Paradise 2.06 + 2.07
Mar. 23rd, 2026 04:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn the former, Jane sees herself as Alice to Sinatra's Luther, while in the later, Sinatra is informed it all comes down to Vader and Luke.
You know, it does occur to me that Xavier Collins who was the main character in the first season actually is one of the least important ones in the second. I don't mean that as a criticism, much as I enjoyed him in the first season. The show does compensate for this in a variety of interesting ways. But in the first season, his quest first to find out who really killed Cal and clear himself, and then to uncover Sinatra's machinations (and still find out who killed Cal, since it wasn't her) was instrumental in driving the plot forward. Whereas in the second season, his quest for Teri more or less happens on the sidelines and is important only in connecting various plot lines that introduced the show to survivors outside the bunker. He doesn't know anything about "Alex", this season's mystery both within and outside the bunker, and if there is a main character in s2 - which is even more ensemble-tastic than s1 was - it's our prime antagonist/antiheroine Sinatra, whose actions and decisions are not the only thing keeping the plot moving but which are crucial to it.
(I also suspect the main point of Gary's existence was to drag out the reunion between Xavier and Teri so their return to Colorado can be synchronized with events there. This said, it did fit with a main theme of the season about people's capacity for goodness even in desperate circumstances in that Teri doesn't let Xavier just shoot Gary despite Gary's own killing of his friend but talks Gary out of suicide by Xavier and resolves the situation in a non-lethal and peaceful way.)
The flashbacks to the life and tiimes of Jane in 2.06 flesh her out a bit as a child whose mother never connected with her from birth onward and was cold to abusive, coupling her budding sociopathy with a need for the approval of mother figures, a box checked by first her trainer in the CIA and later Sinatra , who comes surprisingly clean about remembering exactly what Jane said and did in the s1 finale and point blank asks her what it is Jane needs her for. Turns out Jane needs a purpose to her killings, given to her by people she respects, which are few. (Unless she's lying, but there is no sense of that in the episode, whereas we see her observe Sinatra with her daughter in wistful envy.) As with previous episodes this season, there are hints about timey-wimey goings on via a prophecy delivered in mechanical means that doesn't speak of Jame by name but is taken to refer to her (I'm always distrustful if a name isn't given, that screams Delphic Oracle style ambigiuity). I think the episode doesn't try to present Jane as more sinned against than sinning, Billy style, but it does give her a bit more emotional depth than just "ruthless killer". What did throw me was Gabriella, who was told by the imprisoned Robinson she visited that Jane was responsible for three of the deaths so far and to watch out for her, then goes off to face a ruthless killer unarmed and tells her she will stop her boss. I mean - what even? Who does that? It would perhaps make sense if Gabriella were 100% certain Jane wouldn't kill her on sight because Jane kills on order, not spontanously, but a) she doesn't know much if anything about Jane to make that call, and b)it still strikes me as insanely stupid and I'm not on board with the narrative rewarding her for it in the next episode.
Anyway, the next episode which I first assumed was the finale ending on a cliffhanger until I remembered it was episode 7 of the season, meaning there is still one to go, has Jane near the end of it and at least a day or two later after that threat show up at Gabriella's house only to be surprised and attacked, possibly killed, by Gabriella, and if I am supposed to assume this was a cunning trap on the later's part, I am not quite clear how.
Meanwhile in Atlanta: Teri and Xavier at last reuinite, and the Gary plotline is thematically justified, see above, by Teri refusing to let Xavier take him out by gun shot, instead successfully talking him down and resolving the situation peacefully. Also, she and Xavier catch up on each other's recently adopted kids. All these scenes were well played, but the meat of the episode were clearly the Sinatra (and Link) scenes, though before I get to them: Jeremy has been a self righteous jerk all season, so I did enjoy Robinson taking him down a peg verbally while setting in motion the seasonal doomsday scenario which as this episode's Cal-backs (come on, they have flashbacks starring Cal in nearly every episode this season, Cal-back is the obvious term) informs us is the horror of the bunker system confronted with two emergencies at once: a complete lockdown order and a "open all doors because oxygen deprivation" order.
