Utopia (TV)
“Utopia” begins with a young couple moving in to the woman’s grandfather’s house. It looks like a nice enough house on the outside, but it’s a hoarder disaster on the inside. As the couple looks through everything, cleaning up the house, they find the pages of a comic book, Utopia, presumably, a sequel to the cult title, Dystopia. A quick, cursory look online shows them how much it could be worth, so they decide to make some money off of it. The way they choose to do it might be a mistake they regret.
I’ve been going to DragonCon in Atlanta since 2009, and the convention and community show creator Gillian Flynn (“Sharp Objects,” “Gone Girl”), adapting the British series by Dennis Kelly, is very on-point for what modern comic book conventions look like in the first episode of “Utopia.” What spins off from there is a fun and fascinating conspiracy thriller for the age of QAnon, COVID-19 and Deep State LARPers. As someone who’s gone down the rabbit hole of looking into the what and why of Q this past year (not because I believe it, but because it’s too batshit insane to believe others do), I really enjoyed the dark nature of the story, and it sucks you in to why someone might get sucked in.
“Utopia” is a keen blend of dark comedy, action-adventure and paranoia thriller that maintains a solid, and entertaining, balance between all of these tones throughout. If you want a conspiratorial thriller, it covers those bases. If you want some nerdy humor and heart, you get some of that, as well. If you want to watch a road adventure, well, there’s a lot of that here, too. The reason I enjoyed “Utopia” as much as I did is because it has interesting characters and intricate plotting, with each of the first seven episodes building to a big moment that is both surprising and earned, in the context of the series. This is a very good example of serial genre storytelling at its best.
Starting this story off as a search for a lost comic book, one no one ever saw, is a smart touch, because it really taps into the idea of modern conspiracy thinking being less a product of actual information, but pop culture plotting. Dystopia seems to have the allure and fascination of Watchmen in this show, a series that reflects the anxieties of the real world and taps into ideas that are at the forefront of our modern world. I’m not saying that Flynn (or Kelly) knew that a global pandemic would be taking place by the time the series debuts on September 25, but conspiracy theories have become big business online with QAnon, Pizzagate, and a president who once claimed his predecessor was born in a different country- tapping into that is a good choice, and Flynn’s insightful writing is able to do so handily.
Our main characters are a group of comic book lovers obsessed with Dystopia, and we meet them as part of their group chat when the news of the existence of Utopia hits. They include Wilson Wilson (Desmin Borges), who can help provide a place to stay during the convention; Becky (Ashleigh LaThrop), Ian (Dan Byrd), Samantha (Jessica Rothe) and Grant (Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton). We see each one arrive to the convention, place their bids for Utopia, only to have the manuscript poached, and then stolen, as a few different parties who point to the larger conspiracy enter the picture. They then become targets because they have seen what they’ve seen Utopia. They all come to realize that the world of the comic book is real, especially when Dystopia‘s heroine, Jessica Hyde (Sasha Lane), rescues them. From there, the series becomes a puzzle for the group, and we wonder how a businessman devoted to children’s health (John Cusack) and a doctor (Rainn Wilson) who may have knowledge in how a potential viral breakout has taken place fit into the equation.
The seven episodes of “Utopia” that I watched kept me captivated and entertained every step of the way. The performances fit the tone of the series, the story keeps adding fun twists and turns along the way, and the writing is sharp and keeps hitting us with truths to keep in mind as we struggle with many of the same issues in real life. “Utopia” does what strong fiction is capable at its best- illuminates real world issues while giving us escapist entertainment. I cannot wait to see how it ends.
