Michael Stearns

Michael Stearns is one of the main characters in the American version of television series. He is portrayed by Rainn Wilson.

Stearns is a downtrodden, neglected scientist that ends up drawn into a conspiracy, eventually becoming an unlikely hero. He is a bearded scientist whose ravings nobody believes at first. He has a history working in virology and believes that his research may hold the keys to stopping the spread of a deadly flu strain.

He is married to Colleen, unaware that his wife is secretly a member of a clandestine organization, the Harvest, sent to monitor his every action and control him if needed.

Basement scientist
At some point in his past, Colleen sent Stearns for a stay in a mental institution, the same one in which Jessica Hyde's father was placed. This was ostensibly because he was displaying obsessive behavior, but actually because he had stumbled upon something that the Harvest didn't want him to know.

After gaining some fame for his vaccine for a rare flu, Stearns toils in the basement of the Chicago City College, largely forgotten by his colleagues and the administration. He regularly sends requests for new research materials and funding, but is largely ignored. He speaks with a colleague, Brian, who tells him that there's simply no money in the budget for him.

Stearns returns home, where there is a broadcast on the news about a flu epidemic which has been spreading rapidly around the United States and killing any child who contracts it. His wife, Collen, points out an unusual rash on the forehead of one of the victims, saying that it looks just like the one in the flu that he discovered. She suggests that he ask for a sample, but recalling his past efforts, doesn't think that he could get anywhere near it. Despite his skepticism, she keeps prodding him, telling him that he's an award-winning scientist and he ought to give it a shot. He finally gives in and returns to the college, submitting his request for a sample.

Meeting with Kevin Christie
Arriving at work the next day, Stearns is stunned to discover that his request for samples has been approved. He puts on his gear and gets to work, then starts cheering and jumping. He returns home, telling his wife that the flu is indeed the one that he discovered previously, though there are things that trouble him about it, particularly its unusual outbreak pattern. She suggests that he use his leverage with Dean Richards because if the flu is the same one that he discovered before, they already have both the vaccine and the cure.

Stearns meets with Kevin Christie, the CEO of Christie Labs, which holds the manufacturing rights for the vaccine/cure that Stearns created. Christie says to Stearns that they should go immediately into full production of the vaccine via an Emergency Use Authorization. Stearns is skeptical of this, saying that his vaccine was originally approved only for limited use by the Peruvian military. He wants to more tests, but Christie counters that children are dying by the hour. He insinuates that Stearns is worried about his reputation and ends up dismissing him, saying that they'll get the authorization another way. Back at home, Stearns tells Colleen that the meeting was a disaster. He shouts at her that he's not going back to the basement and when she tells him that he's acting crazy, he calls it a low-blow. He tells her that he's going straight to the middle of the St. Louis Hotzone to prove that he's not crazy and not just some nerd.

Dale Warwick and Charlotte
Stearns travel directly to St. Louis and tries to bluff his way into the hotzone, claiming that he has permission from the head of the CDC. Unfortunately for him, PFC Betsy Ruskin calls his bluff, forcing him to come with a different strategy. He meets up with a man named Dale Warwick, who claims to be a fellow doctor who has a daughter inside the hotzone named Charlotte. The two of them return to the area outside the hotzone and join a group of protesters and eventually Ruskin announces that Stearns has been given clearance to enter. Stearns is surprised but grateful, but states that he won't go in without his "assistant," Warwick. The private agrees and they are both let inside.

The two discover Charlotte inside a tent, badly ill. Stearns does some basic tests. After asking a series of basic medical questions, he agrees to test out his cure on Charlotte. He does so and is surprised but gratified when Charlotte shows marked improvement after just a few hours. In a lab, he tests her results and finds her viral load has been eliminated entirely - she's completely cured. The three of them leave the hotzone to cheers and applause. Toni Tambler, an agent for the FDA, then appears before the crowd, thanking Stearns for his preliminary tests and saying that more work is needed before they can consider the vaccine safe. Stearns then takes the microphone from her, saying that they know the virus is 100% fatal without his cure. Kevin Christie then riles up the crowd, setting a chant to "free the vaccine."

Unknown to Stearns, everything that he has just participated in was actually a ruse. While he was away from the tent, Charlotte was switched out with a her twin, Lily, in order to convince Stearns that "Charlotte" had been cured of the virus. All of them are secretly agents of a group called the Harvest.

Uncovering the ruse
Stearns travels to the home set up for Dale Warwick and Lily by the Harvest, hoping to do some follow-up tests on the girl he believes to be Charlotte. Warwick seems very disturbed by his presence, telling him that they just want privacy and he doesn't want his daughter to be turned into a guinea pig. Lily seems more receptive, but Warwick tamps down on her. Before leaving, Stearns asks to visit the bathroom and along the way, notices the obvious signs that the house hasn't been lived in, such as the pristine condition of the furniture, empty drawers, and the lack of decorations and photos. Before he can investigate further, however, he receives a call orchestrated by Warwick and Kevin Christie, directing him to return home to Chicago to meet with Christie.

Upon arrival, Stearns stops at home to rest, getting only a couple hours of sleep before receiving a phone message that Christie has canceled their meeting. He asks his wife if the flu is still spreading and she says that it is, but nothing can be done about it until they free the vaccine. He turns on the television and hears a news report that Dale Warwick has committed suicide and wonders just what is going on. He pulls up a fake blog report planted by the Harvest and talks with a supposed co-worker of Warwick's who claims that Warwick was depressed because Stearns had saved his daughter when he couldn't. Watching the news, Stearns realizes that everything all sounds scripted and, additionally, the home he went to before is now filled with fripperies that weren't present when he was there. He outlines a theory to his wife, who tells him that he's sounding crazy again.

