not slow not bad
Jessica and Ian both dig a hole and bury Artemis inside as episode 4 of Utopia begins. After this incident Ian heads home and breaks the news to Becky and Wilson. As he does, Ian confronts her about the flu and how her Father is a killer. While the two trade blows, Grant shows himself to the others. Thanks to Jessica’s erratic behaviour though, he bolts from the house and the two wind up in a stand off out on the lawn. Meanwhile, Michael gathers quite the crowd at a diner when he tells them he’s a virologist. He agrees to team up with them and get to the bottom of what’s happening in town. Inside the hot zone, Thomas Christie – Kevin’s son – leads a group in trying to find solutions in dealing with Utopia and Jessica Hyde. Jessica talks Grant around to working with them and showing Utopia. As they divide up the pages, the group find a common motif with numbers. They try ringing it but come up trumps. Only, they then receive a call and learn that Harvest on their way and they need to run. Covering their tracks, they burn the safe house and continue on their way. Samantha however, is just left out on the grass like she’s trash. With the hot zone radius starting to spread, quarantine is set up in the infected area. Crowds gather asking to get inside. Among them is Michael who pushes his way to the front of the pack and demands entry. He tries desperately to get inside and eventually they grant him access. He also manages to get Dale – someone he met outside – to join him. The team split up, with Becky and Ian meeting Agent Katherine Milner. She confirms that there’s a war brewing and that comes in the form of biological warfare. Mr Rabbit happens to be a shadowy figure involved directly with the selling and creation of this virus. This also seems to tie in with both SARS and swine flu. In the wake of this, the duo try to seek refuge with the agent but she refuses – she wants Jessica Hyde and seemingly so too does Mr. Rabbit. After the meeting the group adjourn with new instructions to drive down to Chicago. As they do, Wilson realizes who Mr. Rabbit may be, linking it with an old story involving her being given cookies. Interestingly, this also happens to be one of the panels of Utopia. However, they don’t actually have every page of Utopia. The rest of the story happens to be back at the house Grant stayed in. At a school, Arby arrives and picks up a new replacement in the form of a student called Adam. Handing him a gun and the key to a front door, this child assumes Grant’s identity and intentionally places his fingerprints all over the house. When he’s done, Arby heads inside the house too and shoots up the place, including a young child that clearly rattles him.
The Episode Review
One of the biggest issues with Utopia comes from the tone. I’ve mentioned it before but the sudden jolts between visceral and bloody violence and slapstick humour just doesn’t work at all. The plot itself is okay but the characters just feel so bland and generic compared to the original. The ideas are quite good and the mystery is enough to keep you watching but Utopia is unfortunately another remake that falls into the disappointing realm of mediocrity.
