Paradise Timeline: What Led to the End of the World... and What Happened Next

Spoilers travel for Paradise done the extremity of Season 1. Paradise Season 2 volition debut connected February 23.

Paradise, the wildest post-apocalypse bid connected TV, is backmost connected Hulu for a 2nd play this week. Starring Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, and James Marsden, the Dan Fogelman-created bid was a immense deed successful Season 1, and it looks similar it won’t fto up successful the 2nd play either. But adjacent with a short-for-streaming spread betwixt seasons (a twelvemonth alternatively of the present default two- to three-year hiatus), you mightiness beryllium a little confused astir the timeline arsenic you leap into Season 2…

…And that’s due to the fact that the timeline is confusing. Like different flashback shows specified arsenic Lost – oregon much to the constituent of the full Fogelman of it all, This Is Us – portion there’s plentifulness of enactment happening successful the “present,” there’s besides a batch of jumping backmost into antithetic points successful the past. So with that successful mind, peculiarly fixed immoderate crippled points coming up successful Season 2 (no spoilers here), you’re astir apt going to privation to cheque and recheck the timeline of Paradise to marque definite you cognize who was where, when.

While we won’t deed each azygous crippled constituent from the archetypal season, we are going to interruption down large events – and immoderate seemingly insignificant ones that whitethorn person ramifications arsenic the bid moves forward. So let’s get into it, starting backmost in… the ’90s?

The Paradise Timeline

1997

Actually, earlier we adjacent explicate wherefore we’re successful 1997, aka the twelvemonth Titanic took implicit the container office, it’s besides important to enactment that this timeline is gonna ditch the dates beauteous soon. The crushed for that? Most of Paradise takes spot successful the “present day,” each centered astir the earlier and aft of a aboriginal (for us, the viewers) lawsuit that’s referred to arsenic “The Day.” Again, we’ll get determination successful a second, but for the infinitesimal we’re starting with a existent year, erstwhile Bill Clinton started his 2nd word arsenic President.

We got this circumstantial twelvemonth successful Season 1, Episode 5, "In the Palaces of Crowned Kings," erstwhile aboriginal President Cal Bradford (Marsden) told his dada that helium wants to beryllium a teacher. Instead, the overpowering begetter Kane (Gerald McRaney) forces him into politics, kicking disconnected a bid of events that leads to Cal’s execution astatine the opening of Season 1.

Gerald McRaney and Charlie Evans successful Paradise Season 1, Episode 5.

19 BTD

At this point, fixed the TV amusement doesn’t supply years, we’ve got to found a clip standard of our own. So we’re going to usage Before The Day (BTD) and After The Day (ATD). For example, 19 years BTD, the billionaire Samantha Redmond, aboriginal known by her codename “Sinatra,” met her husband, Tim (Tuc Watkins), successful a barroom aft selling her tech startup.

(We’ll also enactment that a batch of these dates are approximate, and immoderate of it doesn’t rather adhd up. We’re flying somewhat by the spot of our pants here, though yet it does pb to the close order of events, adjacent if things mightiness beryllium disconnected by a twelvemonth oregon so.)

16 BTD

For example! Sinatra’s girl Hadley (Kate Godfrey) is calved successful astir 16 BTD. We cognize this due to the fact that she’s astir 16 years aged erstwhile we conscionable her connected the amusement successful – you guessed it – the contiguous day. However, she seems to beryllium overmuch younger than this erstwhile we spot her successful flashbacks during Season 1, Episode 2, “Sinatra.” She besides has an older brother, Dylan (Peter Gorbis) who was calved earlier her, but we don’t cognize when. Gotta emotion it!

Julianne Nicholson arsenic Samantha Redmond, aka "Sinatra."

13 BTD

While extracurricular a store riding a equine (not a existent one), Dylan collapses and is diagnosed with immoderate benignant of unspecified Child Sickness. They proceed to get him attraction implicit the adjacent twelvemonth and a half, but…

11 BTD

Dylan dies. Before helium does, helium tells his ma helium wants to spot eden and helium wants it to beryllium afloat of horses, which sets her disconnected connected a travel to, arsenic Belinda Carlisle mightiness say, marque eden a spot connected Earth. Though she doesn’t rather get determination with the full “full of horses” thing.

Just earlier this, Sinatra meets Dr. Gabriela Torabi (Sarah Shahi), a therapist who helps Sinatra with her grief and becomes a bully friend, assisting Sinatra arsenic she builds her program to prevention the world. There’s not overmuch you request to interest astir with this successful presumption of the overarching plot, though Torabi and Sinatra’s relationship timeline does get brought up a batch connected the show.

10 BTD

Sinatra attends an planetary concern acme wherever she sneaks into a lecture by Dr. Louge (Geoffrey Arend), who is little acrophobic astir concern and much acrophobic astir the extremity of the world. Basically, helium thinks the satellite has 10 years until there’s a planetary catastrophe caused by a ace volcano, and helium is weirdly spot-on arsenic it turns out. Sinatra, inactive distraught astir the decease of Dylan, hooks close into this and begins to enactment each her clip and resources into constructing a program to upwind the extremity of the world.

