Utopia recap: Episode 6, ‘Respect Your Purpose’

In Utopia episode 6, Jessica must reckon with a shocking revelation as Arby questions his own past. Michael unravels as he searches for answers.

The gang relocates to a new safehouse in Utopia episode 6 and now they finally have their hands on the complete Utopia comic. Pouring through the new pages, Jessica discovers what Arby meant when he was supremely disturbed by the back half of the comic. Graphics show young Jessica being brutalized, taken apart, and sewn back together by Mr. Rabbit and several Harvest members.

According to the comic, Jessica was gassed as a little girl, which is why she doesn’t remember anything and those “big presents” that often showed up at Home were crates containing children. Speaking of Arby, he returns to visit Kevin and cracks a window in the process. His blatant frustration clues Dr. Christie into the fact Arby read Utopia despite being told not to.

More from Amazon Prime

• Upload season 3, episode 2 recap: “Strawberry”
• What happens in The Boys season 4 official teaser trailer?
• Upload season 3, episode 1 recap: “Ticking Clock”
• Add these 5 Holiday TV show Funko Pops! to your holiday wish list
• What we know about The Boys season 4 so far, thanks to Twitter/X

We learn that Arby was “made” because they needed someone like him to fulfill a specific purpose. His name, Arby, actually stems from his love of raisins. The scientists had an inside joke calling him “Raisin Boy” which equals R.B. and ultimately Arby.

Despite not bringing Jessica Hyde or Utopia to Christie Labs, Dr. Christie says he’ll forgive Arby just this once since he received a shock, but he’s told to follow through on his purpose and not let newfound emotions cloud his judgment.

Utopia episode 6 is still vague about how Arby and Jessica were “created,” so to speak, and we don’t know what the gift boxes of children were or why Jessica wasn’t allowed to play with them. All we know is that whatever was going on at Home is extremely disturbing.

Utopia episode 6 recap: Wilson suspects Michael is Mr. Rabbit.

With the new pages of Utopia in their possession, Wilson believes he knows who Mr. Rabbit is — Dr. Michael Stearns. Based on the drawing of Mr. Rabbit in a straitjacket riding on top of a red-striped llama with bat wings, Wilson connects the image to the Peru flag — Peruvian bats — the source of the flu. And who has been discussing the flu on every network since it began? Michael Stearns.

However, Becky points out that In actuality, Mr. Rabbit is riding the llama, meaning he’s using Michael to do his bidding — which we know is more likely accurate. Also at the safehouse, Becky and Ian get closer as they sleep together for the first time and Alice tries to escape, resulting in her coming to blows with Jessica. At one point, Jessica almost shoots her but Grant begs her not to, so she handcuffs Alice to a bed frame instead.

Becky has another Deils episode and is unable to breathe. Jessica creates a makeshift crike to open her airway but it doesn’t seem to work. For all intents and purposes, Becky looks dead. But then she comes back to life moments later. How is that possible? Either way,  her illness has been exposed to the group now. She also shows Ian a tattoo of the virus she has behind her ear and seems to recognize a version of it within the pages of Utopia.

As for Jessica, the next best lead is Michael Stearns. Regardless of whether or not he is Mr. Rabbit, he’s obviously connected to all of this and they easily find his address online. That’s where they’re heading next.

Utopia episode 6 recap: Why does Dale Warwick commit suicide?

Despite being part of the Harvest’s plot, it never appeared like Dale was fully motivated by the mission in the way the group expected him to be. Charlotte’s death and Lily’s disobedience both pushed him farther away from his purpose. After the quarantine zone is dismantled, Dale and Lily return to their “home” in a suburban neighborhood under construction.

It’s obvious their house is just a show house as there is nothing inside of it, no personal effects, no food, and anything that is there still has price tags attached. Michael visits the house to touch base with “Charlotte” and she invites him inside, much to Dale’s horror. Michael isn’t stupid. He immediately notices that something is strange about the house and its lack of detail. Lily can’t even tell him a concrete timeframe for when they “moved in.”

He excuses himself to use the restroom and then sneaks around to investigate the kitchen, which is completely empty. A panicked Dale contacts Dr. Christie to tell him about Michael’s snooping and he calls Michael himself moments later to say he needs to meet him ASAP back in Chicago. It’s obviously a ploy to get Michael out of there and it works.

The next day, Dale goes shopping for decorations, decorative pillows, items to decorate their house, and a teen girl’s bedroom. By the time he’s done, it looks more normal. Then he slaps a sticker for a local petting zoo on the wall and leaves. On his way to “work,’ Dale kills himself by stepping in front of a truck.

At the Harvest headquarters, Thomas rallies the troops to create Dale Warwick and his life so that when people start investigating his highly-publicized suicide, they won’t come up with a dead end. They run with a story that  Dale battled with depression throughout his life and that seeing his fellow Stanford classmate, Michael, succeed at creating a vaccine that saved his daughter when he couldn’t, made him crack.

Utopia episode 6 recap:  Colleen reveals herself as a Harvest plant.

Returning from Chicago and running on barely any sleep, Michael starts investigating Dale after his suicide. He finds the entire thing very strange, especially when he watches an interview of “Charlotte” lamenting her father’s death. He notices the entire house is now decorated despite the fact it wasn’t the night before. Why would a man who was about to commit suicide suddenly go out and buy a bunch of miscellaneous items for his house?

Upon closer inspection, Michael also notices the sticker on the wall. He realizes the petting zoo company has a location in every single major city where the virus has now spread. The flu is coming from the petting farms, which is in line with what we saw last episode, order 2472, the rabbits being shipped out across the country.

As Michael becomes more and more convinced he’s been duped, the news announces that the FDA has freed the vaccine, much to his devastation. When he tries to explain this to his wife, Colleen, she worries he’s having an episode similar to his past mental illness. She thinks he’s being paranoid but Michael tries to convince her he’s right and that he’s going to tell the world everything.

Well, Colleen reveals herself to be a Harvest plant and knocks him unconscious. I had a feeling there was something off about her!

Odds & Ends from Utopia episode 6

• Every member of the Harvest team has a dish full of Adderall at their disposal.
• While handcuffed to a bed, Alice peruses Utopia and notices a new pattern.
• Alice asks Grant to cut off her long, blond braid with scissors to keep Jessica from ever being able to grab it again. Interestingly, this is the second motif of someone cutting off a long braid that we’ve seen this season — as Lily also cut Charlotte’s off after she died.

What did you think about Utopia episode 6? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

All eight episodes of Utopia season 1 are now streaming on Netflix.