- Title: Utopia – Life Begins
- wiki: link
The first episode of Utopia introduces us to an underground comic book that has become a bit of a cult classic to a small group. While some of comic’s champions love the art and character, those aren’t who this story is about. This story is about those that believe the comic hold some knowledge of the future, premonitions about the future, and predictions of death. Years after the comic disappeared the original artwork for the never released follow-up surfaces leading to trek to a local comic convention for our oddball group of intense fans Wilson Wilson (Desmin Borges), Ian (Dan Byrd), Becky (Ashleigh LaThrop), Samantha (Jessica Rothe), and Grant (Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton) who up until now have only met online. They aren’t the only ones after the comic, along with other fans there are a pair of fixers (Christopher Denham and Michael B. Woods) out to retrieve the comic and remove any trace of it, and a woman who may or may not be the comic’s main character (Sasha Lane).
“Life Begins” offers a solid first episode introducing us to the main group who are getting to know each other better once meeting in person. Allowing Grant, the kid who has lied about his age to the group, to discover that killers are after the comic book allows the least believable of the bunch to bring this to the group’s attention. Of course the big question is, is there any truth to what the comic contains (or is it nothing more than the fevered madness of conspiracy theory and people creating meaning out of thin air)? Are our two killers actually trying to hide the truth or are they simply deranged? The mystery, quirky nature, and chemistry of the cast is enough for me to stick around a little while to see what answers they might uncover.