Paradise: the end of season 2 explained, while waiting for season 3

The mysterious Disney + series has just rocked. While the final chapter has already been ordered, here is what you need to understand about this last episode full of surprises.

Season 2 of Paradise ends with a massive twist, which completely redefines the issues of the series… and paves the way for a season 3 already announced as the last.

Spoiler alert!

In the final episode, Exodus, the truth comes out: “Alex”, whom Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) was secretly keeping, is not a person… but a quantum supercomputer driven by an AI, capable of manipulating time. A creation born before the collapse of the world, designed by Link – actually Dylan (Thomas Doherty). The final confrontation, combined with technological and bureaucratic chaos, causes the bunker to collapse, a mass evacuation… and a nuclear explosion inside Paradise itself. Sinatra sacrifices himself to contain the catastrophe. But she seems strangely calm. For what ? Because she is convinced that Alex will make it possible to go back and correct everything. Before disappearing, she even reveals that Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) is destined to activate the machine… and save the world.

Behind this twist, Paradise fully shifts into science fiction. A turn assumed in the Los Angeles Times by the creator Dan Fogelman, who prefers not to go into too much scientific detail of his story: “Oh my God, don’t ask me to explain it. You have to see with my screenwriters who are smarter than me. They really went to Caltech and conducted in-depth research on the subject.” He nevertheless clarifies the central idea:

“These computers are progressing today at a speed that has nothing to do with that of past technological developments. They will become so fast that they will no longer be able to be guided by anyone but themselves.”

And the key question arises: “What happens when the only way for a machine to continue to improve is to do it on its own?”

A dizzying logic that places Alex at the center of the sequel: “It’s at the heart of what we’re telling.” And Fogelman insists on the almost incomprehensible aspect of this technology: “There are things that the human brain will never be able to understand.” To illustrate, he offers a disturbing image: “Imagine an escalator that takes you up, but once you get to the top, you find yourself at the bottom. Your brain can’t imagine it.” A way of approaching notions like time, multiple realities and all these science fiction ideas which are becoming, according to him, more and more plausible: “These are no longer just fictional concepts…”

Obviously, the series opens the door to the multiverse. A playground mentioned by Sterling K. Brown himself in Variety: “I think it’s Dan’s way of exploring the multiverse.” The actor cites his credentials: “The first time it really fascinated me was with Back to the Future. Marvel did it, so did Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse… and Everything Everywhere All at Once is more real than people think.” And he asks the central question: “What do we really want? Go back? Go forward? Or is it too mysterious to touch?”

This is precisely where season 3 will play out. And Xavier is not ready. As Dan Fogelman explains: “He has just found his family… and a slightly crazy billionaire tells him that 150 kilometers away, under the Denver airport, there is an incomprehensible thing…” It’s difficult to rush in headlong: “It’s not the kind of situation where you leave the next day.” The whole season will therefore be based on this hesitation: “What does he do with this information? Does he resist?” And if he accepts: “How does he get there? And what happens next?”

Especially since the world of Paradise is now in pieces. Tens of thousands of survivors are scattered, without a clear leader. Sterling K. Brown explains:

“There are the 10,000 people with Link, the 20,000 in the bunker… There is no central authority anymore. Do they continue their mission to destroy Alex? Do they change their objective? Is Alex that important? Do people stay together or go their separate ways? There will be several groups, and we will all follow them.”

One thing is certain: Alex will be the heart of the final season. Both ultimate hope… and absolute threat. Season 3 of Paradise has already been ordered and will conclude the story. No release date yet.