Paradox

Paradox

If you like science fiction shows with a bit of action and plenty of suspense, do check out Paradox. This is a brand new British show that mixes in plenty of police drama/action with scifi elements. These latter bits are actually toned down, possibly being built up for a big revelation towards the end of the show/season.


The show starts as such. You get three detective who are plucked from their day-to-day cases (murder, mayhem and all that) and placed in a science lab. It is a top secret project and these guys are ordered to solve the case(s) brought forward by the resident scientist. There's only one problem. The cryptic pictures that they had to use as clues? Yea, they depict an event that has not happened yet. Furthermore, they can't find out more about these snapshots. Apparently they were downloaded via the lab's cosmos-monitoring satellite and they don't know who (or what, aha!) sent it. Meanwhile, the group finds themselves asking if events that have not taken place yet can be changed. Aren't events predestined? Or can they change the future with helpful input? If so, is it right to do so? 

The story itself unfolds in two ways. First, we learn just a bit more (i.e. the 'Who is sending them futuristic pictures' aspect) with each new episode. At the same time, each episode reveals more about each character as everyone deals with a fresh crisis per episode. This second tactic provides the edge-of-seat thrills which is common to police-based fictional shows. In this way, that is what keeps folks focused on each episode. At first you will try and figure out how to make sense of the mystery pictures and once you do, you'll fret and worry about the lives involved. Will the dead folk(s) in the pictures be saved?

Admittedly, that concept could have become tiresome. After all, if every episode was a series of disasters that must be averted but end up happening anyway, what's the point? Aren't the creators of the show repeating a gimmick whilst playing out the main story? That's where it gets interesting. The first episode is pretty much how we think it will end. And then you are caught off-guard in the next episodes. The ending is not predictable; far from it, you get the feeling that the current actions are drastically altering the outcome, bringing in an even worse result.

The highlight of the series is this nagging question about altering the future. it's the usual 'Should we' and 'Could we' sort of questions. It's a matter of how far should you go in order to save a life. Of course this also brings up the other question. How much of a difference have you made? For instance, as it happens in the show, they save a potential victim from murder. But then, if you stop a serial killer from killing one victim, how do you make sure he doesn't kill again? After all, all their work is based on classified information (the photographs) and they can' tell the rest of the police department or the actual victims about the source of their info.