![]() ![]() They asked me what I thought would be a cool type of a project for YA, and I just kind of off the cuff said “I’ve never really seen the culture I grew up with, hip-hop culture and whatnot, I’ve never really seen that in the future. I think they were interested in doing something that was music related. Initially, I met with the production company, Sonar Entertainment, and they were interesting in doing something different and in the YA space and they knew I had a reputation in the music video world, especially here in Canada. Let’s start with you, R.T.: When did you conceptualize the series and how did it evolve over time? This will be my first time talking about the show with spoilers.īNP: Oh, this is gonna be fun then. Robyn: I’ve been so used to giving spoiler alerts. R.T.: Does this mean we can talk spoilers? I guess we can.īNP: Yeah, I think it’s been long enough. From jump, their passion and enthusiasm were very much infectious.īNP: So, Robyn and R.T., I just finished Utopia Falls last week and I am very excited to talk to you about the series. Thorne, the creator of the series, and Robyn Alomar who played Aliyah-5, one of the central characters in the ensemble. While it was very much Dystopia 101 meets Intro to Hip Hop that adult-me couldn’t fully engage with, I also recognize that a younger version of me would have devoured this series had it been around during my teen years.īy the time the credits rolled on the season finale, “If I Ruled the World,” two thoughts passed through my head:ġ) The entire cast seemed to have a blast filming.Ģ) I really wanted to know more about how this series came into existence.Īs such, I was lucky enough to get to sit down with both R.T. And after watching the entirety of the first season a few weeks ago, I honestly do think the best way to describe it would be, “What if The Hunger Games had an America’s Got Talent – Hip Hop Edition styled competition instead of a deathmatch?” And yes, I too was skeptical about such an outlandish premise but ultimately, I found myself invested in the series. Utopia Falls doesn't score on all levels, but it's arresting - and peculiar - enough to hold your attention.Over the last couple of weeks, you may have seen Utopia Falls on your Hulu dashboard. But the narrative is such an unusual one that viewers will be content to drift along to see where this strange show is headed. ![]() There are too many other Exemplar candidates vying to make a strong impression (and though we're told they're each super talented, the scenes in which they're shown singing and dancing don't demonstrate that). Only Aliyah and Bodhi are given the screen time to develop into convincing characters. The group of teens at the center of Utopia Falls' drama, who hail from different segments of the Hunger Games-style divided society, are similarly depicted as the best of New Babyl at the start of the series, before they find artifacts from the past that make them question the present. But since a show about heaven on earth would be pretty boring, it's not really a surprise when the illusion of the fair and just authority begins to fall away, and the fascism beneath is slowly revealed. It's a society where everyone has a purpose. "No one wants for food or work or a sense of community," we're told in the monologue that opens the show. As Utopia Falls opens, it seems like New Babyl is a pretty cool place to be. This genuinely odd series is both a futuristic dystopian drama and a dance competition, melding tropes from both YA sci-fi and reality battles in a way that's alternately flat and fascinating. ![]()
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