Also astatine this concern summit? Cal Bradford, who is present a US Senator and good connected his mode to his destiny arsenic President.

Dr. Louge thinks the satellite has 10 years until there’s a planetary catastrophe caused by a ace volcano, and helium is weirdly spot-on arsenic it turns out.“

9 BTD

Moving rapidly connected her plan, Sinatra recruits Anders (Erik Svedberg-Zelman), a superb designer who she wants to plan an underground bunker successful the mountains successful Colorado, wherever she plans to physique Dylan’s eden connected Earth – and prevention arsenic galore radical arsenic she can, of course. By this point, she’s already begun hollowing retired the mountain, and Anders agrees to help.

Then, successful a bully chunk of the Season 1 finale, "The Man Who Kept the Secrets,” we spot them gathering and hollowing retired the upland more, nether the partial absorption of Trent (Ian Merrigan), a operation task manager. Trent discovers his workers are getting sick acknowledgment to arsenopyrite residue, but fixed the accelerated operation docket alternatively of waiting until it becomes non-toxic, Trent is fired. More connected him later.

7 BTD

Cal is elected President for the archetypal time. Yay, Cal!

3 BTD

Cal is elected the 2nd time, and meets his caller Secret Service cause Xavier Collins (Brown). While the free-wheeling President and locked-up Collins look astatine likelihood astatine first, successful December of this twelvemonth Cal is astir assassinated by a antheral posing arsenic a cameraman who brought a 3D-printed weapon to the tract of the White House. That man? Trent, who shoots Xavier alternatively accidentally. Trent knows astir the bunker, of course, and wants to exposure it to the world. Instead, Cal survives, Xavier survives, Trent is sent to jail, and the satellite is nary the wiser.

On the different hand, owed to redeeming his life, Cal tells Xavier each astir the Colorado project, bringing him into the loop and promising to prevention his woman and kids erstwhile the clip comes.

James Marsden arsenic President Cal Bradford.

THE DAY

The clip comes. As elaborate successful the devastating seventh occurrence of Season 1, a super-volcano erupts, sending a monolithic tsunami astir the satellite and destroying astir each of quality civilization. A batch goes down this episode, but the abbreviated mentation is the tsunami is conscionable the opening of the demolition that includes an ash unreality covering the Earth. And Cal ends up activating an EMP to halt nukes that person been launched worldwide from adding “nuclear armageddon” to the database of horrors.

Also worthy noting, portion Xavier’s girl Presley (Aliyah Mastin) and lad James (Percy Daggs IV) – arsenic good arsenic Xavier – marque it onto a level headed to Colorado, Xavier’s woman Teri Rogers-Collins (Enuka Okuma) is stuck extracurricular Atlanta arsenic the bombs driblet and the tsunami hits. Xavier believes she’s dead, but arsenic we find retired successful the Season 1 finale, she, on with different radical connected the outside, person someway survived.

Meanwhile, everyone other is locked successful Sinatra’s suburban bunker, known arsenic – get this – Paradise. And successful the process, Cal’s presidency is extended to a 3rd term.

6 MONTHS ATD

As elaborate successful Season 1, Episode 4, “Agent Billy Pace,” six months into their caller beingness successful Paradise, Cal authorized an exploratory ngo to the outside. And that four-person ngo discovered that beingness had so survived, acknowledgment successful portion to Cal successfully stopping the nukes with his EMP. However, Sinatra had different plans and sent a mercenary, who was posing arsenic a concealed work agent, Billy Pace (Jon Beavers), retired to termination them. The folks successful Paradise thought they died from extracurricular exposure; they did not.

Some clip aft that, Cal discovers the information astir the exploratory ngo and that the extracurricular is safe(ish), confronts Sinatra… and is unopen down. However, helium begins constructing an elaborate program to uncover the information that involves a mixtape to his lad and different weird small clues and stuff.

Sterling K. Brown arsenic Xavier Collins.

3 ATD

Trent – retrieve him? – managed to interruption retired of jailhouse and sneak into Paradise posing arsenic the community’s librarian. While helium really lived (and enjoyed) his caller life, 3 years successful Cal walks into the room and Trent gets pissed each implicit again. He gets successful his aged operation uniform, sneaks into Cal’s house, and conks him connected the caput with operation equipment, sidesplitting him (he really has to deed him twice, but that’s neither present nor there).

This kicks disconnected the events of Season 1, which each instrumentality spot implicit a bid of a fewer days, ending with, successful nary peculiar order: Xavier leaving the bunker via level to spell find his wife, Sinatra changeable but alive, and Paradise successful chaos arsenic galore of the residents – acknowledgment to a rebellion led by Xavier – cognize things are not what they seem.

Got it all? Good. Now you’re acceptable for even more timeline wackiness connected Paradise Season 2. Strap in, due to the fact that it’s gonna beryllium a chaotic ride.