Paradise’s second episode sets up back in the passenger seat — literally — as viewers join Xavier on his flight to Atlanta. But treacherous weather conditions cause him to crash midway. As he struggles to survive in the present, flashbacks tell us the origins of his love story with his wife, Terri.

Episode one concluded with Annie finding an unconscious Xavier in the woods. We begin days before this interaction. Xavier has reached the skies above Arkansas when a hailstorm damages his plane, sending him into a tree. The collision injures his knee, sparking the first flashback.

Xavier suffered a similar injury — torn ligaments — in basic training. He spends the next few days in a hospital rehabbing after surgery. Here, he meets Terri Rogers, a doctoral student having a procedure to correct her congenital scoliosis. She deflects all of Xavier’s advances, knowing kids, let alone marriage, aren’t on her to-do list. But when complications from her surgery leave Terri temporarily blind, it’s Xavier who tends to her needs. He remains by her side as she regains her sight.

In the present, Xavier encounters a group of children. Led by a boy named Daniel, they scavenge to survive in an abandoned boat, secure from raiders. One night, a stranger attempts a break-in. Xavier, on one leg, defends the children, killing the intruder. Unfortunately, he is stabbed in the squabble and wakes up days later. The kids have left along with all his supplies, leaving him a photo of his children.

Severely wounded and days without water, Xavier falls unconscious and is later found by Annie. The former medical student takes him in to recuperate. Once she learns where he’s come from, the mother-to-be insists they return to Colorado.

Episode 2 delivers the signature drama-tinged tension viewers have grown to love. Brown commands the screen as our own personal Rambo, while being equally heartwarming in his scenes opposite Enuka Okuma’s Terri. It’s a joy to see the two spar for a full episode, since Terri only appeared sparingly throughout season one. Their scenes are equally matched with the disparate scenes between Xavier and the children. While it’s a joy that people have survived above the surface, it’s been a harrowing existence. The kids are numb to death — murder even — something Xavier’s own children had never experienced until now.

Rating: 8/10