Utopia (Channel 4) [ Spoilers ]

Skerries · 02-02-2013 1:26am

Arby is clearly a psycopath/sociopah
as he has no significant emotional feelings and and usually serial killers start off killing small animals

02-02-2013 3:28pm

This show is genuinely not afraid to be edgy - as shocking as the school massacre was at the start and the child begging for his life, before being shot, what got me the most was the politician's wife being threatened with rape. It was the way that it was delivered; almost deadpan, that made it seem just so.. horrifying.

Skerries · 06-02-2013 12:17am

what did Letts say that RB stood for, I couldn't quite make it out?

pixelburp · 06-02-2013 12:20am

Skerries wrote: »

what did Letts say that RB stood for, I couldn't quite make it out?

"Raisin Boy", as in the treats the boy was given, and Arby still ate as an adult

Pudsy33 · 06-02-2013 2:38am

If Raes character knew where Jesicca and the others were, why wasnt someone sent to kill them?

saintsaltynuts · 06-02-2013 9:29pm

Who was the man shot dead last night?

quad_red · 06-02-2013 11:36pm

Pudsy33 wrote: »

If Raes character knew where Jesicca and the others were, why wasnt someone sent to kill them?

Yeah, that's a pretty big stand out.

Is Rae who Becky called? Does she think she's talking to someone else?

It was a weak episode tonight, overall. Not enough Arby and Jessica!

mike65 · 06-02-2013 11:53pm

I thought it a strong episode because of its ambiguity. Everyone bar Wilson Wilson (the paranoid one who has become the most trusting) has a second agenda. Arby is probably going to turn out to be the hero and Jessica the villain.

Also easily the best looking and sounding tv series since, well since I can recall.

Sarn · 07-02-2013 12:06am

The pace is just right, with just enough info being provided to drive the story forward. The benefits of a limited run of episodes, rather than the typical 21-22.

I'm assuming the amino acid in the food is to prime the population and help drive the growth of the Janus virus (like l-arginine in Herpes) when it's administered.

mike65 · 07-02-2013 12:13am

Typical only in Amerikay. Not British telly.

whitetrash · 07-02-2013 1:58pm

saintsaltynuts wrote: »

Who was the man shot dead last night?

The CEO of the food company whose logo appeared in the comic, equivalent to kraft or nestle.

whitetrash · 07-02-2013 2:02pm

Pudsy33 wrote: »

If Raes character knew where Jesicca and the others were, why wasnt someone sent to kill them?

What makes you think that he knew where they were?

quad_red · 07-02-2013 2:24pm

whitetrash wrote: »

What makes you think that he knew where they were?

Because Arby asks him where is Jessica Hyde. Then they give him a scribbled note, he leaves, then rocks up at the house.

They are being tracked either by the phone Miliner gave them (so Milinier is working for Mr Rabbit. Or IS Mr Rabbit) or via Becky.

ibarelycare · 07-02-2013 2:33pm

I trust absolutely no one! I'm hoping that Becky (as annoying as she is) is actually good and doing it for the right reasons. I'm wondering is her dad really still alive.

Daroxtar · 07-02-2013 9:53pm

I'm calling it now.

Jessica is Mr Rabbit. She's some legend type that no one has ever actually seen, trained by her insane father and knows her cover could be blown by Utopia surfacing so she has to follow the pursuit as part of the gang until it reaches the point where she can take out everyone with any link to her.

Arby didn't kill her because she is in control of him.

The pages she took from the manuscript were the ones which implicated her as a L'enfant terrible. Probably playing with a toy rabbit

Becky is working for the Russians

I may stand to be corrected on some of the above

AlmightyCushion · 07-02-2013 10:30pm

Daroxtar wrote: »

I'm calling it now.

Jessica is Mr Rabbit. She's some legend type that no one has ever actually seen, trained by her insane father and knows her cover could be blown by Utopia surfacing so she has to follow the pursuit as part of the gang until it reaches the point where she can take out everyone with any link to her.

