‘Paradise’: Ryan Michelle Bathé Breaks Down Her Pivotal Role in Jane’s Backstory (VIDEO)

Paradise welcomed a new face to the pre-apocalyptic timeline as Ryan Michelle Bathé joined the series for Season 2’s pivotal installment, “Jane,” as Stacy, the mentor to pre-bunker Jane (Nicole Brydon Bloom).

While the episode covered Jane’s life from birth until her current appointment below ground in the titular bunker, it was revealed that while working under Stacy’s training at the CIA, Jane had become quite attached, so much so that she goes the extra mile to boost her superior when a colleague gets in the way.

When Stacy was passed over for a promotion she should have gotten, she lamented to Jane that the only reason their colleague got the gig was because he was a man. But Stacy put the words in more defined terms, saying something along the lines of, “he only got the job because he has a penis,” and Jane took that quite literally.

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As the episode unfolded, Jane turned up at Stacy’s door with a gift and was told that their colleague had been seriously harmed in an altercation. But Jane didn’t need to be told; she already knew. As Stacy took in the situation, she realized what appendage was likely in the bag Jane carried, as the girl smiled knowingly.

In the end, that mentor-mentee relationship clearly shifted paths as Jane attached herself to Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson), but despite her one-episode arc, Bathé was more than eager to jump into Paradise. “I would have loved to have come back more than once,” she explains to TV Insider, but “it was such a good part that I just jumped at the chance to be involved in the Paradise world.”

Stacy may only appear briefly, but her relationship with Jane perfectly mirrors the girl’s current dynamic with Sinatra underground. And as she filled that role in Jane’s life, Bathé doesn’t believe “Stacy understands what she’s dealing with because it’s actually very rare to come across those personality types like those, true… narcissists, psychopaths, sociopaths.”

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As for the parallels in Stacy’s relationship with Jane and the agent’s current twisted connection with Sinatra, Bathé adds, “I don’t think she realizes that there is a codependency… Everyone needs a mentor. Everyone needs somebody who’s like… ‘Let me show you the ropes, kid.’ You know what I mean? Especially in a male-dominated field where she’s not going to get that.”

But while Stacy views her and Jane’s relationship as one thing, uncovering Jane’s backstory and understanding of her reality, Bathé points out, “In Jane’s mind, this is mom. This is mommy,” she adds, pointing to herself.

Delve deeper into Stacy and Jane’s dynamic, as well as Bathé’s reunion with creator Dan Fogelman, working with husband Sterling K. Brown, and what it’s like covering the official Paradise podcast in the full video interview above, and don’t miss more of the season’s twists and turns as Season 2 unfolds on Hulu.

Paradise, Season 2, Mondays, Hulu