The first thing you see when you begin streaming Utopia on Amazon Prime is a disclaimer. It informs you that the show is a work of fiction not based on “actual, related, or current events.” How strange, you might wonder. What could that mean?
In time, you will discover that, among other things, Utopia is about a conspiracy unfolding across a viral pandemic, after which the disclaimer changes to warn you that Utopia is “not based on an actual pandemic or related events.” It is a show that has the terrible misfortune of being accidentally of this moment, and completely wrong about all of it.
Utopia also bears the burden of being a remake of a bona fide cult hit that aired on Channel 4 in the UK. The British Utopia was stylish,…