Arby didn't kill her because she is in control of him.

The pages she took from the manuscript were the ones which implicated her as a L'enfant terrible. Probably playing with a toy rabbit

Becky is working for the Russians

I may stand to be corrected on some of the above

If she looked like this, maybe.

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121014124555/disney/images/5/52/Jessica_rabbit.png

pixelburp · 07-02-2013 10:49pm

Yeah, there's bound to be at least one red herring & my initial thought was Becky: that while we assume she's working with the bad guys, in fact it's another / 3rd party. I do like the idea though that there's more to Jessica than we think

whitetrash · 08-02-2013 1:25am

quad_red wrote: »

Because Arby asks him where is Jessica Hyde. Then they give him a scribbled note, he leaves, then rocks up at the house.

They are being tracked either by the phone Miliner gave them (so Milinier is working for Mr Rabbit. Or IS Mr Rabbit) or via Becky.

I took that to mean they knew where Jessica was, not necessarily the others since they're not 'together'. Or otherwise, that they knew they didn't have the manuscript any more and so didn't care about them so long as they were under observation.

Regarding Becky, I think she's involved with a 3rd party that is either against or in competition with rabbit.

Also, has there been involvement of Russians outside of it being 'Russian' flu and the prostitute (and her pimp)? I can't remember. Was that not all rabbit?

TheStook · 09-02-2013 1:07am

Lads can someone give a brief summary of what's going on, I've been getting interrupted the past two episodes and don't really want to re-watch.
Who is Arby's "dad"? The guy that they took at the end? I though he was the Prime Minister?

brian_t · 09-02-2013 1:44am

TheStook wrote: »

Lads can someone give a brief summary of what's going on, I've been getting interrupted the past two episodes and don't really want to re-watch.
Who is Arby's "dad"? The guy that they took at the end? I though he was the Prime Minister?

The Guardian do a weekly blog on you might like to read through.

"There's a creepy easter egg if you dial the police hotline number in the background when Grant's mother is making the appeal" - another one of those details that's making Utopia so entertaining..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/feb/05/utopia-episode-four

wildefalcon · 09-02-2013 9:30am

It's curious (to me) that the horsemeat "scandal" has broken at the same time that this program is being aired.

Also, I think that Becky has

the same disease that her father died of (if that's true), her clumsiness with the cup of fanta, and the pills she takes every day could be a degenerative nerve disease.

frag420 · 09-02-2013 1:32pm

wildefalcon wrote: »

It's curious (to me) that the horsemeat "scandal" has broken at the same time that this program is being aired.

Also, I think that Becky has
the same disease that her father died of (if that's true), her clumsiness with the cup of fanta, and the pills she takes every day could be a degenerative nerve disease.

I was thinking the same regarding the current horsemeat scandal!!

Weird huh!!

whitetrash · 11-02-2013 10:03am

TheStook wrote: »

Lads can someone give a brief summary of what's going on, I've been getting interrupted the past two episodes and don't really want to re-watch.
Who is Arby's "dad"? The guy that they took at the end? I though he was the Prime Minister?

Arby's 'dad' was the geneticist who wrote the utopia comic. They guy they took at the end is the head of that corvat (or however you spell it) corporation.

quad_red · 11-02-2013 1:48pm

whitetrash wrote: »

Arby's 'dad' was the geneticist who wrote the utopia comic. They guy they took at the end is the head of that corvat (or however you spell it) corporation.

Have they ever confirmed either of them?

Letts tells Arby he has no parents/family.

Letts appeared to be the one in charge at the beginning but more and more his butler guy appears to be calling the shots. Letts appears to have some sort of discomfort about doing what 'needs' to be done (ie. the school killing etc.). Whilst the butler guy is dead behind the eyes.

