Paradise Season 2's Biggest Risk Pays Off Right Away

Spoilers for episodes 1-3 of "Paradise" season 2 to follow.

Almost a full year has passed since "Paradise" left us on a cliffhanger regarding Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) leaving his underground bunker home and embarking on a desperate search for his wife on the Earth's surface — and season 2 makes viewers wait even longer for a resolution. Rather than picking up right where we left off, the second season's premiere episode (titled "Graceland") begins with a flashback involving Annie (Shailene Woodley), a character we've never even met before, and stays with her throughout the entirety of the hour. That's probably not the outcome most would've anticipated, especially these days when audience patience feels like it's at an all-time low and the amount of streaming options at our fingertips is at an all-time high. It's easily the boldest risk of this young season, however, and it pays off immediately.

For those wondering why Hulu opted to drop the first three episodes of season 2 at once, well, this goes a long way towards explaining why. Credit has to go to creator Dan Fogelman and writer Eric Wen, who wrote "Graceland" together; not everyone would've had the guts to sideline their show's main hero right from the jump and instead take the time to build up a new supporting character. Fortunately, the episode that follows (aptly titled "Mayday") catches us up on Xavier's doomed flight and his eventual encounter with Annie. It's then left to season 2, episode 3, "Another Day in Paradise," to return to the titular underground city and take stock of the bulk of the remaining players.

Overall, it's a perfect triptych approach to get us back in the "Paradise" rhythm and an impressive show of confidence from a creative team ready to take the next step.

It isn't every day that a popular show returns with a flashing neon light all but announcing that its newly-added characters are worth paying attention to, but we respect the hustle. In an era of streaming slop that renders one series basically indiscernible from any other, "Paradise" season 2 finds a way to break through the noise and grab our attention — even if it isn't quite how we expected. The premiere begins with the show's usual flashback storytelling, albeit this time taking us back before that super volcano erupted and effectively ended the world.

Meet Annie, one half of the season's newest duo. Portrayed by actor Alora Brooke Johnson in the flashbacks and Shailene Woodley in the present day (or near-present), she transforms before our very eyes from a grief-stricken loner to a resourceful survivor who's ideally situated to survive the winter that takes out two-thirds of the United States population ... those unlucky enough not to make it to the top-secret Colorado bunker, that is. But when she crosses paths with Thomas Doherty's Link, the suspiciously nice fellow survivor who invades her Graceland hideout (Elvis hopefully doesn't mind), she slowly learns to trust people again. Sadly, her fears win out in the end, and she refuses to accompany her new lover on his mission. But the fact that she learns of his plan to track down that bunker with his group of followers only adds to the tension when she comes across Xavier.

With every reason to mistrust this stranger who crash-lands in her backyard, Annie is bound to have some growing pains with Xavier in the early going. Meanwhile, Link will inevitably reappear down the line. It should be fascinating to see how this all comes together.

Ever since the moment Xavier literally flew out of the show's main storyline and landed in an entirely new one, "Paradise" essentially threw down the gauntlet and took up the challenge of having to navigate three completely separate arcs this season and bring them back together by the end. For now, the first three episodes tease a scenario where all our disparate characters are off on their own unique adventures. Xavier and Annie will almost certainly have to come together and embark on quite a journey — first to find Xavier's wife, Teri (Enuka Okuma), and then onwards to Colorado. At the same time, Link and his followers are clearly set on arriving at that bunker to find someone named "Alex" for reasons unknown. All of this is happening while our tech antagonist Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) must clean up her own mess inside the bunker, which was left in quite the state of disarray following the events of season 1.

It's a tough task for any series to handle, let alone one with as many juggling genres and tones as "Paradise." Season 1 was able to ride its early, game-changing plot twist and use it as momentum for a story that frequently left us guessing. Season 2 will have to dig into its bag of tricks and come up with something new and exciting. Based on the early returns, the show's writers are feeling confident about making lightning strike twice and keeping viewers invested in this twisty saga. With a capable cast and almost endless places to take the action next, "Paradise" has everything in its favor to keep us seated and invested throughout the next several weeks.

New episodes of "Paradise" stream on Hulu every Monday.