Following another death, Agent Collins embarks on a bold plan to expose the conspiracy.

If we need any reminding that Paradise wants us to take it seriously, this week’s episode title is a quotation from Lord Byron’s apocalyptic poem, Darkness, written in 1816 as a response to the ‘year without a summer’ following the massive eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia.

Throughout the episode the poem serves as a symbolic motif for the weight resting on all three generations of the presidential family. We explore the murdered president’s final days as he starts to realise the true nature of what has happened on his watch – and the significance not just in terms of his relationship with his authoritarian but ailing father (Gerald McRaney), but also in terms of what he is asking of his resentful son, Jeremy (Charlie Evens doing a good impression of Timothée Chalamet).

What makes Paradise such a compelling watch is not just that it’s a cracking post-apocalyptic whodunnit, but it is bold enough to take time to be a richly woven family drama into the bargain.

As for the whodunnit, I’m sure I’m not the only person shouting audibly at the screen: ‘No!! X!! You can’t trust her!!!’

Verdict: Paradise continues to be a carefully crafted fusion of high concept science-fiction with convincingly written character led mystery to make for a weekly dose of quality genre entertainment. And this week’s hook is a cracker! 8/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com