Utopia (Channel 4) [ Spoilers ]

iguana · 24-01-2013 2:28pm

I liked the second episode much more, possibly because we're getting to know the characters a little bit more as we go on and, I feel really old and prim saying this, I preferred that it was less violent than the first one. My favourite bit was probably the Becky twist at the end. In hindsight it makes sense that one of the group would be some sort of spy but I didn't see it coming at all.

24-01-2013 2:48pm

The first episode wasn't great for me. Sure, it looked pretty, but it also smacked of more style than substance. The second episode has changed my mind - you can't beat villains that are actually really really bad. Plus as the twists and turns keep coming, it does start to feel like a proper conspiracy theory.

I do hope they just confine it to either one series or two.

TheStook · 24-01-2013 4:02pm

Yeah I agree with most that a nice tidy 6 or 7 episodes confined to one series would be the best way to go..

I enjoyed that second episode, it felt very tense and surreal throughout and a lovely little twist at the end..

Jessica's character is very interesting also

The graphics are fantastic at times, most specifically with the character's eyes. I've noticed that a few characters eyes seem to be glowing bright blue and I'm wondering if it has any meaning

Basq · 24-01-2013 4:18pm

TheStook wrote: »

I've noticed that a few characters eyes seem to be glowing bright blue and I'm wondering if it has any meaning

Becky's eyes are distractingly blue alright..

.. the scene in the kitchen where Ian and Jessica tell her that they're going without her.. it's all I could see.

EDIT: Good ol' 4OD.. screencap:

ibarelycare · 24-01-2013 4:22pm

Yeah they use a huge amount of colour saturation. My boyfriend reckons it's all because they want to give it a "comic book" feel.

TheStook · 24-01-2013 4:29pm

That Becky kitchen scene is exactly what I was referring to, her eyes were mesmerising!

jcsoulinger · 24-01-2013 6:11pm

I really liked the first ep, I was instantly hooked. I didnt think the second episode was as good it could be down to high expectations.
Did anyone else find the Jessica Hyde character a bit ott?, Ok old man must die, quick and painless then......No lets strangle him to death with some rough cord which causes friction burns to stranglers own hands.

Becky is playing a double game but I suspect her motives are for good and she has no connection with the bad guys.

cml387 · 24-01-2013 10:41pm

ibarelycare wrote: »

Yeah they use a huge amount of colour saturation. My boyfriend reckons it's all because they want to give it a "comic book" feel.

It's like Edge Of Darkness done by the producers of teletubbies.

And the final scene was really well done in that you knew what was coming but didn't need to see it. The first episode established Arby's "methods".

spiritcrusher · 25-01-2013 12:41am

Quite pleasantly surprised by how much of the plot was revealed in the second episode of a conspiracy drama. I was sure we'd spend most of the time trying to guess who was after the main gang and why, but no, we got plenty to get to grips with in about 20 minutes of this episode. And while I'm sure those answers are by no means the whole picture it was nice to get something rather than constantly just asking more questions.

Love Arby, he has a real menace about him. Reminds me a little of Gatehouse in The Shadow Line (played by Stephen Rea oddly enough).

Enjoying the Russian flu subplot too. Michael's a great character, find him very believable in such an OTT comic book world.

Only thing I didn't like was the CGI blood when Arby shot the CIA woman. It just never looks convincing and lessens the impact of the violence for me.

quad_red · 25-01-2013 11:42am

Really enjoyed the first two episodes.

The two hitmen are genuinely chilling. And now that we've seen what they're capable of, merely the hint of more is spine chilling

when he opens the garage door to find the family tied up and he takes the gas tank out of the yellow bag

Jessica Hyde - hubba. Very mysterious, very well played. Very outworldly.

And the twist at the end:

who did Becky call? The fact that she was trying to get funding to do a PHD in episode one makes it unlikely that she's working for the Network. She'd hardly be working to *bring* attention to the utopia manuscripts? So who is she working for?

WealthyB · 25-01-2013 11:59am

Absoutely loving this show. Arby (didn't realise that was his name) now fills me with dread the moment he appears in a scene. Really starting to connect with some of the characters as well in ep2

Didn't like the final scene of ep2

knowing the children would die

though - thought that was unnecessary.

Basq · 25-01-2013 12:02pm

WealthyB wrote: »

Didn't like the final scene of ep2
knowing the children would die
though - thought that was unnecessary.

