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| “ | I'm gonna rub chillies into your eyes, then sand, then bleach, then I'm gonna use the spoon. Do you know what I do with the spoon? | „ |
| ~ Lee explaining to Wilson how he is going to torture him |
Lee is a recurring character from the British drama series, Utopia. He serves as a minor villain in season 1, and a major villain in season 2.
He works as an enforcer and hitman for The Network. In the first episode, Lee, joined by Arby, is seen murdering 3 people in a comic book store due to the cashier knowing about the Utopia Manuscript. This leads to them finding Bejan Chervo and then finally Wilson Wilson. Lee proceeds to handcuff Wilson to a chair and torture him to see what he knows about The Network. However, once Lee has finished torturing Wilson, he leaves to go smoke a cigarette and to kill Wilson's father. Only to return and find that Wilson has freed himself from being handcuffed. Due to this, Wilson is able to shoot Lee, presumably killing him, and escape. Except, Lee survives this incident, leaving him with a punctured lung and unable to move his left arm. Because of this, Lee resents Wilson and spends a large portion of the second season bullying and tormenting him.
He was portrayed by Paul Ready.
Biography[]
In the show, Lee works as a hitman and enforcer for The Network. He is seen not only killing pretty much anyone he comes into contact with outside the network, but also intimidating those inside of it. He, himself, states that he is quite fond of torturing people and even has a favourite part of the body to torture, that being the eyes. This is seen in full effect as he pours numerous things, such as sand and bleach, into Wilson Wilson's eyes before finally ripping his right eye out with a spoon. After this has all taken place, Lee leaves Wilson handcuffed to a chair to take a smoke break. While out for this smoke break, Lee decides to kill Wilson's father, to cover his and Arby's tracks. Upon returning to Wilson's "secret" bunker, Lee finds that he has managed to free himself and is now carrying the same gun that Lee mistakenly left there. Such a foolish error leaves Lee with a bullet to the lung, causing him to collapse and be left unconscious. This incident nearly kills Lee, leaving him with a punctured lung and severe nerve damage. Because of the said nerve damage, Lee is unable to move his left arm.
After being absent for the rest of the first season, Lee returns in the second episode of season 2. He is found walking on a street by Arby, carrying a similar bag to the one that they used to have when they worked together. Seeing the bag, Arby asks what's inside and Lee responds with "clothes". He also talks about how he's not much use to anyone with him only having one working arm. This makes Arby believe that Lee is homeless, so he invites him to his new-found home and prepares some food for him. Lee begins to tell Arby about how their work together has "changed" him, and how he often thinks about the horrible things that they did, and how he now brushes his teeth a lot more than usual in an attempt to scrub away the things that are "caught in him". Of course, Arby doesn't show much empathy for this, due to his stunted emotional state. Once Lee notices this, he decides to just give up and go back to his regular evil persona, showing that everything he said was nothing but a lie to try and manipulate Arby. He then tells Arby about how The Network wants him back, and they want him to take care of someone. Arby isn't happy at this sudden news, and thinks about killing Lee with a kitchen knife. Lee tells him that just isn't a good idea, as both Tess, Arby's girlfriend, and her daughter come back home. Lee uses this opportunity to subtly threaten the two. Amanda, Tess's daughter, asks Lee what's in his bag. Lee tells her to open it up and place its contents on the table. She does just that and reveals that it's the same canaster filled with gas that Lee used to silently kill 3 people in the first season. Tess, of course, has no clue what it is and questions it. Lee lies by saying that it's just dental gas, and that he will "hopefully" never have to use it on Amanda. As Tess then leaves the room, Lee places his gun on the table, showing Arby that he could shoot both Tess and Amanda right now. Lee proceeds to tell Arby that this isn't the right life for him, and to come back to The Network. Due to Lee showcasing that if Arby refuses he will kill him, Tess, and Amanda, Arby reluctantly returns to The Network.
Later on, Wilson and Milner are having a conversation about Wilson joining The Network. As they're discussing, both Lee and Arby walk into the room. Milner then gets up and has a chat with Arby while Wilson sits in fear at the sight of both Arby and especially Lee. Despite Wilson shooting Lee being Lee's own fault, he completely blames Wilson for the incident and begins to torment him. With his first instance of torment being seen before he arrived alongside Arby, as Lee left a spoon tucked in-between a sofa for Wilson to find.
