A lot of people have been comparing Paradise, the Sterling K. Brown-led show that you can watch with a Hulu subscription, to ABC’s hit from the mid-’00s, Lost (also on Hulu). The comparisons make a lot of sense. Both shows are great sci-fi with hidden forces messing with things; there are Easter Eggs galore, and, most importantly, both have a giant mystery at their heart and leave viewers asking more questions after each episode. That comparison is a compliment to both shows, but it may also make some Paradise fans nervous, as Lost notoriously fell apart at the end, in many fans' eyes. There is one major difference.
We Know When Paradise Is Going To End
The biggest problem that the creators and writers of Lost faced was that it was a network show. It existed in a world before streaming, just as prestige TV was really coming into full bloom. That meant that the writers had to keep feeding the beast. 22 episodes a season, and a successful show meant the network wanted more seasons and more episodes to sell ads. Lost ended up running for 121 episodes over six seasons. That’s a lot of content, in the parlance of our time. From a viewer's perspective, the writers seemed to be struggling to stretch the story out, which led to controversial episodes like “Nicki and Paulo,” not to mention the ending that left many frustrated.
Paradise doesn’t have to play by the same rules on the 2026 TV schedule. Streaming has changed both how shows are written and produced, and how we as viewers consume them. We don’t need 22-episode seasons. Sure, it would be nice if some shows were as regular as network shows, with new episodes every year, but we get more with less, for sure. And to be fair, the current season of Paradise was released about a year after the first, so no complaints on that front! It also means that when Paradise concludes with Season 3, it will likely be a total of 24 episodes. Just over one season of Lost episodes’ worth.
Paradise Has Always Had A Three Season Arc
Very early on after Paradise became a hit, the show’s creator, Dan Fogelman, made it clear that he had a three-season story arc in mind. That means he knew where the story was going to start, and, critically, where it was going to end. This is a luxury the creators of Lost likely didn't have. They never really knew how much ABC was going to want. That’s just how TV operated for its first 50 or 60 years. Get a hit show? Keep going until the audience quits watching. Don’t leave them wanting more; leave them after they’ve had way too much.
Fogelman, who has proven that he knows how to end a show with This is Us (also starring Brown), clearly had the full story mapped out and ready to play out over three seasons, and now we know that’s exactly how many we’ll get. That means, hopefully, he and the cast are ready to stick the landing. Something Lost never got a fair chance to do.
