Utopia, Season 2, Episode 6

Our ominous burger flipper from last episodes is waiting for a bus, with a nice social conscious woman talking about the environment and reduced resources while her small child has flu. Ominous guy counters her environmental sensibilities by the fact she has a child – 1^st world humans are the greatest sources of pollution on the planet and how little her refusing to fly actually makes any difference next to that. Which turns into a calm explanation of how she should kill her child.

Uh-huh, well that’s the Networks viewpoint in a nutshell.

Pietre is in hospital with Jessica lovingly by his side. Becky and Wilson look on (Michael has taken in Grant; which isn’t going well since Grant is a deeply damaged, wounded kid who likes to play with knives). She has not even come close to forgiving Wilson though

Ian is still wanted for murder of his brother and now his mother is appealing on television for him to give himself up when Wilson and Becky arrive with the bad news. He’s spoken to Leah, and their man is supposed to go to various locations around the world to spread it in 5 different locations round the world. They have 90 days to stop him. But if he’s suspicious he’s to release the disease straight away, killing millions. They can’t use the Network’s resources to find him because of that – which means they have to find him. First step is looking at the people it could be (there are several dummies, like Paul who Wilson met) to see which one has disappeared so they know who they’re looking for.

Wilson continues to try and build bridges with the other two – they’re having none of it. They go to find Paul – and realise he’s still around so he isn’t the one. Wilson draws a gun – Becky and Ian are horrified, and even more horrified when Wilson assures them Leah can cover it up; he’s not worried about the morality of killing, just blowing the operation. Wilson points out they have no idea what to do or what the back up plan is with Milner dead (especially since with her dead who knows what will happen when people notice) – getting very agitated. Ian suggests breaking into Paul’s house – but they’re not killers.

Where they continue to see how much Wilson has changed from his time in the Network, how few lines he has. They do find a mobile phone which Wilson can get into with his former geeky glory (call back to season 1). They find a call from Gorsky, someone who has been involved before but is supposed to be dead.

Becky takes another of her pills – she’s running out, she only has 4 days left. And she does intend to commit suicide before she dies of Deels. She tells Ian it’s her choice. She’s also still having hallucinations of the murdered translator with the hole in his head.

Gorsky is actually in prison after going to utterly extreme levels to fake his own death (hammering out his own teeth and putting them in the head of a man he’d kill). They seek Gorsky in prison and he’s afraid – he trained the Janus operative, he knows who they are and that they’ll clear up loose ends. Like him. When Wilson shows he knows about Paul, Gorky gives him the other two names; but wants protecting. And no, he doesn’t think a police station is enough. Wilson calls Leah who has both Paul and one of the other men killed, leaving only Terrence.

Utopia, Season 2, Episode 4

In America, a nice normal family is settling in for the night when he gets a call – he has to go out, ah such is the hardships of working as a 24 hour plumber

Well, except this plumber actually finds a hidden, apparently long undisturbed vault. He removes a refrigerated container, puts it in a hidden, locked compartment of his car and takes it to what seems to be an old airbase where he abandons the car.

He goes home… and murders his family then kills himself.

Over to England and Michael has Jessica Hyde as a houseguest – he almost calls to report her but decides against it, settling on restless pacing as she sleeps for 2 days solid. Now she wants to eat and is very impressed by his eggs – less so by Michael’s excuses for helping with Janus (she has a very good silence while he babbles away realising his own excuses are so very poor). She’s also immensely creepy and has a thing for Ian.

And to the gang where Garth investigates Pietre’s bag (not a good idea) and finds a gun which clearly brings back bad memories. And Becky tries to prompt Phillip’s memory with the Utopia manuscript. Becky and Ian argue over what to do next, whether to show Phillip the TV show that prompted him to speak (which would involve breaking and entering for some odd reason – the excuse is because it’s American so they can’t get it on the net. Because killing people is fine, using torrents and not respecting territory releases is right out of line. Oh Channel 4, don’t be such a damn fool) as well as arguing over Ian telling Milner. At least he told them, I guess. Garth also notices a tattoo on Phillip’s arm

Backy recognises the number as death camp tattoos from the holocaust. She pulls out her lap top and runs through a few language with him, recognising that Phillip – or Anton – speaks Romanian.

Ian follows is own rather inept but effective plan to get a copy of the US TV show from the network, getting out by playing on someone’s racist assumption. From there he goes to Michael’s house – which Becky preciously told him not to since they don’t know if they can trust him – especially since Ian already wrongly put his choice in Milner. Where he gets hugged by Jessica Hyde. And kissed. And then he just runs with it, especially when she declares she’s not waiting.

Afterwards, Jessica tells him about Janus being in her, that Michael isn’t a true member of the Network and basically behaves oddly enough that Ian realises there’s something badly wrong with her. She also hides a phone in the lining of Ian’s jacket and goes to make some eggs – when he, predictably, runs like hell she watches him go.

Pietre has joined up with Lee and Christian; Pietre is arranging for Tess and Amanda’s, his family’s, safety. He has a completely emotionless, logical, cold – and still deeply moving and sad last goodbye with them as he ensures their safety. That done, Lee now gets his side of the bargain – and he kills Christian. But he still wants the rest of the gang. Pietre asks where Jessica Hyde is.

