Paradise's Jane finally gives us answers about the assassin's past – but major questions remain ahead of the finale
Yes, we finally find out what is up with her Nintendo Wii obsession too...
Paradise’s Jane finally brings us back to the bunker this week – and into the mind of the chilling killer agent that’s playing her own, twisted game.
But season 2’s episode 6 continues the show’s trend of giving us one answer, only to pile three more on. It’s a dizzying time being a fan of this show – but we can’t deny, it’s keeping us absolutely hooked.
The bunker’s resident mysterious assassin is used to playing in the shadows, but now she’s centre stage. Her motivations are always baffling, and her kill count is getting higher by the day, but at last we’re finally beginning to understand her. Well… as well as we can understand an absolutely unhinged psychopath who hides behind a sickly sweet persona.
On top of that, we also pop back to Atlanta to check in on Xavier’s efforts to rescue Teri. With Gary the Mailman by his side, nothing can go wrong, right? Well… if you saw episode 5, you know that’s definitely not the case. Gary’s the bad guy in this situation – Xavier just doesn’t know it yet.
With just two episodes after this to go, there’s a lot of ground to cover. Here’s everything that happened to get you up to speed, along with the questions that have been answered, and those that still remain…
Paradise season 2 episode 6 recap: Who (or what) is Alex?
Paradise season 2 episode 6 opens on May 29th, 1997 – with a tech store employee being bombarded with emails, AIM messages (remember those?!), and texts. All have the same warning from “Alex Q”: “A killer will be born on June 6th at 12:01am. She can be stopped when it matters, if you deliver a message to her.”
Most people would consider this spam and move on. But not this guy. This guy takes it VERY seriously. So much so, he accosts a woman carrying her newborn daughter outside the hospital. Security intervenes, but it’s too late. The baby is Jane – Sinatra’s resident assassin.
It proves “Alex” has been interfering with those involved with the bunker for a while now – and even knows the future. So is Alex a person, or artificial intelligence?
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In the present day, Gabriela is hot on the case to figure it out. In old clandestine recordings, she discovers one mentioning Alex – and how Sinatra’s “afraid of being the person she needs to be in order to save everyone”.
Gabriela later visits Robinson in the “Down Below”, telling her she knows she didn’t kill President Baines. She warns Paradise is crumbling, and hopes President Bradford, who was sleeping with Robinson before he was assassinated, told her something about Alex.
But Robinson has reached her limit and shuts her down. She says Bradford didn’t tell her anything, and warns Gabriela that Sinatra is only powerful because of those behind her – specifically, Jane.
What’s going on with Jane?
At the start of Paradise, Jane looked like a total sweetie – but now we know better. Jane is a ruthless, manipulative killer. In the bunker alone, she has murdered her boyfriend (R.I.P. Billy) and a sitting president, framing others for the crimes.
Turns out it’s because of good, old-fashioned mummy issues.
Jane’s mother was… not a natural parent, hating her daughter from the second she’s born. She would cruelly mock Jane, taunting her for her imaginary childhood friend “Clemmie”.
But she becomes frightened when “Clemmie” makes Jane act out in terrifying ways, including locking her and her lover in a garden sauna. Convinced that what the man said at the hospital will come true, Jane’s mother all but disowns her. Ultimately, it leads Jane down the path to become the murderer she feared.
While training for the CIA, Jane finds a much nicer mother figure in a kindly commanding officer, who sees something “special” in her. She learns how to channel her inner rage via meditation, how to play the Nintendo Wii (we knew there was more to this!) and to focus on small details.
This proves incredibly useful for Jane during interrogation training with Radner – a super sexist officer with an ego complex who thrives in mistreating her.
So when Radner gets the promotion her beloved mentor deserved (because he has a penis), Jane decides to fix it for her. She confronts him, cuts said member off, and then presents it in a gift bag. Unsurprisingly, the grim gift is not particularly well-received.
Now in Paradise, Jane’s got a new mummy: Sinatra. Jealous of Hadley (Sinatra’s actual daughter), she’s mainly desperate to win Sinatra’s approval. Even if it means shooting her in the neck.