After this, Lee is next seen at Ian's workplace, messing with his computer. While Lee is doing that, Ian's boss, Joe, walks in, and at first pays no attention to Lee, only to realise a moment later what he's doing. Joe asks Lee what he's up to and Lee tells him that he's just doing routine maintenance. Joe believes this for a good 5 seconds before realising that his company does their own maintenance. He tells Lee this, and Lee responds by telling him "that usually works" and proceeds to tell another lie, this time posing as a detective as he hands Joe fake documents and tells him that he needs access to Ian's computer under the Terrorism Prevention Act of 2011. Sceptical of this, Joe asks if he can confirm this with the police. Lee responds by telling him "of course, use my phone". Right as Joe is about to call the police, Lee tells him that the number is 999, as if Joe didn't already know this. Reasonably, this causes Joe to be even more sceptical, and he rightfully believes that dialling 999 on Lee's phone won't connect him to the police. Unfortunately, this revelation causes his death, as Lee proceeds to slice his throat with a box cutter before Joe can call the actual police. While Joe is bleeding out, Lee dials 999 on his phone, which puts him on with a Network operative. Lee tells the person on the other end of the line that things have gone "a bit awry" and that there is only one causality. Lee says faking Joe's suicide could be an option, but right as he says that Joe gets up off the floor. With blood spitting from his neck, Joe tries to make an escape but to no avail due to the extreme loss of blood weakening him. While trying to open the door to get out of the office, Lee puts his phone down, walks over to Joe, picks up a fire extinguisher and proceeds to beat Joe's head with it. Lee then picks his phone back up and tells The Network operative on the phone that "suicide isn't gonna work".
Afterwards, Wilson is sitting alone in a room, presumably waiting for Milner, but much to Wilson's surprise, Lee walks in. Lee quickly states upon seeing Wilson, "oh look, it's that one-eyed freak who shot me in my lung". Wilson responds back by saying it was Lee who pulled his eye out. Only for Lee to chalk it up to him simply "just doing his job". As soon as Milner walks into the room, she is seen visibly distressed and tells Wilson that he needs to go find his old companions with Lee, much to Wilson's disapproval. Lee notices Wilson's distress at being told to work alongside him, so he "reassures" him by saying they will make a great team and that Lee can do stuff while Wilson "keeps an eye out". The two are then seen in a car together with Wilson behind the wheel. This prompts Lee to impudently ask if Wilson has any trouble driving on the account that he only has one eye, and if he needs to reapply for his driving licence. Wilson corrects Lee by telling him it doesn't affect his licence, and rambles on about how the DVLA goes about dealing with people with visual impairments. Lee sarcastically laughs at this and says that what he likes about Wilson is all the information he knows, with all of it being "f*cking useless". Wilson responds by telling him that knowledge is never useless, only for Lee to immediately shut that down by saying it wasn't useful when Lee pulled Wilson's eye out. He also admits that it was in fact he who killed Wilson's father and that Wilson's knowledge couldn't save him.
The next scene with the two shows them in a house that was recently broken into. Lee finds none other than one of Arby's chocolate raisins on the floor and proceeds to eat it. Because of this, Lee has a rough idea of where Arby might be, and this idea is confirmed once he finds more raisins at a local lakeside. Unbeknown to Lee, however, Wilson pickpocketed the handgun from Lee's suit. Pointing the gun at Lee's head, Wilson exclaimed that he could "now see this time" and put a bullet right into Lee's head. To Wilson's dismay, this doesn't phase Lee in the slightest, and Lee then walks over to their parked car to grab a crowbar. While Lee does that, Wilson asks if he really did kill his father. Lee responds by confirming that it was in fact him. Lee then takes the crowbar out of the car and, despite Wilson pointing a gun directly at Lee's head, Lee hits Wilson directly in the shin with the crowbar, causing Wilson to fall to the ground and cry out in pain. Lee then explains to Wilson that he knows why Milner likes him, and it's because he's a "believer" and that he reckons Wilson could take life, billions even, it just would all have to be "necessary" at killing Lee isn't necessary. He then leaves Wilson on the ground in pain and drives off to where he believes Arby and the others are. Ben's house. Once Lee arrives there, he walks in only to find that not only have Ben's parents both been killed, but so has Ben himself. As soon as he notices Ben's dead corpse, Lee hears a gun cock behind him. He realises that it's Arby that's behind him. Due to Arby not immediately killing Lee, he assumes that Arby has a negotiation to make. This is correct, as Arby explains that he'll give up Christian Donaldson as long as Tess and Amanda are kept safe, but Arby then tells Lee that as soon as this is all over he is "coming for him". Out of fear of hearing this, Lee tries to reason with Arby, only for him to turn around and see that Arby is no longer there.
The next time that Lee is seen it's with both Arby and Donaldson. Lee and Arby are sitting at a desk with a laptop. The laptop is then revealed to be a live recording of Tess and Amanda being taken to an unknown location as part of Arby's deal with Lee. Lee, being Lee, attempts to guess where it is the two are going in a fairly sadistic manner. Donaldson, confused by all of this, asks what is going on. Lee tells him that Arby is saving his family. Once Arby is convinced that Tess and Amanda are safe, Lee tells him that he kept his side of the barging, despite Tess and Amanda's safety being done by The Network and not Lee. Arby then nods, and Lee turns to face Donaldson. He tells him "Ciao for now" and then proceeds to shoot Donaldson right in the face. After doing that, he turns to face Arby and tells him that he still needs the others. Arby, clearly not pleased with Lee, turns and stares at him right and the eyes and asks "Where is Jessica Hyde?". This scares Lee, as Arby typically only asks that question to people he's going to kill.