That’s still a very spooky question for him to ask.

Utopia, Season 2, Episode 3

The nefarious goes to Ian’s workplace and his place of employment to fiddle with his computer. Ian’s boss arrives and Lee tries a series of lies to convince him that he has every right to meddle with the computer. It fails. Mainly because it’s absolutely impossible to pass yourself off as a member of the MET when you’re a silly muppet wearing a lemon yellow suit and a hair right out of the 50s. He resorts to slitting Ian’s boss’s throat. It’s messy and, no, “suicide” will not be a reasonable cover up for this

Cut to our favourite gang with Garth, Ian and Becky all looking traumatised in a room full of creepy dolls when Pietre arrives to tell them he made breakfast. Yes, him announcing breakfast is slightly scary because just about everything he does is slightly scary. In the kitchen there are more scary dolls and a very very healthy breakfast. Over brown rice and nuts he tells them that since their DNA would be all over the battle scene none of them can run, that Christian is the one they’re after and they have to figure out why to survive

Also, Pietre is on their side now.

So time to question Christian (yes Anton is the source of a lot of knowledge but they don’t know about him) in this house that is FULL of creepy dolls! He finally admits to meeting his old professor, Gorsky who may have been in the Network – but he was drunk so it’s fine, right? Garth checks the internet – Gorsky is now dead. Pietre insists on hearing what Gorksy said – which was “Jimmy De Chelle is a fat man.” Oh yay, a cryptic code! Which Christian did not the wise thing of googling (turned up nothing except DEATH of course). Pietre suggests no more googling. And since it’s Pietre that reasonably worded request always sounds like a blood curdling threat

Becky hallucinates, possibly from trauma, possibly illness – and lashes out unfairly at Ian which leads to Ian pointing out how desperately he missed her (while this makes her curtness seem unfair, it also makes him look more than little like a depraved stalker). Then Pietre asks “where is Jessica Hyde?” Which makes for excellent flashback fears, given that was almost his only line through much of season 1. Right before mangling people

Ian, who assumed the whole Network was other, (and he still thinks Milner is on their side) reasonably doubts why they should even trust Peitre – and even asks how sure they can be that Pietre rescued them last episode – or killed their rescuers. All reasonable points that are neatly answered when the news reports that he has been framed for the murder of his boss.

More interestingly restrained emotional scenes where Ian can’t deal with his boss being dead and hides in hostility and the reason why Chrtisian is creeping all over Becky all the time is that she slept with him once when she was extremely depressed and vulnerable, a memory that makes her “want a vagina transplant” which is a pretty unequivocal reaction. Also, Garth can steal cars better than Pietre.

Over to the badguys of the Network, and poor Geoff who thought he was so important is being firmly told how much of a tool he is – Milner won’t even meet him and Leah doesn’t care if him going forward with their plan (releasing the vaccine everywhere at the same time all over the world) destroys his political career and ambitions.

Utopia, Season 2, Episode 2

As is common with Utopia radio in the background reminds us of a growing resource shortage in the world as a man goes to visit Jessica Hyde in her cell. Her guards show cuts, bruises and bite marks and they hand him a long taser to go see her. Jessica isn’t taking being imprisoned lying down

The man is Ross, there to interrogate Jessica after she killed the last one (who was also a torturer). The guards are very very very wary of her. She asks for a book – the Bible. Milner is watching the interrogation through CCTV and the reason for the questioning is revealed – Phillip put Janus in Jessica, but he changed it before he did. They’re making Janus, getting ready to distribute it in a fake vaccine – but it seems to perfectly work. They can’t see what Phillip changed. They can’t use it until then. He claims they can cut open her brain to find the truth – but he is stopping them because he’s a good guy. He continues to appeal to Jessica, to play the good guy after months of abuse.

Cut to a nice normal street and Arby – Pietre – walking down it with an ominous yellow bag. He enters a home and asks a little girl if her mummy’s home. He reaches into the bag and pulls out… a toy. The girl hugs him and calls him “Peter” (he corrects her to “Pietre”. His real name). Ok Utopia, that was an excellent fake out. Said mummy comes in and they’re a happy family with massive amounts of cuteness.

Which may come to an end when Lee finds Pietre. He’s still alive, but not entirely unscathed. Pietre takes him home for dinner – and Pietre’s super unhealthy diet of fried everything is now replaced with quinoa and leafy greens. He’s living a happy life as a plumber, while Lee is having trouble coming to terms with what they did. But lee isn’t out of the organisation, nor does he think Pietre can be – they want him back. And when Pietre’s family returns the menace is very very clear.

Ian is back to his boring IT consultant job. So boring he actually sticks his tongue in a stapler; because having one’s tongue stapled would actually be more interesting than his job. His co-worker, Joe, very supportive of Ian (who disappeared without explanation and he now sees as self-harming). Awww he tried. He is searching for Becky using CCTV. He tries to tell Joe the truth and is just laughed off – but it’s clear Ian thinks they’ve won.