Personally, I thought it was needed to establish how bad Arby actually is..

EDIT: Thread title is spoiler tagged so no need for spoiler tags for episode discussion

quad_red · 25-01-2013 12:08pm

WealthyB wrote: »

Didn't like the final scene of ep2
knowing the children would die
though - thought that was unnecessary.

It would have been unnecessary to show it - but they didn't. He is a truly horrific person. Completely without mercy or humanity or remorse.

He kills the family with as much compassion or emotional involvement as a normal person would wiping muck off their shoes. He is tying up loose ends, leaving no witnesses to interfere with his pursuit of Jessica and the others

TV and Cinema is filled with depictions of killers. Most are camp, very few are scary.

Bloody hell, Arby is scary. His weird disconnected stare, the ill fitting squeaking leather jacket over the pot belly.

Daroxtar · 25-01-2013 12:20pm

Even his walk, it's just not right. It's like he was badly put together and reanimated

mike65 · 25-01-2013 12:29pm

Basq wrote: »

Just watched the second last night..

.. excellent stuff!

C4 continue to impress with drama.. ITV could learn something from them (and don't talk to me about f*cking "Downton").

Not sure what lessons could be learnt to be honest, the last drama series that bore any sort of resemblance to Utopia on ITV was The Prisoner in 1967/68. ITV1 drama is determinedly middle of the road (not always a bad thing of course) and has been for years now. Its the BBC who need to up their game, too many history based dramas shot like an old Sunday supplement photo spread.

#tvneedsmorecobaltblue!

Basq · 25-01-2013 12:35pm

mike65 wrote: »

Its the BBC who need to up their game, too many history based dramas shot like an old Sunday supplement photo spread

To be fair to the Beeb.. when they get it right, they get it REALLY right: Sherlock, Luther, Doctor Who, Life On Mars, Ashes To Ashes etc.

But I agree with the sudden surge in history based dramas - grey, dark, dank and predictable.

WealthyB · 25-01-2013 1:32pm

Basq wrote: »

Personally, I thought it was needed to establish how bad Arby actually is..

EDIT: Thread title is spoiler tagged so no need for spoiler tags for episode discussion

disagree completely, I think they established how evil Arby was in first minute of episode 1 (and even more so with the torture scene)

Then again, maybe it's just me. Had an amazing baby boy last year and now we can't stand to see anything in which children might get hurt. Before it wouldn't have bothered me too much but now I just can't bring myself to watch it. Was the same with Breaking Bad

when they shot the young lad in Season 5, that nearly put me off the show completely as I lost any lingering empathy I had for Jesse and Walt.

Basq · 25-01-2013 1:53pm

WealthyB wrote: »

Have bothered me too much but now I just can't bring myself to watch it. Was the same with Breaking Bad
when they shot the young lad in Season 5, that nearly put me off the show completely as I lost any lingering empathy I had for Jesse and Walt.

Ease up on the Breaking Bad spoilers there WealthyB.. but while we're on the topic of that scene in 'Breaking Bad' -

Jesse and Walt didn't shoot him though!

Anyways, that's discussion for forum!

2ndcoming · 25-01-2013 2:07pm

Enjoyed the second episode. Some of my concerns about not feeling connected to the characters in ep1 were relieved when we saw Becky's phone call towards the end of ep2. It makes sense to keep it vague initially when it's gonna be a twisty turny 'who's side are they on?' kind of gig.

WealthyB · 25-01-2013 2:26pm

Basq wrote: »

Ease up on the Breaking Bad spoilers there WealthyB.. but while we're on the topic of that scene in 'Breaking Bad' -
Jesse and Walt didn't shoot him though!
Anyways, that's discussion for forum!

Oops! Thanks for that, assumed everyone would have seen it already

quad_red · 25-01-2013 3:06pm

Love the music as well!

https://soundcloud.com/cristobal-tapia-de-veer/utopia-1

This is a little taste from the opening scene for the new Chanel 4 UK drama "UTOPIA", for which I did the original score. Full score coming soon.
Instrumentation included human bones from the Atacama desert in Chile as well as a rhino turd from Zimbabwe used as percussion.

LittleBook · 25-01-2013 3:27pm

quad_red wrote: »

Love the music as well!

Me too. Was talking to my friend about it last night and she said she didn't even notice the music ... "Exactly!!"

And thanks for the link!

