[Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for Season 2 of Paradise.]
Summary
- In Season 2 of the Hulu series ‘Paradise,’ Link and Annie’s quick, intimate bond reshapes his journey and ties Xavier into the plot.
- Link built the AI quantum computer and could end up teaming with Xavier to save the world.
- Doherty coyly says he knows how Season 3 will end, but won’t reveal any details of what’s to come.
Over the course of Season 2 of the Hulu series Paradise, we were introduced to a small group of survivors in the outside world, led by Link (Thomas Doherty), who wanted to make it to the underground bunker in Colorado that they’d heard rumors about. As part of that journey, they found themselves in Graceland and directly in the path of the scared and skeptical Annie (Shailene Woodley). While Link and Annie formed a deep connection, she ultimately decided to stay behind – a decision that ultimately brought her into Xavier’s (Sterling K. Brown) life, and later Xavier into Link’s life. After all the twists and turns, deaths, and surprises of Season 2, the finale left audiences with so many questions. How is Link really Sinatra’s son Dylan? Why is Xavier the one that was chosen to keep Alex going? What exactly are those nosebleeds all about? And where do all the displaced people go next?
Collider recently got the opportunity to chat one-on-one with Doherty about the wild events of Season 2 and the love story that kicked it off. During the interview, he discussed learning how it would all unfold, forming a bond with Woodley that would last after her departure, the impression Annie made on Link, merging his storyline with the bigger world of the series once he got to the bunker, Link’s face-to-face with Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson), the traffic loss of Geiger (Michael McGrady), the physical challenges of pulling off that elevator shaft sequence, whether Link could team up with Xavier, and how surprised he was to learn what would happen in Season 3.
COLLIDER: This show has been quite a wild ride since the first season. When it started, nobody knew what it was, and then the second season has really shaken things up. Since you came in with Season 2, did you have a full sense of the scope of the season and how your character would fit into it all or was information held back from you?
THOMAS DOHERTY: I didn’t have a clue. That’s the thing when you work in TV. With film, you’ll start a project, and you’ll get the full script, so you’ll know what’s going on, and you can find all your different beats and ups and downs, and conclude it all nicely, even before you set foot on a set. But with TV, a lot of the time, they’ll give you the first couple of episodes but still be working on the last episodes. The turnaround for me and Shailene [Woodley] was so quick. Hers was quicker than mine. I got the job on a Thursday, and she got it on Friday. I moved to L.A. on Monday, she was on set on Wednesday, and I started on Friday. It was really, really quick.
I was asking (creator) Dan [Fogelman] and the team all these questions but also trying to establish who Link is and where he’s going to go. You want the continuity to be consistent with how you’re playing him in episode one, so that when he pops up again in episode four, it’s the same person. That’s the most nerve-wracking, stressful part about TV for me. But Dan Fogelman and his team are so amazing. They’ll tell you whatever you want to know, as long as it helps and supports your character, so that was great. I have worked on shows before where I have no idea what’s going to happen, and they won’t tell you. I’ve been like, “What do you think I’m going to do, tell people? I’m in the show.” This wasn’t like that.
‘Paradise’ Season 2 premieres February 23 with its first three episodes on Hulu.
Is it a different experience when it’s not only you who doesn’t know who your character is, but your character also doesn’t seem to entirely know who he is?
DOHERTY: Kind of, yeah. That’s probably cheating on my part. If people say, “Oh, you’re so good at acting,” it’s probably just because I also didn’t know what was going on.
Working With Shailene Woodley on ‘Paradise’ Season 2 Was an Absolute Joy for Thomas Doherty
“He was always going to come back for her.”
You’re dropped into the show, and your character comes into this story with his own history. And then, he connects on a personal level with this other survivor named Annie. Did you spend time thinking about what got him to the place he was in when he met her? What was it like to figure that out? How do you think she changed him from the point that he moves forward without her?
DOHERTY: It was really exciting and really fun. I worked with Lisa Robertson, an acting coach in L.A., and she was amazing. That’s the real fun part. It’s two-handed. It’s really fun, but it’s also quite nerve-wracking because you’re developing this character, and you’re creating a story for him that got him to this place. But you also don’t want to deviate too far from what the writers have in mind because, over the course of two seasons, the writing is going to reflect where he’s come from. It’s really fun and exciting to create a past for the character. It’s a fine line that involves being very communicative with the writing team and with Dan and everyone, to make sure that you’re on the same page. It was really fun developing Link. I was also developing him while I was filming it because it was just such a quick turn-around. And then, after meeting Annie, I can still feel it today, in my hand. Obviously, I don’t know what it’s like to live in a post-apocalyptic world, so we had to really personalize all these experiences. And when he meets Annie, he comes in with these quite mysterious characters that turn up to Graceland.
