Note: This story contains spoilers from “Paradise” Episode 8.
“Paradise” closed out its first season with several bombshells that Krys Marshall said will lead to some “ugly” confrontations in Season 2.
The Season 1 finale reveals Cal’s killer as Trent (Ian Merrigan), a librarian in Paradise who was recruited early on in the building process to manage the construction of the underground city. When he discovered that fumes from the site were killing the workers and was subsequently fired from the gig, he plotted his revenge against Cal, attempting to assassinate him once during his first term — which was thwarted by Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) — before successfully killing him in Paradise.
The mystery of Cal’s murder is untangled as Paradise is returned to its typical state, though an uprising is well on its way, led by Cal’s son Jeremy (Charlie Evans), who, armed with the tablet full of confidential information, spreads the word about the government’s lies. Meanwhile, Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) heads out into the unknown to search for his wife and other life, while Robinson (Marshall) holds down the fort down below and watches Xavier’s children.
“We realize that the government bodies who we were told would protect us are actually the ones that are keeping us the most unsafe,” Marshall told TheWrap. “They lied to us about people being alive on the surface. They lied to us about what would happen inside the bunker. We’ve been misled left and right, so I think the people are thinking about starting a revolution.”
Marshall added that the activities on Earth’s surface are now an “unknown quotient” after Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) covered up any evidence of remaining life.
“Who remains in this fallout zone? Do they mean us harm? How many are we talking about?” Marshall continued. “There’s just so many things that we don’t have answers for, and unfortunately, when mankind is up against the wall is when they act the ugliest — So I would assume it’s going to get ugly.”
Below, Marshall breaks down Robinson’s alliance with Xavier and reveals her hopes for Season 2.
TheWrap: What did you think of that killer reveal?
Marshall: It’s both the biggest shock and also the most obvious choice, because the person who killed the president is the person who’s tried to kill the president before. It was brilliantly played by Ian … I just loved seeing his physical evolution in the story — He must have worn six or seven different wigs throughout the time of playing that role.
Xavier and Robinson’s relationship has been rocky but now they seem pretty aligned. Is it an alliance you think is unbreakable?
At the start, these two people are completely at odds. Robinson doesn’t respect Xavier because he obviously has a disdain for the president … and Robinson doesn’t respect that he is very cold and very unkind to Cal and I think he doesn’t respect Robinson because she’s sleeping with her boss. So we don’t understand each other, we don’t respect each other and we certainly don’t like each other. Then as time goes on, circumstances make it so that we have nobody else to rely on but one another. I love the evolution of Xavier and Robinson’s working relationship and their friendship, so much so that by the end of the season, she’s the person he trusts the most and says, “look after my kids.” And she says, “done. I’m going to do that.” And I think that she will.
We get a little bit more insight into the night of the murder and Robinson’s relationship with Cal. What are your biggest insights about their relationship?
I think something really beautiful about their relationship is that it’s not just your typical office place romance — it’s not just some scandalous affair. These are two people who, under other circumstances, would be happy and be together. He confides in her. He tells her some classified information. He loves her, he respects her. As the season went on and I continued to read episodes, I saw the breadth of who these two people were and the and I wanted to do justice to that relationship and make it clear to the audience that this was not just some tawdry thing, that this is real love we’re talking about.
In the finale, even though Sinatra is down, Robinson says they better watch out for Sinatra or someone else in her place — who else does she see as a threat?
The threats are all over. Whether it’s Sinatra or it’s another menacing billionaire who takes her place, there is always going to be that juxtaposition of where extreme power and extreme influence connect. I would be curious to see if there’s not new characters that are introduced who would pose a threat and who could be dangerous or violent to the people who are living in Paradise.
At the end we see Xavier going into the unknown and it seems like Robinson might join him. Do you think we can expect her to join for the exploration?
I sure hope so. I think that they make a great pairing. We don’t know what Xavier faces on the Earth’s surface, if it’s going to be friendly, if it’ll be hostile. And right now, he’s entering it alone. So I would imagine he’ll have to make some friends real quick.
Robinson was pretty ruthless in Episode 7 — a version of her that is pretty different from who we meet in the present-day. How was it flashing back to that day of terror for the flashback episode?
It is exciting to play a version of her that is that is just fearless. We watch Cal start to buckle as he’s afraid of what the future holds and we see Xavier on the phone with his wife and jockeying trying to get the kids safe, and he’s starting to come apart. And I love that, in that moment, Robinson’s like, somebody has to hold this thing together, and it’s going to have to be me. In those moments of stress, you need somebody who keeps a level head, and unfortunately, maybe too level of a head because she blows that guy’s head off. I think it’s super fun and also exciting to see a woman, especially, play in an action story that way. You don’t often see it.
Did the reality of the climate crisis ever hit you during your work on the show?
I didn’t realize how immediate it all was, until our show is about to premiere, it’s early January, and the city of Los Angeles catches fire, and those days and the weeks following were so surreal. It felt both like a complete surprise and also like a really obvious eventual thing that was going to happen. It was as if everyone told us it would happen, and we just didn’t believe that it ever would. So I personally was evacuated from our home in Topanga for two weeks, which was frightening to go from hotel to hotel in L.A. and then those hotels being evacuated because the fires popped up in a new spot. I think that is the beauty and the curse of where art imitates life. We were warned, and we didn’t listen, and now we’re seeing in real time what happens when we don’t take care of our planet. My hope is that shows like ours, and shows that other shows that show climate crisis will influence individuals, but also corporations to change the ways in which they operate, change their policies around carbon emissions so that we don’t continue to heat the planet and essentially kill ourselves.
When is Season 2 starting to shoot?
I can’t say the date exactly, but it’s going to be really soon. I think that audiences will be able to see a second season soon.
What hopes do you have for your character next season?
I hope she doesn’t get killed, obviously. I’m excited to see the softer side of Robinson, which we got to see in a relationship with Cal. It would be lovely to see her in love again, maybe with someone else. And then my favorite Robinson is kick-ass Robinson — that is when I think she is on fire.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
All episodes of “Paradise” are now streaming on Hulu.