Rjd2 · 25-01-2013 10:33pm

Maskell who plays Arby plays a somewhat similar character in Kill List, really good in that as well,he knows how to play bastards!

Will I Amnt · 26-01-2013 12:49am

Rjd2 wrote: »

Maskell who plays Arby plays a somewhat similar character in Kill List, really good in that as well,he knows how to play bastards!

If people thought the eye torture in this was rough I wouldn't want to see their reaction to the hammer scene in Kill List :pac:

AnonoBoy · 29-01-2013 5:32pm

ibarelycare wrote: »

Yeah they use a huge amount of colour saturation. My boyfriend reckons it's all because they want to give it a "comic book" feel.

Yeah, the colours are completely saturated and it's for that 'graphic novel' look.

The whole style of it, the big wide shots then jumping to close ups - very similar to the style of graphic novels.

Normally it'd put me off but I think it suits this show.

Daroxtar · 30-01-2013 1:08am

Another great episode. Interesting developments with Arbys character. Cant Fkn wait till next week

Skerries · 30-01-2013 9:02am

will it turn out that Mr.Rabbit isn't Stephen Rea's character?

Tristram · 30-01-2013 1:18pm

:eek::eek::eek:

Wow! Quality.

DuckStab · 30-01-2013 2:32pm

Brilliant show, and as said above brilliant soundtrack!
I actually managed to miss all the advertising for it, the only reason I knew it was starting was because I was subscribed to Cristobal Tapia de Veer's newsletter! He did another great soundtrack for The Crimson Petal and the White - and the director of that is also the director of Utopia so I figured it'd be quality. He is a fan of distance-shots of fields I must say!
Anyway hopefully it continues in the same vein, looking forward to next week's!

Pudsy33 · 30-01-2013 9:01pm

Skerries wrote: »

will it turn out that Mr.Rabbit isn't Stephen Rea's character?

How could it be him? He's in the network is he not? They're the organisation trying to find him.

Edit: Got mixed up, Carvel wanted out after the cold war, not Mr Rabbit.

quad_red · 30-01-2013 10:01pm

Holy buck

That first few minutes is hard to watch.

ibarelycare · 30-01-2013 11:21pm

Another fantastic episode. Opening scene was chilling. Jessica's accent was bugging me though. Kept going between Irish and English! Just a minor complaint though, dying for the next episode, most gripping tv I've seen in a while. I think 6 episodes is enough, it's tough going!

quad_red · 30-01-2013 11:43pm

At the end of the episode:

Why didn't Arby kill Jessica? He asks what was Phillip Carval like. Jessica says she doesn't know, that's why she wanted the manuscript. He then lowers his gun and asks blankly 'where is Jessica Hyde'?

Was that his way of sparing her and letting her know it? Or did some sort of programming kick in?

In regards to Arby's background:

You don't have parents. You were part of a consignment from Bulgaria

What does that mean? Is it literal - is he a clone or something?

Are Arby and Jessica sister and brother or something?

pixelburp · 30-01-2013 11:57pm

Been watching the show and simply lurking in this thread; would definitely share the general praise being handed out. There's not a whole lot behind the stylish visuals & tone, but what exists is quite engaging. The conspiracy itself has a certain languid, British charm about it, bordering on the surreal (where often those kind of thrillers attempt a more breakneck pace).

If I had one criticism is that visually it's almost too rich, for want of a better word. Every scene feels painted & yes, much like a comic-book: you get a sense each shot was precisely & deliberately taken to resemble a storyboard, and while generally it means the show looks amazing, things like the saturation can get a bit overbearing sometimes. Other nuances like the assassin's heavy breathing & odd walk feel overly pronounced sometimes.

Leads me to wonder whether this show was a nightmare to shoot; with endless retakes until the director got everyone/everything exactly as envisioned.

Tristram · 31-01-2013 7:39am

I'm trying desperately to convince people to watch this. Unfortunately I don't really know how to describe it to them. No success yet! (

ibarelycare · 31-01-2013 8:53am

quad_red wrote: »

At the end of the episode:
Why didn't Arby kill Jessica? He asks what was Phillip Carval like. Jessica says she doesn't know, that's why she wanted the manuscript. He then lowers his gun and asks blankly 'where is Jessica Hyde'?

Was that his way of sparing her and letting her know it? Or did some sort of programming kick in?

In regards to Arby's background:
You don't have parents. You were part of a consignment from Bulgaria

What does that mean? Is it literal - is he a clone or something?

