![]() ![]() This is entertainment, and any timeliness wasn’t invited by its creators - it was thrust upon the show by circumstance. Without getting into spoiler territory, it’s hard to say exactly how “Utopia’s” fictional pandemic differs from our real one, but its origin, dispersal, and effects are all tailor-made for a TV thriller, if not outright science fiction. Jessica Rothe in “Utopia” Elizabeth Morris / Amazon Studios “Utopia” carries more parallels to the ongoing global pandemic than many of today’s news outlets (where the next election has outranked COVID coverage). Conspiracies are debunked and, disconcertingly, validated. National news covers the viral outbreak 24/7. Hazmat suits are worn by nearly every lead character. Set in modern day Chicago, the eight-episode first season follows a group of comic book geeks who are fighting a mysterious organization for control of a graphic novel - and here’s where the relevance comes in - that may hold the key to ending a national pandemic. ![]() You see everything through that fog, and thus everything you see is foggy.Įnter “ Utopia,” Amazon Prime Video’s new original series that’s impossible to discuss without mentioning its timely premise. A show about dragons and warfare and full frontal nudity set in a made-up fantasy land? Still timely! The point being, if you sit with something long enough - whether it’s living under a misogynistic fascist or surviving a global pandemic (with a death toll that’s been exacerbated by that same misogynistic fascist!) - then it clouds your every thought. A comedy about political sniping? Obviously timely. A drama about the systematic oppression of women? Timely. When your mindset is dominated by a common concern, all roads lead to the same spot. ![]() ‘The Bear’ Season 2 Is a Better, Richer Second Course Trump’s election really crystallized that concept, as so many stories post-November 2016 felt related to the president, his supporters, or the many problems connected to both. As long as you’re writing about what’s going on in the world today - and, one way or another, we all are - everything is timely. Commentators who use “timely” to describe narratives about police misconduct or racial injustice simply haven’t been paying attention long enough. People need to know know that this one is different than so much of the mindless entertainment out there, because this show speaks to the moment.īut does that mean it’s good? Bad? Effective? Affecting? “Timely,” on its own, doesn’t really tell us anything qualitative, and even as a context clue, the word has been hollowed out by misuse. When you watch a show or film that feels particularly relevant to headline news, it’s almost instinctual to throw the word “timely” into your own headline. There are obvious exceptions, when dissecting the weight of an excellent program is tied directly to its relevance, and before my pesky little trolls dig up eight old articles where I improperly lean on that particular adjective, I’ll admit: I’ve used it. By and large, “timely” is a terrible word to use in the context of a review. ![]()
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