The Paradise Season 2 Finale Gives Xavier A New Mission To Save The World

This post contains spoilers for Hulu's "Paradise."

"Paradise" kicks off its tense mystery with a presidential murder. After Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) becomes the prime suspect, he takes it upon himself to get to the bottom of this conspiracy. Just then, the world of "Paradise" opens up. We find ourselves in an underground bunker that seems to be the last refuge from an irradiated surface, but this claim is quickly challenged while Xavier's inches towards the truth. After spending most of season 2 searching for his presumed-to-be-dead wife, Teri (Enuka Okuma), Xavier is finally able to feel lighter after reuniting with her. While the guilt linked to Teri's fate during the extinction event will gradually fade, Xavier has now been tasked with yet another impossible mission. This time, he needs to save a world headed towards inevitable extinction.

The season 2 finale ended with Sinatra's (Julianne Nicholson) death, where she tries to make amends for the all the damage she has done over the years. Before sacrificing herself, Sinatra hands Xavier a chip with a code and the user named "X" etched on it. This chip has been provided by Alex, the quantum supercomputer that Sinatra had been secretly developing with a team of dedicated scientists. Using a handy flashback just like the best parts of season 1, "Paradise" establishes that a young Link (Thomas Doherty) had made the blueprint for Alex, which was then actualized with the help of quantum scientist Henry Miller (Patrick Fischler). Miller had warned Sinatra that Alex can manipulate time, but she interprets this as humanity's last hope in the face of total annihilation.

That said, how does Xavier fit into this? Xavier seems to be predestined to serve a greater purpose, which is yet to be revealed.

Season 2 plates up a shocking death during its halfway point when Annie (Shailene Woodley) dies after childbirth. It is no coincidence that Annie asks Xavier to take care of her and Link's baby, as their fates seem connected on a preternatural level. Alex's existence explains some of this phenomenon. If the supercomputer is already active in a future timeline, then it might be retroactively influencing events in the present, making sure that every character fulfills their purpose. Annie describes her final act of trust as Xavier's "holy charge," as it is proof of their brief but genuine friendship. Xavier shoulders the heavy burden of searching for the child's father, and he fulfills his promise to Annie in the season finale.

Now, Xavier has a new holy charge. Sinatra asks him to find Alex, who is in a second bunker under Denver Airport, waiting for Xavier to follow its instructions. Xavier's connection to Link has already been established with visions and nosebleeds — can we also expect similar visions involving Alex? We don't know why Xavier has been chosen, but such an impossible mission does seem tailored for someone like him. Even if we ignore retro-causality (where the future can influence the past via time-space manipulation), Xavier is the kind of person to take the weight of the world on his shoulders. Link also seems to exhibit a similar drive, although there might be more to his motivations than selfless altruism.

There's little reason for Xavier to venture out into the unknown again, except for the threat of the world actually ending this time around. Will Xavier Collins be able to keep up with the whims of a quantum supercomputer with an unclear moral alignment? Only time will tell.