Paradise
Ready, set – stream “Paradise,” the most exciting new drama series of 2025!
This action-packed political thriller combines a sci-fi apocalyptic theme with a compelling whodunnit. The plot follows Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown), assigned to guard U.S. President Cal Bradford (James Marsden), a smarmy Southern Democrat from a wealthy family.
Problem is: When Collins reports for work one morning, he discovers that Bradford has been brutally murdered in his bedroom and the President’s personal tablet, containing highly classified state secrets, is missing.
Collins’ Secret Service colleagues include Nicole Robinson (Krys Marshall), who was Bradford’s lover; roguish Billy Pace (Jon Beavers), who is hiding a shady past; and Wii-obsessed, sociopathic Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom).
But everyone has to report to controlling, powerful billionaire Samantha “Sinatra” Redmond (Julianne Nicholson), the world’s richest self-made woman.
To complicate matters, after a global catastrophe, 25,000 ‘chosen’ individuals have taken refuge in omnipotent Redmond’s massive underground bunker/community in Colorado called Paradise that appears to be an idyllic Anytown, USA, replete with all conveniences, climate control and a fake sky to replicate day-and-night.
Hovering on the doomsday event’s periphery are Collins’ beloved wife Teri (Enuka Okuma), seemingly stranded in Atlanta; their children (teenage Aliyah Mastin, younger Percy Daggs IV); Bradford’s teenage son Jeremy (Charlie Evans) and psychotherapist Dr. Gabriela Torabi (Sarah Shahi).
Created by Dan Fogelman (“This Is Us”) with multi-layered, thought-provoking Biblical allusions, Collins’ conspiracy story unfolds in non-chronological order, utilizing myriad apocalyptic flashbacks which can be a bit confusing, particularly as various characters de-age.
But viewers will learn who killed Bradford – and why – in the cliffhanger conclusion with production on Season 2 already underway and Season 3 in planning stages.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Paradise” is a fast-paced, enthralling 8 – with all eight episodes now streaming on Hulu & Disney+.
With Love, Meghan
Accompanied by an avalanche of publicity, the eight-part “With Love, Meghan” Netflix series just dropped, with a thud, and a second season has already filmed.
Touted as a crafts ‘n’ cooking ‘reality show,’ it’s anything but…the luxurious Montecito lifestyle that Meghan Markle, the former “Suits” actress/now Duchess of Sussex, cheerfully touts with her celebrity friends is so out-of-touch that viewers may cringe as each extravagant, self-glorifying segment unfolds.
The first episode opens with an overnight visit from make-up artist Daniel Martin for whom Meghan arranges welcoming flowers, prepares ‘teabags’ of herb-infused bath salts and explains that ‘crudites’ are simply fancy cut-up vegetables. They then conduct a ‘how to’ involving harvesting honey to make DIY beeswax candles.
The second episode features her chum Mindy Kaling (“The Office”) cooking kimchi and assembling a balloon arch, decorative frittatas & parfaits for a kid-friendly party – minus the children, of course (Prince Archie & Princess Lilibet may not be photographed, except from the rear, so they cannot be recognized).
The most memorable moment occurs when Mindy refers to ‘Meghan Markle’ and is quickly corrected: “I’m Sussex now. You have kids, and you go, ‘No,’ I share my name with my children’…I didn’t know how meaningful it would be to me, but it just means so much to go ‘this is our family name, our little family.’”
(Ego-tripping Meghan is incorrect. Sussex is a title bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II. Princes William and Harry’s family surname is Mountbatten-Windsor.)
It’s obvious that Meghan is not only an inexperienced cook but – unlike Julia Child, Martha Stewart, Ina Garten, Rachael Ray, even Gwyneth Paltrow – she also lacks any inventiveness. Indeed, her ‘signature’ one-pot spaghetti recipe is lifted directly from “Martha Stewart Living” (2013).
Meghan’s primary culinary prowess focuses on arranging pre-cut pieces of fruit and ‘edible flowers’ on a ‘rainbow breakfast platter,’ a time-consuming task that no ‘working mother’ could possibly duplicate before sending kids to school.
In other episodes, Vicky Tsai makes Chinese dumplings and Roy Choi claims that racism against Asians underlies the negative reputation of powdered monosodium glutamate – a.k.a. MSG – that he uses in a dry rub for his Korean fried chicken.
Eventually, Meghan gushingly pays tribute to Alice Walters, the Berkeley-based chef/founder of Chez Panisse, who pushes ‘conviviality’: the idea that the guests, the setting, and the presentation are just as important as the food itself.
Completely lacking in spontaneity, the dialogue sounds pre-planned and carefully rehearsed. Then there’s Meghan’s cooking/gardening garb. Unlike those of us who splash, spill and squirt, she steadfastly maintains her meticulously pressed white Loro Piana shirts, Zara pants, and Jenni Kayne cardigan draped around her shoulders, plus Cartier wristwatch and pristine manicure.
On the Granger Gauge, “With Love, Meghan” is a pointless, obviously phony 3, streaming on Netflix.
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