- —An oft-asked question by Kevin Christie
Dr. Kevin Christie is one of the main characters in the American version of television series Utopia. He is portrayed by John Cusack.
Christie is an influential entrepreneur on the top of the economic food chain, trying to make the world a better place. Some of his work focuses on efforts to preserve human life, thus preserving the future. The character is original to remake, not having a counterpart in the British series.[2] He is the CEO of a multinational corporation producing new food sources. He often asks of his family members: "What have you done to earn your place in this crowded world?"[3] His character is someone who believes that the ends justify the means and that he is the one who must take up responsibility.[4] People follow him in a "cult of personality."[5] As part of his work, he has developed a controversial meat substitute.[6]
In truth, all of Christie's research is a front. He secretly oversees an organization called the Harvest, the goal of which is to reduce the world's overpopulation. As such, they have enacted a plan to supposedly inoculate the entire world against a deadly flu epidemic. In truth, the alleged vaccine actually contains a compound which renders anyone injected with it sterile, a plot known as "the Undoing."
Although he has a number of adoptive children, his only biological son is Thomas Christie. As such, some people feel that he coddles Thomas because of this. His wife is Laura Christie. He is normally a fairly level-headed individual, but is prone to sudden outbursts of anger when things do not go his way or people defy the plans that he has laid out for them. He is a smooth talker and is sometimes able to convert people to his point of view simply by talking to them.
History[]
The Simpro interview[]
Kevin Christie having dinner with his family
Dr. Kevin Christie bikes to work, where he discuses his upcoming interview regarding his new product, an artificial meat called Simpro. His son, Thomas Christie, that the interview will be with Hailey Alvez and that she's done a favorable report on his measles vaccination in the past, so it should go okay. Unfortunately for Christie, however, the interview does not go at all as he had hoped. Alvez instead accuses Christie of testing a possibly unsafe product on poor children and even suggests that it may be responsible for flu outbreak. Later, Christie turns off a broadcast of the interview during a family meal, then asks in turn what each of the members of his family have done to earn their place in this crowded world.
In the wake of the interview, government agents raid Christie Labs and shut down production on Simpro, taking samples. He tries to argue with an agent named Toni Tambler that what they're doing is a mistake, pleading with her to allow them to continue production while they do their tests. She instead suggests that they stop killing children while they try to figure things out and Kevin's son Thomas shouts about government overreach.
Later, Kevin meets with a scientist named Michael Stearns who has learned that the flu on the news is the same one that he discovered in bats in Peru many years before. He urges Stearns to advocated for an immediate emergency use authorization for his company's vaccine, but Stearns is wary, wanting to run more tests. Kevin dismisses him, telling him they'll get the auhorization without him. That evening, Kevin shares a quiet moment with his wife Laura, who tells him that she knows what he's worrying about and promises that him that he isn't responsible for deaths of the child. Not long after she leaves, however, there is a knock at his window. The person doing the knocking is man named Arby, an assassin for the a group called the Harvest. Kevin invites him in, telling him that things haven't been going as well for him as they usually do, and apologizes for the loss of his partner, Rod. He bids him to find Jessica Hyde and the manuscript of the comic Utopia, telling him that he has faith he can do it.
Not slow and not bad[]
Kevin Christie deciding whether it will be Charlotte or Lily who dies
Kevin Christie learns from his son Thomas that Michael Stearns is trying to get inside the St. Louis Hotzone, an epicenter of the flu outbreak. This aggravates them both, as Stearns is turning out to be a lot more unpredictable than they thought. Kevin tasks Thomas with handling the problem and with coming up with a solution to get a hold of Utopia. Thomas puts into play the first portion of his plan immediately, coming up with an idea to frame the boy who has the Utopia manuscript, Grant, for a mass murder. Kevin meets with Arby, explaining the plan to him, which involves using a doppelganger named Adam from Home. He warns Arby that the plan will be harder on him than the others, though Arby doesn't understand why. He tells him to do it humanely, meaning "Not slow and not bad." Arby then travels to the home of Cara Frostfield, a Harvest employee who questioned the mass-murder plan, and kills her and her entire family, but setting up the scene so that Grant will be blamed for the murders.
