The problem with Fermi’s paradox is it ignores just how big space really is. Assuming our earliest radio transmissions (first thing we ever did that could be detected by extraterrestrials) are out there in a readable form right now they’ve covered less than 1% of the galaxy. So “they” could simply be in the other 99% of the galaxy and haven’t had the chance to hear us yet.
For instance, does life exclusively mean a physical being that we would recognize has having a "body"? Could a dispersed colony of entities be "life", dispersed over time or even dimensions? Must life be a "physical" being, could it not be energy or a wave form?
Does intelligent mean able to communicate and possess motives that we would understand? Intelligence is an adaptation to a specific environment. If an alien life form developed in significantly different environments from our own, would we even notice it, much less treat it as intelligent.
It also doesn’t take into account motive to explore. We have a hard time imagining any advanced alien powers acting differently than we ourselves would act. If we had the power, we would explore. But the urge to explore could actually be a super rare trait.
Also, once a civilization becomes so powerful to be noticed they could be stepped on by something much more powerful. That’s the berserker theory.
FReegards