This Hulu Two-Part Sci-Fi Masterpiece Is the Lost Replacement You've Been Waiting for, According to Stephen King

Stephen King just gave Hulu 's buzzy sci-fi series 'Paradise' a public thumbs-up, and yes, he went full King about it. If you have whiplash from that Season 2 finale, you are not alone — but the master of horror seems very into where this thing is going.

Stephen King cosigns 'Paradise'

After a fan posted that the Season 2 capper was great and called the show "the closest thing on TV right now to Lost," King boosted it with a very King-ian stamp of approval:

"Yup true boo"

King is watching TV closely these days. His own stuff keeps hitting screens — HBO 's 'IT: Welcome to Derry ' broke through in Season 1 and is now setting up a much-anticipated Season 2. That series also swings big in ways that line up with the risks 'Paradise' is taking, which probably explains his enthusiasm.

Why everyone keeps bringing up 'Lost'

The comparisons are not lazy; they are earned. 'Paradise' has been walking a very specific path that will ring a bell for anyone who lived through ABC's island obsession:

• It launched as a present-day mystery built on character backstory teases, then funneled everyone into a secret, confined environment — in this case an underground city/fallout bunker.
• Season 2 split time and characters between the main setting (the bunker) and the outside world, mirroring how 'Lost' fractured its story between the island and off-island storylines.
• Both shows pulled a hard left into time-travel sci-fi mid-run, and both got instant blowback for it. The discourse got loud fast.

The 'Lost' context that matters

'Lost' Season 4 was produced during the 2007 writers strike, which scrambled arcs and pacing. Trying to layer in time travel under those conditions created story knots that kept tightening through Season 5. Fans were split then, and they are still split now.

What 'Paradise' just did in that finale

The Season 2 closer cranked the sci-fi dial to 11. The show introduced an AI supercomputer named ALEX, then dropped a rapid-fire dose of theoretical science about 4D perception — think seeing beyond time — and how that could create a loop between past and future. If you started 'Paradise' expecting an espionage thriller and then discovered, surprise, we are actually in a dystopian future bunker, this is another gear shift: we are now playing with time travel/multiverse ideas on top of everything else. For a lot of viewers, the jump was rough. For Stephen King, clearly not a problem.

So... is 'Paradise' the next 'Lost'?

That depends on the landing. Season 3 will end the series, and the whole 'is it the next Lost' debate will come down to whether it can land the plane (pun intended). Fair or not, if 'Paradise' wants lasting respect, it needs to stick the finish better than 'Lost' did.

Where to watch

'Paradise' and 'Lost' are both streaming on Hulu. If you want to judge the comparison for yourself, the homework is right there.