Utopia recap: series two, episode three
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Version 0 of 1. Spoiler alert – this blog is for viewers who have seen the third episode of the second series of Utopia on Channel 4. Catch up with the earlier episodes here. Click here to read Richard's episode two blog. 'Janus – you're all going to die' Some more massive revelations this week: the mumbling Anton turns out to be the long-lost Philip Carvel, Dugdale is working for the Network, and Ian finds out about Becky and Donaldson … 'Carvel's alive?' Is Milner losing it? After all her steely toughness, it's unsettling to see Milner's sentimentality over Jessica throwing her off her game. Of course, "sentimentality" is a relative quality when you've got the daughter of a long-lost love locked up in a cage and you're contemplating slicing her brain open, but still – for Milner this feels like a weird place to be in. She'd hoped that Hide/Hyde would talk before they had to resort to slicing her open to find the "adjustment", which means that Milner has put the whole project in jeopardy, and there's no plan B. Odd that she referred to Jessica as her "only" connection to Philip when she's got Arby working for her again. As scary Network compadre Leah (Sylvestra Le Touzel) keeps reminding her, the time frame for launching V Day (and Janus) has been pushed back as far as it can go. Milner relents and sends Jessica off to have her brain sliced open – which doesn't quite go to plan. (A quick note for any Network operatives reading: if you have to ask a question like, "Should we call security?" then you probably should think about another line of work.) How will Ian's phone call change things for Milner? She learns that Carvel is alive, but she also fluffs it with Ian and now he knows that she's been lying to him all along. 'Ben! Some friends for you!' Thanks to Arby's dark-web specialist Ben (a teenage hacker with some very accommodating parents), the gang decode Donaldson's offhand remark to his old professor – the reason he's on the Network's hit list. "Jimmy Deeshel is Fatman" refers to "Jimmy Deesh: L", an abandoned project from the people who "weaponised ebola in the 60s"; Fatman is a reference to the bomb dropped by the US on Nagasaki at the end of the second world war. The Network's plan is to unleash a real strand of flu, causing a panic big enough to convince the world to take the V-Day vaccine. 'Suicide's not going to work' Lee's routine maintenance ruse to check out Ian's office is rumbled by cycle-loving boss Joe, who's just sharp enough to spot that "DCI Taylor" is clearly up to no good. Of course, rumbling Lee isn't really something you can hope to get away with for too long (seconds, in fact). Lee's solution – making Ian the fall guy for his boss's untimely murder – ramps up the pressure for the band on the run. 'There are no sides, just people who help you' Arby wanted three new sets of identities – for himself, Amanda and Tess. He's got an exit strategy. For all his talk of turning over a new leaf, he's still capable of pulling the trigger when he has to – something that the Network's newest recruit, Wilson Wilson, isn't quite capable of; even when it's the spoon-wielding Lee. Talk about uncomfortable working relationships – do hope the Network has a solid HR department to help smooth things over between them. They could go places if they sort out their differences. Notes, quotes and queries • "We don't need you to be prime minister." Even though he's convinced that V Day will be political suicide, MP Geoff plays along, putting on his best Cameron-smile for the cameras. • Jessica's escape – a freaky piggyback ride followed by a waste disposal chute – wasn't the cleanest of exits, but it was effective. Nice to see she's still got her knack for undercover chic. But will Dugdale turn her in too? What have the Network got on him? Have we found out what? • Gruesome twosome – Becky and Donaldson! Is there no end to the weirdness on this show? • "I made breakfast." Grant is still refusing to eat heathily, turning down Arby's "pigeon food" and grazing from the buffet laid on by hacker Ben's parents. • "Born geek" Bridget is played by Juliet Cowan, who played Tanya in Dennis Kelly's BBC3 sitcom with Sharon Horgan, Pulling. Bridget knows her viruses though – there really was a 1969 flu pandemic in Hong Kong. • The scene where Jessica jumps out of the waste disposal truck was one of the few to be soundtracked by a pop song instead of the Utopia OST. Bird of Paradise was a 1983 hit for Snowy White, a guitarist who has played with both Thin Lizzy and Pink Floyd. • What did you make of Anton? Are his drawings enough to convince you that he is Carvel? How do you see it playing out now that Milner has got an even stronger reason to hunt down the Experiments gang? Is a reunion on the cards? Or will Jessica – or Arby - realise that their dad is alive and kill him? And will V Day arrive before the end of the series? |