S01.E08: The Man Who Kept the Secrets

[AnimeMania]

(Season Finale)

Xavier and Robinson race to find President Bradford’s murderer before it’s too late.

Premiere Date: March 4, 2025   Hulu     

[HelloooKitty]

Oh ok, so she’s like CRAZY crazy. Ok. How’d she pass the psych screening? 

[Snazzy Daisy]

The construction crew was brutally sacrificed. For me, this is the highlight of this episode. 😢

Trent the librarian should’ve killed Sinatra and her lackeys, not Cal.

Quote

“Probably should’ve just let me have the Wii.”

Jane is diabolically cunning — the most dangerous creature in Paradise.

I was wrong about Gabriela being the bad guy. But I was right about the 6-digit code on the ciggy and Cal hiding the transcripts in the library.

Am not a fan of sci-fi. It’s the genre that I’ve always avoided. So I appreciate that Paradise tackles the sci-fi thing without going overboard.

[JayDub1987]

Holy. Shit. 

That's all; that's the post.

[DrSpaceman73]

6 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

The construction crew was brutally sacrificed. For me, this is the highlight of this episode. 😢

Trent the librarian should’ve killed Sinatra and her lackeys, not Cal.

Jane is diabolically cunning — the most dangerous creature in Paradise.

I was wrong about Gabriela being the bad guy. But I was right about the 6-digit code on the ciggy and Cal hiding the transcripts in the library.

Am not a fan of sci-fi. It’s the genre that I’ve always avoided. So I appreciate that Paradise tackles the sci-fi thing without going overboard.

Trent should have killed her instead. But he doesn't know she is behind it all. He assumes it's all the formal government led by cal. 

[General Days]

I'm so glad Cheese Fries Waitress ended up mattering. I thought she would (ditto Trent the librarian), but I was worried she wouldn't. 

Does anyone know if Cal flashbacks will still be part of season two? I've gotten more and more into his Gen X power ballad moments. I'd like to keep James Marsden around. 

[DrSpaceman73]

7 minutes ago, General Days said:

I'm so glad Cheese Fries Waitress ended up mattering. I thought she would (ditto Trent the librarian), but I was worried she wouldn't. 

Does anyone know if Cal flashbacks will still be part of season two? I've gotten more and more into his Gen X power ballad moments. I'd like to keep James Marsden around. 

I hope so

But they ruin the songs with their slowed down mopey sad redone versions. 

[nilyank]

2 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Trent should have killed her instead. But he doesn't know she is behind it all. He assumes it's all the formal government led by cal.

He was in the scene  when she gathered the scientists and told them to build her city. The crew worked for Cal’s dad but I don’t think Cal was president when Sinatra started building her city.

 

[General Days]

2 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

But they ruin the songs with their slowed down mopey sad redone versions. 

 

Agreed. But I liked Cal's bathrobe strut to the strains of Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again."

Also, so many shows (especially on streaming platforms) do that now -- use a wimpy (read: cheap) cover of a classic, to save on licensing fees, that I'm kind of used to it. 

[Anela]

So, the others were red herrings, as I thought, amd it was the guy who set out to kill him in the first place.  He killed the wrong person. 

[DrSpaceman73]

1 hour ago, General Days said:

 

Agreed. But I liked Cal's bathrobe strut to the strains of Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again."

Also, so many shows (especially on streaming platforms) do that now -- use a wimpy (read: cheap) cover of a classic, to save on licensing fees, that I'm kind of used to it. 

You're right they do it a the time. And I hate it. I think they believe they are being artistic somehow though rather than to save money. But most of them suck.  I mentioned it in the pet peeves thread

 

This is a jj Abrams classic move too. He did it often at the end of alias.  Not classic songs but end episodes with some dreary schmaltzy slow song.  

I love the show though. It's my one annoyance with it.  

1 hour ago, nilyank said:

He was in the scene  when she gathered the scientists and told them to build her city. The crew worked for Cal’s dad but I don’t think Cal was president when Sinatra started building her city.

 

It was 3 years i thought the time frame. I thought he was president then.  

[Pike Ludwell]

The librarian thought himself to be a decent, honorable, good guy. But I can't get over that he killed that real librarian and wife, in cold blood. He was an evil man, make no mistake about it.

Edited 4 hours ago by Pike Ludwell

[Anela]

4 minutes ago, Pike Ludwell said:

The librarian thought himself to be a decent, honorable, good guy. But I can't get over that he killed that real librarian and wife, in cold blood. He was an evil man, make no mistake about it.

