Series 1 Episode 4

The fourth episode of the first series of the British thriller-drama action, Utopia, was first broadcast on 5 February 2013. The episode was produced by Kudos Film and Television for Channel 4.

Synopsis
Hidden away in a derelict manor house, the group attempt to decipher the secret meaning of the manuscript. But will uncovering the identity of Mr. Rabbit really allow them to return to their former lives?

Plot
While Wilson Wilson drives the group away from the double homicide at Alice Ward's house, the girl has an emotional breakdown in the backseat over the murder of her mother while Becky, Ian Johnson, and Grant Leetham try to calm her. When she eventually falls asleep, the adults pull over and leave Grant to guard her as they discuss what to do. Wilson wants to get rid of her and Becky wonders if she has family they can give her to, but Wilson reminds her the Network is looking for her now. Unable to call Milner because of their contact schedule, Wilson and Becky are unable to come to an agreement. As she walks back to the car, Grant hides the pages of part two of The Utopia Experiments he was looking at. Ian first talks to Wilson, who believes the girl needs help they cannot provide, but Ian remains firm that they are now all she has. When he talks to Becky, she laments how Alice looked at them when they picked her up, and that they are "just like them now."

Michael Dugdale gives Donaldson the piece of finger he smuggled out of Fetlar island. As Donaldson runs tests on it, he casually reveals that the SARS pandemic was a hoax. When he tried to reveal this to the world, his research was destroyed and he was set up to be discredited as a cocaine addict that loved prostitutes. (Although he admits that he does love cocaine and prostitutes, "but they didn't have to tell anyone.") When Dugdale mentions he has never heard of the foundation Donaldson worked for, Donaldson notes the parent company is Corvadt. Donaldson tells Dugdale to come back the next day, then one o'clock when Dugdale protests. Dugdale waits around and decides to come in early, catching Donaldson trying to leave. Donaldson claims he finished his tests and the bodies tested positive for Russian flu, but Dugdale attacks him and snatches the results, finding the people on Fetlar died from chemical poisoning. Donaldson explains he wants to leverage this information against the Network for money, deserving compensation for his reputation being ruined. Dugdale leaves with the results, disgusted.

The group finds an abandoned manor to take residence in. Wilson finds a discarded phone in their car. They call Milner at their scheduled meeting time, but she does not pick up. Arby eats at a restaurant and reads the manuscript, focusing on an illustration of a demonic rabbit creature with its hand on the shoulder of a round, hollow-eyed little boy eating raisins from a carton. Conran Letts' assistant informs him that Arby has the manuscript with pages missing, believing that to be the work of Jessica Hyde. He muses that Arby had the chance to kill her, but he believes he let her live. Grant hides his pages of the manuscript in the lining of a chair. Alice awakens and Grant explains that they have to hide from the Network, but she, still processing what happened, is more focused on turning in an essay she has due. Wanting to placate her, Grant promises to go get her some paper. Wilson argues that they should not be staying in one place, but Becky and Ian agree that Alice needs to recover before they can. Becky goes to take her medication for Deels in private and finds she is running out of pills. Ian takes Becky out on a "date" by making them food from supplies and watching a movie, really Ian describing the plot to Spider-Man 2 while she stares at a drawing of a rectangle on the wall, much to her amusement and appreciation.

Jessica watches them through a window and approaches Grant, asking if he still has the pages she gave him. After she lets him hug her, he promises he has told no one about the pages and she moves to leave. When he asks if she is leaving, she tells him to keep his disguise makeup on. Grant is narrowly stopped from removing the pages from their hiding place by Wilson, who asks if he remembers the name of Mr. Rabbit. Grant still only remembers that his name began with "L". Wilson notices he is looking at the chair and asks what's inside it, and Grant procures his manuscript sketches he used as a decoy to avoid showing the pages themselves. He continues to help Alice work on her essay as she still remains detached from reality, and gets some paper from Wilson, who is studying his sketches.

