Cal’s Killer Reveal & All The Easter Eggs Addressed By Creator

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Paradise season 1, episode 8, “The Man Who Kept the Secrets.”

Paradise creator Dan Fogelman breaks down the reveal of who killed President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) and how the answer was foreshadowed in previous episodes. After a season filled with numerous plot twists, the Paradise season 1 ending revealed that Trent the librarian killed President Bradford. Trent was originally the construction manager overseeing the underground community being built. After being dismissed from the project, he tried and failed to warn the world about the calamity that was coming, and ultimately infiltrated Paradise as the librarian.

While speaking with Variety, Fogelman explained that he and his creative team wanted the killer to relate to the construction and exclusive nature of Paradise. The creative “breakthrough” was deciding that Trent would not only be President Bradford’s killer, but would also be the one who attempted to assassinate him during episode 1’s flashbacks. From flashbacks of when Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) and his children arrived in Paradise to President Bradford’s son, Jeremy (Charlie Evans) going to the library, the truth was hinted at throughout the season. Check out Fogelman’s comments below:

We knew that who the killer was was going to be a big question on everyone’s minds. We wanted it to be satisfying, and we wanted it to be attached to the bigger picture of the bunker — how this thing was made, and the kind of upstairs and downstairs idea of who got chosen and who got left behind. So we’d always kind of had in our mind’s eye that somebody has been lightly hiding there in plain sight the entire time. And the big breakthrough was when we decided not just that it would be the librarian, but that it was going to be the person who originally attempted to assassinate the president.

In Episode 6, you see Cal’s son going to the library, and the librarian is saying, “Please, let me tell you more about how the bunker was built,” and Jeremy’s not listening to him. The biggest Easter egg is probably in Episode 4. You can see Xavier in a flashback with his children getting into the bunker for the first time, where they’re taking away his weapons and kind of deleting his wife from the system because she hasn’t made it. Amongst the many things that are chaotically going on is the librarian in the deep background having his meltdown, which is a big part of how he gets into the bunker in Episode 8. So it was definitely planned from the beginning.

What This Means For Paradise

The Reveal Is Equally Surprising And Satisfying

The reveal of Paradise‘s killer is effective, not only because it is shocking, but because the answer lies at the heart of the show’s overarching questions. Trent’s story is impactful because it provides insight into how Paradise was created while also showing how everyday people suffered and were left behind at the expense of this creation. This ties into the show’s exploration of systemic injustices that cause problems before and after the apocalyptic event that forever changed the world.

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The political sci-fi thriller is a great sign for TV this year, though it routinely reveals itself to be better on paper than in practice.

As for how the show foreshadows Trent being the killer, it does an excellent job of hiding him in plain sight. With all the scenes of President Bradford, Jeremy, and Presley Collins (Aliyah Mastin) being in the library, Trent appears in five of the show’s eight episodes, and sometimes makes seemingly innocuous comments that hold a deeper meaning. Showing something vital in the background of a flashback is a narrative trick that Fogelman also used in his hit series This Is Us that translates well to planting the seeds for Trent’s real identity and motivations.

Season 1 Now Needs To Be Rewatched

Trent (Ian Merrigan) holding up The Man Who Kept the Secrets book in Paradise season 1, episode 8 — Image via Hulu

A minor character being President Bradford’s killer could have been an underwhelming reveal, but Fogelman’s comments prove why the answer ends up feeling satisfying. It seamlessly ties together numerous storylines and unresolved threads in a way that thematically serves the show. All the Easter eggs he discusses demonstrate how the show subtly teases the truth about Trent. Before Paradise season 2, I now want to rewatch all of Paradise season 1, so I can experience all of Trent’s scenes and brief appearances while knowing about his past and that he is the culprit.

Source: Variety