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S01.E01: Wildcat is Down

BetterButter

By BetterButter
in Paradise (Hulu)

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babyrambo

babyrambo

(edited)

Not bad. The dialogue was a bit rough, but pilots are always exposition heavy and the premise is promising. 

I guessed there would be a twist, because there always is these days, but even though they mentioned the mountain town, I didn’t expect it to pop up so soon.  

Could be interesting, if things don’t get too convoluted.

Sterling K Brown is a strong lead—that monologue at the end gave me major Randall vibes and now that I know it’s the same creator as This is Us, some of the writing quirks are obvious, though Paradise is less mawkishly emotional so far. I like the rest of the cast too. Interested to see what Sarah Shahi’s character does. She was great in Person of Interest but I haven’t been able to get into her other work so I hope she has a substantial role here. 

Edited by babyrambo
  • Like 4
chaifan

chaifan

(edited)
On 1/30/2025 at 3:48 PM, circumvent said:

They had mechanical ducks on the pond. A guy was changing batteries (?)

Sorry, I meant did we see any real animals?  I saw the fake duck part. 

I was wondering if this wasn't a "why didn't they save the (real) ducks" moment, but rather, due to whatever limitations of living beneath a mountain, maybe there are no animals there whatsoever.  It would suck to let all animals perish in whatever happened, but having free range animals in that type of environment could also get messy.  Maybe there's a separate "Noah's Ark" type of underground animal shelter...  

Edited by chaifan
Removed "spoiler" information and removed spoiler tag.
Sandman

Sandman

(edited)

I'm about 90% convinced that Fogelman named Sterling K. Brown's character "Xavier" because of that little franchise James Marsden was in that time. (Oh, Jimmy, why is that even when you're playing a complete asshat, it's so hard not to like you?)

I like the cast, even if this genre kinda makes me anxious. We'll see if I make it all the way through.

Edited by Sandman
  • Like 1
Paloma

Paloma

I haven’t seen this mentioned here or in recaps I’ve read, but didn’t Xavier scribble a couple of notes at the beginning of the episode saying something like “Dress your teeth” and “Brush your clothes”? This was after he woke up and before he went running

It struck me as something an early Alzheimer’s patient would do to try to remember basic tasks (except he meant to remind himself to do the opposite—brush teeth and get dressed. But there was no follow-up on this. Am I the only one who noticed this?

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  • Useful 2
chaifan

chaifan

56 minutes ago, Paloma said:

I haven’t seen this mentioned here or in recaps I’ve read, but didn’t Xavier scribble a couple of notes at the beginning of the episode saying something like “Dress your teeth” and “Brush your clothes”? This was after he woke up and before he went running

It struck me as something an early Alzheimer’s patient would do to try to remember basic tasks (except he meant to remind himself to do the opposite—brush teeth and get dressed. But there was no follow-up on this. Am I the only one who noticed this?

I took it as instructions for the kids when they woke up, and he flipped it around to be dad funny.  I don't think we were supposed to read anything more than that into it.  But I could turn out to be wrong.

 

  • Like 9
Anela

Anela

On 1/30/2025 at 8:04 PM, marinw said:

I was trying to place that actress! Thank you.

Dude said his stomach was bothering him. And he took a nap while on duty. Maybe he was drugged?

He also woke up, just after the cameras came back on 

On 1/31/2025 at 3:34 PM, Paloma said:

I haven’t seen this mentioned here or in recaps I’ve read, but didn’t Xavier scribble a couple of notes at the beginning of the episode saying something like “Dress your teeth” and “Brush your clothes”? This was after he woke up and before he went running

It struck me as something an early Alzheimer’s patient would do to try to remember basic tasks (except he meant to remind himself to do the opposite—brush teeth and get dressed. But there was no follow-up on this. Am I the only one who noticed this?

I thought he had some sort of neurological condition. I didn’t think of dad jokes. 
Anyway, I’m in. Sterling K Brown is excellent. 