Now, about Sinatra. In case we overlooked all the previous hints this season, the episode and the previouslies bring back again the traumatic loss of her son Dylan which started her road from Sam(antha) into Sinatra. There have been speculations about the true identity of Link since he showed up in the first episode focused on the late (grrr, sniff) Annie, and again when was revealed to have been the assistant of the scientist Sinatra had killed to acquire his technology (which most likely is called Alex after the scientist's dead wife) for her project. Eveyone who guessed he might be Sinatra's son from another timeline when the kid did not die (the timeline Sinatra is evidently trying to achieve/create somehow): congratulations! This episode proves you right. (Though we don't know how exactly it works. BTW, since Sinatra's goals re: Alex so far seem to be towfold - a) avoid the planet Earth becoming planet Venus like in a few years due to the long term effect of the earlier disaster(s), and b) get her son back from the dead, I bet she will have to make a choice - either one or the other, but not both. Now, the confrontation with Link is really is a fantastic scene, even before the final punchline that allows her to figure out who he has to be, because these are two smart people at opposite sides and with diametrically opposing goals clearly getting each other on a basic level . The episode itself had me wonder whether Link knew coming in because he made that "it all comes down to Luke and Vader - you're Vader, by the way" statement, but then I watched the podcast for the episode and the actor said that in this episode, in which case Link/Dylan is clearly less Star Wars attuned than the writers. In any event, whatever Link's state of knowledge, Sinatra figures it out not from the Luke/Vader comparison (whereas she did get Cal's Lord of the Rings allusion in the Cal-back, so clearly, Tolkien is more her thing than SW) but from his buddy using Link's true name (i.e. Dylan) whereupon she makes him tell her his birthday.
As the episode ends with the lockdown/open sesame contradictions and the three nuclear reactors in the bunker in danger of going kablooey as a result while Sinatra finally leads us to "Alex", I first assumed we'd have to wait for the next season before, see above, realising there is another episode to go. So, again, my speculation: no, the bunker will not explode or be otherwise rendered unusuable, but the doors will be permanently open, which will create a completely new status quo for both the world outside and Paradise. Sinatra who now thinks the existence of Link/Dylan proves she was on the right track all along and has, in fact, already suceeded in creating another parallel timeline will find out that she can have either the world saved or her son existing but not both. She may take a Buffy in season 5 type third opition (i.e. sacrifice her own life to save both her son and the world), which the Vaderand Luke comparison could indicate as well, but that would mean the show would kill off arguably its most compelling character, and I don't see them doing that unless they know they won't get another season. If this season by contrast is written on the assumption there will be a season 3, I think Sinatra might not get a third option but will have to make the cruelest choice, which will be revealing in so many ways. Because her entire self justification so far has been that she truly believes her way is the only way to save humanity and that this justifies every ruthless ploy so far. If otoh she's willing to doom the rest of the world as long as her son can live, than she no longer has that. If she does sacrifice her son to save the rest of the world, otoh, it also would destroy a key hope she's had so far. Either way: monumental character revealing decision ahead.
Now, because Xavier is still ourl hero, I am pretty sure he and Teri with the baby who is after all Sinatra's unexected grandkid will show up in time to either (if Sinatra picks her son over the world) to save the world, or (if she picks the world above her son) to stop her from dying as well. (Unless they're really killing her off because the show ends, in which case they'll arrive to watch her die.) Those are my finale guesses.
You know, it does occur to me that Xavier Collins who was the main character in the first season actually is one of the least important ones in the second. I don't mean that as a criticism, much as I enjoyed him in the first season. The show does compensate for this in a variety of interesting ways. But in the first season, his quest first to find out who really killed Cal and clear himself, and then to uncover Sinatra's machinations (and still find out who killed Cal, since it wasn't her) was instrumental in driving the plot forward. Whereas in the second season, his quest for Teri more or less happens on the sidelines and is important only in connecting various plot lines that introduced the show to survivors outside the bunker. He doesn't know anything about "Alex", this season's mystery both within and outside the bunker, and if there is a main character in s2 - which is even more ensemble-tastic than s1 was - it's our prime antagonist/antiheroine Sinatra, whose actions and decisions are not the only thing keeping the plot moving but which are crucial to it.
(I also suspect the main point of Gary's existence was to drag out the reunion between Xavier and Teri so their return to Colorado can be synchronized with events there. This said, it did fit with a main theme of the season about people's capacity for goodness even in desperate circumstances in that Teri doesn't let Xavier just shoot Gary despite Gary's own killing of his friend but talks Gary out of suicide by Xavier and resolves the situation in a non-lethal and peaceful way.)
The flashbacks to the life and tiimes of Jane in 2.06 flesh her out a bit as a child whose mother never connected with her from birth onward and was cold to abusive, coupling her budding sociopathy with a need for the approval of mother figures, a box checked by first her trainer in the CIA and later Sinatra , who comes surprisingly clean about remembering exactly what Jane said and did in the s1 finale and point blank asks her what it is Jane needs her for. Turns out Jane needs a purpose to her killings, given to her by people she respects, which are few. (Unless she's lying, but there is no sense of that in the episode, whereas we see her observe Sinatra with her daughter in wistful envy.) As with previous episodes this season, there are hints about timey-wimey goings on via a prophecy delivered in mechanical means that doesn't speak of Jame by name but is taken to refer to her (I'm always distrustful if a name isn't given, that screams Delphic Oracle style ambigiuity). I think the episode doesn't try to present Jane as more sinned against than sinning, Billy style, but it does give her a bit more emotional depth than just "ruthless killer". What did throw me was Gabriella, who was told by the imprisoned Robinson she visited that Jane was responsible for three of the deaths so far and to watch out for her, then goes off to face a ruthless killer unarmed and tells her she will stop her boss. I mean - what even? Who does that? It would perhaps make sense if Gabriella were 100% certain Jane wouldn't kill her on sight because Jane kills on order, not spontanously, but a) she doesn't know much if anything about Jane to make that call, and b)it still strikes me as insanely stupid and I'm not on board with the narrative rewarding her for it in the next episode.