While on their date, Ian muses that he misses his brother, who always tried to push him towards his full potential. He confesses that Becky has helped him through their predicaments just by virtue of her being there. Becky has a Deel's-induced tremor that makes her drop her drink, and Ian, not understanding what happened, reassures that it is no big deal. They lean in to kiss but are interrupted by Wilson, who has found something in Grant's sketches. He notes an event from part one where the scientist created a ghost cell, put it inside a buffalo, and fed it to people who soon died from it, citing it as predicting the BSE outbreak. He compares it to the scientist creating a god with two faces in part two, which he puts inside the ghost cell. Wilson identifies the god as the Roman deity Janus, realizing it is how the Network gets the project known as "Janus" into the population: feeding it to them. He wonders if, based on Philip Carvel's background in eugenics, Janus may be a disease that targets specific races. Becky expands on this, wondering if Janus is instead a cure for the Russian flu that only works for certain people and the flu is being put into food. Ian notes that an incredible amount of food would be needed for the flu to be distributed worldwide, and Wilson counters by showing him an insignia drawn throughout the manuscript: that of Pergus Holdings, a large food manufacturing conglomerate.

Ian leaves a note for his sleeping friends telling them he is getting supplies the next morning and exits the manor, stopped by Jessica. She seems to express jealousy over Ian and Becky's connection before holding him at gunpoint and telling him to call Milner. It goes immediately to voicemail and she makes him leave a message saying he is with Jessica, and he notes that Jessica may have gotten Milner killed when he hangs up. Jessica tells him he thinks small and awkwardly kisses him on the lips with the gun to his head before leaving. Wilson shows Becky the phone he found in their car and they walk to a location a safe distance from the house to research Pergus on it, not wanting to risk being tracked. They discuss Alice's mental state on the way, both unsure if she will recover. When they arrive at a remote spot, Becky has them split up to search for anyone nearby and calls someone on the phone when Wilson leaves, telling them she no longer has the manuscript. When she asks if the Network is infecting people, she gets no clear answer and arranges a meeting the next day before hanging up. They find that Pergus started buying subsidiaries around the world in 1993 when a man named Lane Monroe took over as CEO. Wilson makes the connection that he could be Mr. Rabbit, as his name begins with an "L". When he tries to look up his father, Becky tosses the phone into a nearby lake, claiming it is not worth the risk.

Dugdale shows Geoff Lawson the lab results, trying to bargain Anya's release for his silence. He explains he has a failsafe set in place where his lawyers will send their sealed copies to the press if he does not call them regularly. In response, Lawson shows Dugdale CCTV footage of his wife sitting in a cafe with a Network operative nearby. He explains that the operative is in possession of a folder full of evidence of Dugdale's infidelity and Anya's pregnancy, and he will have the operative give the folder to her if Dugdale does not give him all his evidence by that night. Ian disguises himself as a vagrant and follows his brother around, constantly watching for any sign of Network interference. While blending in by rummaging through a trash can, a man drops a phone in it and it rings. Ian answers it to find Milner on the other end, who has a nearby operative steal a purse as a distraction and orders Ian to run, which he does. They reconvene in a car park where Milner slaps and berates him for his risk, stating he was picked up on facial recognition multiple times and that both he and his brother would be dead if she did not act. She tells him she knows the group lost the manuscript and that they must get it back, as Janus' function is written inside it.

Letts finds his assistant in his office, holding the manuscript. Arby holds him at gunpoint and tells him he read it, now understanding the hollow-eyed boy who was tortured as a child is meant to be him. Letts insists the boy is gone, the Network having taken everything from him. He explains "Arby" is actually "R.B.", an acronym for "Raisin Boy". Arby intimidates him into giving up Jessica's location, warning that he will kill any operatives he sees at the scene and destroy the manuscript, which he takes back from the assistant. As he leaves, he asks what his name was, and Letts tells him it is "Pietre". Milner tells Ian that Monroe was a CIA scientist before he became CEO of Pergus, and that he must be affiliated with the Network. Milner states her belief that Jessica will find the manuscript first and will bring it back to the group. Ian returns to the manor, where Alice has finished her essay, which seems to calm her. Wilson arms himself while ignoring Becky's protests, having gotten Monroe's address. Wilson wants to see if he has the rabbit symbol on his stomach, and Ian agrees that they should go and find out. As they gear up to leave, Becky jokes with Ian, asking if he enjoyed Jessica kissing him, which he clearly did not. A recovering Alice formally introduces herself to Becky and shakes her hand. As they drive off, Arby watches them from the forest and Jessica gets the jump on him, putting a gun to his head and ordering him to take her to the manuscript. Unfazed, Arby calmly tells her that is why he came. Dugdale returns home to find Jen has been given the folder. Letts' assistant gives him the newest version of the vaccine, informing him that he is going to be testing it.

