From a classroom labeled Political Thriller 101, the series premiere of Hulu’s latest “Paradise” covers, almost entirely, a setup extracted from a grab bag of genre contemporaries encompassing the past century or so; when Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) enters the bedroom of United States President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) on an otherwise beautiful morning, the immediate discovery of Bradford‘s apparent murder kicks off a short-lived investigation prior to a complete lockdown of the premises as both Collins‘ team and the President’s inner circle attempt to ascertain what may have happened.  Various visual cues to suggest an inside job become impossible for the audience to miss, but as the day unfolds flashbacks delve into the genesis of the relationship between Bradford and Collins; Collins‘ initial job interview, where Bradford‘s persona reveals itself as somewhere between a George W. Bush and a toned-down Trump, soon leads to glimpses of their day-to-day eventually culminating in Collins thwarting an assassination attempt by an as-yet unknown individual who loudly proclaims his wish for the President to reveal “the truth.”  What might this “truth” entail?  The mistress seen entering his suite the night before Collins found our Commander-in-chief deceased?  A missing tablet from Bradford’s room, presumably loaded with secrets?  Turns out, the final minutes of Episode One, “Wildcat Is Down,” reveal the answer, and what started as something slightly uninspired becomes something entirely different.  From a storytelling perspective, this is the right move.
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Collins has difficulty sleeping. With two children in tow and a wife later revealed to have passed away, he can’t forgive the President for the event which led to his wife’s untimely death; in his own damning final words the night before discovering his boss laid out across his bedroom floor, he coldly intones how moving on might be possible when the man he’s supposed to protect is himself dead.  Unfortunately, as the last one to see Bradford alive, Episode Two sees Collins naturally labeled a prime suspect; as Collins, Brown allows for his character’s demons to sit on full display strewn across his sleeve, with the stoic demeanor signature of many a Secret Service officer disguising his anguish.  It’s a shell only Bradford seems capable of prying apart; Marsden, meanwhile, plays Bradford as if he’s a child now handed keys to a toy factory, with his post-presidential plans of extreme R&R already set.  There’s casual ra Bradford barely keeps contained, making for some unusual interaction with Collins and, again owing to the beleaguered agent’s stoicism, demonstrates the latter’s patience of a saint.
Episode Two, entitled “Sinatra,” also serves as a greater introduction to Samantha Redmond (Julianne Nicholson), carrying the nickname of the episode’s title; first seen in the premiere, it might not be hard to mistake her for the Vice President with the way she enters the scene of the crime and handles the developing situation.  Rather, Samantha has a history with Bradford, back when he was a senator and she was sitting on a vast fortune following the sale of her tech company.  One husband and two children later, a devastating event has pushed her into therapy when a speaker’s divisive presentation at a conference she and Bradford both find themselves attending serves to set the show’s greater events in motion.  Therapy acts as something of a character nestled alongside the rest of the richly drawn cast, with all having spent time on the couch at one point or another, and becomes an even greater plot component as Episode Three, “The Architect of Social Well-Being,” sees Collins reflect on his father, who stubbornly refused to give up his career as a pilot even as Parkinson’s decided for him.
‘Paradise’ creator Dan Fogelman, reuniting with his “This Is Us” star Brown, has crafted something beyond unique; by subverting expectations and providing answers to lingering questions before patience wears thin while subtly conjuring more, the suspense never begins to drift into “Lost” levels of frustration or overeager levels of anticipation.  Not once could one consider awarding this the label of “slow burn” rather than allowing the narrative to unfold at a pace to suggest the show’s figurative throttle lever sitting midway between the tortoise and the hare.  The cast never falters, even when Marsden plays with his accent in a way only Marsden could pull off; the everyman persona seen throughout much of his filmography steps aside for a character easily seen as eye-rolling from the jump but not without traces of a beating heart behind his college bro demeanor.

It’s not without issue.  Far from it, unfortunately; exposition bogs down various lines of dialogue more often than one might tolerate, and when a scene might be free of such a shortcoming does the writing sometimes begins to feel uninspired.  Meanwhile, it becomes clear Fogelman so enjoyed the time jump gimmick seen throughout “This Is Us” that he felt it necessary to load “Paradise” with its share of flashbacks and rug pulls that can’t help but feel exhaustive somewhat quickly. The clandestine romance between a character or two goes from a useable cog in the plot’s wheels to overused even before the season’s midpoint; oh, and the trope heard in many a theatrical trailer of the slow, ominous version of the ‘80s or ‘90s pop hit?  Be ready to hear one at the end of each episode.
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Fortunately, by devoting episodes to a specific character and using their backstory as a framework for the larger narrative, this tried-and-true developmental technique works here as well, with Episode Four, “Agent Billy Pace,” giving Collins’ Secret Service colleague of the same name his own time in the spotlight with a compelling look back at a difficult upbringing.  In sticking with what makes a good show great, it’s these moments that outpace the shortcomings and make “Paradise” something worth sticking with to see what other tricks it hides up its sleeve, and with nary an actor to be found delivering anything less than their absolute best, there’s more than enough here for audiences to wish for what some might consider their own form of paradise: a second season. [B+]
“Paradise arrives” on Hulu, ABC and FX with the first three episodes pe on Hulu on January 28