Paradise not only revealed two huge cast additions for season 3, but the series is getting a stunning new setting for the sci-fi drama. It's literally out of this world.
Paradise creator Dan Fogelman posted the first image on Instagram for season 3, and it featured two major revelations. The first is brand new cast members Elijah Wood and Melissa Benoist. The second is that they appear to be astronauts.
Fogelman added the line, “You have no idea where this thing is going. #Paradise." The comments section had Krys Marshalls (who played the doomed Secret Service agent Robinson) joking, “Dan can't keep a secret to save his life!"
From its beginning, Paradise has been throwing viewers with huge surprises. It began with the pilot ending with the revelation that this seemingly idyllic town was actually an underground bunker housing the survivors of a mass extinction event that hit Earth. It’s continued, with plenty of twists and turns, as the series has embraced its full science-fiction origins.
Season 2 ended with the bunker destroyed, only for Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) to lead most of the populace into the outside and tell them a secondary bunker was out there with a quantum computer that could somehow “stop all of this.” Meanwhile, Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) was using the strange super-computer Alex, which indicated that, somehow, rebel leader Link was her long-dead son (it’s complicated) before she was seemingly crushed in the falling bunker.
That left fans excited for a third season to continue the wild turns.
The sight of Wood and Benoist is a major boost to Paradise’s already impressive cast. Wood, of course, has carved out a long career in movies and television from his iconic turn as Frodo in The Lord of the Rings saga to TV shows like Yellowjackets.
Benoist had her breakout on Glee before a star-making turn as the CW’s Supergirl. She’s followed that with roles in The Girls in the Bus and The Waterfront. Both are good additions to the show, although it’s unsure if they’re going to be in multiple episodes or just one, like Shailene Woodley in the season 2 premiere.
The bigger question is what the space setting means for season 3.
Paradise is going into space in season 3
Obviously, the mystery of how Benoist and Wood fit into the saga is compelling. The obvious idea is that they’re astronauts who were in space on “The Day” when the climate event that wiped out much of the surface happened. It’d be a compelling premise to show how they reacted to the chaos and survived the aftermath.
Another intriguing idea is that this is a flash-forward to the future, hinting that humanity survives and eventually leaves Earth. That may seem crazy, but then the show is hinting that time travel is now a thing and perhaps even alternate universes, such as one where The Day never happened.
This may be all tied into a key season 2 subplot. A flashback explained that much of Sinatra’s actions were driven by a scientist warning her that after the initial climate disaster, Earth would seem to slowly recover, only for the atmosphere to become like Venus and kill all life. These space-goers may be part of finding a solution to this problem.
Those questions will no doubt have some crazy answers as Paradise looks to end with a third season that always keeps viewers guessing!
Watch the first two seasons of Paradise on Hulu.
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