On the one hand, it’s frustrating that Shailene Woodley’s Paradise run is so short-lived. There was still a lot more to explore with Annie: what she would be like as a mother now after losing her own when she was just a teen, her newfound friendship with Xavier (Sterling K. Brown), and the love story brewing with Link (Thomas Doherty), whom she’ll never even see again, damn it. Based on episodes one and four alone, we’re also just being robbed of a lovely performance from the Big Little Lies star. On the other hand, it’s a testament to Woodley and the show’s writers for making Annie so darn likable in a brief amount of time that it hurts to see her go—once you’ve processed the shock of it happening, that is.
Although it shouldn’t be too surprising that a post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama kills off its characters, “A Holy Charge” feels wrenching because of how it happens. And it’s not because Annie and Xavier are attacked by the strangers whom she initially feared or because they got caught up in “a tornado as big as a city” or because of some world-ending scenario. Instead, she dies soon after giving birth to her daughter because of preeclampsia, a complication she had already diagnosed with but didn’t tell Xavier about it. This revelation lends more weight to her urgent desire to go to the bunker rather than find Teri (Enuka Okuma) in Atlanta. However, after spending a couple of weeks with Xavier in Graceland as he heals, she knows that he won’t take her to Colorado first.
So, knowing she could go into labor at any point, Annie agrees to take the trip to Georgia with him on the condition that once he reunites with his wife, they’ll all head straight to the bunker. If only. Before the two leave Graceland and she eventually dies, episode four spends time on how Annie and Xavier bond after she rescues him. They settle into a weirdly domesticated, obviously platonic dynamic. She tends to his wounds and monitors her own health, while he exercises, grows stronger, and starts helping her out. (Well, he makes her tea.) On the same balcony where she first had a heart-to-heart with Link, she now talks to Xavier about her parenting fears, claiming that her baby is coming into a world of uncontrolled destruction and power. He consoles her by talking about his own experiences when Presley and James were born, going on about the highs and lows of seeing them grow up. Except he paints a picture of a world that doesn’t exist, one with soccer games, swings, and whatnot. Still, it brings some comfort to her, and she sees him for who he is: someone dependable and committed, which helps explain a major decision she makes later on.
But first, after Xavier has fully recovered, the two depart Graceland. Annie leaves her safe space on her favorite horse. It’s a step she was too afraid to take earlier when Link asked her to join him. To me, it makes a lot of sense that she finally overcomes the fear of what lies outside and how it might affect her because her priorities are different now. She wants to be brave for her kid and she wants to have a family by reuniting with Link. Still, it’s not easy for her to see other survivors in the same way Xavier does. She assumes the worst of intentions, while he assumes the best. That’s why when they come across a few folks on the road, she begs him to look away, stay quiet, and keep moving. What does our guy do instead? He yells out a “Howdy,” and tells Annie that “There is nothing wrong with having a little trust, especially in times like these.”
For better or worse, that line right there distinguishes Paradise from dystopian thrillers like The Walking Dead, Silo, The 100, and Revolution. Hulu’s show also has violence, murder, and some unexpected dangers lurking around the corner. But its underlying theme is that, even in the most awful circumstances, people will actually look out for each other instead of being perversely selfish. Series creator Dan Fogelman loves exploring how connection can bloom in dark days, like Rebecca (Mandy Moore) finding and adopting baby Randall on the same day she lost one of her newborn babies in This Is Us‘ premiere. Do most of us have innate goodness in us? Who’s to say, but Fogelman seems intent on using his myriad projects to expand on this idea. As cloying as it may seem, it’s also what makes Paradise fascinating so far.
Some of that cloyingness seeps into the flashbacks in “A Holy Charge.” While staying with Annie, Xavier reminisces on how, five months after The Day, the first bunker child was born. A pregnant Luisa (Jessica Marie Garcia) tightly held onto a supportive POTUS Cal (James Marsden) after learning she had to have an emergency C-section. Cal, his usual giddy self, stood by the side of his citizen and told Luisa that her child “will be the first person whose entire story will take place here,” because they’ll have no memory or notion of the real world. And later, Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) offered to take care of the kid while Luisa slept, telling the newborn that if her plan ended up working out, then baby Calvin would know what it’s like to see the real sun, moon, and stars again. It brings me back to whatever Alex/the machine is and what it has to do with time itself. The concept of time keeps popping up in season two, like when Xavier tells Annie in this episode that he’s having dreams or visions of things that haven’t happened yet. Paradise is so setting up time travel or multiverses, right? It’s a leap, to be sure, but one that I’m cautiously optimistic about.
Back to Xavier and Annie. The two rest at a diner when Annie experiences some tiredness, and he teaches her how to swaddle using a bag of flour. It’s very sweet, but doesn’t last long because Annie’s water breaks. Realizing he can’t help her deliver alone, he goes against Annie’s wishes and runs back to seek help from the strangers they passed by. This is when you think that Paradise will dial up the violence, or put Xavier’s life at stake when he’s caught raiding supplies in a strange home. Instead, all these newbies rush over to help Annie. But she knows she’s not going to survive, so she writes a note for her daughter and tells Xavier to take care of her until he finds Link and to ensure that her offspring is brave. And then, in her new friend’s arms, Annie takes her last breath. Playing Ingrid Michaelson’s cover of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love” during this moment is designed to make you (or at least me) burst into tears. So long, Annie—and good luck traipsing around a wasteland of sorts with a baby strapped on your back, Xavier.
Stray observations
- • Actually, Xavier might not be road tripping for too long. He reaches Atlanta by the end of the episode, specifically the location that he heard Teri mention on the radio. But instead of her, he bumps into a man (played by Cameron Britton) who claims to be his wife’s “closest friend and partner.”
- • Will we meet these kind strangers who helped Annie and Xavier out ever again?
- • Link and his gang also reach the bunker because he chooses not to wait for backup. (More of his people are coming to Colorado on a train, apparently.) In a Love Actually move, he uses cards to communicate with the folks inside the bunker, telling them he wants to meet their leader. He’s only asking nicely for now.
- • Link also has a vision of walking in a tunnel of sorts with Xavier. I ask again, Paradise, WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
- • “Yeah, I get it; you knew a pregnant woman once.”
- • It’s a tiny moment, but I loved the look of relief on Annie’s face when Xavier returned to the diner just as she was about to give birth. The two don’t even know each other’s last names or birthdates, Xavier says later on, but those details don’t matter at this particular time. Their connection does.
- • Is there a time when you feel like you’ve “lived life at full volume”?
Saloni Gajjar is The A.V. Club‘s TV critic.
Keep scrolling for more great stories.