“Paradise” is a sensation. It is the show of 2025 (thus far). Jump on X, Facebook, Bluesky or TikTok, and you’ll find Black folks discussing it. It could be because Sterling K. Brown is in it…but let’s be honest: The real reason this show has captured Black America’s attention is because of the bonkers, unbelievable, preposterous, yet delicious twists that happen nearly every episode.
It is nearly impossible to talk about what’s happening in the show without, well, talking about what’s happening. So, if you’re too focused on what’s going on with Cardi B and Offset and don’t know what I’m talking about, understand that there are serious, major, gigantic spoilers ahead. Stop reading, log on to Hulu, watch it and come back.
Again. I’m warning you. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Alright so...real quick rundown: Something happened and people are forced to live in an underground bunker. President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) and a select few are all that’s left of humanity…we are led to believe for much of this first season. The president is killed, and it looks like the woman who designed the bunker is behind it, but turns out that she was not behind the assassination and someone outside the bunker is behind the killing. TWIST! There are people outside the bunker.
Brown plays secret service agent Xavier Collins, who is beloved by Cal. He is the one who finds the President dead. Collins is grieving the wife that he thought died because she was not able to make it to the bunker, but (TWIST!) she is apparently alive.
There is more going on, but that’s the gist. Now, I have many questions. How did the wife survive? Where is she? What’s the state of the world after the catastrophe? Did the Wu-Tang Clan survive, and will they still be able to do their final tour?
All legitimate questions. But the one that’s burning a hole in my soul is simple. Maybe it’s my love of Whodunnits…but who killed the president!?
I have two theories. One is fun to think about. The other is absolutely what happened. If I’m wrong…well, I’m not wrong.
Theory 1: Kane killed Cal
Cal brought his father, a vicious man named Kane who is suffering from dementia, into the bunker with him. It could be that something happened between the two men and in a fit of rage and confusion, the father killed the son…but that’s too simple.
The show is soap opera adjacent, so this would fit if they wanted to go for that. But honestly, that is too easy to spot. I feel they are going to do an okie doke on us. So that leads me to theory number 2…
Theory 2: It was Marsha
In Episode 7, we meet Marsha a high-ranking official who worked with the President since his days in the Senate. She and her son are left behind, and the camera focuses on her story and her angered face as a helicopter takes off whisking away the important people but leaving her behind.
Why would we spend so much time with her in that episode? Why would they go to such great lengths to let us know her background? It’s because they are setting her up as the killer of the president and the primary antagonist (villain) of the second season.
I’m right about this. Trust me. All my theories are right. I am right about Michael Jordan being better than Lebron. And I’m right that to put sugar in grits is an abomination to the ancestors. We will find out tonight.