What’s happening in the Down Below and can they escape?
The “Down Below” is Paradise’s makeshift jail, and during his presidency, President Baines was filling it with anyone considered a nuisance or rebellion risk. Current occupants include Agent Robinson, Jeremy Bradford, and Anders – the architect of the bunker.
With nothing but time to waste, Jeremy and Anders are doing a terrible job at hiding their plans to escape not just the Down Below, but the entire bunker itself. So much so, it gets Robinson’s attention.
Jeremy is not a fan of Robinson – after all, she was having an affair with his father. Regardless, he confirms her suspicions that they’re trying to get out. When she sees them in trouble during their efforts to get down a manhole, she joins their mission. The manhole leads to secret tunnels in the depths of Paradise – including a control room.
Unbeknownst to them all, they have help on the outside – Xavier’s daughter Presley. She decides to push Hadley, Sinatra’s daughter, for information – but Hadley is completely unaware her mother is Sinatra, as it’s a government codename. She just knows her as mum, or at the very most, Samantha Redmond (her actual name).
When Hadley discovers the truth, she confronts Sinatra about it, but she denies everything. That night, Hadley texts Presley saying she knows where the Down Below is, and is ready to help.
Who is now running Paradise?
At last, an easy question to answer. Paradise season 2 episode 6 returns with the bunker completely leaderless. You can thank Jane, who unceremoniously killed President Baines and pinned it on Robinson.
Obviously, Sinatra humbly takes on the leadership position. Just in time too – as Link’s team of outside survivors are demanding to see who’s in charge.
But Sinatra is not trusting of Jane. With good reason, too – in season 1 she shot her in the neck and lied about it. Sinatra admits she knows, and tells Jane she’s terrified of her. At the same time, she’s the only person who knows her secrets. When she asks Jane what she meant by ‘she would be no use to her dead’ when she shot her, Jane says she’s a killer. She has always been a weapon. However, in order to serve a purpose, she needs someone like her to serve.
To test her, Sinatra sends Jane out to meet with Link and his growing “militia” to discuss terms of a meeting. Jane does so with gusto, knowing it’s important to Sinatra.
Holding a survivor at gunpoint, Jane and Link come to an agreement. Triumphant, Jane seeps in Sinatra’s praise, recounts it to herself in the bathroom mirror, and beams as she’s given a new toy – a Nintendo Switch.
But then Gabriela appears, who shares she knows who Jane has killed and framed while in the bunker. Jane doesn’t deny it, proudly declaring it means she knows what she’s capable of.
Gabriela warns her that, as someone who’s done Sinatra’s dirty work before, it never ends well. But Jane confidently says she’s different – and there’s no way she’s getting to Sinatra.
What happens with Xavier and Gary?
Oh, Xavier. Your faith in humanity is touching, but you should have paid more attention to Annie’s hesitance to trust while she was alive. It may have saved you from this terrible situation you’re now in.
Over in Atlanta, Xavier commits to his plan to “save” wife Teri from the train “holding her captive”. Only, she’s not a captive – Gary lied to him. He also wants Teri for himself. Blind to that knowledge, Xavier goes through with his plan to plant a bomb near the train, providing a long enough distraction to get Teri and her quasi-adopted son Bean out of there.
Xavier lays the bomb as planned, with Gary playing “lookout”. Via walkie-talkie, Xavier makes him promise to find Teri, and ensure she’s safe and taken care of. Gary, who is in love with Teri, says that’s all he wants. He then sabotages Xavier, pressing the trigger early in a bid to get rid of his love rival.
Xavier manages to get the bomb away from him just in time, but is still left knocked out and disoriented by the blast. Upon hearing the explosion, the train community, armed and in defence mode, quickly descend on him to investigate the attack. Teri – Xavier’s long-missing wife – is among their ranks.
As this couple finally reunite after all this time, will it be a happy one?
Read more: Gone on ITV1: DS Annie Cassidy is tracking a killer, but is the real monster her husband?
