Series 1 Episode 5

The fifth episode of the first series of the British thriller-drama action, Utopia, was first broadcast on 12 February 2013. The episode was produced by Kudos Film and Television for Channel 4.

Synopsis
The gang's attempt to disrupt The Network's plans backfires leaving one of them in danger. Arby's confession to Jessica has damaging repercussions while Becky is left with an impossible choice.

Plot
While Conran Letts sits bound and hooded in the manor hideout, Wilson Wilson sleeps fitfully, and Ian Johnson and Grant Leetham lie awake, the latter watching over a fast asleep Alice Ward. Becky meets with her contact, revealed to be Christian Donaldson, who she has been trading information about the Utopia Experiments manuscript in exchange for Thoraxin, an experimental medication used to treat her Deels. He notes that Jessica Hyde removed several pages from the manuscript, and Becky realizes Grant must have them. Becky notices that she has been shorted on medication, and Donaldson tells her she will get the rest when she gets him the pages. She returns to find Ian examining the vaccine sample Letts had on him, and he notes that Alice is ignoring her murder of Lane Monroe when Becky asks after her. Becky asks Grant to talk later and is deflected by Alice when she tries to talk to her.

The adults check Letts' stomach to see if he is Mr. Rabbit, finding nothing. They unhood him and ask why he was going to meet Monroe, and Letts claims he always liked him and wanted to warn him about something. He says he was on his way to a lab to test the vaccine sample, and Becky tells him they know about the Janus project. When Ian snarkily asks which race Letts is moving to eliminate, Letts laughs him off, asking "is that what you think is going on?" Wilson seizes him in a rage and berates Ian for not having suffered at the Network's hands when Ian tries to stop him. Letts addresses them by name and explains the phone Milner gave them had a tracking device implanted in it, and that they have always known where the group was. He subsequently realizes the Network has abandoned him. Michael Dugdale awakens on his couch to find his wife awake and unsure what to do. She tearfully berates him for his infidelity, but wants to keep Anya's son, knowing he will need a good home.

Wilson finds the tracking device in Milner's phone. Ian insists someone higher up must have planted it without her knowing, but Wilson argues that she planted it and is waiting for them to bring her the manuscript. Becky drops the phone after another tremor and Letts asks after her condition, revealing he was the one who engineered Deels. Letts acknowledges that he has done horrible things, but firmly believes the Network is doing them for a greater purpose. He notes that the world's population is rapidly growing and resources will run dry in twenty years, and claims that Janus is the answer. He explains that Janus is made of the GCHN1 protein and an amino acid commonly found in carbohydrates, and together they create infertility within those that consume them. At Corvadt, Lett's assistant explains the situation to Geoff Lawson, assuring him that it is under control. He is more concerned about Dugdale's unpredictability and suggests having him killed, but Lawson reminds him that he does not take orders from him and that Dugdale likely has a failsafe in place. He tells him he will take care of Dugdale if the assistant finds Letts, but the assistant seems to not care about getting him back.

Letts explains that Janus will leave one in twenty humans fertile, predicting five hundred million humans will be left by the dawn of the next century if successful, and that the United Kingdom will be their testing ground. Ian proclaims Letts insane, but Letts insists true insanity is not acting while they have the chance. He claims the person who had the most positive impact on the planet is Genghis Khan, because he was responsible for the deaths of forty million people, their absence giving the surrounding forests time to grow back. He insists that Janus is an even better solution, because it kills no one yet saves the world from overpopulation. Becky asks why he is telling them this, and he explains they have not perfected their version of Janus because of Philip Carvel's death, and thus they need the manuscript to make sure it works perfectly. Ian and Becky are both disgusted and refuse to hand it over, Ian starting to form a plan about figuring out if Milner is on their side and to give her the vaccine sample if she is, but Wilson interrupts them, asking "what he's saying, isn't that...right? Because if they're right, and we stop them, what does that make us?" Ian reminds him that the Network tortured him and killed his father.