Grant is living with him – and the kid has done some growing up (child actors shoot up so fast) and Grant is doing a bad job of staying under the radar for someone who is supposed to be dead. But then, he’s also struggling with the fact his mum, his friends, everyone thinks he’s dead and he’s supposed to become this whole new person. Ian still has faith in Milner (oops) despite her being completely out of touch. When grant tries to leave Ian tries to stop him – and Grant kicks him and Ian punches him back. Things are… fraught. Definitely fraught – and they both miss Becky

Geoff, head of the health department, holds a press conference. Corvadt (part of Milner’s organisation) has gone bankrupt, but since it’s the only company that makes the vaccine for the fictitious Russian flu, he’s decided to bail them out. And Michael – Michael Dugdale, the beleaguered civil servant from season 1, is the new interim CEO.

Utopia, Season 2, Episode 1

An old fashioned Italian news report and then to Rome in 1979.

Ok, that’s an odd way to begin a new season, but then Utopia specialises in odd.

A very young Jessica is with her father. Said father speaks with a source who claims to have the identity of Mr. Rabbit (who was revealed last season to be Ms. Rabbit). She is quite terrifyingly menacing and not happy (I think she actually is Ms. Rabbit) – because the file has come into their hands, almost by chance, and Jessica’s dad, Phillip, is the one who sent it. He tells her he’s complete Janus. He’s desperate and very stressed as he tells her he’s changed it – and he can never use what he’s made.

Someone walks up and shoots the driver. Possibly-Ms-Rabbit doesn’t even blink. Almost-certainly-Ms.Rabbit demand Janus by the end of the week – or she will torture Jessica.

5 years earlier, in London, with shortages and strikes and powercuts and Phillip all dressed up when an Eastern European woman carrying a baby enters the house and demands to know what Phillip did to Pietre (probably Arby) who she has taken to the doctor. We have definite confirmation that Phillip is his father. She thinks Phillip is doing something to Arby and violently attacks Phillip – at the same time Phillip suggests she’s delusional and has stopped taking her medication. The baby watches on from the playpen.

Probably not the healthiest childhood.

Phillip is taken to a rather ritzy do in a rather impressive castle with lots of rich looking people and raaaather a lot of booze which he is quick to make full use of. In his tipsy state he shows his great knowledge by cutting into someone’s conversation to explain why their cure for malaria will fail. Ms. Rabbit (almost sure) joins him when she notices that this exclusive party – held every 4 years to ensure big important people can talk to each other on the quiet – and all Phillip is doing is drinking. She pokes him on malaria and he explains why he doesn’t want to cure it – the human population is growing exponentially and rapidly overwhelming the planet’s capacity to support it; he’s intrigued that she actually agrees with him.

Of course, she’s way more awesome than that – when he declares that humanity is the only disease on the planet in need of curing she invites him to join her throwing herself off the balcony. She teeters very unstably over the edge and asks for his answer to the problem of humanity (also referring to having experience with genocide, so not a great fan there). He does have an answer – and they spend all night talking about it.

Back to his domestic life and he and Brosca  try to interest Pietre in a rabbit. He just stares into space

Milner (Ms. Rabbit’s non-bunny identity) arranges for Phillip to meet some very important scientists all of whom are extremely impressed by him, much to his shock. They’re implementing his grand plan, Janus, and he is all very excited – with also hints of his separateness, the god complex they’re getting from playing with human lives.

Which we see even more clearly when he explains Janus – it turning off human fertility except for the select few they spare – with “advantageous genetic traits”. Eugenics – by infertility rather than direct slaughter – Phillip seems to think this means it isn’t genocide. Even Milner asks if they can just make the fertility random rather than specifically choosing who deserves to breed and sees the inherent wrongness of what he’s proposing

Phillip also starts experimenting on his son, feeding him chemicals and making him watch him kill Pietre’s pet rabbit. He still stares into space.

Other personal issues include both Phillip and Milner keeping their significant others in the dark about what they do. Brosca is still concerned by Phillip affecting Pietre, especially when she becomes pregnant again.

Utopia, Season 1, Episode 6

The radio announces more outbreaks of the Russian flu and more people beginning to panic and flood GP’s surgeries while the gang gathers up their things ready to leave – and Jessica Hyde dramatically joins them. She has the manuscript which she gives to Wilson. It has everything in it – the experiments, the murder victims – all of it.

Of course, the gang aren’t especially pleased with her given her actions last time they saw her. To which she responds, in classic Jessica style, that she needed to set a trap. They were bait. “I’m sorry, let’s move on.” An apology with all the sincerity of a celebrity who just dropped slurs on twitter. Becky wants to chew her out some more but Jessica is far too goal orientated for that – specifically she wants to know where Grant is and where the pages she gave to him are, especially since those pages contain the real name of Mr. Rabbit.

While Wilson analyses the cryptic pages, Jessica loses her shit and starts tearing the place apart looking for the pages until Becky delivers an epic slap down of “killing Mr. Rabbit won’t make your father any less of a cock.” The verbal battle escalates a little until Alice hands over the pages – Grant isn’t that good at hiding things. Now she wants them to find Grant.

