Paradise Episode 4: Jon Beavers, Nicole Brydon Bloom, and the Cast Break Down That Shocking Death

Episode 4 of Hulu's Paradise featured the tragic death of a leading character and the betrayal of another.

In the previous episodes, a spotlight was put on Billy, as the President warned Dr. Gabriela that he can't be trusted. Turns out, he was on to something, as Billy had been working with Sinatra as a cleaner of sorts—and murdered scientists to cover up the truth about the outside.

Just as Billy is about to spill the beans to Sterling K. Brown's Xavier, enjoying his last night as an uncle to his best friend's children, he is murdered by his girlfriend, Nicole Brydon Bloom's Jane, a secret assassin under Sinatra's thumb.

The Direct sat down with Nicole Brydon Bloom (Jane), Jon Beavers (Billy), and Krys Marshall (Robinson) to discuss the tragic moment.

Jon Beavers on the Tragic Death of Agent Billy

"... It Is a Tragic End."

• The Direct: "John and Nicole, this is for you. I have to talk about that tragic Episode 4 twist. John, how bummed were you to kind of have Billy's journey cut short? And Nicole, how does it feel to kind of be that cold-as-ice assassin that no one expected?"

Nicole Brydon Bloom: Oh, so much fun.

Jon Beavers: I wish she wouldn't say it like she liked it.

Bloom: It makes her character so much more interesting. But I do feel devastated on your behalf.

Beavers: I'm sure you do. I'm sure you feel real devastated. So devastated. No, it was, I mean, it is a tragic end. 

It's so incredibly cool to act with people who you admire, who you feel almost like, dangerously challenged by. And playing this folie à deux with Nicole was one of the highlights of my career. I just think what she's doing in this show is psycho and extraordinary, and it was a truly beautiful character.

Billy is a fun exploration into shame and guilt and redemption and also betrayal, and I couldn't, even if I was going to get dropped flat on a knife at the end of it, I couldn't ask for a more dazzling dance partner.

Bloom: That's very nice. It was really fun working with you.

Krys Marshall: And from a cast perspective, stepping out of the love affair between these two, much like the audience, we as a cast, receive the episodes as they go along. We don't have the full season when we started. So it was as shocking to me that Billy gets killed as it was for Jon.

And when I read that, I openly wept, and not just for the story, but for me personally, because I want you to be there at work every day. That's the cool thing about this job is, we're spoiled with fortune. We've got an amazing story, we've got a terribly talented cast, we have a ridiculously talented and hard working crew, and then we're also surrounded by really lovely human beings.

So, I think that's probably part of the reason why they had to axe you, because we needed to knife the audience. We needed to give them something delicious and then snatch it back.

Julianne Nicholson on Why Sinatra Feels She Is Not a Monster

The Direct also spoke with Paradise stars Julianne Nicholson (Sinatra) and Sarah Shahi (Gabriela), where the two commented on their side of Billy's death.

"She Really Believes That."

• The Direct: "Julianne, Sinatra is cruel and harsh. You have a really intense scene with Billy, and then you end up sending a killer to go end him, yet you still, in that scene, even claim that you're not a monster. How does she really still convince herself of that mentality, and how do you, as an actor, do it yourself so that you can embody that in the performance?"

Julianne Nicholson: I feel like she really believes that. If people know that Paradise exists, more people will come. This city was built for the amount of people that are in there now with an idea towards increasing population, but we have only enough for what's there.

If people start coming in from the outside, this falls apart. And then, no one's safe. My family's not safe. This community is not safe. And so every decision is made from that place. You have to protect what's what's there. And I feel like she's right [laughs].

You just have, you can't judge your character. You just have to sort of get into that mindset. And [creator] Dan [Fogelman[, the way he writes, I just bought it hook, line and sinker. I was like, 'Yeah, okay, that's what she would do.'

• The Direct: "Sarah, do you think, I mean, obviously, It all started with the President, but do you think Gabriella will feel guilt, kind of, for having essentially put a target on Billy, in a sense, by pursuing these [rumors]?"

Sarah Shahi: I think Gabriella, of course, she's not aware of what is going on in Episode 4, but later she does, and I do think she suffers from some guilt.

I think she is in a place of shock herself, not knowing that this woman that she thought she knew so well had the capacity, or not the capacity, who actually did these actions.

But on top of that, she was responsible for putting her there. She was responsible for giving her all of this power and this authority. So, I do think she has a lot of guilt about it.

The full spoiler-filled interview can be viewed here:

The first four episodes of Paradise are now streaming on Hulu, with episodes released weekly.