‘Almost Paradise’ Rewatch: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Written by John Edward Betancourt

How Everyone Comes Together as a Team in ‘A Wedding to Die For’

‘I knew it would be useful having you on this.’

‘Well, I mean – wait, what? You manipulated me into joining this case?’

‘Sorta.’

- Kai Mendoza and Alex Walker

​Over the course of the past couple of weeks, this grand rewatch of Almost Paradise has managed to reveal quite the surprising fact about this unique and dynamic crime drama. In that, creators Dean Devlin and Gary Rosen saw a grand opportunity to use Alex Walker’s purity as a chance to explore the best parts of the human condition. Which has allowed for powerful and hopeful commentary to take place, and its also established this series to be the most uplifting crime drama on the air. But while it has been an absolute joy to learn more about forgiveness and kindness, season one of this journey is in fact, a hero’s origin story and with the season winding down, the next episode in this phenomenal franchise, opted to revisit that fact in a supremely unique manner.
 
Because something that we often forget about when it comes to stories about heroes, is that the ones that are grounded in some semblance of reality, require the hero in question to have a solid team surrounding them and well, that is something that Alex has been missing up to this particular point. Granted, he and Kai and Ernesto work well together, but there is a frostiness to their relationship. One that exists simply because they don’t trust each other completely just yet, nor do they understand how they genuinely complement one another and also because Alex really hasn’t been open to trusting others, thanks to his unfortunate end with the DEA. But thankfully, all of that changed in the next episode of this phenomenal series, since ‘A Wedding to Die For’ focuses heavily on making this trio of brilliant minds, a team at last. 
 
Which is wonderful to say the least, since it serves as the natural progression for these characters. And it also means that Kai took the lessons that Alex sent her way in ‘Rise of the Kalangay’ to heart and came to realize that he only wanted to help her become a better police officer and person and on the flip side of that, Alex clearly came to realize that Kai and Ernesto want him around and genuinely value what he does for the Mactan-Cebu Police Department. And those mutual epiphanies allowed for quite the incredible episode to take place, one where the tension and barriers between all parties was removed and that allowed for each and every member of this team to shine in a magnificent fashion. Since they were secure in the fact that they had each other’s backs and that brought forth some utterly fantastic moments.
 
Because it was just magnificent to watch Kai work with confidence for a change, to the point where she was able to take risks because she knew the team had her back. And it was equally as incredible to see Ernesto trust in his compatriots and let them do their thing while standing on overwatch and of course, the story let Alex be the hero. But while that was all stunning and fun, Alex’s journey in this tale, took this teamwork themed story one step further, by diving into a brief exploration as to why it is important for a hero to have a team, especially one that is as pure as Alex Walker. Since he of course, found himself caught up in the rescue and the thrill of saving a life and that blinded him to danger and without his team, this could have been quite the sour story in the end. But thanks to Kai and Ernesto’s ability to know their buddy and teammate was in danger, everything ends in a happy and wonderful manner and now Alex Walker has a genuine support network at his side. 
 
But while it was indeed wonderful and incredible to see this trio come together, ‘Avengers’ style, it is equally as important to point out, that this episode is a ton of fun. Because it features a juicy case, and some awesome fight scenes and some quality tension, ensuring that this series stays true to its crime drama roots whilst growing its characters. But most important of all, this is also a tale that sets up another important step in Alex’s journey toward becoming a hero. Because now that he has a team at his side, and has learned all the other important lessons that a hero needs to learn, the time has come for him to face his final challenge on the road to heroism and that is precisely where we will pick up in our final edition of the Almost Paradise Rewatch. Until then.

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