Which is looow on Jessica’s priority list. She and Becky continue to snap at each other, she wants Wilson to hack GCHQ and find someone of the name “Leton” who may or may not be Mr. Rabbit but he’s all distracted because he’s not entirely on their side any more.

Grant is, of course, in the Network’s hands, being questioned by the Assistant. He has Grant’s pictures he drew of the comics including the cryptic page of Janus with all the random numbers which he thinks is an essential protein code – unfortunately Grant didn’t finish it, they need 3 more 5 digit numbers and they need Grant to remember them. Seemingly impossible, but the Assistant is quite willing to lay on the pressure –including footage of Grant’s mother to show they’re watching her.

They leave him the laptop of his mother’s every activity while he struggles to remember. He manages to dredge up one number but his pleas that he can’t remember any more are ignored. Left alone again he takes apart the lap top.

And Michael and Jen have taken Anya in – and taken over her medical care (and Michael is still in the guilty dog house, naturally) and not entirely happy to see his boss, Geoff, being hailed in the news as the country’s saviour with his department’s brilliant forward planning over Russian Flu. Especially since the vaccine has been hurried through and is going out the next morning.

At work there’s a little snag to that – before the vaccine can be released it needs to be independently tested and analysed by, well, Michael (Geoff can’t do it because politics may motivate him, it has to be a civil servant). Geoff has the team –Michael’s job is to sign it off without questioning. Awww, Michael can’t wash his hands of the whole thing.

Becky does meet up with the nasty Dr. Donaldson to make it clear she is never going to help him again – she appeals for the medicine she needs as one last plea to whatever shred of humanity he has in him. Of course, he throws them in the lake, no humanity detected here. Back at the mansion, with Ian, she worries about whether Deals has started – or if she’s just imagining it and stressed. Ian promises to stay with her but she recites the awful symptoms of Deals and doesn’t think she wants someone to watch her endure it all. Instead she talks to Alice about the cryptic code page.

Meanwhile Wilson easily hacks GCHQ (he’s contemptuous of the security) but has to cover his tracks – so that means trawling through lots of databases he’s not interested in so he’ll be taken as a UFO conspiracy theorist. He also tries – unsuccessfully – to get Jessica to leave him alone so he can contact the Network, she’s a hard woman to get rid of. He almost gets a message off to the Network – just as he gets a result and has to delete the email.

The result has a reference to “Letan”, his name is redacted and changed on all official documents – but they missed the footnote (see, I love this – because it’s so real. How is a conspiracy discovered? Simply by finding the mistakes that people will make – and there will always be mistakes. It has a realness to it that adds so much context).

Knowing Mr. Rabbit was on this committee (on weaponised genetic research) they print out the committee’s pictures. 18 people, 14 men, 7 of which are dead or incapacitated. Unfortunately, none of them recognise any of the 7 men – so Jessica decides to kill them all.

Michael goes to see Anya – and is attacked by Ian who points a gun at him. Michael tries to protest his innocence – and offers to help them find the vaccine.  Michael quickly calms down the panicking Anya and gives Ian the address of the warehouse full of vaccine; Ian, intelligently, demands he bring it up on googlemaps to confirm there is actually a warehouse at the location. He offers to get them inside, to help – and then Anya grabs the gun and smacks them both down. Then she calls the Network; in a perfect English accent.

Oh I did not see that coming! Cue sputtering guppy-fish reaction from Michael. When she turns away, he pulls the rug out from under her – literally – and then rushes her and hits her in the head and she smacks her head on the glass table. She looks pretty dead. Ian leads the shellshocked Michael out before the Network team arrives.

Ian and Michael return to the mansion just as Jessica and Becky are having another fight – Becky accusing Jessica of being too emotionally attached. Everyone panics a little about Michael. He tells them about the warehouse and he recognises one of the pictures they have up – Conran’s assistant, the man really running Corvadt.

It looks like they just found Mr. Rabbit.

Grant, in his cell, fills in another number and buzzes for the Assistant. He hides a piece of sharp metal he removed and bent from the lap top. But he doesn’t  use it.

Back at the mansion, Jessica is determined to go and hunt down Letan in broad daylight – which everyone tells her is foolish and, no matter what she says, at this late stage won’t stop the warehouse of Janus vaccines going out. There’s another stand off, Ian refusing to hand over the gun and Jessica threatening more violence when Alice – she has impeccable timing that child – calls them over to where she’s been examining the Manuscript.

Spreading out the pages, she has found a pattern – lines and dots that go from one page to the next – together forming a molecular diagram. The structure of Janus. The real Janus, not just the vaccine test. Everyone leaves while poor Michael tries to praise Alice for being so clever, aww bless (Alice is, indeed, very clever – clever enough to know when she’s being patronised). Michael justifies why he handed over Grant to Alice and Alice talks about her mother and finally breaks down. They sit and talk and Michael holds her

Etched in Bone (Maker's Song #4) by Adrian Phoenix

Dante has managed to wrest Lucien free from Gehenna and from the control of the Fallen – albeit while growing a set of wings in the process. But he is far from free of them as they demand a promise from him to return while they plot about how best to control him.

