Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
4.5
There’s no show doing it quite like Paradise.
I must sound like a broken record at this point, but it’s fascinating watching the stories develop on this Hulu hit, which is getting a second window on ABC.
Paradise Season 1 Episode 5 was an intricately plotted, rare episode of television, in which every scene had a significant meaning in the grand scheme of things.
Answers and set-up for the rest of the series is a good strategy, but the ensemble of actors is genuinely some of the best in the business.
Cal’s Past Is Revealed on Paradise Season 1 Episode 5
We’ll start with Cal and his realization that he wasn’t as powerful as the president of Paradise as he was led to believe.
I’ve been waiting for answers about the fraught dynamic between him and his father, Kane, for a while.
But nothing could prepare me for how cold-as-ice Kane was to his son in 1997.
Parents have certain expectations of their children, but Kane cared more about his son being told where to go rather than giving his offspring autonomy.
From a young age, these expectations were placed on Cal about where he would end up, and he was forced into some questionable situations to make his father happy.
That isn’t very nice, but it’s reason enough to explain why there isn’t much of a father-son dynamic in the flashbacks.
Cal knew he didn’t want to run for office and had very different aspirations, so it’s a shame that Kane didn’t support him and was more interested in his son following his agenda.
Now that we’ve examined that relationship, it’s easier to understand the colossal events that led to Cal’s demise.
James Marsden has brought nuance and depth to a man who, on the surface, struggled to find much of an identity because he was forced to suppress so much of his wants and needs.
Mentally, that must have taken an enormous toll. A part of Cal always knew there was more going on than he was privy to, and the restricted files on the tablet were the catalyst for him to ask more questions.
I can’t even comprehend the betrayal he must have felt when his father had more clearance to these files than he did. But Cal’s curiosity ultimately led to his demise.
There had to be a reason why he told Gabriela to watch out for Billy, and hearing Sinatra tell Billy to kill everyone on the ship or he wouldn’t be granted safe passage back to Paradise must have been a bitter pill to swallow.
Cal likely already had some preconceived notions about Billy, but his thoughts at that moment were that he was a cold-blooded killer.
Cal Could Have Worked Smarter to Stay Alive
Had Cal stopped to think longer and harder about the person handing out the order, he might have found a way to work with Billy to take Sinatra down.
I’m unsure what to make of Cal confronting Sinatra because knowing how cutthroat she was should have been reason enough for him to approach the situation more carefully.
Did he think that his father’s status would keep him alive? That’s the only thing I can take from it, but either way, Sinatra would never allow Cal to remain in any position of power because he was a threat.
I don’t doubt that Sinatra gave someone the order to slay the president, but the big question is who?
Billy was her right-hand man in many deadly situations, but he’d have left something to say if he had committed the crime for Xavier.
Jane is a possibility, but there hasn’t been enough emphasis on her beyond her killing Billy at the end of Paradise Season 1 Episode 4.
Then there’s the Presley of it all. The moment Kane said he saw her the night of Cal’s murder, it was evident that she was at the residence that night.
The twist of her having the tablet everyone has been desperately searching for is a great way to up the stakes as we delve into the final three episodes of the season, but I doubt she carried out the killing.
If anything, she showed up there looking for Xavier and saw something she wished she hadn’t, but what?
Presley Is an Interesting Layer of the Narrative
Immersing Presley more in the mystery is a decent idea because Xavier must be more assertive to keep his family out of Sinatra’s crosshairs.
Then again, the episode-ending development of Xavier getting the message into the sky will surely raise many questions from the townsfolk.
Sinatra knows Xavier made that call because he glared into the camera at her right before it happened. She’ll take that as a “f–k you” and react with fire and fury.
She’s made it all these years without being called out publicly, but what will she do when all of her lies begin unraveling? That’s the Sinatra I want to see.
That’s all I got, Paradise Fanatics! What are your thoughts on Presley’s involvement in taking the tablet? What do you think of Cal’s final days? Do you think his father is worse than we’ve already witnessed? Finally, what do you think Sinatra will do next?
Hit the comments below.
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