Once again, Lee joins Wilson when the others have been found. Wilson tries to get information from the group but to no avail. Seeing Wilson fail at his job, Lee walks up to them only to be stopped by Wilson. He tells Wilson that he should let him have a go, because he can be "quite effective" and that Wilson should know that better than anyone. Wilson, clearly upset by Lee's comment, tells him to leave. Lee begrudgingly does so, but not before making fun of Wilson's missing eye one more time by saying "Aye aye, skipper".
Lee wasn't seen for a while after that, until Arby was shot by Philip. The shot sent Arby into a coma, and he was taken to hospital. Knowing about this whole ordeal, Lee sneaks into the hospital and attempts to kill Arby, only to be stopped by Jessica Hyde. Lee states that the reason he wants to kill Arby is out of pure fear, and that Arby is in fact the only thing to ever scare him. Jessica forces Lee to let go of the oxygen tubes connected to Arby that Lee has a hold of. He reluctantly does so and to not make any fuss, Jessica lets him go. Out of cowardice, Lee does just that and hastily leaves the hospital. After this, Lee is sent out by Leah to kill one of The Network's sleeper agents, and he does so off-screen with a machete.
Near the very end of the show, Wilson tells Lee to meet him. Lee does just that and once he arrives, Wilson throws the same spoon that Lee had hidden inside the sofa for Wilson to find at Lee's feet. Lee then picks it up and as he's doing so, Wilson pulls out his gun. Once again, this doesn't phase Lee, and he tells Wilson that revenge just doesn't suit him. He goes on to say that Wilson needs a reason to kill him, and right as he says that Wilson doesn't actually have a reason, Wilson shoots him directly in the head and Lee falls to the ground. Ironically, Lee took Arby seriously because he believed that he was genuinely going to kill him, only for Lee to be killed by someone he didn't take seriously at all.
Appearance[]
Lee stands at roughly 175 centimetres tall, has brown eyes, and has a short back and sides with a long top hairstyle. In the first season, he dons a simple Prussian blue suit with a white shirt and a dark green tie, along with some white slip-on shoes. He switches it up in the second season and wears his more iconic yellow suit with purple socks and white and black trainers, but he decides to keep the same tie. His appearance is made even more important in the second season with him being paralysed and unable to move his left arm. This whole ordeal makes him resent Wilson Wilson despite it being Lee's fault in the first place.
Something to note about Lee is his odd need to make some form of contact with the blood of his victims. In the first episode, he goes out of his way to step into the pool of blood of a man he had just recently bludgeoned. In the second season, after slicing someone's throat, they get some blood on a desk, and Lee proceeds to place his phone directly onto that blood. It is never directly explained as to why he does this, but it does give some insight into his character.
Personality[]
Lee is nothing short of a psychopath. This is evident by his typically calm demeanour when he's taking the lives of others and when he tortures Wilson Wilson. However, unlike Arby, Lee's lack of empathy appears to just be natural. In fact, just unlike Arby once again, Lee's past is completely unknown, and it's just presumed that he was already a hitman before the events of the show, and then The Network just simply found him and decided to hire him. Further proving Lee's psychopathy, he doesn't seem to actually care about what The Network is actually doing. He shows no interest in their agenda or extremist views in "killing millions to save billions". On one occasion when Lee tells Wilson he knows why Milner likes him, and that it's because he's a "believer". This hints at the fact that Lee doesn't care about The Networks' goals.
His psychopathy is further highlighted by his big lie to Arby, about how he no longer works for the network, is "not much use to anyone any more" and how he has "struggled to adjust" and "brushes his teeth obsessively" in an attempt to have Arby empathise with him. However, Lee is so hopelessly psychopathic, that he does all this despite already knowing that it won't work. As it's stated that he had worked with Arby for a fairly long amount of time before the events of the show and already knew about Arby's inability to feel emotions.
Another highlight of Lee's evilness and psychopathy is his bullying and torment of Wilson Wilson. After torturing Wilson and foolishly leaving him handcuffed to a chair to take a smoke break, Wilson manages to escape and grab Lee's gun. Once Lee returns, he sees Wilson out of the chair and attempts to sneak up on him, using Wilson being almost completely blind as an advantage. Unfortunately for Lee, this doesn't work and Wilson is able to shoot him, puncturing Lee's lung and leaving him crippled and unable to move his left arm. Despite all of this being Lee's fault and him getting a taste of his own medicine, he doesn't see it that way and resents Wilson for his disability. The only reason Lee doesn't just kill Wilson or torture him again for this is because Wilson now works for The Network and if Lee did kill Wilson, The Network would just have Lee himself killed. Due to this, Lee resorts to bullying Wilson by leaving a spoon for him to find in-between a sofa, constantly making fun of Wilson's appearance, and bragging about he killed Wilson's own father.
Lee is also shown to have a nicotine addiction. Even in the second season, despite his punctured lung, he can still be seen vaping. As to why exactly Lee smokes? It's unknown, but it's more than likely just a simple addiction as opposed to anything meaningful.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Lee is replaced with Rod in the American remake of the show. However, Lee lives until the end of the second season of the British version, whereas Rod is killed in the second episode of the U.S. version.
- Lee's bright yellow suit that he wears in season 2, matches the colour identity of the first season.
External Links[]
- Lee on the Utopia Wiki
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 Villains
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