Things are not calmer on Earth as more and more of his enemies – a variety of rogue FBI and Shadow Branch Agents – manoeuver to find a way to bring him down or turn him into a tool. All the while he is still trying to control his broken mind, suffering from flashbacks, seizures and agonising pain.

But he has no time to heal – the local vampire boss, Mauvais has killed someone they care about and must be made to pay while the vampire factions also look to tie their own puppet strings on Dante.

Even Heather’s father is in town, with his own plans to ruin what life they’re trying to build.

There is a problem when it comes to reviewing series. The problem is that an author is (usually) unlikely to massively change their style. They’ll probably grow and change as a writer as the series progresses, but the fundamental nature of their writing usually remains somewhat the same.

Which means, as a reviewer, I run the risk of broken record syndrome. The same issues I have with book 1 are the same issues I have with book 2 and on to book 3 and, behold, the same issues arise again.

And so, here I am reading book 4 of the Maker’s Song series and, guess what? The same issues that have dogged the other books are still there. I’m sure you’re all shocked to hear that.

The characters are moving together and pairing off when their agendas are close – so we have Gillespie and Rutgers working together, we have Emmet and Merri joining the main gang, Underwood being derailed – a few of the lines are coming together or being snipped. Excellent

But more are being introduced – we now have another faction entirely, seeming to be pissed off, mind controlling Teodoro Dion (another new character, yay!) who really really hates the Fallen and is going to hurt Dante because that’ll show ‘em all! And then there’s Heather and Annie’s father who is running around with his own perverse ideas of putting their family back together again.

I have to say, again, that none of these storylines are bad.

The FBI/Shadow Branch tracking down Dante and torn between killing him, imprisoning him or monitoring him with the odd rogue agent along the side? It’s a great story and the characters are fascinating and really work well.

Utopia Season 1, Episode 5

A lot happened last week, leaving the gang in the abandoned mansion with Conran tied to a chair. And Becky meets her contact at last – it’s Donaldson, the scientists that Michael has been working for – and he has medication for her. She does have the same disease as her father, the one her father died from, the one the Network created. Donaldson tells Becky that when Jessica gave up the manuscript to Arby, she took some pages – and he wants Becky to get him those pages. And if she doesn’t, he’s going to stop giving her medication – and he hasn’t given her much to last

In the house, Alice is getting on as if nothing happened – despite her mother being murdered and she having just killed a guy. Becky tries to get her to talk but Alice is wonderfully calm in a very very very creepy way

They check Conran for a Rabbit scar – and he doesn’t have one. He isn’t Mr. Rabbit. They ask him about the vaccine, claiming they know about the protein and Janus; though Conran finds the whole idea of trying to wipe out specific races to be ludicrous to the point of being laughable. Wilson doesn’t have any patience for laughter – what with having lost an eye and his father and Ian has to make him back off Conran. He rants at Ian about him not having lost someone – and Conran hears his name and realises who they others are.

He recognises them – and tells them they were given a phone with a tracking device in it. A phone given to them by Milner, the MI5 agent. The Network has always known where they are – which Conran realises means he’s been abandoned since no-one has come to rescue him.

There’s a brief debate on whether Milner is actually working for the Network (Ian thinks no since she saved him) and after Conran asks about Becky’s health (he worked so hard on Deals – the disease she has), she asks why he did it. It was an experiment to see if they could make a disease that was inherited – they didn’t care what it did. Becky’s outraged that he calls the death of her father a success and Ian brings up the eugenics again – prompting Conrad to go on a rant. It’s not about genocide – it’s about the population of the planet swelling from 2 billion to 7 billion in his lifetime. It’s about rising food prices (we’ve seen news reports throughout the series about food shortages and rising prices) and dwindling oil – and how humankind will obviously not share.

Janus is their answer. A protein and an amino acid that do nothing until brought together. When brought together they render the person infertile and that trait is inherited (I have to question why it is required to make infertility an inherited trait, but I assume that it’s not complete infertility). Janus is designed to sterilise the entire human race. It affects 95% of the population, leaving 1 in 20 fertile. They imagine within a century the population would be reduced to 500 million. After which normal breeding will resume on a more open planet.

Ian isn’t impressed but Conran turns back his accusation of being genocidal – that not doing anything is genocidal. He says a third of the world’s farmland is now ruined because of soil degradation but more people are being born – and adds how wonderful for the planet Ghengis Khan was because if he hadn’t slaughtered millions of people and given the world chance to recover, there’d be a billion more people in the world today.

Janus does that without violence – of course Wilson brings up his own torture and his murdered father and Conran admits he has that and a thousand other crimes on his conscience – but without that he sees a world reduced to a desert.

They’re testing it because they’re not as brilliant as Carville (Jessica’s dad) but they’ve nearly repeated his work. But they need the manuscript to be sure they have correctly repeated his work. Ian and Becky ignore him – but Wilson stuns them by asking isn’t Conran right? Ian and Becky shout him down – but Wilson holds to his guns – if Conran is right and they stop the Network, what does that make them.

