Utopia might be the most unlucky show of the year
A cult classic remake echoes the real world in an unfortunate way
- By
- on September 29, 2020 3:02 pm
The first thing you see when you begin streaming Utopia on Amazon Prime is a disclaimer. It informs you that the show is a work of fiction not based on actual, related, or current events. How strange, you might wonder. What could that mean?
In time, you will discover that, among other things, Utopia is about a conspiracy unfolding across a viral pandemic, after which the disclaimer changes to warn you that Utopia is not based on an actual pandemic or related events. It is a show that has the terrible misfortune of being accidentally of this moment, and completely wrong about all of it.
Utopia also bears the burden of being a remake of a bona fide cult hit that aired on Channel 4 in the UK. The British Utopia was stylish, unsettling, and arresting in a way that still holds up were it to drop on a streaming platform today, itd be one of the best shows you could watch right now. Amazons remake, however? Its just another streaming show, straightforward where the other is oblique, with a muted palette and plain eye in contrast to the UK shows clever Technicolor.
The contours of the new show are different, but its major beats are the same. It begins with a group of fans obsessed with a comic book called Dystopia an obscure one-off that seems to have hidden in its pages the secrets of a vast conspiracy theory behind every major catastrophe in recent history. Connecting over the internet, they learn something that compels them to finally meet in person for the first time: A sequel comic, Utopia, has been uncovered, and its for sale. Unfortunately for them, theyre not the only ones after it, and some of their competition is a little on the murder-y side.
Its a bit like watching a show about QAnon believersPut in 2020 vernacular, its a bit like watching a show about QAnon believers. The series explores the idea fun until a few years ago of what it might look like if the conspiracy theorists were right. Held against current events it couldnt possibly anticipate, the ironies stack up in a way that makes it difficult to take the show on its own terms. Its become hard to take the truth on its own terms.
The American relationship with the difference between fact and fiction has thoroughly corroded. Formerly neutral institutions like the CDC have been co-opted for political purposes, the advice of scientists and doctors has been sidelined during a pandemic, and open believers in the QAnon delusion are winning primary elections. Saying something is real requires more work than it ever has, if only just because it requires anticipating and debunking countless nonsensical claims about how the sky isnt blue.
This makes Utopia look terribly naïve in a way thats not really anyones fault, although it can be criticized for having little to say about the erosion of truth and the appeal of conspiracy theories. [It seems more interested in knocking gatekeeping male comic book nerds who take their favored medium too seriously, using an early scene to have one woman dress them down at length.] In its bigger diversions from the source material, it grazes uniquely American criticisms of entitlement, the disproportionate amount of power held by private corporations, and how the language of freedom is used to garner popular support for devious ends.
It all mostly falls flat, though, with characters that fail to hold your attention even as they do shocking things. Theres a parade of murder, dismemberment, and torture in the early episodes of Utopia that is legitimately numbing, and there is so much plot that there is precious little time to really get to know any of its characters.
Its shocking, then, when Ian [Dan Byrd], one of the main characters, cracks a joke hes funny? Since when? Another member of the main crew, Becky [Ashleigh LaThrop] is barely characterized beyond her chronic illness. In fact, of the main group of nerds who are in over their heads, the only one who registers is Wilson Wilson [Desmin Borges], mostly for being the most paranoid in a group of conspiracy theorists.
As this group becomes more and more entangled in the conspiracy that seems increasingly real, the players get bigger and more severe: operatives from a secret program of trained killers, the head of a pharmaceutical company [John Cusack], an agent from the Department of Homeland Security [Sonja Sohn]. It goes, as they say, all the way to the top.
And perhaps this is the reason Utopia is so unsatisfying: the allure of conspiracy theories is that there is some order to this chaos, that even if we are miserable, it is because of the actions of a ruthless few who have exerted an unjust control on us. Except, when that really exists, its no longer a conspiracy, its corruption, and it occurs in plain sight. All that hidden stuff, where we string together newspaper clippings looking for Pepe Silvia? Its tiresome, and wholly unnecessary. Evil is right there, in plain sight.
More From
- Huaweis foldable P50 Pocket has a circular external screen thats perfect for notifications
- First super fast PCIe 5.0 SSDs teased ahead of CES
- CES 2022 seemingly falling apart: Lenovo joins T-Mobile, Amazon, AT&T and others in bailing out
- Apple closes several stores due to COVID-19 outbreaks, encourages online shopping
- LG Display brought a reclining curved OLED throne to CES this year
- Amazons AWS logs third outage this month, affecting Slack, Epic Games Store, Asana and more
Comments
Jessica Hydes role is a cast disaster. I cannot fathom how lame her role is and how her original smugness now equates to an almost bullyesque attitude. Show was complete trash and I gave up after 3 episodes. Just embarrassing. Would rather re-watch the original.
