HuluParadise has been about the sci-fi rug pulls from the get-go. From the very first episode, what looked like a politically tinged mystery thriller changed when it was revealed that the entire episode took place in an underground city created to shield a select group of Americans from the apocalypse. Hulu’s sleeper hit slowly revealed its hand over the course of Season 1, including the exact nature of the apocalypse (not as bad as we thought!) and the fate of protagonist Xavier Collins’ (Sterling K. Brown) long-lost wife. Season 2 was just as packed with new survivor characters and big reveals. But nothing could have prepared fans for an even bigger twist in the Season 2 finale, a second genre screwball that will affect the rest of the story. The upcoming third — and probably final — season will have a tall task ahead to match it.Spoilers for the Paradise Season 2 finale, “Exodus,” ahead.We kept hearing the name “Alex” throughout Paradise Season 2, and the supposed Big Bad was so deep in the shadows that we didn’t even see him until the finale. When we did, the reality of the situation was a lot darker. Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson), the bunker’s mastermind, was finally shown talking to Alex, which turns out to be an ultra-powerful quantum computer. It’s so powerful, in fact, that it might even be able to manipulate time and undo the apocalypse, saving Sinatra’s son, Dylan, in the process (although Dylan may still be alive as Link, Alex’s creator, played by Thomas Doherty). Alex isn’t a villainous mastermind — he’s actually a quantum supercomputer. | HuluShowrunner Dan Fogelman has always had a three-season arc in mind, so everything is building to a final act. “I think this is Fogelman’s exploration of the multiverse,” Brown told Variety. “What are the rules that dictate our excursion into time travel?” He cites Back to the Future, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and Everything Everywhere All At Once as examples. “It unlocks your brain in such a way that whatever you think is possible can be possible if you can conceive it.”In an extensive interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Season 2 finale co-writer John Hoberg broke down the finer points of the quantum computer twist. The series actually hired a quantum physics consultant to lend some real-world knowledge to the Alex reveal, and according to Hoberg, the science is at least somewhat sound. “It’s legitimate in theory, and very debatable among quantum physicists,” he said. Xavier is poised to go on a time travel adventure in Paradise Season 3. | HuluSo what’s ahead for Season 3? Hoberg teases more wild twists. “At the end of Season 1, we answered all of the questions but then asked a couple more. I feel like Season 2 is doing the same thing. We answered all the questions that were brought up, but we’re now posing an even bigger question.”There’s going to be one more year of the unexpected. And as for the show’s ultimate ending, anticipate another Alex-caliber pivot. “We didn’t do necessarily exactly what you thought in Season 2, but it was what you hoped in some ways that would be dealt with and answered. I think Season 3 will feel the exact same way. It may not go where you guess or what you think, but I think it’s going to be satisfying in where it takes you.” Paradise is streaming on Hulu.