Kevin then sets the next portion of the plan into motion. He enters a tent in the St. Louis Hotzone with a girl named Lily who is the twin of another in the tent named Charlotte. He serves both girls a "last meal" and then determines randomly that Charlotte is to die of the flu, while Lily lives in order to convince Michael Stearns that his flu vaccine is effective. Later, he walks together with his son, discussing the fact that Thomas was supposed to have been a twin too, but his twin wasn't strong enough to survive. Thomas tells his father that people sometimes feel like he shields him from sacrifice because he's his only biological son and it's something they need to work on. Kevin describes Cara's death as "nightmare," given how long he knew her, but the two agree that she was a good person who rejected the program.
The plan works as expected and Michael Stearns finds his vaccine to be 100% effective. He leaves the hotzone with "Charlotte," as well as her alleged father, the scientist Dale Warwick. He goes before the crowd, advocating for the release of the vaccine and Kevin Christie tells Thomas that "it's time." Thomas speaks into a phone, asking for "shipping order 2472," and then Kevin Christie takes the microphone, thanking Stearns for being "back on the side of the angels" and riles up the crowd into a chant: "Free the vaccine!"
Raisin Boy[]
Lily and Kevin Christie at Home
Kevin receives a phone call from Dale Warwick, telling him that he chose the wrong twin and that they can't withstand the media attention that is gathering around them. He tells him to hang tight, and also deals with Michael Stearns, who has paid a visit to Warwick's house. Later, he is having a discussion with Thomas when Arby shows up, telling him that he found Jessica Hyde and Utopia. However, when he asks where they are, Arby replies that Jessica Hyde is with Utopia, sending Thomas into a rage and attacking Arby. Kevin stops him and tells him to go to his room. He gets Arby to admit that he looked at Utopia and he saw something that upset him. Arby asks him where he came from and he reveals that the Harvest made him into what he was, that he was raised without love in order to be the perfect assassin. He tells him that his name is a bit of a sad joke, that if he ever really had a real name, he doesn't remember it. He called him "Raisin Boy," because he always liked raisins and so that became "R.B." or Arby. He tells him that he forgives him once because he had a shock, but that he needs to respect his purpose or he can't be with them anymore and he wouldn't survive on his own. They rise and Arby leaves the room.
Later, Kevin and Thomas see a news report that Dale Warwick committed suicide. They are surprised by this and Kevin tasks Thomas with creating an elaborate backstory regarding his life in order to throw off the media. Later, they watch a press conference about Dale Warwick, Arby having joined them as well. Charlotte, Warwick's supposed daughter, is interviewed and makes insinuations that Warwick was an abusive father. At this, Kevin flies into a rage, shouting that they're the ones who make the stories and he wants Charlotte dealt with. He tasks Arby with it, telling him to shut it down and that his life with them is a million times better than anything he would have had otherwise. Arby heads over to Lily's place, then brings her to Kevin Christie at Home. He meets her in gazebo, asking her if she knows why it was that he started Home. He tells her that it's a society in a vacuum, where children children are raised by brave, selfless, resilient and helpful. He continues that some of these children get special purposes and asks her what hers was. She replies that hers was to be a martyr, but she wasn't allowed to fulfill it. He shushes her, saying that instead, she endangered Home with her reckless behavior and asks her what they should do with her now. The two are next seen back at Christie Labs. There, the reporter Hailey Alvez interviews him about his vaccine and then asks him about Charlotte. Kevin tells her that he's adopted Charlotte and asks that the media respect her privacy.
Revealing the plan[]
"I killed my protégé this week. And her children. Lots of children, actually."
