Annie’s introduction to the world in episode 1 was really straightforward. We saw her as a child, tending to her ailing mother, and then learned how her mother’s death played a major role in her decision to become a doctor. But since she never treated the trauma of living with her mother and then losing her so abruptly, she suffered a meltdown. She eventually had to drop out of med school and became a tour guide at Graceland. When the apocalypse began, Annie took shelter there with Gayle. Unfortunately, Gayle perished because of her leg injury, but Annie continued to persevere. Almost 2 years after that incident, Annie met Link and his crew. They were headed to the underground bunker in Colorado, and Link wanted Annie to come along with them. However, Annie had developed some form of agoraphobia, which disallowed her from leaving Graceland and going with Link and his crew. So, they left with Annie, and 9 months later, it was revealed that Annie was pregnant with Link’s baby. Around that time, a plane crash-landed somewhere near Graceland, and when Annie checked it out, she found Xavier in the wreckage. What happened next? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Xavier’s Meet-Cute With Teri
In stark contrast to Annie’s introductory story, our reunion with Xavier in Paradise episode 2 is through a nonlinear plot, with one half focusing on Xavier’s meet-cute with Teri in the 2000s, and the other following Xavier as he encounters some friends and foes after that crash-landing. So, I’m going to deal with the past first and then get to the moments leading up to Annie finding an unconscious Xavier. Back in 2004, Xavier had suffered a bad knee injury at the US Secret Service Training Center. He had to undergo surgery, and he was kept in one of the dormitories for observation. Since he made such a fuss about the flavor of jello he was given, Teri chucked him her jello in the hopes of getting the blabbermouth to shut up while she was waiting for her surgery. That didn’t quite work because, instead of asking the nurse to hasten his discharge so that he could get away from this woman who was repulsed by his yapping, Xavier felt compelled to extend his stay there so that he could “get to know” Teri. Even though the nurse thought that Xavier couldn’t woo Teri, she obliged Xavier’s request “for the drama.”
Teri’s Love at Second Sight
Xavier managed to learn that Teri was suffering from congenital scoliosis and she was pursuing a doctorate in Cell, Molecular, and Organismal Biology. But when Xavier tried to get her thoughts on settling down, Teri explicitly stated that that was out of the question because she didn’t want anything to come between her and her dream job at the NIH. After Teri underwent surgery, she began suffering from something called perioperative visual loss. The surgeon claimed that it was temporary, but, in the moment, Teri felt that all her dreams had gone down the gutter. Since the unending darkness before Teri made her feel alone and helpless, she began craving Xavier’s company; at the very least, he could keep her distracted from the overwhelming sense of dread that she was experiencing. Given how Xavier was a yapper of the highest order, he got right to work. Yeah, even though he was discharged, he chose to stay in the hospital so that Teri had someone to converse with. Eventually, Teri regained her eyesight, and when she saw Xavier going about his usual routine of arranging all her stuff on her table, she knew that he truly loved her. On that note, their talking phase came to an end, and their kissing phase began.
Xavier Probably Knows Link
I had assumed that Xavier had crashed the plane because of his poor eyesight, a fuel shortage, or some kind of malfunction in the vehicle. Well, I was wrong on all three counts. Yes, Xavier was flying blind because of the snow, but then he experienced some kind of headache, which caused him to momentarily black out and bleed out of his nose. It looked similar to something that Link had experienced while he was asking Annie to join him on the trip to Colorado. Heck, it seems like, for a second, Xavier even saw a vision of Link while having that intense headache. This could mean three things: firstly, Xavier and Link know each other, and Xavier was remembering some task they had done together, which is unlikely because, unless Link was lying about his backstory, I can’t see how Xavier could have crossed paths with Link. Secondly, the makers of Paradise Season 2 are just using some unsubtle editing techniques to foreshadow Xavier’s meeting with Link. Or thirdly, certain irradiated parts of the surface give people the superpower to look into the future. Well, I guess we’ll learn more about that later in the upcoming episodes this season.
