Utopia recap: Episode 3, ‘Tuesday’s Child’

In Utopia episode 3, Jessica continues to hunt for answers while our underdogs must make a crucial decision. Michael finds vital information about the flu.

The third hour of Utopia begins with Jessica, Ian, Wilson and Becky visiting Olivia’s funeral to find a chatty relative that can give them more information on her mysterious grandfather. Since she was the last person to have Utopia in her possession before Grant took it, they think they might be able to find a new lead by snooping around the guests. The focus of Utopia episode 3 is all about Jessica’s father and the potential identity of the Utopia creator.

Leaving Wilson and Ian handcuffed in the car, Becky and Jessica actually attend the funeral. Becky pinpoints a particularly chatty woman and, from her, learns that Olivia’s grandfather received the comic book from a patient at River Park Asylum. However, the asylum is no longer standing. Years ago, it burnt down. Not one patient survived. Becky succeeds in conning the older woman for Olivia’s grandfather’s home address to investigate for themselves.

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Outside, Wilson and Ian are attacked by a pair of ginger-haired Harvest twins. Jessica manages to kill them both before they can do any serious damage. It’s kind of pointless as the would-be assassins are never mentioned again, but I suppose the scene was added to remind audiences the group is in perpetual danger.

At Olivia’s grandfather’s house, the group scours the mess for any details regarding Utopia and its creation. Ian takes Becky aside and advises that they escape while they have the chance, but Becky doesn’t want to.

She finally tells him the truth, she has Diels disease, and she’s dying. For her, Utopia is her last-ditch hope at a cure. Ian tells her he’ll stay because she makes him want to be brave, so for now, they’re stuck doing what Jessica says.

Inside the room where Olivia and Ethan initially found the pages of Utopia, the group finds an old photograph of River Park patients. Jessica’s father is among them. She realizes he perished in the fire. Distraught and overcome with grief, Jessica hides out in the cabinet beneath the sink at their safehouse.

When she emerges, Jessica no longer believes her father is dead and instead believes she needs to follow a coded message to track down Artemis. She continuously mutters, “Tuesday’s child is full of grace,” and the date, Tuesday the 14th.

Jessica believes that Artemis (Camryn Manheim) will have the answers she needs regarding her father. She and Ian split off from the group to look for Artemis while Wilson and Becky remain at the house. They’ve received a new, coded message from Grant, and they’ll need to decode it quickly if they want to meet with him that evening.

Unfortunately for Jessica, Artemis is much different from the woman she once knew. She admits to being the person who admitted her father into the asylum because she feared what his mind was capable of after he created a virus so deadly it caused him to have a mental breakdown. Knowing Mr. Rabbit could always use him to further his agenda, Artemis thought it best if he were locked away. She believes he perished in the fire.

From the moment we meet Artemis, who looks incredibly worse for the wear, it seems unlikely she has much time left in the world. Jessica makes sure of that by strangling her old guardian to death. Before she dies, Artemis tells Jessica that the place she seeks, “home,” can be found inside Utopia. As a final clue, Jessica removes each of Artemis’s fingernails (ick.) to reveal a series of tattoos beneath them. We don’t find out what the hidden message is, but I’m sure it will be important later.

Utopia episode 3 recap: Grant finally meets with the group.

Grant has bonded with Alice and even lets her read Utopia alongside him. Alice’s foster mother offers Grant his own personal key to the house so he can come and go as pleases. Initially,  Grant is prepared to take advantage of their kindness by stealing Alice’s laptop, but then he notices that she’s left him a bag of blackberries – awe.

Grant returns her things before taking off toward the predestined meeting place at the Harold Washington Library. Wilson and Becky decode his message just in time to find him before a cop escorts him off the streets. Becky pretends to be his mother to retrieve him from the officer, and Grant can’t help but give her a big hug afterward.

Utopia episode 3 recap: The source of the flu is discovered.

Accusations against Simpro meat turn out to be unfounded after an FDA and FBI raid on Christie Labs. It turns out that Colleen was right in her suspicions regarding the flu’s origins. Michael receives a blood sample and verifies that it is indeed the same flu he discovered years prior. The good news is, he already has the groundwork for a vaccine. He’s taken to meet Kevin Christie face-to-face, which is a big deal for Michael, who has idolized Kevin for years.

But that adage about “never meeting your heroes” holds true. Kevin is more excited about streamlining the vaccine than he is about ensuring its safety. Michael is unwilling to hand over all of his research and data without more time to understand the significant risks it poses in its current state.

Kevin basically tells him that they’ll get their hands on it with or without his help, which doesn’t sit right with Michael. He reaches a breaking point and tells his wife he’s going directly into the hot zone to sort things out for himself.

As for Kevin, we learn something else super disturbing about the good doctor. Arby works for him and based on their cozy relationship, and it seems like he might be his son, and yes,  he wants Utopia and Jessica Hyde. The clues are all pointing toward Dr. Christie being the real-life Mr. Rabbit.

Odds & Ends from Utopia episode 3

• Wilson and Becky finally wrap Sam’s body in drapes and briefly eulogize her. Although, honestly, it doesn’t seem like anyone in the group cares that much about her death.
• As far as I can tell, Diels syndrome is a disease made up for the show.

All eight episodes of Utopia season 1 are now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.