Why Link In Paradise Season 2 Looks So Familiar

Spoilers ahead for "Paradise" season 2, episodes 1-3.

The wait is finally over, "Paradise"-heads! Dan Fogelman's hit post-apocalyptic thriller series is back, with "Paradise" season 2 serving as a messy but emotional return for the show. However, while season 1 ended with Sterling K. Brown's Xavier Collins setting off in a plane to explore the surface world in search of his wife, that's not where season 2 begins.

Instead, the season 2 premiere, "Graceland," introduces Annie (Shailene Woodley), a woman who survives the world-ending catastrophe that set season 1's plot in motion by hiding in the well-stocked interiors of Graceland. Annie's quiet, sheltered existence is then threatened when a fellow survivor named Link (Thomas Doherty) and his various allies suddenly show up. But while Annie and Link don't get along well at first, the two eventually form a tender, romantic connection.

Woodley, of course, requires no introduction, given her starring roles in popular YA film adaptations like "The Fault in Our Stars" and the "Divergent" trilogy. But before she gained wider recognition, she broke out thanks to her turn in the TV show "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and has since worked on projects ranging from HBO's critical darling "Big Little Lies" to the crime thriller movie flop turned Netflix chart-topper "To Catch a Killer."

As for Doherty? Well, if you've seen director Kenny Ortega's musical fantasy Disney Channel movie "Descendants 2," you might recall that he played Harry Hook, the son of Captain James Hook from "Peter Pan." The actor even reprised his role in 2019's "Descendants 3," the third installment in the Mouse House's popular franchise. After that, Doherty appeared in "Legacies" season 2 as the vampire Sebastian, although he didn't return to the since canceled "Vampire Diaries" spin-off for its final two seasons.

Between "Legacies" and "Paradise," Thomas Doherty also starred in HBO Max's "Gossip Girl" reboot series, in which he plays Max Wolfe, the self-proclaimed "debonair" and "habitual pleasure seeker" who is always up for a good time. Alternatively, you may know him from 2022's "The Invitation," a supernatural horror flick that serves up some convincing (if predictable) scares within a contained setting. Meanwhile, those who watch the recently concluded Hulu drama series "Tell Me Lies" might recognize him for playing the character Leo on that show.

In "Paradise" season 2, Doherty's Link appears to be an ambitious young man searching for the truth, having hatched an elaborate plan to find the much-ballyhooed underground bunker in Colorado. So far, though, we've only gotten to see him from Annie's perspective. Indeed, Annie's decision to form an intimate connection with Link marks a major turning point for her, as it underlines her eagerness to trust a stranger — a luxury she hasn't been able to afford all her life. Hence, it's pretty heartbreaking when Annie refuses to join Link and his associates on their journey into the vast and chaotic unknown of the post-apocalyptic surface (preferring the relative safety of Graceland instead).

Complicating matters even further, Link is currently unaware that Annie is pregnant with his child. With Link determined to locate the Colorado bunker, this also raises more questions about his true intentions. As much as Annie comes to care for him, she might not understand Link as much as she would like to think. Will his indomitable will to survive clash with Xavier's goals, along with those of everybody else inside the heavily-armed Paradise? Only time will tell.

"Paradise" is streaming on Hulu.