11-02-2013 2:43pm

I reckon that they got Arby from an orphanage, hence having no parents or family, and "building" him to become this unfeeling killing machine to do whatever they might command. It's why Grant referred to the little boy in the comic book, who was tortured. Arby was probably one of many, with Jessica Hyde being the only actual daughter, who was probably raised right, but was made an unfeeling killing machine through circumstance (she mentioned that someone had taught her everything she knew pretty much).

After Arby's only friend was killed and he felt nothing, he began to question everything about himself. When faced with Jessica, he probably saw everything he could have been and felt powerless for the first time in his life, hence almost reverting to a default state of "Where is Jessica Hyde?"

Of course, this is all just assumptions and probably wrong.

whitetrash · 12-02-2013 1:54pm

quad_red wrote: »

Have they ever confirmed either of them?

Letts tells Arby he has no parents/family.

Letts appeared to be the one in charge at the beginning but more and more his butler guy appears to be calling the shots. Letts appears to have some sort of discomfort about doing what 'needs' to be done (ie. the school killing etc.). Whilst the butler guy is dead behind the eyes.

That's why I put dad in quotation marks. I assumed they were reffering to the geneticist as his 'dad' since he is who made him as he is.

The thing with conspiracy shows is (if they're ongoing, rather than movies or mini-series) the person who seems in charge for a while always has a boss, then that boss turns out to have a boss etc. Unless Letts is Mr Rabbit, then he's not the boss.

saintsaltynuts · 13-02-2013 12:12am

Any chance of a Season 2 or that's that?

mike65 · 13-02-2013 12:14am

last one next week.

mike65 wrote: »

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

So now we know!

Daroxtar · 13-02-2013 1:10am

Series 1, does that mean there'll be a season 2? :eek:
sorry for the big pic

pixelburp · 13-02-2013 8:41am

Aha, figured Becky's apparent double-dealing wouldn't simply be with Corvadt(sp)

I thought Arby was particularly chilling this week. His scenes in the cafe with Jessica really made it clear that his mind is still that of a childs, which just makes his murders all the more disturbing really. At first I thought the actors movements and expressions were just way too pronounced for the sake of eccentricity, but looking at it now it seems like he was trying to play a child in a mans body (feels like the entire show centres around broken children, or adults with broken childhoods)

Also: be completely honest now - who gave the masterplan some thought and figured "you know, it's utterly reprehensible, but it's not without some sense". It's all very Children of Man, but given that the population is set to hit 10 billion in our lifetimes, it's a scary thought we might start to starve because of this.

Daroxtar · 13-02-2013 9:44pm

pixelburp wrote: »

Aha, figured Becky's apparent double-dealing wouldn't simply be with Corvadt(sp)

I thought Arby was particularly chilling this week. His scenes in the cafe with Jessica really made it clear that his mind is still that of a childs, which just makes his murders all the more disturbing really. At first I thought the actors movements and expressions were just way too pronounced for the sake of eccentricity, but looking at it now it seems like he was trying to play a child in a mans body (feels like the entire show centres around broken children, or adults with broken childhoods)

Also: be completely honest now - who gave the masterplan some thought and figured "you know, it's utterly reprehensible, but it's not without some sense". It's all very Children of Man, but given that the population is set to hit 10 billion in our lifetimes, it's a scary thought we might start to starve because of this.

I've been sayin for years that we need a massive war/pestillence/comet strike. Just so long as I survive.....

Skerries · 14-02-2013 1:37pm

yeah we no longer have a black and white divide between the players and can actually see the other sides point of view

whitetrash · 14-02-2013 6:32pm

Skerries wrote: »

yeah we no longer have a black and white divide between the players and can actually see the other sides point of view

Even if you agree with the goal, they're going about it in a pretty evil-icious way. I can imagine them having footsoldiers with skulls on their uniforms.

DuckStab · 15-02-2013 12:36pm

The Utopia Inquiry on the C4 website is a nice addition, good to know we're most likely buggered as a society no matter what "solution" we choose!

