“This place is nothing more than a grave site.”

“The Man Who Kept the Secrets” is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. After countless twists and turns, Xavier looks towards an outsider for Cal’s murder. Meanwhile, Paradise deals with the aftermath of shattered illusions.

Throughout the season, many motivations have been put forth as the reason for Cal’s murder. In his final days, he’d become an unpopular man, so much so that even those closest to him had a reason to want him dead. The real killer and their motive, however, had gone unnoticed.

The reason for Cal’s death goes all the way back to the foundations of Paradise. Death really is stuck to the town’s DNA. Built to hold the survivors of an extinction event, its builders and engineers weren’t so lucky. Toxic ash unleashed by the mountain slowly poisoned everyone who worked on its construction. Thus, in a poetic twist of fate, Cal’s death came not from the decisions he made about the fate of billions but rather from a man’s obsession over an act he likely never directly played a part in.

With the season’s biggest mystery solved, all that’s left for the episode to do is deal with the aftermath.

Xavier’s scene and Cal’s murder have ensured that there’s no way back to normality for the people of Paradise. Sinatra is the most affected by this. Her confrontation with Xavier has led her character to its natural evolution. In a symbolically poignant gesture, she rids herself of Dr. Torabi, her ethical voice of reason, fully transforming into the monster everyone tells her she is.

Going it alone proves difficult, however, as Paradise’s community has developed as well. In light of recent events, Sinatra’s complete control has waned, and Paradise’s intricate web has begun to fracture. This has caused new challengers to emerge, each wanting to steer the town in different directions.

The results of the murder investigation also have big implications for Xavier’s future. Freed from Sinatra’s watchful eye, it allows him to leave Paradise and search for his wife. These scenes serve as a cleverly placed resolution to an earlier plot thread within the series. By using an aeroplane to leave Paradise, he fulfils his father’s wish for him to become an airline pilot.

Ultimately, the scenes of Paradise’s aftermath and Xavier’s leaving for the surface all aid in setting up a sequel series.

It’s always difficult to meet the weight of expectations. As a resolution to eight hours’ worth of mystery, “The Man Who Kept the Secrets” had a big job to do, and for the most part, it managed to succeed.

Presenting the motivations for Cal’s death as something that stems from Paradise’s foundation makes for an interesting twist, especially as it raises a point over the forgotten side of Paradise’s construction. What’s most enjoyable from this episode, however, is its set-up for a sequel. By concluding the first stage of every main character’s evolution, there will be plenty of layered nuances to explore as the series continues.

I Give The Man Who Kept the Secrets: 8.5/10