In fact, only seven episodes (of nine) were provided for preview. If Amazon’s show somehow prompts a slew of viewers to check out the real thing, that’s a huge plus. by Flynn is unafraid of rapidly adding more and more branches to the Utopia mythology, which occasionally shocks but seldom intrigues. They hope for a quick windfall by selling the comic to the highest bidder at a geek convention, unaware that it’s the long-awaited sequel to a preexisting book called Dystopia, and that a tiny segment of the latter’s fandom believes its stories about a kick-ass heroine named Jessica Hyde and her rabbit-headed antagonist actually encode warnings of future epidemics. That’s the name of the little girl in the comic. Byrd gets to offer some comic relief by having his character sporadically mock Jessica’s hyper-intensity, but Utopia could’ve used a lot more of that kind of self-awareness. Jaipur, Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Thank you for subscribing to our daily newsletter. “Where’s Utopia?” they ask, before issuing a follow-up question: “Where’s Jessica Hyde?” Give a wrong answer, and it’s good night, forever. Utopia is yet another victim of an ailment that has affected past Amazon shows such as The Boys and Hunters: bloat. The Hollywood Reporter, LLC is a subsidiary of Prometheus Global Media, LLC. Both of these snafus affect the group’s story, which is arguably Utopia‘s engine, the worst — you keep waiting for the show to switch back to them when they’re out of the picture, then find yourself wondering why you don’t feel that attached to their fugitives-on-the-run conflicts when they onscreen. Utopia was previously set up by Flynn and David Fincher at HBO, hot off their blockbuster collaboration on Gone Girl. Too hackneyed to be timely, too grim to be escapist. Borrowing the central premise and a few key details of the original, Flynn has crafted a domestic version that blends the source material and her own thematic obsessions. And Jessica Hyde? John Cusack plays a pharmaceutical mogul named Kevin Christie, the sort of billionaire that rides to work on his bike and asks his family, “What have you done today to earn your place in this crowded world?” He’s a philanthropist who projects a plant-a-tree-save-the-planet vibe, but you can immediately sense Christie would happily sell anything bought or processed, buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed. But Utopia never pretends to be a documentary, or even as realistic as something like, say, Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion. Written in broad strokes as opposed to careful calligraphy, however, she’s hardly a quintessential Flynn heroine. Once the manuscript falls into the hands of one of the group’s own, Jessica is hot on their trail. You sense there’s another agenda going on, however… especially in regards to the brainwashed, loyal minions doing their bidding. Indore, And while Lane and Denham gamely try to give their respective sociopaths a soul and a pulse, neither can quite get out of the kill-stare-repeat cycle they’re stuck in — this despite some interesting arcs for both. The part about the clues “predicting” real-life viral outbreaks? Meanwhile, a shadowy organisation known as The Harvest, also looking to get its hands on the precious manuscript, is hot on their heels. Fincher would’ve directed every episode. 6:15 AM PDT 9/15/2020 Utopia is an adaptation by Gone Girl novelist and screenwriter Gillian Flynn from a 2013-2014 British series of the same name (created by Dennis Kelly, who serves as an executive producer here). Although it’s interesting to observe how, in the span of just a few years, the pendulum has swung from audiences perceiving fast wealth as aspirational, to now being suspicious of it. There’s no telling what someone will pay — or do — for a chance to glimpse the future. But budgetary disputes forced the filmmaker to drop out. Benefitting from a … His comrades-in-wild speculation include idealistic Samantha (Jessica Rothe), who wants to do nothing less with her life than save the world; sweet Becky (Ashleigh LaThrop), who’s searching for a cure to her terminal illness; and skeptic Ian (Dan Byrd), who’s unsure about joining the mission even after Jessica Hyde (Sasha Lane) herself shows up — not least because the heroine’s attitude toward murder doesn't seem to involve any known system of ethics. About Our Ads And while the images are comparatively unremarkable — the UK Utopia was a visually stunning piece of television — the violence is just as visceral. Meanwhile, protesters are storming the streets and demanding answers, while a rich, morally suspect authority figure — and his equally dubious adult son — promise a miracle vaccine any minute now. The constant switching among the three parallel plotlines keeps deflating the tension and momentum for each of them long before they converge. If you were to print out all of this Amazon show’s per-episode spoiler breakdowns — those constrictive-to-a-fault lists sent to critics that dictate what you can or can’t talk about in a review — you could probably paper one of Jeff Bezos’ mansions several times over. Both are psychotic and have a facility for torture; the latter seems especially… off, given his shuffling walk, childlike nature, and constant snacking on raisins. Enter two thugs, Rod (Michael B.