5/21/25

*When Your Utopia Turns Into a Dystopia

In Episode 2 of 'Allergic Reaction,' Lisa Lomax returns to Altadena in the wake of a firestorm that tore through the foothills—devastating homes, memories and a once-idyllic vision of life. What she finds is a surreal landscape of survival and loss. Chimneys rise where houses once stood. Handwritten signs warn of what’s no longer safe to enter. Neighbors recount how close it all came to total collapse. We walk through what remains with Alan Zorthian, whose family ranch—once a utopian outpost of art, memory and myth—is now in ruins. Together, Lisa and Alan sift through melted artifacts in his office, beneath scorched staircases that now lead to nowhere. What does it mean to inherit a utopia? And what do you do when it burns down?

Previous

*An Architect Trying to Save the World by Designing Fake Ones

Next

*The Nearest Utopia to My House