Summary
Episode 2 continues the strong momentum as the kids are thrust into a world of violence and uncertainty.
This recap of Amazon original series Utopia season 1, episode 2 contains significant spoilers.
We recapped every episode — check out the archive.
The opening
Jessica Hyde rummages through the hotel room. She then enters the security room and pretends to be a hurt girlfriend who needs to see footage from 15 minutes previous. She sees a photo of Grant and takes a quick photo. Episode 2 opens showing how on-the-spot Jessica is, giving the viewers an idea of who the other characters are dealing with.
New virus
The group of friends head to Wilson’s house excitedly and check out his bunker. He’s very prepared in this bunker with loads of information to prepare for serious times. Ian reveals he has a photo of one of the pages from Utopia — Becky sees a drop of rain in the image and realises it is a new virus. The friends have an alcoholic toast to “Saving the f*cking world”.
If only they knew at this point.
Flu doesn’t travel through meat
Dr Kevin Christie does a TV interview about his company’s lab-grown meat. The interviewer claims his meat has made children sick and some have died. Kevin states that flu doesn’t travel through meat; she presses him and he walks off. This is a PR stunt gone wrong as Kevin buckles under pressure from the questioning.
Paranoid Wilson
With the murders at the hotel, there is a commotion. Unaware, Sam and the group believe they are texting Olivia about Utopia. However, they are texting Jessica Hyde — they give away the address. Wilson is not trusting of the situation and reveals his paranoid side. Arby and his sidekick Rod enters Wilson’s home and they kill Wilson’s family. Episode 2 quickly goes into the highly violent, no-mercy approach — it’s a serious world.
Wilson’s brutal interrogation
The birth of patcheye Wilson arrives in episode 2 as he goes through a horrific experience that makes you squint.
Arby and Rod then find Wilson in his bunker and handcuff him to a chair. They want to know where Utopia is, including the whereabouts of Becky, Grant and Jessica Hyde. Arby describes to Wilson an interrogation process and then asks him a question. When he doesn’t know the answers, they pour salt in his eyes and then pour bleach on his face. Arby asks about the comic, Grant and Jessica Hyde again — Wilson insists that he’s just a fanboy and sobs so Arby digs out his left eye with a spoon. Arby then ironically accepts he’s just a fanboy and leaves. Rod mocks Wilson, saying his bunker won’t save him from the end of the world.
Utopia season 1, episode 2 does not mess about at all.
Jessica Hyde
Wilson manages to get out of his cuffs and point his gun at Rod but he’s almost blind at this point and misfires; Jessica Hyde heads into the bunker and axes Rod right in the head. She asks Wilson where Utopia and the boy is. The pair leave. Arby heads into the bunker and sees Rod is dead and realises Jessica Hyde has been here.
So it’s quickly established that Jessica is kind-of good… kind-of.
It’s Jessica f*cking Hyde
Jessica Hyde and Wilson drive over to Wilson’s friends and pick them up. Wilson is extremely excited that Jessica Hyde saved him and he tries to explain to the group what happened but at the same time, he’s been hectic in the car. Jessica injects Wilson with drugs to calm him down as he’s disrupting her driving. She warns them that they will be in danger now and they need new lives. They burn their phones, wallets, everything.
Ian is freaking out about the situation and wants to call the cops but Sam tells him if it is real, they are in danger. On the news, they hear about the massacre at the hotel and Jessica tells them that Arby and Rod did it. She tells the group to dye their hair and change.
Flu epidemic
Episode 2 then introduces us to a rather eager scientist — Michael Stearns, ironically played by Rainn Wilson. Ironic because you can imagine him roleplaying this role as Dwight Schrute in The Office.
Michael Stearns heads to work at the lab and asks his manager if he can have more equipment for his virology research. His manager dismisses him. When Michael heads home, his wife shows him the news and there are kids with flu and a T-shaped rash on their face — she feels it could be the same flu he predicted. Michael heads to work and requests a blood sample of one of the children who has died.
Message Grant
The group of friends has changed their appearances; Wilson wakes up — Jessica lies to him and tells him his family is safe and gives him antibiotics. Jessica then tells them that their friend Grant has Utopia. The group is in disbelief that he’s a young boy. Jessica tells the group she needs Utopia to find her father and asks the group to message Grant.
The ending
Grant has trespassed on private property and a young girl catches him and asks if he is hungry. Grant is fed and the mother of the young girl asks Grant if he has family or if he’s in the system. The mother gives him a night to sleep at the house.
Ian starts being cynical again and tells the group that it’s just a comic. Jessica proves this is all real by showing him a scar and its identical from Utopia. Sam looks at the copy of the comic image and she sees the T-shaped rash and she claims the end of the world is near. Ian freaks out and states he wants to go to the cops. Jessica points a gun at Ian and tells him to sit down. Ian asks her to put the gun down and it’s a really tense moment because it’s abundantly obvious at this point that Jessica will not hesitate to kill him. The group asks Ian to listen to her as he threatens to walk out. Jessica then shoots Sam in the head and tells them that the group can only have one leader in her world. Well, this was a holy sh*t moment.
Utopia season 1, episode 2 continues the strong momentum as the kids are thrust into a world of violence and uncertainty. At this point, it’s not clear what everyone’s intentions are but we are establishing the characters and their quirks.