Oh, definitely. You know his friend wouldn’t have wanted him to do that.  

[gonzosgirrl]

I didn't think anyone could make me hate Gerald McCraney, but here we are. That flashback to him stomping on his son's heart just gutted me. I don't know if we were supposed to feel sympathy or understanding for Sinatra, but I was only sorry crazy(er) lady didn't shoot her in the head.

I haven't felt this jazzed for season one of a show since, probably not coincidentally, the first season of This is Us. I'm the viewer that watches 90% of my shows while doing something else. This kept me glued to the screen the whole time.

I also may have a bit of a crush on Cal Bradford.

[marinw]

12 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

Jane is diabolically cunning — the most dangerous creature in Paradise.

I was wrong about Gabriela being the bad guy. But I was right about the 6-digit code on the ciggy and Cal hiding

Jane may be my favourite character besides X on this show. Do not f*ck with Holly Hobbie.

I remember your prediction! Great call.

This episode was exquisite.

[circumvent]

So, the workers who built everything to save the lives of a few privileged people got screwed. Who would have thought that could happen 🙄

I know the librarian killed the real librarian and his wife is meanie mean but I am team fake librarian. He is the only one who saw the truth and did something. His speech of "bloated houses for the privileged few...start over...a better place. it is all the same, the American fucking dream". That's what I was waiting for. I can almost forgive all the bad/incomplete/confusion writing I complained about in the other episodes. Revolution! It looks like Jeremy is going to be the new agitator. I can even like the show now, and watch the next season.

I don't really care about Xavier and his journey. Too hero-y. He should have grabbed a friend to go with him.

Jane is a psychopath. Gabriela is just Meh. Not sure if the character is needed. I also think that Sinatra is done as a character. If the writers manage to make her relevant without resorting to cliches and completely absurd plots I will be extremely surprised.

Now, the billionaires losing it and attacking each other made me have fantasies of Musk/Zuck/Bezos/Cook and the rest of the cabal eating each other in, hopefully, a near future. All with Orange juice, if you get the idea

[Snazzy Daisy]

44 minutes ago, marinw said:

Jane may be my favourite character besides X on this show. Do not f*ck with Holly Hobbie.

We need a backstory of Jane Driscoll in season 2.

[ahpny]

1 hour ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I don't know if we were supposed to feel sympathy or understanding for Sinatra, but I was only sorry crazy(er) lady didn't shoot her in the head.

But I was unclear about what injury she sustained and why Xavier didn't just shoot her in the head and off her completely. She's now in no condition to help him find his wife, so what good is she to him anyway?

Sinatra is evil, but not a sociopath. She recognizes the difference between good and bad and understands, belatedly and to some extent, that she's done lots of bad. Not that that stops her from doing more bad, but she does see reality.

Jane on the other hand appears to be a full blown sociopath, Wii loving though she may be. There's no other explanation for her last speech with Presley, whom she not only honeytrapped, but for no sane reason decides to make sure he died knowing he'd been played and betrayed. Conveying that knowledge served no purpose other than filling a sadistic desire to cause maximal pain as he died. That's a sociopath.

[gonzosgirrl]

26 minutes ago, ahpny said:

But I was unclear about what injury she sustained and why Xavier didn't just shoot her in the head and off her completely. She's now in no condition to help him find his wife, so what good is she to him anyway?

Unless I'm misremembering, she was shot in the chest by Jane, while Xavier had the gun to her forehead. Jane then told Sinatra she did it because X was going to 'blow her head off' and she was no good to (her) dead.

I'm glad that X didn't kill her in cold blood, though I don't know if he would've pulled the trigger had Jane not shown up when she did. Regardless, Sinatra was never going to help X, and he knew it. She'd already signalled her henchmen to kill him.

[Paloma]

8 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

But they ruin the songs with their slowed down mopey sad redone versions. 

I really wish they had used the original Phil Collins version of "Another Day in Paradise"--that version is so much more haunting than what they used.

6 hours ago, nilyank said:

He was in the scene  when she gathered the scientists and told them to build her city. The crew worked for Cal’s dad but I don’t think Cal was president when Sinatra started building her city.

They also showed Trent with his wall of clippings that included stories and photos of Cal and his dad, which made me think that Trent's rage should have been directed at Cal's dad (since the crew worked for him) at least as much as at Cal. But I can't remember if the wall had any stories or photos of Sinatra with Cal and/or his dad.