Over to Michael and his wife Jen and wedded turmoil after she got her care package of Michael’s visits to now-pregnant prostitute, Anya (and they’re having IVF since Jen can’t conceive, just to twist that knife a little deeper). Jen asks if Anya wants the child – and hearing “probably not”, it looks like Jen is considering adopting the baby – since it is Michael’s child and needs a home. I’m glad that Jen confirmed that Anya didn’t want the child first – and rejects her being trafficked and pimped as “employment”.

At Corvadt headquarters, Michael’s boss, Geoff, is horrified to hear that Conran has been taken – and with the vaccine, but the Assistant (who is awesome, cool and evil) is not perturbed , they’re too far along for it to matter – and he sees no reason to bring Conran back, why would they? What he is far more concerned about is Michael, the information he has and his willingness to blackmail – and he criticises Geoff for how he handled him (though Geoff is shocked that Michael, a civil servant, actually had the guys to do anything).  The Assistant orders Geoff to end him – and Geoff gets all touchy about being ordered around, being a minister and all.

Utopia, Season 1, Episode 4

Open to utter chaos with Grant and Alice joining the gang in their getaway van, Wilson driving and Alice screaming and losing her mind after watching Arby kill her mother.

Everything calmed down, Wilson wants rid of Alice – to return her to some relative to look after; except there’s nowhere they can take her without exposing her, and themselves, to the Network. Wilson continues to talk about not bringing her while presenting no other options until Becky lays down the law – she comes. Wilson still thinks Alice needs help but Ian points out that they’re all she has. Becky has an angst moment realising Alice is frightened of them – because being on the run has made them scary. They’ve become like the Network

Be fair, Becky. The Network is efficient and effective, you’re nothing like them.

The team hides out in an abandoned manor house. They call Milner at the allotted time – and get no answer.

Cut to Arby in a café, visibly troubled reading the manuscript – and seeing himself as a child inside; a boy who eats raisin sweets as his only comfort. At Corvadt headquarters, the Assistant-who-is-namless-but-played-by-James-Foxx-so-is-probably-awesome-and-sinister let’s Conran know that Arby has the manuscript – but it’s not complete, Jessica Hyde removed some of the pages. And he thinks Arby let Jessica go.

Back at the abandoned manor, Grant hides the pages Jessica gave him and Alice wakes up to see his goth disguise. Grant tries to talk to her to see if she’s ok – and Alice panics about a paper she has due. I think that’s some powerful denial and avoidance there.

The adults aren’t doing much better – Wilson angry that Ian and Becky have decided to stay in one place rather than flee cross country with children in tow – and Becky is worried about her dwindling supplies of medication (does she have the same disease as her father – a Network created disease?). And Ian has a “date” with Becky, or he’s set out a really cute attempt at a “restaurant” meal with their limited junk food supplies for her. Awwww. They’re watched from outside by Jessica who touches the glass all poignantly.

Jessica finds Grant and asks if she has the pages – and he hugs her. She tells him not to tell anyone about them , that she’s leaving – and to keep his make up on or he’ll die. She’s not exactly warm and fuzzy but she tried. Wilson nearly catches him hiding the pages but grant gives him the drawings he did copying the Manuscript instead. Later that night Alice processes some more of her grief through homework freak out (or maybe she always does homework like this. She could be a very very excitable child) and Ian and Becky continue their date, Ian reminisces about his brother and Ian has some excellently sweet seductive lines for Becky and they can have sex without, and I quote “drunk sex or angry sex” or would if they weren’t interrupted by Wilson and with Grant’s pictures

The pictures depict Corvadt causing BSE but also show a depiction of Janos – the 2 headed Roman god that represents something. Wilson theorises because Mr. Rabbit is a Nazi, it’s a selective disease meant to kill off specific races, but Becky thinks of the news and suggests a selective vaccine – like the Russian flu vaccine Corvadt has just sold. Corvadt makes their weapons-grade flu virus and then creates a vaccine that only works on certain races. She points out that the flu outbreak was dramatic – if they have another like that with sufficient deaths people will scream for the vaccine even before it has been properly tested.

But that would require the flu getting into enough people – but they see a symbol constantly being used in the pictures and Wilson recognises it – Pergus Holdings’s logo. A massive company the size of Kraft or Nestle that makes a vast amount of food – even the crisps that Ian and Becky have just eaten.

The next day Ian wanders outside and runs into Jessica Hyde – who asks him about him and Becky. He’d rather know where she’s been to which she pulls a gun on him and demands he call Milner and leave a message saying “I’m with Jessica Hyde”, he does but points out that if there was a tap on her phone, she’s now dead. Jessica mocks his knowledge of the technology and, still holding a gun on him, kisses him.

