TV Show review
January 26, 2025 · TV-MA · Returning Series
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Paradise.
Woke representation / casting
Diverse ensemble with prominent Black lead in authority and mixed ethnicities in elite roles fits the global-power premise naturally; no audience-visible identity signaling, quotas, or story-mismatching swaps emphasized in marketing or reviews.
Woke political dialogue
Critiques of elite self-interest, billionaire cabals, and government secrecy emerge through thriller plotting and flashbacks rather than explicit modern activist language or identity monologues.
Identity-driven story themes
Focuses primarily on class/power inequality and who is chosen for survival in crisis, with secondary environmental collapse elements; some coverage notes racial inequity angles but these remain background to the mystery and conspiracy core.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Depicts government and wealthy elites covering up disaster and hoarding resources, highlighting institutional failure and self-serving power; modern resonance exists but stays within conspiracy-thriller framing without anti-patriarchy, anti-Christian, or broad cultural-undermining messaging.
Review
Paradise is a post-apocalyptic political thriller created by Dan Fogelman that follows Secret Service agent Xavier Collins investigating the murder of President Cal Bradford inside a luxurious underground bunker housing elites after a global catastrophe destroys the surface world. The story blends murder mystery with conspiracy revelations about who gets to survive and why. Themes of wealth inequality, elite corruption, government cover-ups, and climate-driven survival selection appear through the plot and character backstories in a noticeable but story-driven way rather than through direct lectures. Diverse casting places actors of various backgrounds in positions of power and authority, fitting the premise of a global elite bunker without heavy identity signaling in marketing or dialogue.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Minimal; isolated notes on mild diversity or female character portrayals exist but no significant public campaigns, media framing, or widespread right-leaning outrage treating the show as DEI or identity-politics propaganda.
Creator track record context
Dan Fogelman’s This Is Us explored family and subtle social dynamics with a human-focused, non-partisan approach; most other key creatives show mainstream or low-profile histories without recurring identity-driven or activist patterns.
Production