Xavier Was Rescued By Daniel
In addition to that headache, Xavier ran into a hailstorm, which caused him to crash-land the plane. The plane got stuck in a tree, and Xavier was trapped in it. When he tried to get out of it, he landed on his bad knee in the wrong way and dislocated it. When he initially got the injury during his Secret Service training days, he was admitted to the hospital. In this post-apocalyptic hellscape, he had none of that, and he proceeded to fix his knee with the help of some rope. Since that’d make him scream, a kid appeared out of nowhere and prevented him from doing so. Why? Because there were a bunch of raiders sniffing around the crash site, and if they found Xavier, they’d probably kill him. Well, for a second it seemed like the kid was about to leave Xavier to his fate and run away with all his stuff. However, the kid actually helped Xavier hide from the raiders and then took him to the boat where he stayed with his sister and his friends. Once everyone had kind of settled in, Xavier asked his savior to pass him another bundle of rope so that he could finally solve his little knee issue. He warned the kids that he was going to scream really loudly and then pass out, and then he proceeded to do exactly that (the kid even helped him time his scream with the sound of thunder so that nobody could hear him cry out). When he regained consciousness, he learned that his savior’s name was Daniel.
Xavier Got Acquainted With Daniel And His Companions
Daniel and his friends said that they were somewhere in Arkansas, but I am not sure if that’s accurate, because Graceland is in Memphis, and that’s around 2 hours away from Arkansas. They might be right; Annie did see the plane crash with her telescope, and then she rode on her horse from Memphis to that undisclosed location in Arkansas. I don’t blame Daniel and his friends for not really having a good idea of where they are. They are just kids who have been through a whole lot of trauma for the past 2-3 years after they were separated from their friends, family, and teachers. They had been through a bloody apocalypse. If I had been through what they had experienced, I wouldn’t have been able to differentiate between Arkansas and Memphis either. Xavier knew that as well, and hence, he empathized with Daniel and his friends. He asked Daniel if he and his companions would like to go to Colorado with him once he was done searching for Teri in Atlanta. Daniel didn’t give him a straight answer because, on one hand, the kid probably wanted to live comfortably, and on the other hand, he and his friends had become too used to this animalistic, nomadic lifestyle to adjust to something even a little sophisticated.
Xavier Killed A Raider
Xavier had raised two kids, but he couldn’t read what these children were actually feeling because the cataclysmic event had transformed them into something else entirely. That said, when Xavier started telling Daniel the story of James and the Giant Peach, he fell asleep on Xavier’s shoulder like kids usually do while listening to a bedtime story, which meant that there was some innocence still left in their little souls. Unfortunately, neither Xavier nor the kids was able to savor this small moment of peace, because one of the raiders arrived and attacked Xavier while he was checking the perimeter. Even though Xavier was still recovering, his training kicked in, and he killed the raider. The commotion had woken up the kids, and once Xavier had explained what had gone down, they worked together to hide the dead body, and then patched Xavier up since he had been stabbed by the raider. The following day, when Xavier regained consciousness again, he saw that the kids and all his stuff were gone. All they had left behind was a photograph of Presley and James, along with a note of apology, which indicated that they had migrated to the undisclosed hiding spot Daniel was talking about earlier. Since Xavier had no idea where that was, he returned to the crash site and collapsed there.
Annie Wanted Xavier To Take Her To Colorado
In Paradise episode 2’s ending, the not-so-distant past merges with the present as Annie puts Xavier on her horse and takes him to Graceland. Annie, being a medical student, uses her limited knowledge to patch Xavier up, and then waits for him to find his strength so that they can talk about what his whole deal is. Xavier tells Annie that he needs to get to his wife in Atlanta and that his kids are in an underground facility in Colorado. To be honest, I was expecting Annie to help Xavier find Teri and then head to Colorado. But she straight up orders him to take her to Colorado first. Since Annie has handcuffed Xavier, it looks like he has no option but to do her bidding. Annie is about to be a mother, and Xavier is searching for the love of his life. Since we have spent one whole season with Xavier, it’s easy to side with him and treat Annie as the villain. However, she’s pregnant with Link’s child, and it makes sense for her to reunite with the love of her life. What is Xavier going to do, especially because time isn’t on his side? We’ll have to watch episode 3 to find out.
