“We all want something beautiful. Man, I wish I was beautiful.” So sing Counting Crows in “Mr. Jones,” a needle-drop that opens the latest and greatest episode of Paradise season 2. The episode proves Paradise is one of the better post-apocalyptic shows on TV right now, as a multifaceted chapter that highlights the show’s core strengths—balancing joy and sorrow, and toying with audience expectations about who you can trust and who you can’t—with never a dull moment.
“The Mailman” takes viewers through yet another character’s perspective: Gary’s, played by Cameron Britton. Picking up from last week’s cliff-hanger that capped off a different teary episode, we catch up with Teri (Enuka Okuma) by first meeting Gary. He’s a lonely mailman whose only friend is a nice voice through his gaming headset. We learn soon enough that the voice belongs to Ennis (Andy McQueen), whose hilarious online handle hardly masks his motives for starting a fallout shelter in preparation for the end of the world.
Gary’s routine life inevitably comes to an end when the supervolcano erupts in Antarctica. By then, Gary and Ennis’ plans had already been set in motion, and we’ve seen glimpses of his moral compass. When it’s time to get into their bunker, he thinks of an abandoned child on his route, Bean, whose neglectful parents are too high to care about the apocalypse. Between that and Ennis’ borderline creepy way of talking about Crystal (Connie Shi), a “hot nurse,” it’s only too easy to sympathize with Gary. That’s also when we reunite with Teri, who leaves her voicemail to Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) when she meets Bean. Intent to protect him from potential predators, she goes with them to the shelter.
It’s here where Paradise briefly turns into a post-apocalyptic series we’ve seen before, albeit one with a bigger heart and a smarter brain than The Walking Dead or The Last of Us. Three years pass, and this small group of strangers becomes a family, complete with some uncomfortable household dynamics. You know it crushes Ennis that Crystal is actually into women and marries the group’s resident mechanic Jackie (played by comedian Jojo T. Gibbs). While their lives inside the shelter are glossed over in montage, it is still one of the sweetest sequences in Paradise yet as the bunkermates develop ties to one another and look out for Bean as one of their own. Teri especially takes guardianship over him. She clearly misses her own children (who, unbeknownst to her, are doing fine, probably eating cotton candy under a fake sun), and with all the love she has, she gives to Bean.
If there’s anyone who feels left out of the whole ordeal, it’s the two men who started it: Gary and Ennis. While Ennis’ borderline incel attitudes leave him kicking rocks over Crystal, Gary develops intense feelings for Teri. They agree to stay friends, and at first, Gary’s dedication to her as a “friend” seems sincere, including helping her set up the radio satellite to get her message out ot Xavier. But there are enough lingering clues that leave us questioning how much Gary still wants to be friendly.
Gilles Mingasson
Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) is getting closer to reuniting with Teri. But can he trust Gary?
Parallel to the flashbacks inside the bunker is Gary’s present meeting with Xavier, who arrives at the post office-turned-shelter (now abandoned except for Gary) with Annie’s unnamed baby in tow. (Asking again: We all agree they’re naming her Hope, right?) Xavier’s instincts encourage him to keep his guard up even after seeing undeniable proof that Gary and Teri knew each other and, from the outside looking in, trusted each other. It’s compelling to compare Xavier and Gary with how Xavier was with Annie just a week ago. Not that Xavier and Annie got along at first either, but it’s slightly out of character for Xavier given how he was the one advocating trusting others with Annie.
But chalk it up to Xavier relying on his gut instincts this time. After Xavier learns that the others, including Teri, have been “taken” by a rival group (and a heavily armed one at that), Xavier prepares to go full Rambo to get his wife back. On the way, Gary fesses up to Xavier that he loved Teri, but assures him that they ultimately decided to be friends.
What Gary leaves out of his story is that he killed Ennis. It’s here Paradise swerves with audience expectations once again, just as it did with Jane, who turned out to be deadlier than she seemed. Ennis turns out to be way more chill than we thought, after he abandons his controlling ways and accepts letting go of Crystal. But now it’s Gary who can’t let go of his object of affection. After meeting a roving band on their way to Colorado (and yes, it’s the same group connected to Link), Ennis tells his friend that Teri may leave soon with Bean to find Xavier. A frozen Gary realises what he has to lose, and shoots Ennis in the chest at point-blank range; suddenly, all those nights shooting video game zombies become foreshadowing to this moment. And it’s none other than Bean who witnesses the murder. Xavier has no clue, but he’s walking in step with a killer now.
(We also agree that it was Gary who broke Teri’s radio and not Ennis, right? It’s just too obvious now.)
For men like Gary and Ennis, the bunker represented what they couldn’t have when the world was functional. A sense of purpose, identity, even control. The tragically lonely Gary just wanted something of his own. Maybe that was family, or just people to love. At last, he has the closest thing to it, but this was never his to have. He just wanted something beautiful. Next week, it might get ugly.
