Paradise Season 2 Introduces The Best Villain Of 2026 So Far

Spoilers ahead for "Paradise" season 2, episode 5, "The Mailman."

Hulu's "Paradise" started with a simple yet intriguing mystery involving the assassination of a U.S. president, only for the show's premiere episode to deliver the best plot twist of 2025. As it turned out, the series really takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a supervolcano erupted in the Antarctic, triggering a tsunami hundreds of feet high and wreaking havoc on the planet. This also means that season 2 has been tasked with finding ways to keep surprising and engaging audiences after season 1 resolved all of its biggest mysteries.

Indeed, now that we know how the world ended, who murdered President Cal Bradford (James Marsden), and what's actually been happening in the aftermath of said volcanic eruption, the show has shifted gears. In many ways, "Paradise" has become even more of a Western than it was before, with season 2 mainly focusing on testing the series' hero, Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown), and his principles as he traverses the surface world in search of his wife, Teri (Enuka Okuma). Meanwhile, there's still the brewing conflict between Xavier and Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson), the billionaire who basically controls the sprawling "Paradise" doomsday bunker that season 1 took place in.

So far, every episode of season 2 has also felt like a Western in other respects. Most notably, it's been following Xavier as he travels from one post-apocalyptic frontier town to the next, bringing him face to face with all sorts of individuals who challenge his ideals. Season 2, episode 5, "The Mailman," even uses the Western trope of the friendly small-town civilian who ends up being a villain, and the result is the best TV antagonist of 2026 to date.

And that villain's name? Gary (Cameron Britton), the former mailman.

When we first meet Gary, he seems friendly enough. He even tells Xavier the tale of how he and his gaming buddy Ennis (Andy McQueen) formed a nice little community to survive the end of the world ... one that included Teri, no less.

Gary, however, isn't who he seems. He tells stories about Ennis becoming so spiteful over the thought of their group disbanding after it's safe to go outside that he sold Teri to another community. Except, that's not the truth. It's really Gary who was jealous when Teri figured out how to look for her family and obviously wanted to leave. Gary was in love with her, you see, and he's heartbroken by the notion of her abandoning him. When Ennis confronted Gary about this, the latter, in his anger, shot and killed his friend.

All along, then, it turns out Gary was a lying weasel and a coward who murdered his best friend in anger and grief. Why? Simply because he couldn't bear the thought of a married woman who never expressed feelings for him leaving to be with her real family. 

What makes Gary compelling is that his villainous behavior comes from a tragic place. He ultimately made a single, very bad decision, but it's marked him for life. He acted out of grief, and it's hard not to feel a little sorry for him, considering what he gained when the apocalypse began and how quickly he lost it all.

Nevertheless, the man is a murderer and is leading Xavier into who knows what sort of deadly trap. It's that duality and complexity of character that "Paradise" creator Dan Fogelman's shows excel at, and that remains the case here.

"Paradise" is currently streaming on Hulu.