Utopia, Season 1, Episode 3

At Corvadt office, the boss man, Conran Letts,  has to make a difficult decisions – prompted by the nameless-yet-sinister Assistant who is played by James Fox so has an instant aura of authority. He makes a call…

And Arby picks up his phone, eventually, still maintaining the creepy. He pulls on gloves then takes out his gun from his yellow bag. He goes to the school where Grant was attending and runs into the headmaster who tells him, completely unasked, that Grant is missing (not unexpected given his home life). Arby asks how many people are in the school, since it’s after hours. The headmaster sums up the few remaining and Arby shoots him in the head. A woman sticks her head out of a room, gasping in shock – and Arby shoots her too. He follows her falling body into the room where we can hear screaming; the 4 members of the geology club are also shot. A boy comes in and sees the headmaster’s body and wisely runs. Arby follows him and we hear more gunshots.

He reaches the last boy who cowers when he points the gun. Arby pauses in silence, only his breathing and convulsive swallow making any noise. He rubs his eye – is he genuinely bothered? Then we hear another gun shot.

Well… damn. That scene was incredibly powerful. Hardly a word spoken, and so much power and emotion conveyed.

Back to the main group and they arrive at an isolated cottage where they’re staying – and Becky thinks they have to wait for Jessica to help them break in. Wilson and Grant protest they know how to break into houses to which Becky, rather shocked, asks if she’s the only one who doesn’t know how to housebreak. Wilson offers to teach her *snerk*

Inside Becky gets Garth a sandwich and examines his leg – she speaks to him as a child and he responds rather more adultly than she expects. She asks him about the manuscript (which he left with Alice) and he gives some hints – more information about Caville and the man known as the White Rabbit. Wilson and Ian seize on the fact Garth can get them the manuscript but Becky emphasises they have an 11 year old boy who saw someone murdered and has been on the run, all alone, for several days. She wants to go softly softly – and doesn’t trust Jessica at all.

Which is when Jessica arrives and wants to search Grant and get her hands on the manuscript no matter what. Becky stands between them, Ian tries to get her to sit down which leads to another argument – and the news comes on with the school shooting. Grant has been framed as the main suspect behind it.

Utopia, Season 1, Episode 2

We open with a man removing what looks like the Utopia manuscript from an archive and posting it – all the while looking around nervously. And he’s squished by a very very big lorry. See, sometimes you’re not paranoid, they really are all out to get you.

Cut to the gang at the house and Jessica telling them they come with her or they’re all dead. She also knows who everyone is and takes the gun off Ian (by telling him it has the safety on – distracting him enough for her to take it. Though she points out most guns don’t actually have safety catches). That sorted she gathers everyone to leave before they all die (assuring Wilson she will take care of his dad – and yes she does know where he works, she has lots of creepy knowledge).

They escape out the back (Jessica considerably more gracefully than the gang) and sneak through someone’s home to avoid the CCTV. Into a stolen car and some backstory – in the 70s the Soviets had a scary scary bio-warfare programme. To combat it, the west set up “The Network”; a completely deniable, unaccountable group that could do things democratic governments couldn’t be part of.  Needless to say they did bad bad things. And it’s the Network that wants them.

And Jessica wants the gun so she can rob people – much to Becky’s horror. Jessica lays down their new lives – they need to change their appearance, they need to adapt, they need to abandon their own lives and they can’t use their money or anything else. If they can’t manage that, they’ll die. Simple as.

From there it’s a quick change of clothes and then finding a van (to help hide Wilson) and blowing up their old car. Which Jessica does with studied, professional coolness that is incredibly intimidating. She reveals to Ian that she hasn’t taken steps to protect Wilson’s father – she does what she must to survive even if they’re hard. Ian is just completely lost and freaked out

From there they go to an empty house – Jessica hacks airline companies to see when people are on holiday. Once inside she rigs up a trip wire alarm and tells everyone they always have to be ready to leave within 60 seconds. No baths, no showers – no time to worry about looking pretty she snarks – aimed at Becky. Becky and Jessica are clashing and it’s revolving a little around Ian (edges of jealousy). Becky demands Jessica explain more. Time for more exposition

2 men created the Network: Phillip Carville and “Mr. Rabbit” whoever he is. The Cold War ended, the governments left the Network but Carville and Rabbit kept going. When Carville wanted to leave they tortured him to make him keep working until his mind snapped entirely – to which he was dropped in a psychiatric hospital and became Mark Dean- the writer of the Utopia Manuscript. What’s in the manuscript – or some of it – is real (including BSE being the Network’s fault). And Jessica knows this because she’s Carville’s daughter and has been on the run since she was 4.

And Wilson’s on heroin for the pain of his eye. Well, it’s an opiate. Jessica wants to “find Utopia” with Ian – and leave Becky behind because she’s “not strong enough” and “not ready”. Which Becky is pretty pissed about, especially when Ian doesn’t back her up.

Ian and Jessica follow her trail back to Jack Tate, the man who published Utopia (and we saw go under the big lorry at the beginning of the episode).  Time to speak to Mrs. Tate, his wife, while posing as officials – which is when Jessica learns Mrs. Tate is a widow. But it’s ok – she does have papers they may want to see.

Utopia, Season 1, Episode 1

Opening scene – a comic book shop, a radio with a new announcer telling us that food prices are sky rocketing and the government is urged to fix this, and 2 men looking for something called the “Utopia Manuscript” and willing to bash people in the head to get it.

I know some comic book fans who’ll do the same for early editions. So long as they can guarantee blood won’t get on the pages anyway.

