Being a Secret Service agent on the President’s detail requires an unusual mindset. Unlike other law enforcement, taking on that role could mean to literally sacrifice your life to protect someone, to take a bullet, blade, or bomb intended for them, even if you hate them. That’s the situation facing Agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) in the new series Paradise from creator Dan Fogelman. Like several of Fogelman’s previous projects, Paradise centers actors, relying on their talents to sell some of the leaps in storytelling that might otherwise prove too much to swallow. It utilizes his signature flash-forward/flashback technique to disorient the audience and build tension, but it also seems to have a talent for eliciting emotion that can sometimes tip over into melodrama. And of course, Brown’s performance holds it together, this time with a grounded cold fury that’s systematic, but surprisingly petty with a darkly humorous edge. Fogelman and his team have created a world rich in intrigue, but given the back-and-forth technique, it’s hard to say if the endeavor works. The finale will likely make or break Paradise.