Utopia Season 1, Episode 4 recap: Will anything stop Harvest?

A recap of everything that happened on Utopia Season 1, Episode 4

We open Utopia Season 1, Episode 4 with the burying of Artemis. However, that’s just a small thing in an extremely eventful episode.

Wilson figures out the code Artemis left behind, which turns out to be not a code at all. Meanwhile, Michael Stearns heads back to the quarantine area to figure out how he can help the sick kids. What will he learn from his trip? It’s time to break down the episode.

Jessica gets Utopia

More from Amazon Originals

• Will Your Christmas or Mine 2 come to DVD and Blu-ray?
• The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 release updates, cast, and everything we know
• Them Season 2 release updates, cast, and everything we know
• The Boys Season 4 release updates, cast, and everything we know
• What time is Dating Santa coming to Prime Video?

Finally, Jessica gets her hands on Utopia. She meets Grant, who is happily surprised to meet her, but he gets a quick lesson in not meeting your heroes. He doesn’t want to hand over the graphic novel, but eventually, he agrees to work with her.

Now that they all get to look at the graphic novel, it’s time to figure out the code. Those numbers are in the pages of the graphic novel and connect to the number of people in the world. However, Wilson realizes that the numbers make up a Chicago-area phone number.

When they call it, they get in touch with a Homeland Security agent. The woman pretends to know nothing but quickly phones back to say Harvest is on their way to the groups’ location. She gives a location.

Jessica burns the house down, but the group convinces her not to do it with Sam’s body inside. That’s going to come up at some point, right?

The group splits up temporarily

Becky and Ian head off to meet the agent, while Jessica, Grant, and Wilson remain hidden. The agent wants Jessica Hyde because Harvest wants her. She gives a brief story of the past, including how Mr. Rabbit killed 800 people in China in 2002. Mr. Rabbit isn’t done creating death.

The agent tells them they need to bring her Jessica, with a cryptic clue that “home is where the heart is.”

One thing that’s clear is we have no idea who we can trust and who we can’t. Well, we know we can’t trust Harvest, right? Something makes me question whether Harvest is actually trying to do some good in the world but going about it in all the wrong ways.

There is a big problem, though. Grant left some of Utopia at Alice’s house. She’s in trouble.

Michael gets his access

Meanwhile, Michael remains in St. Louis looking for answers. He is able to talk to the parents of the children from the “hot zone,” understanding that the flu spread in schools.

As a parent, this part of the story is unsettling, especially with the current pandemic. We know schools are hot zones for viruses spreading, but it’s scary to think that something on this scale can happen.

It’s still important to remember that this show was done before our current pandemic was even a thing.

Eventually, Michael gets access to the quarantine area. He takes one of the parents, a father who Michael gets to know, pretending the parent is his assistant.

Kevin’s team crosses a line

During a boardroom meeting, Thomas Christie talks to a group about options moving forward. He wants to kill more families with the virus. Cara, the only woman and mother in the room, doesn’t agree with this. It is crossing the line.

Thomas accuses her of being too emotional. She’s a mother, after all. However, she claims that’s not the case. Women are often undermined when they object to something for being “too emotional,” but Cara has a point here.

Of course, we don’t fully know what Kevin Christie is up to yet. Is he trying to manage the population? It keeps coming back to “this crowded world,” which suggests that.

Cara tells Kevin that Thomas needs to be grounded. That’s clearly not the way Kevin sees it.

Kevin gets Arby to pick a child from a class. This class is full of children eager to be picked by Arby, but the teacher has a look of gloom. She wants to know if the child picked will return, clearly hinting that some of them haven’t. Have some been used to spread the flu?

It turns out this child will be back as long as he listens. What does the kid need to do? Arby gives the kid a pair of gloves, new clothes, and a rifle. The kid leaves the rifle on a mantlepiece and then touches various items in the house and leaves. The gloves have Grant’s fingerprints, so Arby is clearly framing him for…well, murder.

Arby grabs the gun and kills Kiara and her entire family. When he kills the last son—who happens to be eating raisins that Arby loves—Arby’s breathing increases and he needs his inhaler. What is Arby’s past trauma that has led him to this?

What did you think of Utopia Episode 4? What are your theories about Kevin Christie and Arby? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Watch Utopia on Amazon Prime Video now.