Are Arby and Jessica sister and brother or something?

Yeah I wondered why he didn't kill her too, seemed inconsistent to the rest of the story. And I also wondered if he was her brother.

The Gnome · 31-01-2013 9:12am

ibarelycare wrote: »

Yeah I wondered why he didn't kill her too, seemed inconsistent to the rest of the story. And I also wondered if he was her brother.

She didn't kill him either which I also found odd, Arby walked away with his back turned, her gun was still on the ground, she could have easily picked it up and shot him.

quad_red · 31-01-2013 10:15am

Arby was visibly upset/uncomfortable when dealing with Jessica. It all came down to childhood and it's destruction I suppose. The previous generation - Arby, Jess etc. And now Grant, Alice and all the murdered children.

In regards to Mr Rabbit - maybe he's the butler guy who works for Rea?

According to Milner, Mr Rabbit has the chinese symbol for rabbit carved into his stomach.

Is there a weird Alice in Wonderland thing going on here? Alice (Grant's friend) has now been dragged right down the rabbit hole.

Skerries · 31-01-2013 12:04pm

ooh I see what you're doing there
Milner = Mad hatter?

AnonoBoy · 31-01-2013 1:55pm

Skerries wrote: »

ooh I see what you're doing there
Milner = Mad hatter?

I didn't catch that. It's a nice little touch.

quad_red · 31-01-2013 2:09pm

Skerries wrote: »

ooh I see what you're doing there
Milner = Mad hatter?

Nice

Didn't see that.

Mmmmmm.

The Mad Hatter is sentenced to death by the Queen but is saved by time and is forever frozen in time to six oclock (tea time).

Mr Rabbit was sentenced to death when the US authorities shopped him to the gangs and he escaped after causing a blood bath and erasing all those who had ever heard of him.

When Jessica was in the room with Grant (when he was drinking) she had this really creepy smile that reminded me a bit of the Chesire Cat (although that may just be the actress).

Dugdale as the march hare? Terrified, jittery.

quad_red · 31-01-2013 2:29pm

Although a milliner makes hats rather than necessarily wearing them...

Skerries · 31-01-2013 7:02pm

yes but that is what a hatter is as well
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hatter

spiritcrusher · 01-02-2013 1:34am

With all the violence that took place in that episode, including children being murdered, I thought the most unsettling part was the minister's threat "be a shame to see her raped" towards Dugdale's wife. F*ck that's cold. And the deadpan way that line was delivered was properly threatening.

But I love programmes that can unsettle me a little and I'm finding this show to be fantastic in general. Something about revealing a little of Arby's backstory makes him even more unnerving I find. Not being able to kill the last child (although I was sure I heard a shot) and asking about his childhood made him seem a bit more unpredictable as there's now a chance he mightn't blow your brains out.

Great stuff.

jcsoulinger · 01-02-2013 2:11am

he did kill the last child

quad_red · 01-02-2013 9:37am

spiritcrusher wrote: »

Not being able to kill the last child (although I was sure I heard a shot) and asking about his childhood made him seem a bit more unpredictable as there's now a chance he mightn't blow your brains out.

He did - the thing is he hesitated. And he wasn't used to that.

His first memories are of killing animals ffs!

He's been raised (and possibly bred) to be a merciless killer.

But something has changed. He wants to know why he didn't feel anything when the only person that passed for a friend was killed. He hesitated killing the school child because there was an emotional resonance with the dropped packet of raisins. And he seemed terrified dealing with Jessica, leaving her live when surely his orders must have been to nail her at all costs.

mike65 · 01-02-2013 11:53am

Arby and Jessica are part of the same machine, I think they are linked either biologically or psychologically at some level.

stevenmu · 01-02-2013 6:22pm

mike65 wrote: »

Arby and Jessica are part of the same machine, I think they are linked either biologically or psychologically at some level.

Yep, he asked if Jessica was like him, so he certainly thinks they're the same in some way anyway.

quad_red · 01-02-2013 6:35pm

Jessica Hyde always makes me think of Jekyll and Hyde.

Will I Amnt · 01-02-2013 7:08pm

quad_red wrote: »

Jessica Hyde always makes me think of Jekyll and Hyde.

She makes me think of Michael Jackson :pac:

Utopia (Channel 4) [** Spoilers **]

Comments

Utopia (Channel 4) [ Spoilers ]