‘Paradise’ returns with higher stakes and new faces

“Paradise,” the dystopian political thriller starring Sterling K. Brown as secret service agent Xavier Collins, storms into its second season on Hulu on Monday with a deeper look at the mystery that drove humanity underground.

“The stakes are higher,” said Thomas Doherty, who joins the cast this season as Link, leader of a biker gang. He hopes audiences look past the explosions and action to the show’s emotional core.

“The show, to all of us — certainly me — is a human story, and it's very rooted in that,” he told Reuters at the Hollywood premiere on Wednesday.

Julianne Nicholson returns as antagonist Samantha “Sinatra” Redmond and Shailene Woodley joins the ensemble as a prominent survivor of the global catastrophe. Sarah Shahi and Aliyah Mastin return as Dr. Gabriela Torabi and Presley Collins, Xavier's daughter.

Collins’ hunt for the truth — and for his missing wife — drives Season 2 as the series widens its lens on the disaster that pushed survivors underground.

The broader look at the cataclysm prompted Shahi to draw real‑world parallels: “All you have to do is look around the world and see the state everyone’s in to go, ‘Maybe I should start thinking a little differently, and I should start preparing a little differently.’”

-Danielle Broadway/Reuters