Things take a sudden and unexpected turn for Kevin Christie when Arby, now going by "John," captures him, duct-tapes him up and delivers him to Michael Stearns's home. Waiting for him there is a Jessica Hyde and a group of fans of the comics Dystopia and Utopia who have been piecing together his entire conspiracy. Jessica Hyde drags him inside and removes the duct-tape from his head and mouth. He greets her like an old friend, asking her if she remembers him and telling her that he gave her cookies when she was at Home. As he begins laying out his entire plan, Jessica Hyde exposes a tattoo on his leg which reveals that he is Mr. Rabbit, the villain seen within the Dystopia and Utopia comics. They speculate that this means that he is going to be responsible for millions of deaths, but he tells them that they're not getting it.
He asks Michael Stearns a question, "How much evil does it take to do good?" He tells Jessica Hyde that her father created a "world-improving omnivirus," which they have placed inside the supposed vaccine for the flu. He offers them a chance to work for them, saying that they're doing is so much bigger than death. He then reveals the true nature of his plan: the compound, known as the Undoing, isn't intended to kill anyone, it's to sterilize people. He intends to stop human reproduction for three generations, putting an end to the grind of the assembly line of babies as he describes it. He tells the group to imagine the sigh of global relief, saying that so many of the world's problems can be traced to overpopulation. Without children to worry about, humanity can turn their attention to the real problems of the day and wipe out issues such as climate change and shortages of food and water.
The group is horrified by Kevin Christie's plan and decides they have to do something to stop it. They decide to storm Christie Labs and destroy the vials containing the Undoing serum. Wilson Wilson declares that he'll remain behind in order to deal with Christie. He'll get him to film a confession saying that he killed hundreds of children in a mass money making scheme, then shoot himself in the head. It'll be the grandfather of all conspiracies. Jessica Hyde asks him how they get into his facility. He tells them that there's no point, that they're all going to die anyway. When he sees that they're not backing down, he tells them that they'll need his thumb. To his surprise, Becky Todd immediately chops it off.
After the group leaves, Wilson remains behind and starts trying to get Kevin Christie to confess. He refuses, telling Wilson that he may as well simply shoot him. He then starts working on Wilson, telling him that he's a unique thinker and that it takes effort and resolve to live a meaningful life. He tells Wilson that he thought America would like his plan because it's something that requires no resolve, that essentially it requires people to do nothing. Wilson seems amused by the idea, but then rants that Kevin Christie killed his family, referencing Arby's murder of them. He replies that he killed his own protege, Cara Frostfield, and that he likes children, but he's killed children too. He says that he thinks Wilson understands that their movement requires clarity and sacrifice. He asks Wilson to imagine what the world would be like without the demands children place on people, to imagine "the global groan of goddaman relief." Wilson replies again that he killed his family and demands that he say the words. He picks up the gun, but Kevin tells him he'd have better luck torturing him.
The rest of the group succeeds in destroying the vials containing the Undoing, but Becky Todd gets separated from the group in their escape. Wilson Wilson picks her up, telling her to get inside his car. She does so... and inside are Kevin and Thomas Christie. She tries to escape, telling Kevin that it's over, that she and the others won and wiped him out. "Just until I find Jessica Hyde," he replies, telling her that he has a hunch.
External links[]
References[]
- ↑ Petski, Denise (February 20, 2019). ‘Utopia’: Dan Byrd & Cory Michael Smith To Co-Star In Amazon Series. Deadline. Retrieved on July 28, 2020.
- ↑ Amazon Prime Video's Utopia panel at San Diego Comic-Con@Home 2020
- ↑ Lee, Janet (July 23, 2020). Amazon’s ‘Utopia’ Trailer Introduces the New Apocalypse at Comic-Con (Watch). Variety. Retrieved on July 24, 2020.
- ↑ Francisco, Eric (September 21, 2020). 'Utopia': How John Cusack Became Sci-Fi TV's Next Great Villain. Inverse. Retrieved on September 21, 2020.
- ↑ Golby, Joel (September 19, 2020). How do you remake a classic like Utopia? With big budgets – and John Cusack. The Guardian. Retrieved on September 21, 2020.
- ↑ Holbrook, Damian (September 20, 2020). 'Utopia': Rainn Wilson Promises a 'Pretty Gruesome' & 'Messed Up' Tale. TV Insider. Retrieved on September 21, 2020.