  • Like 2
chaifan

chaifan

I made a post last week, but the last line contained a question about something someone else said in their post.  That turned out to be a snippet of info that apparently wasn't revealed until episode 2.  But for some reason my entire post was deleted.  I've asked the mod to restore it, but if that doesn't happen, here are my thoughts...

I tuned in initially because I'm a fan of Sterling K Brown.  I was not a fan of This is Us, I thought it was horribly maudlin and was a waste of SKB's talents, and I stopped watching after the 1st season.  So I was looking forward to seeing him a different role.  And James Marsden on my screen doesn't hurt, either.

I had not seen any previews or read any articles, so I was completely unspoiled for the twist at the end.  And I think that is what will keep me watching.  One thing that surprised me, though, was the end overhead shot of the town, and that they obviously weren't aiming for maximum density - lots and lots of big houses, decent size lots, open spaces, green spaces, etc.  I am surprised that in an artificial town where everyone has obviously been hand selected, and presumably represents the best/brightest of our society, that they would still provide an ex-President with 24/7 security.  If you can only save X # of people, and will some day have to rebuild society, I think I'd rather have 10 more scientists or doctors or teachers or farmers or weavers or metallurgists instead of 10 secret service personnel.  

I'm guessing the extinction level event was an asteroid or major fault line, or something that scientists could see coming far enough in advance to build an entire underground city.  I'm hoping that this isn't the only one, and that there are others around the US and around the world.

I am assuming that X's wife was left behind.  I'm curious to see if it was on purpose (she didn't get a slot), or if she purposely stayed behind (isn't she a doctor, maybe thinking she could help if there were survivors), or if she was supposed to be there but couldn't make it or died trying.  But whatever it is, ex-President apparently had a role in it.  

 

 

  • Like 3
ichbin

ichbin

(edited)

I watched the first episode without having looked into it much.  I thought it was going to be a thriller/action type of show so it came as a complete surprise when it took that turn at the end.  I should have paid more attention to things like the ducks.  At first I was thinking, "oh, good, something different", but then I started remembering shows like Lost and From where each episode seems to only exist in order to throw some new puzzle piece out there...the shows that eventually become exhausting/exasperating to watch because the questions far outweigh the answers. I'll give it a chance, but....

7 hours ago, circumvent said:

Was the other show shot in a real city, or was it a studio built city? Because they don't keep the sets forever, they dismantle everything and make room for another show. If it was a real city then it is possible

Stars Hollow was on the Warner Bros. back lot in Los Angeles.  I've spotted bits of it in quite a few things since then.  

Paradise is shot around Los Angeles. https://thedirect.com/article/paradise-where-filmed-hulu-locations-real-life. There might be some spoilers in this related to the first three episodes.

Edited by ichbin
Add last sentence
  • Like 1
Haleth

Haleth

On 2/4/2025 at 12:01 PM, circumvent said:

Was the other show shot in a real city, or was it a studio built city? Because they don't keep the sets forever, 

Yeah, they do. We did a tour of the WB grounds and there are streets and streets full of houses ready for use. Funny thing, many are back to back so you could enter a house from one show and exit through another show’s house. They are mostly empty but rooms can be configured as needed. 

  • Like 1
circumvent

circumvent

On 2/4/2025 at 7:49 PM, ichbin said:

Stars Hollow was on the Warner Bros. back lot in Los Angeles.  I've spotted bits of it in quite a few things since then.  

So they are probably using props and left overs form that show on this one

19 hours ago, Haleth said:

Yeah, they do. We did a tour of the WB grounds and there are streets and streets full of houses ready for use. Funny thing, many are back to back so you could enter a house from one show and exit through another show’s house. They are mostly empty but rooms can be configured as needed. 

They do have the buildings of "general big cites" so it could be NY, Philly, Boston, etc. But if I remember well, the one mentioned was a very specific little quaint town and they would not keep that built unless there was a show every year since the end of the first one that needed a quaint small town America

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