Jessica has an intense nightmare about a little girl watching a man be tortured at the base of a tree by two faceless figures. She awakens in tears and glances at Arby, who has spent the night handcuffed to a fireplace, watching her blankly. They pull up in front of a diner on his directions, where she removes his handcuffs but warns him she will torture him publicly if he does not surrender the manuscript or tries anything. She is annoyed to learn he only wanted to go because he wanted to eat, but he insists they need food to keep themselves going, as the Network will be looking for them. He tells her that he is a fan, and mentions that he read the manuscript and knows what kind of man her father was. He asks if Christos was different and if he loved her, saying he believes a child needs love. When he introduces himself as "Pietre", Jessica interrupts by angrily deriding the quality of the food and diner. Arby asks if she has nightmares often, and she orders him to finish his food, wanting to leave. Arby, needing to defecate, uses the bathroom while Jessica keeps a gun trained on him from outside the stall.

Becky, guarding Letts, is approached by Grant, following up on her request to talk earlier. She tells him they will talk later and sends him off. Letts comments on her Deels and explains Donaldson wants to sell them the manuscript, but he finds her a better person and would rather she benefits than him. She moves to leave just as Wilson enters, saying they've come up with a plan. They leave Letts alone, and Wilson stares at him before exiting. Ian has devised a strategy: he and Becky will figure out where Milner's loyalties lie and give her the vaccine if she can be trusted, while Wilson will stay behind and interrogate Letts about Mr. Rabbit. Wilson, planning to torture Letts, asks them to take Alice and Grant with so they do not see anything. Leaving the kids in the car with the vaccine, Ian and Becky approach Milner's house and they both express uncertainty over whether or not their plan is a good idea. They break in and show Milner the tracking device, but she insists she bugged them to keep up appearances with the Network, and that she only let the Network track them because she knew they would not kill the group. She explains that her assignment was to get them to hand over the manuscript and bring them in, the latter of which she was not planning on doing. When Ian insists they need a reason to trust her, she shows them Jake, her teenaged son, bedridden and terminally ill with Deels. While Becky is convinced, understanding that her son dying from a disease created by the Network would be more than enough for her to hate them, Ian remains steadfast that they cannot hand over the vaccine as the Network is suspicious of her, and Milner agrees, citing her helping Ian as marking her for her death, the Network coming for her tonight. Milner plans to euthanize Jake and commit suicide via poison to avoid a painful death. She gives them Dugdale's information, judging by his behavior that he can be trusted. Milner asks for a moment alone with Jake, and Ian and Becky leave. Ian sends a deeply troubled Becky to go check on Wilson and takes the kids to go find Dugdale.

Dugdale meets with Lawson in a park, who asks after Jen. Dugdale angrily tells him she is devastated, but Lawson notes that she is also alive. He insists that what happened is just the start of an "unimaginable nightmare," but Dugdale knows he will be killed if he hands over his evidence that the Feltar flu outbreak was faked. Having nothing else to lose but his life, Dugdale demands a yearly payout for his silence and Anya's immediate release from prison, which Lawson easily agrees to. Arby leads Jessica through a forest, explaining he too grew up without a childhood, describing his room as a "cell" and his lack of emotions because of a reported "trauma." Jessica realizes he has led her to the tree from her nightmares, and Arby casually explains he was the one who tortured and killed Christos when he was fifteen. He tells her Christos never gave up any information about her because he loved her that much, and he revealed this because he wanted her to know that she was loved as a child. She draws a gun on him, and he states that she can kill him and take revenge or let him lead her to the manuscript, only willing to do the latter if she disarms herself. A deeply enraged Jessica throws her gun away but warns him that she will kill him as soon as she gets the manuscript.

After a moment of contemplation, Wilson enters Letts' room with a duffel bag and takes out a knife. Letts begs him to not hurt him and Wilson instead cuts the rope binding his hands. He admits that Letts is right about Janus and gives him instructions on how to get back to a more populated area, and Letts gives him an email to contact his assistant with when he has the manuscript. Wilson stabs himself in the chest to make it look as though Letts escaped. Jen and Dugdale (although the latter is not allowed to speak) meet with Anya in prison, explaining that she will be freed later today. Jen offers her £250,000 and an apartment on the condition she gives them her son and never contacts him, which distresses her.