Anyway, the next episode which I first assumed was the finale ending on a cliffhanger until I remembered it was episode 7 of the season, meaning there is still one to go, has Jane near the end of it and at least a day or two later after that threat show up at Gabriella's house only to be surprised and attacked, possibly killed, by Gabriella, and if I am supposed to assume this was a cunning trap on the later's part, I am not quite clear how.
Meanwhile in Atlanta: Teri and Xavier at last reuinite, and the Gary plotline is thematically justified, see above, by Teri refusing to let Xavier take him out by gun shot, instead successfully talking him down and resolving the situation peacefully. Also, she and Xavier catch up on each other's recently adopted kids. All these scenes were well played, but the meat of the episode were clearly the Sinatra (and Link) scenes, though before I get to them: Jeremy has been a self righteous jerk all season, so I did enjoy Robinson taking him down a peg verbally while setting in motion the seasonal doomsday scenario which as this episode's Cal-backs (come on, they have flashbacks starring Cal in nearly every episode this season, Cal-back is the obvious term) informs us is the horror of the bunker system confronted with two emergencies at once: a complete lockdown order and a "open all doors because oxygen deprivation" order.
Now, about Sinatra. In case we overlooked all the previous hints this season, the episode and the previouslies bring back again the traumatic loss of her son Dylan which started her road from Sam(antha) into Sinatra. There have been speculations about the true identity of Link since he showed up in the first episode focused on the late (grrr, sniff) Annie, and again when was revealed to have been the assistant of the scientist Sinatra had killed to acquire his technology (which most likely is called Alex after the scientist's dead wife) for her project. Eveyone who guessed he might be Sinatra's son from another timeline when the kid did not die (the timeline Sinatra is evidently trying to achieve/create somehow): congratulations! This episode proves you right. (Though we don't know how exactly it works. BTW, since Sinatra's goals re: Alex so far seem to be towfold - a) avoid the planet Earth becoming planet Venus like in a few years due to the long term effect of the earlier disaster(s), and b) get her son back from the dead, I bet she will have to make a choice - either one or the other, but not both. Now, the confrontation with Link is really is a fantastic scene, even before the final punchline that allows her to figure out who he has to be, because these are two smart people at opposite sides and with diametrically opposing goals clearly getting each other on a basic level . The episode itself had me wonder whether Link knew coming in because he made that "it all comes down to Luke and Vader - you're Vader, by the way" statement, but then I watched the podcast for the episode and the actor said that in this episode, in which case Link/Dylan is clearly less Star Wars attuned than the writers. In any event, whatever Link's state of knowledge, Sinatra figures it out not from the Luke/Vader comparison (whereas she did get Cal's Lord of the Rings allusion in the Cal-back, so clearly, Tolkien is more her thing than SW) but from his buddy using Link's true name (i.e. Dylan) whereupon she makes him tell her his birthday.
As the episode ends with the lockdown/open sesame contradictions and the three nuclear reactors in the bunker in danger of going kablooey as a result while Sinatra finally leads us to "Alex", I first assumed we'd have to wait for the next season before, see above, realising there is another episode to go. So, again, my speculation: no, the bunker will not explode or be otherwise rendered unusuable, but the doors will be permanently open, which will create a completely new status quo for both the world outside and Paradise. Sinatra who now thinks the existence of Link/Dylan proves she was on the right track all along and has, in fact, already suceeded in creating another parallel timeline will find out that she can have either the world saved or her son existing but not both. She may take a Buffy in season 5 type third opition (i.e. sacrifice her own life to save both her son and the world), which the Vaderand Luke comparison could indicate as well, but that would mean the show would kill off arguably its most compelling character, and I don't see them doing that unless they know they won't get another season. If this season by contrast is written on the assumption there will be a season 3, I think Sinatra might not get a third option but will have to make the cruelest choice, which will be revealing in so many ways. Because her entire self justification so far has been that she truly believes her way is the only way to save humanity and that this justifies every ruthless ploy so far. If otoh she's willing to doom the rest of the world as long as her son can live, than she no longer has that. If she does sacrifice her son to save the rest of the world, otoh, it also would destroy a key hope she's had so far. Either way: monumental character revealing decision ahead.
Now, because Xavier is still ourl hero, I am pretty sure he and Teri with the baby who is after all Sinatra's unexected grandkid will show up in time to either (if Sinatra picks her son over the world) to save the world, or (if she picks the world above her son) to stop her from dying as well. (Unless they're really killing her off because the show ends, in which case they'll arrive to watch her die.) Those are my finale guesses.