The way he comes in indicates what he was expecting and what he’d experienced. And then, we see him without his top on, and he’s all bruised and burned and cut and scarred. He’s very reserved and not trusting, which is a product of what he’s experienced. And then, when he meets Annie, it’s been years since he’s been physically intimate with anyone. As a precursor to the sex scene that we have, I mean physically intimate with touching. She touches my hand and my thumb, and I remember just feeling it all over my body, having been deprived of such a basic human necessity for so long. With that, the wall starts to fall down, and you start to see this vulnerability that he has, which is who he is, but he’s had to cover it up for so long to survive. He was always going to come back for her. She motivates him more, even before knowing the baby. Doing those scenes with Shailene was just an absolute joy.
It feels like Link really doesn’t even fully grasp the gravity of the impact she had until he holds their child and says he thinks the name Annie is fitting.
DOHERTY: The writing team are so good, honestly, with all those nuances. It doesn’t feel forced. And then, working with Shailene really brought the character out. When you’re working with someone of that caliber, cool things can happen inside yourself.
Watch creator Dan Fogelman, Sterling K. Brown, and Enuka Okuma have an in-depth conversation about Season 2 and the future of the series.
When you were developing such an intimate relationship, and not even just because of the sex scene, but there just aren’t a lot of people around, and it felt very personal, how did you ensure that you were not only there with each other, but for each other? Did you just trust her in the moment?
DOHERTY: We just didn’t have a lot of time together, and that really played into it and was very beneficial. These are two characters that don’t know each other, and it’s scary to be vulnerable. That was like me and Shailene. We didn’t know each other, and we had to be very vulnerable with each other. Honestly, it worked that way. The shorter time frame and working with a very well-established actor, you want to show that respect to them. It was just about trust. Creating a safe space was my goal, and I believe that was hers as well. Once you develop that safe space, then you can play in that space and find some cool things.
Thomas Doherty Loved Getting To Merge Link’s Little Bubble With the Larger ‘Paradise’ World
“It felt a little bit like we went on vacation and were staying in someone’s house.”
How was your experience, going from your little bubble of first being with her, and then with your larger crew of people. before ever even connecting with the rest of the characters? What was it like to leave all of that behind as Link and Annie were separated? Did it feel almost like you were making two different shows?
DOHERTY: Yeah, it did. The first episode runs like a short movie. It was funny because we came on set and all the series regulars from Season 1 weren’t there, apart from Sterling [K. Brown] near the end. For the best part of a few weeks, it was just all these new characters. And then, we were introduced to the rest of the cast, and it felt weird. It was like, “Oh, this is your guys’ show.” It felt a little bit like we went on vacation and were staying in someone’s house. And then, we forgot it was someone else’s house, and we thought it was our house. And then, we realized that we were just renting. I loved it. I loved how we joined the rest of the cast. I loved our little bubble, our little oasis, and then getting into the bigger picture of what Paradise is. And then, you’re doing a scene with Julianne Nicholson. It all worked out really perfectly, I think.
What was it like to do the scene with her in episode seven? You have this face-to-face conversation with her while you’re eating apple pie. What was that like?
DOHERTY: My only experience with Julianne was as Sinatra. When I watched Tell Me Lies, I’d only ever known Grace Van Patten as Lucy. I met her for coffee before we did Season 2, and I was expecting to meet Lucy, this serious, somber person. I remember going to the café, and Grace was not like Lucy. I was like, “Oh, yeah, I forget you’re just really good at acting.” It was the same thing with Julianne. I was very much expecting to meet Sinatra, and she’s just the funniest, coolest chick. She’s so funny and cheeky. She can’t be more different than Sinatra. And then, you get on set, and you’re talking to Sinatra. Julianne is not there. And then, they cut, and she went back to the chair, and she was chatting and making a joke as Julianne. And then, it was back into Sinatra. The ability to do that was insane. It was crazy.
Your character has some fun references, calling Sinatra Darth Vader and even your little Love, Actually moment. Those felt like little bits of humor or nods to things that were fun and funny. How did you feel about Link’s Love, Actually moment?
DOHERTY: There were a couple of times that I did it and [the card] was upside down, and they were like, “Cut!” It’s just such a good show. How everyone feels watching it, that energy existed on set. We all wanted to make something really good and really cool, and honor the vision of what it is and what the writers had written and the other actors that we were working with. You’re coming into an already established show, so you’ve got to have respect for that.
Link Won’t Want Geiger To Have Died in Vain, Moving Forward in ‘Paradise’ Season 3
“I think Xavier could replace that figure in Link’s life.”
What was it like to shoot the moment when Link loses one of his men? How do you think that will affect him? How was it to shoot that with Michael McGrady?
DOHERTY: That was so sad. I love that man. I love Michael. He’s such a papa bear figure to me, off set and off-screen as well. He’s been in the industry for so long. He’s an absolute gem and just so funny and so lovely and just such a light in the world. He’s a really, really good human being and an amazing actor as well. I got really close with him and got on really well with him. I’m sad that he’s gone. I’m sad that he died. It was actually really sad. The way that Link functions, something like that will happen, and he’ll utilize that experience and channel it into his greater goal of restarting the world and providing help for people that were just abandoned. He won’t want Geiger to have died in vain. I think Xavier could replace that figure in Link’s life moving forward. We’ll have to wait and see.