Arby drives Jessica to the abandoned Network research base where he hid the manuscript. A car pulls up in front of it which Arby identifies as Network, and he rams into it, draws a pistol, and kills the two agents. Stunned, Jessica asks him where he got the gun, and he explains he retrieved it from the toilet tank when he used the diner's bathroom. Jessica grabs a gun off a dead agent and hurries after him, Arby stating that the agents were a preliminary defense and the Network will soon send more. He lights several prepared fires as defense mechanisms and takes her to the room where he grew up, retrieving a piece of the "oldest rock in the world" from a hiding place, tonalite. Stunned, Jessica takes out the other half of the rock. Arby says the person who gave it to him told him that it gave him permission to do anything because "we're all just the blink of an eye." He reveals that he is talking about Philip Carvel when he mentions the man used to experiment on him because Arby would not tell anyone, and that he is Carvel's son, making him and Jessica siblings. He states that Carvel's experiments made him into the man he is despite Jessica not believing that they are related. The Network arrives and Arby leaves Jessica with the manuscript, but warns her not to take it, not wanting her to know the truth about their father. Trembling, Jessica raises her gun and makes him bring it to her. She leaves as Arby sits alone in his room.

Becky attacks Donaldson at their next meet, enraged that he would willingly make money off the sterilization of the human race. When she learns he is fully on board with the Network's plan, she tells him she will never surrender the manuscript. Donaldson gives her an ultimatum: he will meet her the next day at noon and will give her his entire supply of Thoraxin if she brings him the manuscript. Otherwise, he will thrown the medication away. Ian and the kids meet with Dugdale, where Ian explains that Grant was framed by the Network and they have brought him a sample of the vaccine. They sit in his living room and Ian explains Janus to a mortified Dugdale, who steps out to call Donaldson. Jen stares at him as he picks up the phone, and he dials after a moment of consideration. Dugdale returns, saying he has set up a trade, and asks if they need a place to stay and how he can get in contact with them. They agree to meet the next day, and the group are confronted by the police as they move to leave. Ian flees with Alice as Grant is arrested while Dugdale watches guiltily, implying he called the police. Becky finds Wilson on the floor and runs to him while Jessica starts reading the manuscript.

A disheveled, dehydrated Letts returns to his assistant and Lawson. He insists that he told the group nothing, but neither of them believe him. The assistant orders Lawson to kill Letts, claiming that he was "good cover" but is now a liability. He explains that they have altered Letts' medical records and have men ready to take his body to a bridge and hang him off it, but Lawson needs to strangle him with rope. Lawson tries to get out of it, but the assistant insists that "I'm giving you an order" and gives him the rope, leaving. Lawson hesitates for a long moment before lunging at Letts.

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

Deaths

 * Two Network agents
 * Conran Letts

Music

 * "Mr. Rabbit It Is" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Recap, Arby and Jessica enter the diner)
 * "Utopia Overture" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Opening, Wilson frees Letts, Lawson kills Letts)
 * "A Brand New Drug" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Becky meets with Donaldson)
 * "Arby's Oratorio" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Interrogating Letts)
 * "The Experiment" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Jen wants to give Anya's son a home)
 * "Janus Saves" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Letts explains Janus)
 * "Lovechild" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Arby and Jessica eat)
 * "Conspiracy Part 2" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (The adults plan and split up, Arby and Jessica arrive at the building)
 * "The Experiment" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Milner shows Becky and Ian her son)
 * "Where is Jessica Hyde? Part 2" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Arby reveals he killed Christos/Wilson prepares to "torture" Letts)
 * "Utopia Descent" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Arby kills the Network agents/Arby takes Jessica to the manuscript)
 * "Where is Jessica Hyde? Part 1" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Jessica leaves with the manuscript)
 * "Samba De Wilson" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Grant is arrested/Becky finds Wilson/Jessica reads the manuscript)
 * "Utopia Finale" - Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Credits)