Paradise Season 3 Episode 6 Explores Jane’s Past and Explains So Much

If you were waiting for every plot point in Paradise Season 2 to move forward, this was your hour.

We were inside the bunker. We were outside the bunker. We were in the CIA. We were in Circuit City.

We were everywhere, and it was a lot. Still, with only two hours left after this, transitioning between locations and plot threads felt desperately needed to move the story forward.

We hadn’t checked in with the bunker people since Paradise Season 2 Episode 3, so it was good to see what was happening down there, especially since the arrival of Link and his ever-growing crew, which was growing by the day.

This whole season has felt like it’s leading to the bunker’s total implosion in some form. Whether it’s due to the militia, Jeremy getting something right, or Xavier’s eventual return, disaster feels inevitable.

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Since the events of Paradise Season 1 Episode 8, everything has been hanging by a thread, and that’s probably why Baines turned into a dictator extraordinaire in hopes of resetting the equilibrium down there.

But if anything, things have only gotten worse and worse.

We’ve been teased with these bigger issues that might plague the planet or the bunker, though it’s not totally clear, and Samantha’s got about 50 different fires she’s currently trying to quell.

And in this hour, it was about figuring out what to do about the armed people outside and what the hell to do with Jane.

Jane, Jane, Jane.

I’m fairly certain Jane ended up on everyone’s bad list when she killed Billy in a move that may go down as one of the biggest twists in the show’s history.

It was stone-cold and absolutely devastating, mainly because it was such a shock. But now, with a deeper look at Jane’s past, revealing her formative trauma and emotional disconnect, her unpredictable actions and motivations feel more understandable. Her past experiences set the stage for the complex, dangerous person she’s become.

Now, I won’t pretend to understand why that Circuit City man was getting those messages about the baby being a killer, because it was giving those messages you would get on AIM, telling you to send something to 10 other people or you’d be cursed with 20 years of bad luck.

But the whole situation clearly had a profound impact on Jane’s upbringing.

Do you chalk it up to some sick man’s delusions and never think about it again? Or is it something that continuously festers in the back of your subconscious and alters the way you view and treat your daughter during her formative years?

Jane was clearly troubled as a child, but what were those years like before we met her? It’s hard to say, and while the hour doesn’t show every side of Jane, it does reveal her persistent otherness and her desperation to serve.

Early CIA Jane was a shell of the woman we know today, and it wasn’t until Officer Thomas molded her and helped her get out of her head that she really became the machine she is now.

Thomas thought she was doing a good thing, helping this intelligent woman combat her inner demons and excel at a job she could do well.

But Thomas failed to see that her struggles went beyond insecurity or trauma; Jane appears to lack the ability to function independently. It’s as though she can’t exist in the world without someone else directing her actions.

And we saw that, from her childhood days, listening to her imaginary friend, and then through Officer Thomas, not even explicitly telling her to do something, but merely putting into motion the thought that Jane should do something about her current plight.

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As soon as Jane appeared on Radnor’s porch, I assumed she was going to hurt the man in some way, but literally chopping off his genitals just further confirmed Jane’s complete detachment from reality in a very scary way.

Jane operates on directives and is devoid of human emotions, boundaries, and rationale. That’s why Billy, someone who loved her, was expendable, as she’s most herself when being used as the killer she was born— or believed she was born— to be.

It’s obvious that present-day Jane sees Samantha as an Officer Thomas, a maternal figure that she was always missing, and someone who utilizes her to the extent of the ability she believes she possesses.

I’m glad the series didn’t drag out Samantha pretending not to know Jane shot her.

Samantha remembering every detail but that one would have been odd.

And I’m also glad they’ve framed Jane as potentially the one person Samantha has ever truly been scared shitless of.

You’d think Samantha would want Jane’s head on a stick, but after speaking with her and realizing how broken she was, she seemed to understand that she could be an asset to her, at least at this current time.

Samantha realizes Jane can’t be trusted long term, but right now, she’s the only one in the bunker willing to obey without question, making her the most protected person in the bunker right now.

Gabriela’s after Samantha bad, and as much as I’d love for her to play a part in bringing Samantha down (I really need Xavier to be a part of this as well), there’s something about the way Gabriela goes about things that makes me feel like she’s closer to bunker jail or death than she is to bringing Samantha to justice.