The group arrives at Monroe's apartment complex, where Wilson is sent to sneak in, as he is the most physically intimidating of the group with his gun and eyepatch. Grant identifies Monroe as "the prick that did this to us" to Alice. Wilson hides behind a dumpster and awkwardly follows a car into the building's garage, much to Ian's amusement. Wilson breaks into Monroe's apartment, where he is mistaken for a Network agent, Monroe insisting that he has followed all their orders. As he buzzes the rest of the group in, he insists he put the "GCHN1 protein everywhere." He realizes they are not Network when he sees kids among them and is forced into a chair. Becky moves Grant and Alice to another room as Ian and Wilson check his stomach, finding no mark. Half in and half out of reality, Alice wonders how she will be able to turn in her essay, and if Monroe is responsible for her mother's death. After Wilson beats him, Monroe explains the protein is a corn modifier and insists that he just did as he was told. Becky and Ian asks him about Mr. Rabbit and Janus, the former of which he knows nothing about but the latter he seems to recognize. Before they can press him for answers, Wilson notices a newspaper article about his father's murder and abruptly thrusts his gun in Monroe's face. Enraged that Becky lied to him and realizing Ian knew as well, he almost pulls the trigger until Monroe's doorbell buzzes. Monroe insists the staff will come looking for him if he does not answer, so Ian makes him buzz them up and Becky has Alice and Grant guard him, giving Grant the gun. Letts knocks on the door and Grant, wanting to see what is happening, gives the gun to Alice, who blows Monroe's stomach open, killing him. Ian grabs Letts and holds him at knifepoint, while Becky take the gun and Alice justifies the murder by insisting Monroe is responsible for her mother's death. The group quickly leaves, taking Letts with them.

Cast

 * Wilson Wilson - Adeel Akhtar
 * The Assistant - James Fox
 * Michael Dugdale - Paul Higgins
 * Milner - Geraldine James
 * Alice Ward - Emilia Jones
 * Arby - Neil Maskell
 * Christian Donaldson - Simon McBurney
 * Jessica Hyde - Fiona O'Shaughnessy
 * Geoff Lawson - Alistair Petrie
 * Conran Letts - Stephen Rea
 * Becky - Alexandra Roach
 * Ian Johnson - Nathan Stewart-Jarrett
 * Grant Leetham - Oliver Woollford
 * Jen - Ruth Gemmell
 * Anya - Anna Madeley
 * Roy Johnson - Paapa Essiedu
 * Lane Monroe - Mitchell Mullen

Deaths

 * Lane Monroe

Music

 * "Utopia Finale" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Recap)
 * "Mind Vortex" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Becky, Ian and Wilson argue what to do about Alice)
 * "Conspiracy" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Donaldson tests the finger and get the results)
 * "The Network" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (The group finds a new hideout/Trying to contact Milner, Becky realizes she is running out of medication, Wilson and Becky walk to use a phone)
 * "Where Is Jessica Hyde? Part 1" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Arby reads the manuscript/Letts and his assistant discuss Arby, Arby confronts Letts, Wilson interrogates Monroe, Credits)
 * "Jessica Gets Off" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Becky and Ian's "date", Ian talks to Jessica)
 * "Utopia Descent" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Grant gets paper from Wilson)
 * "Conspiracy Part 2" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (The adults crack the Pergus code hidden in the manuscript, Letts arrives to talk to Monroe)
 * "Dislocated Thumbs Part 1" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Ian tries to see his brother)
 * "A New Brand Of Drug" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (The group leaves to go find Monroe)
 * "Dislocated Thumbs Part 2" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Wilson sneaks into Monroe' building)
 * "Where Is Jessica Hyde? Part 2" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Monroe dies/The group kidnaps Letts)