both seasons.
Of course, Hoberg wasn’t going to spill any season three spoilers. But he did tease some of the themes.
“If you think about where season two ends, we have a mass of people in the middle of Colorado and Xavier is being given marching orders and told he can save the world. There’s going to be questions of leadership. There’s going to be questions of faith and, do you move forward? Where do you go? And questions of, is this dangerous? Is Sinatra dangerous? Or is she actually working in our best interests? Now they’re out in the world and all they know is there’s the bunker somewhere underneath Denver. But they don’t know if that’s safe and if they want to be there.”
He also said those in the know have already figured out how season three will end.
“It’s something we’ve all been excited about for a very long time,” he teased. “We didn’t do necessarily exactly what you thought in season two, but it was what you hoped in some ways that would be dealt with and answered. I think season three will feel the exact same way. It may not go where you guess or what you think, but I think it’s going to be satisfying in where it takes you.”
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