Hulu’s Sci-Fi Thriller Masterpiece Deserves Its Streaming Success

The science-fiction thriller series Paradise, which is in the midst of releasing new season 2 episodes on Hulu, fully deserves its streaming success. Before the January 2025 debut, the Dan Fogelman-created show was marketed as a political mystery thriller in which Secret Service Agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) investigates the death of President Cal Bradford (James Marsden).

By the end of the pilot episode, it becomes clear that this premise is only the tip of the iceberg following the reveal that the present-day story is set in a seemingly utopian city in an underground bunker after a global apocalyptic disaster. Paradise season 1’s ending once again reframes the show by having Xavier leave the bunker and head to the surface to find his wife, Dr. Teri Rogers-Collins (Enuka Okuma), and subscribers are now tuning into the new episodes both worldwide and in the United States.

Paradise Is The #1 Show In The US & #2 Worldwide

As of this writing, Paradise is the number one series in Hulu’s top TV shows, where it is outperforming Love Story, The Rookie, General Hospital, Grey’s Anatomy, 9-1-1, Family Guy, and the new Patrick Dempsey series Memory of a Killer. Worldwide, it is in second place on the streaming charts, only behind Love Story and ahead of the Scrubs revival and The Beauty.

Season 2 of the science-fiction thriller kicked off with a three-episode premiere on February 23. Episode 1 primarily focuses on two new additions to Paradise‘s cast of characters, Annie (Shailene Woodley) and Link (Thomas Doherty), who have been surviving on the surface since the apocalyptic disaster. Episode 2 brings the story back to Xavier and the journey to his wife, while episode 3 returns to the bunker and the characters who remain there. Following the season’s three-episode premiere, one new episode is being released weekly, but fewer episodes being released at once has not diminished the show’s streaming dominance.

Paradise Is More Than A Sci-Fi Thriller

While there are many entertaining science-fiction thrillers available to stream, what sets Paradise apart is how it balances numerous genres with a heartfelt, surprisingly hopeful, and character-driven story. So far, the series has deftly weaved between its dystopian setting, the murder mystery surrounding Cal, the political machinations of Samantha “Sinatra” Redmond, and a family drama for Xavier and those close to him. Season 2 has now thrown gritty post-apocalyptic survival, almost akin to HBO’s The Last of Us, into the mix with the journeys of Annie, Link, and Xavier on the surface, and the sci-fi is also being further heightened with Sinatra’s mysterious and potentially world-changing secret technology.

For most shows, this would be more than they could handle, but Paradise manages to make it all feel narratively and thematically cohesive, all while delivering surprising and earned plot twists. This cohesion is largely rooted in continually emphasizing how Xavier and many others choose to do the right thing and look out for one another, even in apocalyptic circumstances. Fogelman was previously the creator and showrunner of This Is Us, which also starred Brown in a prominent role, and much of that drama’s heart and humanity has been brought over to Paradise.

The series has always been compelling, but it is Paradise season 1, episode 7, “The Day” that fully cements the show as a masterpiece. As civilization is destroyed, Xavier, Cal, and other characters must make morally impossible decisions, but despite these circumstances, they both find a way to retain their humanity, especially with a decision that Cal makes. Season 2, episode 1 explores this same horrific day from the perspective of a civilian like Annie, building on everything that season 1 did well and continuing to ensure that Paradise is a masterpiece well worth streaming.

Paradise releases new episodes at 12:00 a.m. ET on Mondays.