Utopia – Talking Hurts

By: Gladys Luna

Colleen (Jeanine Serralles) wakes up Dr. Stearns (Rainn Wilson) and asks him to open a file in his computer named “Fun.” He finds disturbing information about him that it will be released if he doesn’t do as requested. The woman makes a call and says that “operation Fun” has been deployed. She confesses that the only reason she married him was because that’s was her mission and now she asks him to make a call and tell the press that he agrees with the vaccine being released and forget about all of the information he recently discovered or his career and reputation will be destroyed and he’ll end up in jail. Dr. Christie (John Cusack) sees that the FDA has finally given the green light for the vaccine to be produced when Arby (Christopher Denham) arrives. But before letting him in, Dr. Christie asks him to empty his pockets. Once he has done it he lets him in and asks him if he is ready to be back on their side to what Arby nods with a yes. Suddenly on the TV it shows Lily (Taylor Blim) leaving her home in the middle of a crowd of reporters wanting to know how she feels and how she’s been dealing with her father’s recent death. The girl takes the opportunity to come up with a different kind of a story where she implies that she was abused by her father making Dr. Christie mad and screaming since she didn’t follow the script. He asks Arby to go get her and take care of her. Then, he tells him that the life they gave them was the best one he could ever have.

Dr. Stearns is still quite shocked to find out that his marriage was all a lie. He confesses to Colleen that he never felt himself worthy of being loved, but then he found her and they fell in love. He realized that love was so simple to what the woman replies that her purpose was to make him love her so she could stop him from going around sharing his thoughts with everyone and she just did it as told.

Jessica (Sasha Lane) parks outside Dr. Stearns’ house and asks everyone to wait for her there and ignore any screams they might hear. She is convinced that he is Dr. Rabbit and is willing to get him. When she enters the house she hears how he is on the phone saying that he completely believes that the vaccine will be the cure for the children as he reads the script he was given. Suddenly, he stops when he sees Jessica standing in front him pointing a gun. Colleen realizes it and immediately stands. Alice (Farrah Mackenzie) sees everything that is happening through the window and decides to enter the house followed by everyone.

Lily is having fun having the house for herself and printing kisses on the wall. Arby enters and greets her and he asks her why if she was asked not to talk or raise any kind of interest she did otherwise. The girl says that is because she found out that she could do it. Thomas (Cory Michael Smith) meets with his father and tells him that “Operation Fun” was successfully implemented, but Dr. Christie tells him that if he hadn’t failed in the first place they wouldn’t have to implement it at all. The young man suggests making Dr. Stearns go under a full anthrax treatment to terminate him.

Arby and Lily continue discussing about why she decided to go off script and she says that she was mesmerized by all of the people and being able to talk to them without having it all rehearsed. The man asks her if she liked the world and confesses that she loved it. She offers him a Pepsi and some candies and tells him that his purpose can be whatever he wants and not what he was told it would be. She is also aware that Dr. Christie won’t live forever and she would like to be part of the future and lead the new generations. Arby says that they made a mistake by not raising him with love since he believes it is essential for a kid. He is determined in taking her back to “Home” and makes one last request by asking her to be called as “John” from now on.

In the meantime, Jessica has asked Dr. Stearns undress himself and entrusts Ian (Dan Byrd) with looking for the rabbit mark, but they couldn’t find any. He assures them that he is not Dr. Rabbit, but the woman does not believe him and tortures him by cutting him near the eye making him scream in pain. They show him the Asylum picture and he said that he was entered there because of his anxieties and then realizes that it was all part of Colleen’s plan and blames her. Jessica tries to make her confess, but the woman comes up with a backstory so, Jessica cuts her near the eye and the woman doesn’t make the slightest move. They now know she is part of “The Harvest.” Colleen tries to escape and begins a wild fight with Jessica. When it seems she has beaten her, Alice takes a gun and shoots her. Jessica puts some glasses into a cooking glove and smashes them. She then asks Dr. Stearns to put his hand in it to torture him until he tells the truth. In the meantime, Ian is trying to comfort Alice. Grant (Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton) arrives and jumps in the bed making the girl smile. As they hear the screams downstairs, Ian decides to turn on the volume of the radio and jumps with them. Dr. Stearns is being forced to find clues in the manuscript while he is tortured by Jessica. He finds his virus symbol in Dr. Rabbit’s eye and then asks the woman to release him. He tells them that the flu has been carried in rabbits not bats. He lets them know that he found out that there’s a petting zoo that might have infected rabbits so when the kids are in contact with them they get infected as well. He asks them to get ready and gather different kind of stuff. Then, they leave on a mission to the petting zoo where they threaten the guard (Jayson Lee) with a gun to let them in and they burn the petting zoo and take one of the bunnies with them.

John (Arby) takes Lily to the woods where he rings a bell and a kid (Amir Henderson) comes out of a place hidden between the trees and takes Lily with him. He leads her to where Dr. Christie is who lets her know how disappointed he is that she betrayed them, but gives her a second chance to make things right. On their way to the lab the bunny bites Jessica and when they arrive Dr. Stearns analyzes the samples. Becky (Ashleigh LaThrop) goes for a snack and Jessica follows her. Jessica asks her why she wanted to live if the world is a terrible place, but Becky says that there are moments that make it worthwhile. Jessica takes a chocolate bar from her backpack and gives it to her. Becky breaks it in half and shares one part with Jessica. It seems like she is disappointed of life, but Becky lets her know that there are moments like that one that makes it all better. Jessica remains pensive for a few seconds and then surprises Becky by leaning on her shoulder.

Back at the lab Dr. Stearns finds out that the flu that the rabbits are infected with is not the flu he discovered. Therefore, his vaccine won’t be of any use. He figures out that they are actually using the vaccine to kill the children and that the one behind is Dr. Christie. So, he is now sure that he is Dr. Rabbit. Jessica decides to go in search of him but is asked to reach out to Agent Katherine Milner (Sonja Sohn) first and ask for her help. After all, she might be the blue fairy described in the manuscript. Wilson (Desmin Borges) and Jessica pay a visit to her and demand some answers. The woman explains that Jessica’s father was her partner at Homeland’s Biological Crimes, but then he was taken by Dr. Rabbit. She used to take care of Jessica and shows her the blanket that they saw in the manuscript. They tell her that Dr. Christie is actually Dr. Rabbit and ask for protection, but Agent Milner doesn’t believe them claiming that he is a good man. She tries to stop Jessica from going after him but with no success.

In the meantime, Dr. Christie is giving an interview to Hailey Alvez (Felisha Terrell) where he discusses about the first shipment of vaccines that will be released early morning the next day and introduces Charlotte (Lily) as part of his team. The girl says that she is grateful to have the chance to help others and having the time to restore her sanity. The interview is done and Thomas and his father discuss how happy they feel of their accomplishments.

Back at Dr. Stearns’s house they arrived from their mission to find Ian, Alice and Grant having ice cream on the couch. They get ready to go in search of Dr. Christie when the doorbell rings. Jessica goes to see who it is, but no one is at the door. She looks to the floor and finds Dr. Christie all wrapped in tape lying in there while John (Arby) smiles from behind the bushes.