TV Recap: “Paradise” – Episode 7 “The Day”

It’s October 28, 1962, and the Cuban Missile Crisis is in full effect. The radio announces that the address by Adlai Stevenson to the UN Security Council will be the final act in the two-week world drama. An Air Force Colonel tells his wife that a Soviet sub captain was ordered to fire his nuclear weapons but chose not to. He laments that it’s going to happen again, and wonders what will happen if the wrong person is at the controls next time. (Oh, I like how this refers to the current situation in the cave. My question is, would he be referring to Sinatra, or Xavier?)

Still holding the gun on Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson), Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) doesn’t believe what she said. There is no way that his wife Teri (Enuka Okuma) is still alive. He refuses to play her games because it’s a nuclear winter outside of the cave. Sinatra explains that that was what was initially thought. She then describes how the expedition outside the cave didn’t die because of the environment, but because they were bringing a survivor back, and so she had them killed. Sinatra is adamant that even though she sounds like a Bond villain, she swears she isn’t. (Wouldn’t a modern day Bond villain claim they aren’t a Bond villain?) Xavier is not buying her pleas and says that it’s interesting that people who claim they aren’t monsters usually are.

Sinatra states that the expedition set up transmitters outside, and they continue to broadcast. She plays Xavier some recordings of what she has been listening to, and soon the Secret Service agent hears the voices of the outside survivors. It seems that people are alive, and they are looking for the bunker. He raises the gun right to Sinatra’s head and tells her to stop. Atlanta, where Teri was on the day, took a direct hit, there were no survivors.

What Xavier doesn’t know is that President Bradford (James Marsden) did something on the day that he didn’t know about. Xavier still denies Sinatra’s claims because he spent the whole day with President Bradford.

On the day of devastation, the news reports of the unprecedented destruction and chaos that starts in Antarctica. (Nice to see Bob Woodruff in the role of the news anchor.) According to the news a super volcano erupted under the Antarctic ice sheet and expelled billions of tons of ash into the atmosphere. A tsunami as high as 300 feet was triggered and is heading north. (Oh boy, this is very troubling.)

Xavier is frantically texting Teri about where she is. Her plane was supposed to have landed in Washington already, and he is getting no response from her. When he learns that she is just boarding her plane in Atlanta, Xavier is asked about what he knows from the President’s assistant. Vice President Baines (Matt Malloy) comes rushing into the Cabinet Room, where President Bradford is listening to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs outlining the current situation.

Bradford wants to know how bad the situation is. All coastal cities are effectively gone. The President does not want to make the wrong call. He polls the room, and they all recommend going to the Versailles Protocol. (I am so glad to see James Marsden gets time to be an actual president in this episode.)

Since Teri’s plane is grounded in Atlanta, he pleads with the President to help. Bradford tells him it’s a go for Versailles. While the President changes ties, Xavier watches as his wife frantically texts about what to do. The President and Xavier watch as the tsunami hits Jakarta and destroys a live news broadcast.

Getting a call from Presley (Aliyah Mastin), Xavier listens as his daughter wonders what is happening. He tells his daughter to not let go of her brother James (Percy Daggs IV) and to stick close to Jeremy Bradford (Charles Evans).

In the Oval Office, Bradford gets ready to make a broadcast about what is happening, and Bradford believes that the words are meaningless. Alone in the office, Xavier pleads with Bradford to help his wife, and the President tells him to calm down. Bradford tells Xavier to talk to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and he will deliver his wife. Xavier gets help and advises his wife on what she needs to do.

The President makes his recording, and at the conclusion, it is learned that Russia and China have gone to war with each other. Teri finally talks with Xavier, and he tells her to steal a car and make it to the air force base, then she will be brought to Washington. On the news, a catastrophic earthquake struck Los Angeles (ouch), and the people in the White House are aghast at the destruction.

As Xavier leads the President through the evacuation plan of the White House, he meets Special Agent Robinson (Krys Marshall) and while enroute, the President stops to talk to the custodian. He has been there for nine administrations, and the President wants to know what he’s doing. While the man is not concerned about the coming troubles, the President leaves, and joins the evacuation.

Bradford doesn’t feel right about the plan and wants to go on the television to be honest with the American people. The President feels that the American people have a right to know what is really happening. While Bradford gets ready to address the nation, Xavier gets ready for the possible fallout. He soon learns his daughter and son are on their way to the airport.

Inside the Oval Office, Bradford makes a statement to the people of the country. He tells them the truth about what has happened and explains the disaster that is about to come. Bradford is heartfelt and honest about his feelings for everyone. Outside the Oval Office the President is confronted by his staff, and Xavier saves the day evacuating the President. Chaos breaks out in the Oval Office.

Armed to the teeth. Xavier leads President Bradford out to an escort gunship, expecting trouble and a firefight. Giving the President his bullet proof vest, Xavier holds the group at the door before making their way outside. Making it to the helicopter, the scene on the White House lawn is bedlam, shooting, betrayal, and hurt feelings abound.

At Air Force One, Xavier tries to get in touch with Teri but fails. Frightened, Xavier starts talking about leaving to try and find her, but President Bradford appeals to him by telling him his kids are on the plane, and they need him.

