The following contains spoilers for Paradise season 1 episode 8, “The Man Who Kept The Secrets,” now streaming on HuluParadise’sseason 1 finale reveals the true killer of Cal Bradford and how they were able to do it. The first episode ofParadisequickly establishes the stakes by revealing that President Bradford has been killed in his home. As his death sets off a chain of events that quickly unravel several conspiracies that had been hiding just under the surface of the pristine underground city, any and all ofParadise’s cast of characters made sense as potential suspects.
While the mystery has remained a key element of the show,Paradisehas shifted away from that mystery somewhat to explore other elements of the universe. However, Cal’s killer is revealed during the events of theParadiseseason 1 finale, “The Man Who Kept The Secrets,” and their true identity comes as something of a surprise. However, they’ve been quietly set up assomeone with a clear desire to see Cal dead, with a heartbreaking backstory and set of motivations that highlight the thematic core of the show.
Cal Bradford Was Killed By The Librarian
“Eli” Was Hiding In Plain Sight All Along
Paradise’s season 1 finale reveals that Cal Bradford’s killer was the seemingly average librarian named Eli, whose true history and motivations as Trent are revealed throughout the episode. After briefly appearing inParadiseepisode 5, when Cal visits the library to make a mixtape for his son, the librarian has been largely released to the background ofParadise. However, it’s revealed that this chance encounter lit a spark in “Eli,” prompting him to attack Cal in his home.
Despite the number of conspiracies and theories about who killed Cal and why, it turns out that power players like Samantha Redmond weren’t involved after all. It wasn’t an agent like Jane who took him out, and the tablet containing all of Cal’s government secrets was lost as a pure accident of Trent’s attack. In reality,Trent attacked Cal for deeply personal reasonsand is revealed to have actually tried to kill him in the past. This is because the librarian actually appeared earlier inParadiseand was the man who shot Xavier while trying to assassinate Cal.
The Librarian’s Origin Story (And Where We’ve Seen Him Before)
Trent Knew About The City And Tried To Kill Cal Long Before The Main Plot OfParadise
Taking up the identity of Eli Davis when he arrived at the town, Trent is revealed throughout “The Man Who Kept the Secrets” to actually have been a former project manager on the underground city whereParadiseis set. Developing a rapport with the workers,Trent’s warnings about hazardous conditions got him fired. Warned that something catastrophic is coming by his former colleague, the manager became obsessed with discovering the truth and eventually found connections between the Bradford family and the organization constructing the town.
This is why Trent tried to kill Cal in a flashback, as he believed assassinating the president would open the floodgates on the conspiracy. Instead, Trent was sent to prison, and the attempt on Cal’s life was reduced to a minor conspiracy theory. However,Trent remembered where the town was and how to reach it. When the events ofParadiseepisode 7 occurred and the world faced potential eradication due to a massive tidal wave and nuclear conflict, Trent took his opportunity to escape prison and make his way there to finish his plans.
How The Librarian Survived Paradise’s End Of The World
Trent Became Eli Through An Act Of Murder
Playing into an overarching theme ofParadisewhere people are faced with terrible decisions,Trent was able to get into the underground city by killing one of the people on the list (alongside his wife) and taking his identity. This is how Trent became “Eli” the librarian. By a stroke of luck, he was also able to save “Maggie,” an innocent woman he encountered who could impersonate Eli’s wife. Taking their place in the city and bluffing their way through security, Eli and Maggie settled into their new lives.
Maggie became the waitress as the local diner in town, ironically hiding in plain sight when the show visited the restaurant with Xavier and Gabriela in episode 3. Eli grew accustomed to his place in the community and admits he steadily became comfortable with being one of the survivors. He even quietly paid tribute to his fallen friends by ensuring a display honoring the construction workers was placed in the library where he worked. However,his encounter with Cal in episode 5’s flashbacks reignited his fury, prompting him to make a fresh attempt on the President’s life.
Why The Librarian Killed Cal Bradford
Trent Killed Cal For A Personal Reason
Trent is introduced in “The Man Who Kept the Secrets” during an extended cold-open that takes place twelve years before the main events ofParadise. As the project manager on the construction of the city, he came to know many of the workers whose health was dismissed as a non-concern by the powerful elite building the city.Trent’s murder of Cal was one of passion, fueled by the memories of his dead friends and a desire for revenge. Having developed a keen mind of assassination, Trent planned it so he’d have a chance to attack Cal when he was alone.
Paradise Reveals An Obvious Suspect Wasn’t Behind Cal Bradford’s Death - So Who Really Killed Him?
Paradise’s murder mystery takes a surprising turn in episode 6, which seemingly confirms that the most obvious suspect wasn’t actually involved.
Trent even used one of the drills from the display in the library as the murder weapon, striking Cal twice in the head with it. Trent was then able to hide the murder weapon in plain sight, cleaning it and hiding it back behind the protective display glass in the library. Notably, Trent takes no pride or malicious joy in his actions. Even after getting his revenge,Trent is clearly shaken by the experience. However, because his DNA wasn’t in the system of confirmed survivors, he was able to avoid scrutiny until the events of the season finale.
What Happens To The Librarian In Paradise’s Season 1 Finale
Trent Doesn’t Survive The Exposure Of His Actions
While Robinson and Gabriela are able to discover that “Maggie” isn’t who she says she is on their own,Trent ends up exposing himself to Xavier while he’s looking for the information Cal hid in the library. After capturing Xavier and revealing his story, Trent initially intends to use Cal’s intel about the rest of the survivors on the surface to escape the facility. However, Xavier and Robinson are able to catch up to him and prevent him from escaping. Although they talk him down enough to regain the intel he took, they aren’t able to save him.
Ian Merrigan plays Trent/Eli inParadise, and was credited as “Trent the Librarian” in theIMDBlisting forParadiseseason 1, episode 5.
Rather than face justice for his crimes,Trent chooses to leap off the hidden railings above the city and fall to his death. The moment isn’t treated as one of harsh justice or dark vindication, but another somber beat as he reflects on the countless bodies that the “paradise” they live in is built atop of. In the end, Trent was another victim of the world at large, his efforts to warn anyone about the dangers coming drowned out by his own desire for personal vengeance.
How The Librarian Reflects Paradise’s Moral Core
The Tragedy Of Trent Speaks To The Moral Themes OfParadise
Trent’s life and fate inParadiseare important elements of the first season’s thematic core. Trent even says the name of the show shortly before his death, noting that the entire idea is a “joke.” Trent isn’t wrong when he points out that the survivors of the global catastrophe were given a chance to start fresh and improve society, only to fall back into the same selfish habits that defined the world in the previous years. Social class remained a key component of society, even with only 25,000 survivors left among them.Even Trent fell victim to the allure of the town, only to give it all up out of fury over the loss of his loved ones.
Trent is the tragic side ofParadise, a reminder that human failings and flaws can outlast the end of the world if we allow them to.
Trent is the tragic side ofParadise, a reminder that human failings and flaws can outlast the end of the world if we allow them to. While he didn’t cause the end of the world or arrange for the circumstances that built the city, he benefited from it nevertheless. His grief drove him to murder, an act that cost the survivors a powerful figure with genuine desires (and power) to make the world a different and better place. Trent’s story in theParadiseseason finale is heartbreaking in all the right ways, and finally explains how Cal Bradford was killed.
