Sometimes a show comes out and it is so out there the broadcasters don't know what to do with it... that's what Utopia did when it first hit the UK screens in 2013.
It ran for two seasons and the show was cut short. Until HBO picked it up only to drop it. Then Amazon Prime Video gave it a new life, an American identity and Gillian Flynn (of Gone Girl fame) was tapped as the showrunner.
So should you bother watching this one? Hell yeah. Let's dig in...
On paper Utopia is a series for its times. It's about a fan base obsessed with comics (look at your Marvel and DC fanboys), who see conspiracies tied into their comics during an actual flu-like epidemic that starts small and soon engulfs the whole world in very rapid pace. Yeah, it's basically 2020.
Like 2020, the series is full of twists, death, brutality and a sense that we are not going to get a happy ending.
But it's not all doom and gloom, the series has a bunch of interesting characters that are engaging whilst subverting classical archetypes.
Starting with the show's heroin/anti-heroin Jessica Hyde. Sasha Lane plays Jessica Hyde as a no-nonsense amoral damsel who needs no rescuing.
There's a tension in the series between her humanity and her sense of survival. Where does she draw the line? Sasha Lane hits it out of the park.
John Cusack gets those rare occasions were he plays against type, he is set up as the good guy only to be revealed to be what everybody thinks the super-rich, 1% of the world are. Devious douchebags with a global conspiracy to take over the world.
Desmin Borges as Wilson Wilson and Rainn Wilson (of The Office fame) are other standout characters whose arcs are both comedic and tragic at the same time.
One could actually write about each one of these characters because Gillian Flynn has woven great arcs for all the supporting cast and it's compelling. for both the group of protagonists and the antagonists.
The antagonists are an interesting group. You have the Bill Gates-like millionaire/innovator bad guy Dr Kevin Christie, played by John Cusack.
There's also Christopher Denham's psychotic Arby (the emotionless killer who has a crises of emotion) and Cory Michael Smith is the embodiment of everything bad about capitalism as Christie's son.
He's a businessman who does not care about people, only his interests, including sacrificing everything and anyone for the bottom line.
I love how the show really gives a finger to the powers that be - those super rich guys, who adopt across racial lines and don't eat meat could just be as evil as Hitler and Idi Amin.
The twist around the end game with the vaccine is brilliant, given where we are... pity the show was not so popular.
Fans of the original British series did not want the remake whilst some people found it too close to home to watch a series about the world's reaction to a flu epidemic with big companies using the general populace as sheep.
I dug it and thought it was highly entertaining. It's got a bunch of well written and colourful characters and I loved its brutality.
I know the fans of the original British series say it's not as violent as it could be, but the show is well written and it shows it was written by the same person who wrote Gone Girl.
It felt like: Umbrella Academy meets The Stand without superpowers.
Verdict :So if you love a mystery and conspiracy mystery... your sci-fi with a spin and something different from what you normally see on TV give Utopia a chance. I bet Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng would love Utopia.
Rating: ****
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*trash **ja nee ***it tries ****almost perfect *****Instant Classic
NB: Amazon Prime did not renew the show for second season but I still recommend it ...plus you need to know "Where is Jessica Hyde?"