Season 2’s penultimate episode also reveals the show’s most surreal surprise yet.
You had some fun physical stunts in this, like Link helping Samantha and Xavier save their daughters who were stuck in the elevator. What was that like to do?
DOHERTY: That took two days to film. That was amazing. We were jumping around different parts of the set. There was one set that was up some stairs, and that was the top of the elevator. It was all built, so they’d move walls and things to get the right camera angle. And then, the outside of the elevator was on a different set on the lower level. You’d shoot the elevator stuff and then go to the other set, and you’d be outside the elevator door. It just felt so real, with the flashing lights and noise and smoke. I was really saving these children. My arms, the next day, were in agony. I was so sore. You have to commit and believe that what’s happening is happening, and what you’re doing is really happening.
Thomas Doherty Thinks Link and Xavier Could Make a Compatible Team in ‘Paradise’ Season 3
“There should be more Xaviers in this world.”
Samantha makes a point of telling Xavier that he might be the only decent person that’s been in the bunker. Is Link even used to someone like Xavier? With everything that he’s been through, what does he think of someone like Xavier?
DOHERTY: I think they’re quite similar. They have very similar hearts. Obviously, there will be a trust issue off the rip, but I think they’re very compatible as a team with the way that they both operate and the way they both feel. There should be more Xaviers in this world. One of the beautiful things about the whole show, for me, is that it reminds me that we always have a choice. We always have a choice to do the right thing or be a better person. We always have that, no matter the circumstances. People can take everything away from you, but they can’t take away your choice. It’s a hard choice to love people that you don’t know, that might want to kill you, and to forgive them and show compassion. That’s not easy. Xavier could definitely be beneficial for Link’s growth and development going forward.
We learned that Link built the first AI-controlled quantum computer ever, which kudos to him for being a genius. What does that even mean? How did you process what that actually means?
DOHERTY: I don’t know anything about quantum physics. No idea. I’m challenged when it comes to any number. So, I don’t know. I just know that the writers know what they’re talking about. As Thomas, I just need to trust that Link, or Dylan, knows what he’s talking about. I just pretend that I know what I’m talking about. Link is absolutely confident in what he’s talking about. But me, as Thomas, I have no idea. I’m not smart enough for that. That’s why I’m an actor.
After the tragic and heartbreaking loss of Annie, there’s something beautiful about her having a hand in bringing everything together without even being there. Because she crossed paths with Xavier, Link knows about his child, and Samantha realized that Xavier is the X that’s meant to access Alex. That’s all brought together because of Annie, without Annie even being there anymore. Did you realize that she’s responsible for all of these things coming together in the end?
DOHERTY: Yeah, it’s very true. She didn’t just have a run-in with Xavier. She saved his life. It’s a nice notion.
Do you have a sense of what kind of father he would want to be moving forward?
DOHERTY: I think Annie reminded him of who he is. I like to think about it like that. She reminded him of who he is, underneath the survival. I think Link will do the right thing, and the right thing is to be there.
By the end of the season, we have a sense of why things like Xavier having seen Link before have happened, or how Dylan is the son that Samantha lost it, and the nosebleeds seem to occur when one of those things has happened. But I have to say, I am a little bit fuzzier on the how of it all. Do you have an understanding of the why and how of all of this? Are you still learning about that?
DOHERTY: I’m still learning quantum physics. It’s like a crossover of worlds. I’m still figuring that part out.
It feels like we’ve only just started to learn what Alex could be capable of.
DOHERTY: Yeah, and we’ve got only eight episodes left to wrap it up.
Thomas Doherty Knows What’s Happening in Season 3 of ‘Paradise,’ Even if He’s Not Spilling Any Secrets
“You won’t get anything out of me.”
We know there is a three-season plan for the series and the creative team has said that they know what the ending for Season 3 is. Sterling K. Brown has also said filming is expected to start at the end of March. Have you been told anything about Season 3? Do you know where everything is headed? Without revealing the secrets to me, have you been clued in on Season 3?
DOHERTY: Yeah.
So, you know where things are headed?
DOHERTY: Uh-huh.
Do you know the endpoint yet?
DOHERTY: Uh-huh. But I’m like a vault. You won’t get anything out of me.
Is it anything like what you thought it would be, or were you completely surprised?
DOHERTY: It’s not what I thought. It’s really good, though.
As the guy who invented this computer, now that we all know that Xavier is the one meant to save the world, how do you feel about that? How do you think Link will feel about that? Do you think they’ll be able to team up and work together?
DOHERTY: I do, honestly. Their energy is more or less compatible. We could be quite a badass team.
- Release Date
-
January 26, 2025
- Network
-
Hulu
- Showrunner
-
Dan Fogelman
Paradise is available to stream on Hulu.