They’re not all bad, they gas some innocent bystanders (ok said gas ALSO kills them but at least there’s less splashing involved – preserves the dry cleaning) and the very singleminded man talking to the manager not only wants the manuscript – which has already been sold – but also to know about a “Jessica Hyde.” Everyone gassed – including a small boy – they then break a gas line. I suspect everything goes boom.

From there we go to Becky who has a copy of the Utopia comic, describing it as having been written by Mark Dane – a delusional paranoid schizophrenic who killed himself after writing it, which Becky feels feeds into a conspiracy theory. Becky’s life changed dramatically from her previous career choice as a doctor when her father died of a long illness – and now she’s trying to convince 2 people to fund her research into the graphic novel. She isn’t the best saleswoman in the world, it has to be said (swearing at the investors is never really a good plan). Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t work and she goes home to her many photos of her dad and her carefully organised stash of pills.

Elsewhere we have Ian, checking out a website for true believers of the “Utopia experiment” and not doing the tedious work he’s required, which follows some not-so-witty sparring with his boss including the oh-so-clever insult of suggesting he sucks his bosses (Michael’s) cock.

Moving on again to Bejan, at home, checking pages that look like they’re from Utopia and logging on the same site as Ian, joined in the chat room by Grant, Wilson, Becky and Ian (who is new). Bejan tells them they’re chosen and he wants to meet – for he has Utopia part 2; which is apparently a Big Deal. They agree to meet at the pub after Grant protests meeting at Bejan’s house.

Grant seems to be 8 kinds of arsehole – but he’s also a child, unbeknownst to the rest of them and one who seems to have a pretty grim home life, judging by the passed out parent, the copious empty booze bottles and the salad cream sandwich.

Next character – there seems to be rather a lot – Michael (an at least semi-important man in the department of health, it seems), in a motel room with lots of booze and pills and someone’s sent him an ultrasound with “your Russian whore is pregnant” written on it. After an awkward conversation while he tries to convince his wife all is well and he’s at work, he gets a call from his blackmailer – a man who pimps out the pregnant prostitute. He is required to perform a “mission.”  This seems to give him some hope since he disposes of the booze and pills and goes to work the next day, though he’s a little distracted in his meeting.

Michael and his boss Greg go to meet with the head of Corvadt Biological services (a pharmaceutical company) trying to sell them boat loads of flu vaccine the department of health doesn’t think they need – especially with the food shortages (though he never speaks – his Assistant does all the talking). When he steps out for a while, the Assistant tells Michael he should make Greg take the deal – he should “make it his mission.” The boss reiterated – this is his fucking mission. Well that doesn’t leave much to doubt.

Cult, Season 1, Episode 6: The Good Fight

Skye is in the shower and hears someone whistling. She opens the shower curtains and sees Billy approach with a knife. She leaps back – and he disappears. In the kitchen Jeff asks if she’s ok, she blames it on the wrong tap.

Getting out of the shower she apologises for the party and he says the fault is Lexi for drugging her – and puts the kiss down to that as well. Jeff re-examines the episode with the drugs and thinks it’s just another example of the fans having to recreate everything in the show – Billy has a drug so so too must they. Jeff begins to talk through the connections – when Skye feels Billy’s hand draw across her cheek. When she turns, there’s no-one there. She turns back to Jeff, says his name, and collapses on the floor.

Skye wakes outside, laid on the grass to have Billy standing over her. She hurried crawls away from him – she’s in the compound, on the show with cultists continuing their normal lives around her. She grabs a fork and points it at Billy – who disappears and reappears on the other side of her, and the fork in her hand disappears. She runs but going through a door she’s right back where she started with Billy waiting. He grabs her arm and tells her she can’t leave.

At the hospital, Skye is laid unconscious on a bed and the doctor asks Jeff about the drug – the drug isn’t in her blood stream any more but they don’t know if it’s a result of the drug, what it was cut with or her own allergies. But they can’t do any more than make her comfortable without knowing why she is unconscious – not without a sample of the drug.

Jeff calls Lexi, but she doesn’t have any more of the drug and doesn’t know anyone who does have more. At the hospital Skye’s mother arrives – she’s suspicious of Jeff with him being at the party where Skye was drugged and she’s been worried about Skye ever since she joined the show – something Jeff accepts partial responsibility for since she’s been helping him. Skye’s mother says he can go but he’s staying with Skye.

In Dreamworld Skye continues to try and leave and Billy follows both talking and beaming conversation into her mind until he asks what she wants – she wants to know the truth about her father. He says that’s why she’s there – in Steven Rae’s creation because she hopes to find the truth.

Jeff calls EJ to try and get more information on Dustin – but she’s got nothing and hangs up quickly when Burt arrives unhappy that he’s calling her asking for another favour. That’s a new side of Burt. Another Cultist

And in the hospital, Detective Sakelik arrives. Sakelik asks if Jeff saw the video of Nate and reminds Jeff that Nate is the only thing keeping Jeff safe. Jeff remembers Sakelik confiscating the drug from Dustin at the party – he asks her to help but she refuses.