By baandoptager on 09.29.20 3:13pm
Damn. I spotted it coming recently and just figured Amazon had the rebroadcasting rights now. Was looking forward to watching it again, hearing thats its a poor remake has kinda shat on that, Ill give it a go but the review doesnt give me much hope
By Ponk on 09.29.20 4:01pm
I watched the whole thing, and while some things were kind of bad, Ive certainly seen worse. Now that I know this was a remake, I really want to see the original.
By TryBe on 09.29.20 4:11pm
I saw the original back in the day, it was a phenomenal show even though I still think the premise was completely ridiculous. But I was never into that whole neo malthusian population alarmism. Same insanity behind the premise of thanos needing to wipe out half the galaxy, if he had the power of creation himself he should have been able to craft a better solution.
By Alar's Ashes on 09.29.20 4:45pm
the allure of conspiracy theories is that there is some order to this chaos, that even if we are miserable, it is because of the actions of a ruthless few who have exerted an unjust control on us.
I have never quite understood this. To me there is more comfort in bad things happening out of chance, or due to things that are out of anybodys control, because that means there would have been no way to prevent them. Am I alone in this?
By Gatanui on 09.29.20 4:12pm
Probably not alone, but it certainly appears to be a human instinct to ascribe intention to chaos. Just look at the entirety of religion.
By ench on 09.29.20 4:37pm
Ive only gone through the first ep of the new remake, and have to sayugh. I mean, new Ian and Becky seem sweet enough, and the guy playing Wilson Wilson looks the part and seems ok. Only got a glimpse of Jessica at the end there. Grant seems like a possibly winning kid. But geez, it seems like they took pains to spill sketch out the basic premise in narration that we had to just unfold for ourselves in the original run.
And then theres Arby. This guy is no Arby. Maybe hes a good actor but hes dressed in Neil-Maskel-as-Arby cosplay and not doing a great job. And the overall tone and design is too bland, and yet slick. I wish somehow wed gotten more of the original rather than this warmed-over inspired-by thing. I just hate that this is what people will think of as "Utopia" now.
By bleetblort on 09.29.20 4:15pm
Ive watched the whole first season and it was ok. It gets better in the last two episodes but that is a lot to ask of viewers with as many alternatives as there are. It left me wishing that David Fincher had gotten his chance.
By crichton007 on 09.29.20 4:26pm
Well he did, but they messed it up because HBO were too lame.
By baandoptager on 09.29.20 6:04pm
By the end of the first season, the remake did find its own groove, and its not bad. Its nothing like the original though, which was so note-perfect through both seasons. If it had a proper 3rd season to wrap up, I probably wouldnt even be watching this.
Its just another streaming show, straightforward where the other is oblique, with a muted palette and plain eye in contrast to the UK shows clever Technicolor.
Why is that? Its like every colorist working at Amazon think that the way to make a show look "classy" is to essentially put a slight s-curve on the log files, and call it a day.
The worst for that though has to be Raised By Wolves. How to make an alien planet boring in one easy step [well two if you count the writing].
By TheStrange on 09.29.20 4:32pm
The whole mystery of Jessica Hyde got wrecked and spoiled after 1 episode which ruined everything in so many ways. Such a great little mystery in the original. Gave her so much power in the mythology of it all. Most of the actors are fantastic but again, Jessica Hyde majn. Yikes What a sh2tshow.
By baandoptager on 09.29.20 6:06pm
I finished it last night and some thoughts. I saw the original back in 2013[?] and I couldnt stop thinking how original and fascinating it was, visually and conceptually. I never saw season two unfortunately, so I figured this would be a direct lift from the original and Id see what eventually happened. After watching the Prime, I couldnt care less. Its like they wanted "the Boys" but without the black sardonic humor, and in the end, it was just bleak for no purpose. I can take bloody violence as well, but this was just kinda gratuitous and dumb. At one point, theres a huge infodump [I dont consider that a spoiler here] which is just too convenient. While this could have been an interesting take on our current paranoia, it instead turned it into a shitshow of meaningless characters and plots.
By BB1970 on 09.29.20 7:32pm
It would have been better to just continue the original story than do a Remake.
By Sanyam Khetarpal on 09.30.20 12:42am
I didnt really get Kevin Christies refusal to read Wilsons script. He might not actually read the script, but he certainly says enough that people should seriously consider the safety of anything this mans company is producing.
By Mossbreaker on 10.12.20 3:48pm