Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Paradise season 1.
Paradiseseason 2 should make up for a missed opportunity with one of its best characters. From Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) to Samantha “Sinatra” Redmond (Julianne Nicholson),Paradise’s cast of charactersare compelling and have helped make the Hulu series a hit. While Xavier is a strong protagonist and Sinatra is a complex antagonist, the rest of the characters are just as fascinating, even in cases like President Cal Bradford (James Marsden), who only appears via flashbacks due to his death.
Anotherone of the show’s best characters is Jane Driscoll(Nicole Brydon Bloom). Initially introduced as an inexperienced Secret Service agent and seemingly kind girlfriend of Billy Pace (Jon Beavers), Jane turns out to be a ruthless killer working for Sinatra, and kills Billy on Sinatra’s orders duringParadiseepisode 4’s ending. In the season 1 finale, Jane proves to be unpredictable once again as she turns on Sinatra and shoots her. As a survivor heading intoParadiseseason 2, the series should take advantage of an opportunity that it missed with her in season 1.
Jane Needs To Finally Have Flashbacks In Paradise Season 2
It’s Time To Learn About Her Past
Jane is the only majorParadisecharacter who did not get flashbacks in season 1. Xavier, Sinatra, President Bradford, Billy, Dr. Gabriela Torabi (Sarah Shahi),President Bradford’s killer, Trent (Ian Merrigan), and other key characters have flashbacks throughout season 1 showing what their lives were like before the apocalyptic event and before living in the underground community. Season 2 should do the same for Jane in order to fully flesh out her character.
Paradise’s Season 1 Finale Finally Pays Off One Of Xavier’s Most Emotionally Devastating Story Setups
An emotional Xavier Collins storyline from earlier in Paradise season 1 is paid off in an unexpected and satisfying way during the season finale.
Sinatra tells Billy that he is not the only killer she brought to Paradise.It would be beneficial for season 2 to show flashbacks of Sinatra recruiting Janeand to reveal what else Jane has done for her, as killing Billy probably wasn’t the first time she murdered someone for Sinatra. Getting to see more of Jane’s past, particularly her relationship with Sinatra, can add further weight to her decision to betray Sinatra and help Xavier duringParadiseseason 1’s ending.
Does She Have A Heart, Or Is She Completely Ruthless?
Image via Hulu
When discussingJane’s big decisionwithScreenRant, Bloom discussed whether her character has a heart, and whether she has empathy towards Xavier and his daughter, Presley (Aliyah Mastin). She also talked about how Sinatra calling Jane"crazy"during their phone call seemed to be a trigger for her, along with the fact that she does not think Jane was born a psychopath. Check out some of Bloom’s comments from the interview below:
That makes me wonder, okay, does she have a heart? Does she have any kind of empathy towards Presley and Xavier?
I feel like she clearly has some sort of trigger to people calling her crazy. I think that is the moment that she may be flipped on Redmond.
I don’t think [she] was born a psychopath.
I think there’s certainly something in her past that led her to become who she is today. And so, for whatever reason, that that phone call was triggering for her, and flipped a bit of a switch.
Flashbacks inParadiseseason 2 can answer these important questions about Jane. They can explore what caused her to become unbalanced and to become a killer, whether she has empathy for the Collins family or anyone else, and why being called"crazy"is such a trigger for her. With Xavier searching for his wife, Teri (Enuka Okuma) on the surface, Sinatra in a coma, and President Bradford and Billy dead,Jane is poised to take on a bigger rolein the present-day storylines. Jane’s present-dayParadisestory will be even stronger alongside flashbacks of her past.