Switching gears, Gabriela and Robinson’s conversation may have been one of the season’s best moments. Robinson’s attitude was so damn relatable in so many ways.

The world blew up, you’ve been trapped underground for years, your lover was murdered, you tried to stage a coup that went belly up, and now you’re being framed for the murder of the President.

Imagine how tired we are?

Robinson’s been to hell and back, and her desire to just say F it and leave the fighting and grand ideas to someone else would be completely on par with most people. Especially knowing that, in this world, just as in the old one above, the system is still going to do what the system does.

Of course, Robinson came around when she saw that Jeremy and Cooke were about to get caught up with their plan before they even set foot underground. But she did that for Cal, because she did love that man, and the idea of willingly letting his son get in even more trouble wasn’t something she could stomach.

The bunker is in upheaval right now, and perhaps the most intriguing thing happening right now is seeing if Jeremy is able to open all the doors, all while Link, his five buddies, and apple pies get to the mysterious Alex before Gabriela figures out what they are.

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This Alex mystery truly has me stumped, and I just know Paradise is going to drop it at the very end of the season and leave us gagged for its return.

But hear me out, people. HEAR ME OUT.

Considering Circuit City man got some kind of message from the future, could Alex be the name for some kind of time-traveling machine?

Did Link’s professor/mentor build some kind of time travel machine that Link is now hellbent on destroying, because if Samantha has it, she’s absolutely going to do something horrific with it.

It would explain why Xavier and Link both dream of each other, because they may have met in another timeline.

Time travel stuff can get SO complicated, and this is just a theory after all, but I think it’s a plausible one based on what we do know so far.

Another thing we know? XAVIER AND TERI ARE ABOUT TO BE REUNITED?

I will fully admit I completely misread the entirety of the end of Paradise Season 2 Episode 5, and Gary having Teri, Bean, and whoever else holed up somewhere.

With Bean witnessing Gary shooting Ennis, he must have gone back to Teri and escaped to the train. Hence, Gary wasn’t lying about knowing where Teri was, but lying about how she got there and why she was there.

God love Xavier for doing anything within his power to get back to his wife, and the next time someone makes one of those most romantic television moments ever, I need Xavier flying into a dead world and traveling by foot and horse to find his wife, included.

Listen, his plan was a Hail Mary at best, given all the armed men around, and, of course, he didn’t know these people weren’t dangerous but were just trying to protect themselves.

He could have walked right on up to them, and this would have all been over.

I am so over Gary. He’s a lying liar who lies, and I’m tired of everything he’s doing being under the guise of keeping Teri safe.

He’s selfish, he’s cruel, and he deserves whatever comes after Xavier and Teri get even a piece of their happy ending.

Actually, Xavier and Teri leaving with Bean in tow will be enough punishment for him, and maybe it’s cruel, but at this point, it’s what he deserves.

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He tried to kill Xavier, and that’s not a thing that can be forgiven.

So good riddance, Gary. Good riddance, Atlanta. We have a bunker to get back to.

Thinking Twice About These Paradise Details

• The thought of Xavier and Teri returning to the bunker with a baby and a small boy in tow is cracking me up.

• Gabriela must lowkey have a death wish because Robinson told her straight up all about Jane’s dead bodies, and she still confronted her without missing a beat. Brave!

• I am not ready for Link to meet his baby and then realize Annie is dead. My heart hurts just thinking about it.

• Presley is like the only person down there, outside of Gabriela, who actually recognizes that the kids are NOT alright and that the bunker is turning into a hellscape.

• Do we trust Hadley? Would one thirty-second conversation with a classmate get you to snitch on your mother?

• Jane standing in the living room with the gift bag will stick with me for a long time because what in the crazy?

Paradise Season 2 is on a roll! And I don’t want it to end!

There are still answers to be had, but we are getting closer to them. And even closer to getting all of these characters back in the same place!

There is a lot to talk about after this one, so please do so in the comments!

You can watch Paradise on Mondays at 12:00 a.m. ET (available Sundays at 9:00 p.m. PT) on Hulu.

The post Paradise Season 3 Episode 6 Explores Jane’s Past and Explains So Much appeared first on TV Fanatic.