Warning: This article contains spoilers through all eight episodes of Utopia season 1
Utopia season 1 only just released on Amazon, but showrunner Gillian Flynn says she's already planned out what happens in season 2, and more. Flynn, who is best known for writing the novel Gone Girl, and writing the script for David Fincher's movie version, adapted Utopia from the British TV series of the same name that ran for two seasons. The show stars Sasha Lane as Jessica Hyde, John Cusack as Dr. Kevin Christie, Rainn Wilson as Michael Stearns, and Dan Byrd as Ian Ackerman.
Set in an ultraviolent and dystopian universe, the plot revolves around a disparate group of adults who discover that the underground comic book Utopia is based on real-life and attempt to save the world from a coming pandemic. Lane's Hyde joins them in order to keep them safe from mysterious agents from The Network, who are trying to kill them. The themes are mightily prescient for 2020, given the coronavirus pandemic, though the show's origins in the early 2010s prove that it was merely good timing that led to the parallels with real life. Amazon hasn't renewed the series yet, though episode 8 ends on a cliffhanger, leading to speculation that a renewal is inevitable if the show does well.
Speaking to The Wrap, Flynn says the despite the fact there's no confirmation that season 2 is happening, she's planned out the story already, as well as beyond. Flynn adds that her ideas will give more backstory to each of the main characters, including Wilson's Michael, Cusack's Dr. Christie, an original character created for the American version, as well as Jessica Hyde's father, who is revealed to be alive and living at the mysterious Home by the end of the season. You can read her full comments below:
I have an entire mythology written out of how everyone is connected. How Home came into being. How Christie came into being, and what his ultimate plan is and why. But there was a conscious decision for season 1 to feel almost in real time, to have this propulsion and not loop back and explain too much… I’m hoping for a season 2 where we can really get into more of that. But I really wanted season 1 to be driven by the need to stay alive and the search to get these answers and just to move like a freight train. I didn’t want episode 8 to turn into just a pure "This is how I did it" or "This is how I will do it" kind of James Bond movie, explanation thing. So it was this balance between telling enough that it’s satisfying and then hopefully for season 2 to be able immediately to kind of dig into the backstory a little bit more.
Given the ferocious pace at which season 1 moves, you can understand why Flynn made the decision not to reveal too much about the characters' backstories and dive straight into the action. Despite the show's faults, of which there are a few, the pacing and forward momentum of Utopia season 1 can't really be criticized. But season 2 will hopefully expand on the core mythology and perhaps explain a little more about the universe, as well as the comic book.
It should also be interesting for audiences to get more insight into the characters, particularly Dr. Christie, who is key to the entire plot. Hopefully season 2 will also explain more about the mythology behind the comic book Utopia and how it fell into the wrong, or right, hands, setting the events of the show in motion. For now, though, fans will simply have to wait and see if the show is renewed before they get wrapped up in what could happen in season 2.
Source: The Wrap