I really hope they do a special edition of the DVD that includes a copy of the graphic novel/manuscript pages. They clearly went to the trouble of creating a good few intriguing images at least, so even if it didn't make any sense it'd be nice to have!
Anyway great show, looking forward to the conclusion and, perhaps, a second series next year.

mike65 · 15-02-2013 12:44pm

As regards a possible second series, unless there is a genuinely brilliant plot development next week which opens up a proper new angle that the screenwriter has already fully worked up, I really hope it comes to a close.

cml387 · 15-02-2013 11:12pm

I thought it was gripping this week in particular.

Who would have thought that the Arby character from Ep 1 could become the poignant lost child we saw in this episode.

TheStook · 17-02-2013 9:33pm

I gots me a new wallpaper!

quad_red · 18-02-2013 9:48am

TheStook wrote: »

I gots me a new wallpaper!

The ultimate digital anti-fapping solution.

Skerries · 18-02-2013 2:58pm

Where is Jessica Hyde's ...breakfast?

18-02-2013 3:34pm

Neil Maskell, the guy that plays Arby, is a wonderful actor. Was such an unnerving thing to see this guy who, in previous episodes, slaughtered innocent kids, families, and a mother in front of her daughter, then transform into someone who has such a childlike innocence to them. Was extraordinarily well done.

Basq · 18-02-2013 3:37pm

I'm 3 episodes behind in this.. am thinking a re-watch / bumper marathon at the weekend.

I do love the music.. I've the closing credit's theme as my ringtone. Superb!

The Gnome · 18-02-2013 3:58pm

Basq wrote: »

I do love the music.. I've the closing credit's theme as my ringtone. Superb!

Same here, from what I've read it was made with human bones and and rhino turds for the percussion. Where'd you manage to find the outro theme? Been looking for it everywhere but can't find the full piece.

Basq · 18-02-2013 4:01pm

The Gnome wrote: »

Where'd you manage to find the outro theme? Been looking for it everywhere but can't find the full piece.

Snipped audio from an episode gotten via 4OD..

.. can't find full theme either!

Best I could do.

The Gnome · 18-02-2013 4:09pm

Basq wrote: »

Snipped audio from an episode gotten via 4OD..

.. can't find full theme either!

Best I could do.

Never thought of that, excellent. The artist said there may be an album released once the season is over.

His site

Basq · 18-02-2013 4:22pm

Yep, he posted this yesterday on his YouTube..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh6OW0oeN1g

Very good!

From 3.40 onwards particularly seems to be very remiscent of the closing credits.

TheStook · 18-02-2013 4:44pm

If that dvd picture is legit then surely it means there will be a second season? I don't see why else it would have "season one" written on the box if its just a one time mini series?

Skerries · 18-02-2013 5:13pm

yeah it's legit as they showed it after last weeks episode

wildefalcon · 18-02-2013 10:50pm

They are really playing to the conspiracy crowd in this episode - the freemason symbol repeated on the ceiling in the room where they kept Letts, for example. No doubt there are other examples for those who have the time to freeze frame the entire series!

Robert Anton Wilson (Arrgh! - just spotted this) would be proud!

TheStook · 18-02-2013 11:17pm

Skerries wrote: »

yeah it's legit as they showed it after last weeks episode

So on that basis I'm assuming there's gonna be a second season, happy days

Will I Amnt · 18-02-2013 11:19pm

wildefalcon wrote: »

They are really playing to the conspiracy crowd in this episode - the freemason symbol repeated on the ceiling in the room where they kept Letts, for example. No doubt there are other examples for those who have the time to freeze frame the entire series!

Robert Anton Wilson (Arrgh! - just spotted this) would be proud!

And they've bitten as usual. There's a thread over in the conspiracy theories forum...

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

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Utopia (Channel 4) [ Spoilers ]