Utopia Season 2 Could Explore More Of Jessica's Backstory

Spoilers ahead for Utopia Season 1. In the penultimate episode of Amazon's new sci-fi show Utopia, several major reveals happen in quick succession. Jessica Hyde (Sasha Lane), Becky (Ashleigh LaThrop), Ian (Dan Byrd), and Wilson (Desmin Borges) realize the identity of Mr. Rabbit and that he plans to ship his virus across the globe. Before they can gear up to stop him, though, he's delivered right to their doorstep bound in duct tape. It's a shocking reveal in an already unpredictable show, and it opens the door to a whole new plot line if Utopia returns for Season 2.

That being said, Utopia fans will need to be patient. Amazon hasn't yet announced if Utopia will be renewed, and it could be a long wait for a second season regardless. As showrunner Gillian Flynn explained to The Hollywood Reporter, Utopia is an adaptation of Dennis Kelly's 2013 British show, and getting Season 1 produced was a six-year journey. She wrote the adaptation alongside Gone Girl director David Fincher for HBO, but they turned it down in 2015 over budget concerns. “I put all that creative energy in — 10 hours [of content]," Flynn said. "That’s five movies I could have written or a couple of books. And it became just my pure Missouri mule stubbornness that I was like, ‘This goddamned thing is not going to be a waste of time.’"

Eventually, Amazon ordered Utopia to series in 2018. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the streaming service had been looking for their own version of Game of Thrones and felt they'd found it in Utopia. "We are huge fans of Gillian Flynn's electrifying work," Nick Hall, head of alternative series at Amazon Studios, said in 2018. "She will deliver Prime Video members a series they won't forget, and Utopia's relevance is sure to connect with viewers around the globe."

This suggests that Amazon is prepared to go all in on Utopia if Season 1 rakes in high viewership numbers. This would put it in line with Kelly's original series, which also aired for two seasons. With its poppy colors and unique premise, the show quickly became a cult hit, and it was given a second season that explored the histories of Mr. Rabbit, Jessica, and Arby. Gizmodo's James Whitbrook described the season as unexpected and heartfelt, though he said it ultimately felt like "a pregnant pause in Kelly's plans for the show."

The ratings fizzled out, and Utopia was canceled in 2014. But if Flynn's version is renewed, she could potentially explore similar topics and continue Kelly's story with her own vision. Amazon's Utopia doesn't explain a whole lot about Jessica, her father, or what Mr. Rabbit did to Arby and Charlotte when they were kids. A second season could explore Jessica's time in the lab, her relationship with her dad, and how she became the brutal antiheroine she is today. And even if Jessica does have the virus now due to the rabbit bite in Episode 7, Flynn could still employ flashbacks as Kelly did in his second season.

This seems like the route Flynn would be most interested in taking. When she was first watched Kelly's iteration of Utopia, she told Rolling Stone that she loved the character of Jessica. "I liked that she was an incredibly dangerous warrior-child — that she had never been given the grace to grow up entirely or to have relationships in a normal way," she said. "She was raised to assume that everyone was out to kill her. She had kind of an arrested development from around age 12, but she could also completely eviscerate you with a sharp edge of a toothbrush."

Ultimately, fans will have to wait and see if Utopia gets renewed — and if Jessica even survives the virus — but it feels like Flynn is far from done with the show.