Paradise knows how to pull off a wicked twist.
After all, this is the series that opened with what seemed like a straightforward procedural, before zooming out to reveal that it’s actually about an entire city of people living deep underground in a bunker after an environmental disaster destroyed Earth’s surface. And that was all in the first episode!
Since the series began, things have gotten progressively crazier. One of the great pleasures of watching Paradise is seeing where in the world things will go next. And while the build-up during Season 2 was slow and steady, the last couple of episodes—and especially Monday’s finale—have thrown a monumental amount of action at audiences.
[WARNING: Major spoilers for ‘Paradise’ Season 2 ahead]
The Season 2 finale, “Exodus,” confirms that nothing will ever be the same on Paradise. The bunker, where we spent the entirety of the first season and most of the second, is destroyed. The city has been evacuated to the surface, which we learned last season, is not actually uninhabitable.
And Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson), the architect of the bunker, is no more, sacrificing herself to save the people of the bunker. But wait! There’s a second bunker that houses ALEX, which we now know is the quantum mechanic machine that holds the key to saving the universe.
And yet somehow, none of those catastrophic surprises compares to the season’s biggest twist: Newcomer Link (Thomas Doherty), who’s been hellbent on taking down the bunker and destroying ALEX to “restart the world,” is actually Sinatra’s dead son, Dylan.
“My mouth was open. My jaw was on the floor,” Doherty tells the Daily Beast’s Obsessed of the moment he discovered the fate of his character. “It’s the same for the audience as it is for the actors. When you’re such a fan of a show and such a fan of the journey your character has gone on, to have such a satisfying moment is just a dream.”
There have been plenty of hints at Link/Dylan and Sinatra’s relationship throughout the season. At one point, Link even tells Sinatra that she’s the Darth Vader to his Luke. And in Episode 7, we discover not only that he has the same name as Sinatra’s son, but also has the exact same birthday, May 16.
That would be enough, but here’s the kicker: Sinatra’s son Dylan died as a child long before the volcanic eruption that led to the bunker’s creation. When she discovers Link is named Dylan and has the same birthday, Sinatra races back to her husband and says, “It worked.”
Therefore, the confirmation that Dylan is the same person as Sinatra’s dead son confirms the vast number of fan theories that Paradise is dealing with the world of time travel. Or, at the very least, a world where alternate versions of people can exist. And that seems to just be the tip of the iceberg.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s talk about the moment itself: The bunker is in meltdown. Amidst the chaos, Xavier (Sterling K. Brown), Sinatra, and Link help free Xavier and Sinatra’s daughters from a collapsing elevator. It’s a close call, and everyone is visibly shaken by the events. Once everyone’s safe, Link has his allies remove the daughters from the room, and Link pulls his gun on Sinatra, demanding to see “Alex.”
It’s here that Link is hit by a flurry of life-changing information: He’s Sinatra’s son—“It’s complicated, but you are”, Sinatra says. Annie (Shailene Woodley), whom he fell in love with in Episode 1, is dead. And Annie delivered his baby, who’s alive, and waiting for him.
Oddly, Link doesn’t seem too shocked by the discovery that he’s Sinatra’s son. At the beginning of “Exodus,” we discover that Link is a science prodigy. We knew he was working with the professor to develop a breakthrough technology, but we didn’t know that Link himself had built the first AI-controlled quantum computer.
It’s because of his genius that Link isn’t too floored by the episode’s biggest reveal.
“Link understands the possibilities and the probabilities of everything as well,” Doherty says. “There is a possibility in his mind that he’s related to Sinatra, but that’s not what he was focused on. He’s been so determined to get ALEX and reclaim what’s rightfully for the people, and not just a select few, that he lost sight of it.”
Doherty also chose to play Link as so overwhelmed by the situation that he can’t fully process the revelations. He’s shaken, for sure, but he stops short of having an explosive moment.
“Individually, all this information is so intense, but when you get hit with all three of them at once, it is too much for a human to process,” he says. “You’re kind of numb to it—your brain can’t wrap around it, especially given that crisis we were in.”
However, it’s something the character will be able to unpack in the next season.
“In Season 3, I think that’s when we’ll start to see the processing and grasping of the situation really take place,” Doherty explains.
ALEX, we finally understand in the finale, is not a mysterious person, but rather a massive quantum computer capable of creating multiple versions of people and perhaps multiple timelines.
Well, I say finally understand, but really, we don’t quite know what ALEX is fully capable of. And Link actually being Dylan and therefore Sinatra’s son, does confirm that there are multiple versions of people. Because Sinatra’s son did die. There’s no question about that—although Paradise teaches you to expect the unexpected. But because Link is also Dylan, it means multiple versions of people are possible.
That opens up the entire show to new possibilities. Will there be two Dylans? Three? A new Xavier? Dozens of Sinatras raining down from the skies? That seemed absurd, but this revelation seemingly makes anything possible.
Though Link is a quantum mechanics expert, Doherty is not. “Julianne and I always laughed on set, because we’re dealing with quantum physics, quantum mechanics,” he says. “I have absolutely no idea what any of that stuff is—you have to describe it to me like you would a six-year-old.”
“I don’t understand how it’s feasible—but it is,” he adds, eagerly awaiting what Paradise creator Dan Fogelman comes up with next.
Though fans will be grappling with the concept of quantum physics and alternate universes, a big adjustment for Doherty will be his character’s new name: Dylan.
“It’s funny, I’ve been so detached from being able to call my character Dylan, so ‘Dylan’ feels foreign in my mouth. I’m so used to saying Link.”
Still, Doherty is ready for whatever’s next. He doesn’t know what’s coming, but he can’t wait to find out.
“I don’t know what they’re gonna come out with,” he says. “But I know it’s gonna be big.”
