Sunday, October 11, 2020

Round Two: Utopia

Utopia: Season 1, Episode 2 “Just a Fanboy” (B)

This was a show that, for some reason, my wife and my in-laws thought they might enjoy and even decided to watch after an unexpectedly violent first hour. They were out midway through this episode right after Wilson had his eye scooped out while he was being tortured, and I was left to finish by myself. While I’m probably more attuned to seeing that type of thing since it’s been featured in other shows that I watch (I remember “Sons of Anarchy” most vividly), I’m still not sure I see the point of including such excessive violence. Wilson also seemed to act rather calm and like he wasn’t in that much pain after having his eye ripped out, but I suppose that’s not the most unrealistic thing about this show. At least Rod got killed, meaning that Arby will now be forced to take care of every possible loose end on his own, which should reduce the body count slightly. What I wasn’t so thrilled about was the fact that, after she convinced Ian to take her seriously, Jessica decided to kill Samantha so that she could exert her dominance as leader of the group. I think I’m disappointed most because she was one of the best characters, and it feels weird to continue without her. We did get two new interesting characters in the form of John Cusack’s Dr. Christie, who believes meat doesn’t carry viruses, and Rainn Wilson’s Michael Stearns, who has another theory that could be helpful for everyone. I’m intrigued but not necessarily rushing to continue with this show, but I feel like another episode could help me decide if this feels too much like “The Boys” or “Future Man,” shows I didn’t keep up with, or something that I might enjoy more.

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