Paradise’s fifth episode reviews the past three years of Teri’s life as told by her friend, Gary, a mild-mannered mailman Xavier meets once he arrives in Atlanta. Gary claims Teri was taken when his best friend betrayed them, giving up their location to outsiders. Gary will do anything to help bring her back.

Our time in the past follows Gary’s uneventful life, until he befriends an online gamer, Ennis, who believes the conspiracy about a catastrophic climate event. Soon, the two bond over their plans to survive the potential apocalypse. The day the conspiracy comes to fruition, they put their plan in motion: seven people secluded in a postal office equipped with a fallout bunker. Plans change when Gary invites orphaned boy, Bean, and Teri to the encampment.

For the next three years, the nine strangers become a found family, with Teri attempting to make life as normal as possible with school lessons for Bean and Christmases. Gary, aware of Teri’s situation, builds her a radio transmitter to communicate in hopes of finding Xavier. Grateful, she misreads Gary’s intentions as he reveals his love for her. She politely reminds him she can never be more than friends.

In the present, Xavier learns that Teri was taken by a caravan of 16 armed individuals near a train station. Xavier plans to build a bomb but he will need supplies. They venture to the swap meet for bargaining. Here, they run into former bunker mates Crystal and Jackie. They, too, ask about Teri and learn she has been taken. They offer to take care of Annie’s baby while Xavier executes his mission.

We receive one final flashback, a more recent one with Teri and Bean planning to drive to Colorado. We see her approached by Ennis, who never really cared for her. He makes peace with Teri, apologizing for destroying her radio months back. He also reminds her how heartbroken Gary will be once she leaves.

Later, Ennis and Gary investigate the group of people Bean happened upon near the train station. They learn they are led by a young man named Link and are headed to Colorado. Ennis is prepared to tell Teri about this easier travel option, when Gary kills him. Gary doesn’t realize Bean witnessed the murder.

Episode 5 is a pivotal shift in the narrative, intricately connecting our different storylines with the introduction of one of the season’s most complicated characters. Cameron Britton is brilliant as Gary, a man whose sincere heart became too possessive of something he never genuinely had: love. While Xavier believes his version of events, it seems more likely that Teri and Bean fled the bunker learning of Ennis’s fate. And connecting Link to Xavier’s path before they even meet is wildly clever.

Rating: 8/10