Utopia (Dennis Kelly, 2013) is one of the best TV series I've ever seen. It offers some kind of strange mood, built from the use of bright colors, in contrast with such a dark-gloomy story, striking visuals with bouncy soundtracks, great characters ensemble, confusing conspiracies, tight plot... basically, everything I love about a great TV show. Two seasons were not enough. But we can't always get what we want. When the news spread that they canceled season 3, it was quite disappointing. The finale of season 2 was so strong, where one of the Protagonist, Wilson Wilson (yeah, that's the character's name) turns to the dark side and become the legendary Mr. Rabbit. We really want to see what is coming next!
Wilson Wilson and the spoon that turns his life upside down. (image source)
In case you've never heard about Utopia before, here's a brief description:
After a group of people, who meet online, discover a bizarre graphic novel which seems to hold mysterious answers, they find themselves being tracked down by a merciless organization known merely as 'The Network'. (Taken from IMDB)
Here is the trailer:
Did you see the cinematography there, the camera works, the colors grading? I won't write much about the plot, because that will ruin everything. But damn, all that bright color will trick you because the story is so dark!
Back in 2015, we heard that David Fincher would make a reboot for this series in an agreement with HBO. I was anticipating that. If there's any guy who would make a reboot for this show, it should be Fincher. He has this special signature on the gloomy pictures. Somehow, I feel that Utopia also has a similar mood with Fincher's previous film: Gone Girl. And again, the news said the reboot was canceled too. Bummer.
Where is Jessica Hyde?
If you already watch the show, you'd know that "Where is Jessica Hyde" is the catchphrase of Arby, that cold-blooded hitman. The catchphrase that will be haunting us since the very 1st episode. If you search on YouTube, there some videos of Arby saying "Where is Jessica Hyde" over and over for about 60 minutes. Crazy stuff. And useless. What do you expect from Utopia's fans...
Utopia starts its story world from a small comic book shop somewhere in London. The two hitmen Lee & Arby went there, asking the store owner about a certain comic, and Arby start to ask again and again: "Where is Jessica Hyde?", which doesn't make any sense because no one knows who the hell is Jessica Hyde. Next scene, Lee killed the store owner with gas. He also killed a visitor. And a young boy who was hiding under the desk. From there, the violence marches on with various methods. We know that these two hitmen would kill anyone who stands in their way to get the comic.
We then meet a group of people, some devoted fans of a comic that was rumored to have predicted the worst disasters of the last century. That graphic novel entitled: Utopia, hence this TV show's title. The first episode was mainly about that group hiding away from the merciless hitmen. While we still tried figuring out about who the hell is Jessica Hyde, then, bam! There she is standing at the door at the end of the episode.
The story expands so wide after this point. From a certain comic book, into a huge global conspiracy to end the world. So many mysteries, so many secret agents. Too many backstabbing and double cross, we no longer know which character is to trust. Every character seemed to have their own agenda, no one cares about the greater goals. The conflicts were nicely presented. All the drama was not melodramatic. It's all laid on the grey area of lies and truths (Which make the characters are human and real.)
Did I say something about the violence?
Oh, this one is a controversial show! The violence was astonishing to the extent that my GF couldn't end the 1st episode. This was the scene where Wilson Wilson captured by Lee & Arby, they tortured him hard, and Wilson should lose his right eyeball due to the most disturbing eye-gouging scene I have ever seen in a TV show (spoiler: Lee gouged Wilson's eye with a spoon). My GF was also angry about how come child actors being involved in scenes of adult content. (But she watches Logan (2017) and not complaining).
The cancellation of season 3 probably had major things to do with these controversies. The Channel 4 statement was quite heartbreaking:
Utopia is truly channel-defining: strikingly original, powered by Dennis Kelly's extraordinary voice and brought to life in all its technicolor glory through Marc Munden's undeniable creative flair and vision, the team at Kudos delivered a series which has achieved fervent cult status over two brilliantly warped and nail-biting series. It also has the honour of ensuring audiences will never look at a spoon in the same way again. It’s always painful to say goodbye to shows we love, but it’s a necessary part of being able to commission new drama, a raft of which are launching on the channel throughout 2015. (source)
My GF said that all the violence showed were totally unnecessary. Well, I'm a fan of The Raid. I kinda enjoyed watching other people getting beaten hard on the screen. But somehow I agree with her opinion. If we stripped all that violence scenes from Utopia, what will we get? I believe we will get a similarly brilliant show. Because the story is as great as a dystopia can be. And all the characters were memorable, with their motives, stupid decisions, full of mistakes, full of regret, all those things that make a fictions character relatable and believable. But... the thing is, it feels so good to see those gory scenes.
Perhaps this is also the reason why Utopia does not have a wider audience. It's too easy to predict that as brilliant as it was, Utopia will end up as a cult favorite. Just like the main characters of the show, where they're all fall too deep into a certain cult comic book...
So here we are, in April 2019, Amazon already start the Utopia adaptation project, will be written by Gone Girl author and screenwriter Gillian Flynn. Yes, I'll be waiting for this. Finally, we have a slight answer to Arby's question: "Where is Jessica Hyde?" at least for now...
Fin
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