Upset and the impending loss of his wife, Xavier screams at the President, wondering when he knew that his wife was doomed. Stating that he asked the President to warn him. Bradford states that he tried, and Xavier’s temper starts to rise. Bradford tells him it’s time to get on the plane and be with their children. As he leaves, Xavier stares to the sky to witness a million birds all confused by the imminent destruction that is about to come.

On board, Xavier joins James and Presley, and they are overjoyed to see their father. They wonder where their mom is, and Xavier has nothing to say.

The President later joins Xavier at his seat and apologizes once again for what happened with his wife. He offers an encrypted phone, that is supposed to be able to break through to a cell phone. (I really like Cal Bradford, and the dignity that James Marsden brings to this character is beautiful.)

In the situation room, Bradford learns that the plane which had the members of Congress, and the Supreme Court Justices, crashed when the sound wave hit them. On a call with the Joint Chiefs, the President learns that nuclear war has started, with a potential missile inbound for the bunker. Bradford is advised to launch American missiles to protect the bunker.

Alone in his office, Bradford reflects on the opened launch case for nuclear weapons, and Sinatra joins him. He tells her that the first thing he did when became president was to ask about all the secrets. They turned out to be nothing, and instead he was told about the nuclear football, the large briefcase that allows the President to launch all American nuclear missiles. Bradford explains to Sinatra that everyone knows about the football, but they don’t know that it has two abilities.

Apparently, after the Cuban Missile Crisis, an Air Force Colonel got worried about a future nuclear war. (Ah now I see how the episode connects back to the start.) This colonel helped to create a worldwide EMP system, that would allow the president to trigger a mass outage of all satellites, missiles, everything that is electrical. If Bradford opens the red launch codes then nuclear war, but if he opens the black card, it will shut down everything including incoming missiles. It’s a switch that will shut off the world, however it will take the planet back five hundred years. Cal Bradford reasons that it gives people a chance.

Sinatra is shocked. She tells him there is no way he is considering doing this. However, Bradford defies his friend and billionaire confidant. Sinatra says that it is more humane to let the billions of people die in a quick flash than to starve over the course of a year. He counters that the people need a chance, and Sinatra says the city in the bunker needs a chance to survive. She begs him to stop, but President Bradford asks her to leave, and when Sinatra refuses, he calls in a Secret Service agent and tells him that if she doesn’t move, the agent has permission to shoot her. (You should have her shot now Cal.) Sinatra leaves and Bradford triggers the EMP.

Alone in an office, Xavier gets through to Teri. She stole a car but didn’t make it to the air force base. She wants to know if the kids are safe. Xavier tells Teri that they are being taken somewhere safe in Colorado. At the same time, Bradford watches as the missiles get closer, but he triggers the EMP. Teri tells Xavier to tell the kids that she loves them and that it’s okay to be happy. As communication starts to cut out, Bradford watches as the EMP wave circles the globe. Xavier watches on the screen and sees a projected missile that is about to hit Atlanta. The missile draws closer and Xavier believes that his wife has died in a fiery light. Or did she? Did the EMP stop the missile?

Back in the present, Sinatra’s story is over, and she says to a very angry and gun wielding Xavier that she thinks Bradford’s plan worked and no missiles hit Atlanta. Though Xavier doubts her story, Sinatra plays a recording of Teri who broadcasts that she is looking for her husband and kids. The world outside is rebuilding. Demanding to know how to find his wife, Xavier shoots at the floor, but Sinatra has an ace up her sleeve.

She calls the tavern and tells the enraged Secret Service agent that he might want to check on his daughter. He learns that Presley is not at the tavern. Sinatra tells Xavier that if he ever wants to see his daughter alive, and find his wife, he will give up the guns and return everything in the city to normal. She also tells him the DNA found on Bradford’s body came from someone who was not from the city, an outsider.

Review:

Wow! This was a jaw dropping episode of epic proportions. To have this amount of action take place in the penultimate episode was incredible. Everything about the day of the disaster was so beautifully crafted in that short frame, that it was better than most blockbuster films.

The fact that Teri is supposedly alive, is not shocking. She had to be, it was another twist that is expected. I do hope we get more than a closing embrace at the end of the series.

The MVP Award of the episode goes to James Marsden. He not only showed another layer to the complicated Cal Bradford, but he made President Cal Bradford stand on the Mount Rushmore of Presidents with Bartlett and Marshall. Marsden is so good as Bradford, and so earnest in his desire to warn people, it makes the tragic downfall more upsetting. Cal Bradford was a good guy, who didn’t deserve what happened to him.

The I Wouldn’t Pick a Fight With You Award goes to Agent Robinson. When we first meet her in the White House on the day of the event, she shows how no holds barred, and duty bound she is. Krys Marshall makes Robinson a force to recon with.

The Psycho Award goes to Sinatra. Any time you hold someone’s child hostage at gunpoint, you are a monster. Julianne Nicholson is pretty great at being awful to others.

The I Still Don’t Trust You Award goes to Dr. Gabriela Torabi. I have not seen episode 8. I do not know how the show ends, so this is all conjecture. However, everything in my gut says that Gabriela is the real monster, and she is responsible for Cal’s death. I think she has been manipulating Xavier and Sinatra, and I think she is so bent on maintaining the balance of the city in the cave, that she would do anything.