Colleen tucks Stearns into bed, telling him he needs more sleep, but he gets back on his computer the second she leaves the room. He watches an interview being given by the girl that he knows as Charlotte and spots a sticker on the wall of the house that wasn't there when he was in it, featuring an illustration of a rabbit and the slogan "Nature helps kids nurture." He does a search on the phrase and discovers it to the slogan of a traveling petting zoo, one which has had stops in every town where the flu has spread. He runs downstairs, shouting to Colleen that he's figured it out, as a news report comes on television saying that the vaccine has been freed. He cries that it can't happen and tells her again that he's figured out how the flu is spreading. She tells him she has grave concerns about him talking to the media in the state he's in. Kissing her, he replies that she's always told him to stand his ground and tries to take a phone call, saying he's going to tell the world. She kicks him in the nads and then uses one of his trophies to knock him to the ground. "No, you won't," she says to the unconscious Stearns, the phone still ringing.

Rabbit
Stearns comes to, hearing the voice of Collen. She tells him that she needs him to look on his laptop for a folder titled "Fun." He does so and is shocked to discover what she describes as "Two years of snuff porn, traded and stockpiled by you." She lays it out for him that she didn't marry him for his good looks or his nature, that it was her purpose to look after him and now see that he does nothing at all. She gives him a statement to read to the press to greenlight the vaccine with no further testing, telling him it's either that or go straight to prison. He tells her that he thought she loved him, that he thought he would never be loved until he met her. He asks her just who it is she's working for. She replies that it's people who are going to change the world and that he's working for them too now.

Colleen places Stearns on the phone to make calls assuring everyone the vaccine is safe, but before he can get very far, the home is broken into by Jessica Hyde and her allies: Ian Ackerman, Alice, Grant Bishop, Becky Todd and Wilson Wilson, who are trying to put a stop to the vaccine, as they believe it is part of a dangerous plot. They begin patting down Stearns, not realizing that Colleen is the true threat. Stearns eventually protests that he has nothing to do with it all and that he just learned that his wife is a secret agent. Hearing this, Hyde takes a knife to Colleen's lip, asking if she's with the Harvest. She cuts her, trying to get a reaction out of her, and when Colleen doesn't scream, she realizes that something is wrong and that Colleen is indeed with the Harvest. Stearns watches stunned, as the two begin fighting each other, using advanced martial arts moves. Colleen manages to bring Hyde to the ground, only to be shot by the young girl Alice. Despite what he just learned about his wife, Stearns is horrified.

Hyde ransacks the place and tortures Stearns, still not entirely convinced that he isn't involved with the Harvest. Stearns is confused by the group's ramblings about the comic Utopia and explains to them what he figured out: that the virus is being delivered via rabbits that children play with and pet at a petting zoo. He says that they can fight it and together they all pay a visit to the petting zoo, setting the place on fire and claiming a single rabbit for Stearns to test. He takes it back to his lab and discovers that whatever it is that's killing the children, it's not actually his flu and his vaccine would be useless against it. This means that Kevin Christie is apparently the orchestrator of the whole plot, Mr. Rabbit. The group tries to enlist the help of Katherine Milner, but comes up empty. They then return to Stearns's place, where Christie himself is delivered to them wrapped in duct-tape by an assassin of the Harvest, John, once known as "Arby."

Undoing the Undoing
Hyde gets to work on Christie and the group learns from him that the plot is not something so simple as killing people. The supposed vaccine instead contains a virus known as "the Undoing," which is intended to sterilize people, stopping human reproduction for three generations. Christie hopes that significantly ending the world's overpopulation will end other problems as well, including climate change and shortages of food and water. He tells Stearns that Charlotte and Lily came from either Ukraine or Romania and that the Harvest has a lot of useful children at their disposal. Stearns is shocked at being used the way he was, but Christie asks him "How much evil do you have to do to do good?" Stearns replies that it's none.

The group decides to storm Christie Labs and put an end to the Undoing. Stearns warns them that they might be injured or even killed, but they agree it's worth doing anyway. The group chops off one of Stearn's thumbs to fool a bio-metric sensor and then leaves, sans Jessica Hyde, who has business of her own to take care of, and Wilson Wilson, who wants to try to extract a confession from Christie. The group then breaks into the labs, where they discover a huge stockpile of vials containing the Undoing serum. They hijack carts, Stearns in particular really getting into and ramming the crates, causing massive destruction. They then set the entire scene on fire and Stearns parts from the group, seeking out the "mother egg" used to create the compound and turning up the temperature to destroy everything else. He then disguises himself as a worker, sneaks out of the lab and drives away, carrying the mother egg out of Chicago.

Behind the scenes
"The trajectory of Michael is pretty spectacular. He starts as this basement-dwelling, un-respected, under-appreciated scientist, nobody and he’s thrust into the world stage. And then like, incredibly, his solace, his anchor, his inspiration, the one thing he has going for him is a terrific marriage with a lovely woman and then all of a sudden, the whole thing was a lie."

- Rainn Wilson regarding Michael Stearns, The Wrap

Although there are a significant differences between the two characters, Stearns's counterpart in the original U.K. version of Utopia is Christian Donaldson, a once-distinguished scientist who had his career ruined by The Network after he learned too much about the SARS outbreak.