***Spoilers for Paradise seasons 1&2***
Through most of season one of the hit sci-fi Hulu series Paradise we believe our hero Xavier (Sterling K. Brown)’s wife Teri (Enuka Okuma) is dead. She’s the empty space in the bed in the opening scenes of the pilot; the chasm between Xavier, a secret service officer, and his boss, the U.S. president Cal (James Marsden). An apocalyptic event has occurred, the president and a select group of billionaires and 25,000 of their closest friends and family have escaped to a bunker, and Teri, a mycologist who was away at work in Atlanta during The Event, didn’t make it to the bunker.
In other hands, Teri could’ve been a MacGuffin, the holy grail who exists only to give Xavier’s character depth and meaning. But this is a Dan Fogelman show. In the This Is Us creator’s world, even the mailman will have a backstory—and play a pivotal role in main character Teri’s survival arc. Because, yes! spoiler alert Teri is alive! And season 2 delves into where Teri has been for the past three years since the Apocalypse, and how she, (and mailman Gary) have been surviving.
I caught up with Enuka Okuma to talk about the ground-breaking character of Teri—a brown-skinned, chronically disabled, badass genius mushroom doctor, who is both mother and age-appropriate lover, both desired and empowered on screen.
“I believe Sterling is on a bit of a mission,” Okuma told me about the intentionality of not only casting dark-skinned women in the show but also the even more-rare casting of a dark-skinned daughter to play Presley (the gorgeous Aliyah Mastin). “I saw a quote last year when he was doing some press about his commitment to casting dark skinned Black women whenever he’s in a position to and it made me cry. I texted him right away and I was just like: ‘You see us,’” she said. “That’s a testament to who he is.”
Series creator Fogelman also supports Brown’s mission, Okuma said. “He sees all and he’s very conscious. We haven’t had conversations about it, but I know that he is careful and he is conscious of the messages that he is putting out in the world. And that just makes him…one of the best that we have in the industry right now, for sure.”
There’s also the trope of Black characters sacrificing themselves for the good of white characters that this series actively subverts. When Teri stands in front of a bullet meant for Gary, it’s a completion of a cycle where Gary first saved her life; when an injured Nicole Robinson (Khrys Marshall) sacrifices herself for Cal’s son Jeremy, he doesn’t leave her behind, he makes sure she makes it out of the collapsing bunker alive. And when Xavier stands in front of a bullet for Cal in Season 1, and Sinatra in season 2, both repay him by saving his life immediately after. These are not one-sided relationships that reinforce a narrative of Black thankless sacrifice; these are reciprocal, loving relationships that reaffirm Black life and characters matter.
Season 2 is masterful storytelling that borrows from the best of Lost and The Leftovers to create a compelling and thrilling narrative through deep character study, a lush playground for any actor thrive. Watch the full BGW conversation with Enuka about how the series is upending Hollywood tropes, whether Xavier cheated on Teri with Dr. Torabi, WHO BROKE TERI’S RADIO?! and her favorite scene of the season above.
Special thanks to the Watchers who submitted questions for Enuka! Shout-outs in the video above: JaetheFade, Cathusmax, AlleyRemelle, LouisianaGirl91, and Capricorn_Won!
Stay watchin’,
Brooke
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