Utopia (Channel 4) [ Spoilers ]

pixelburp · 24-07-2014 02:12PM

Can't get over how gorgeous this TV series can look: it's just so lush and colourful, with nearly every second shot a painting in of itself.

Tbh, the reveal about the old man didn't surprise me; given how the prequel episode ended, it seemed somewhat obvious - or guessable anyway at the least.

ibarelycare · 25-07-2014 11:19AM

pixelburp wrote: »

My only quibble was that I was little confused about Dugdale's position:
didn't he go on the run with that orphaned girl? How is he suddenly in charge of Corvat?

Yeah I wondered this as well. I intended to re-watch series one but never got around to it so am trying to remember some things!

Loved the first three episodes. Rose Leslie did a perfect job as a young Milner. Just love this show so much, it's so beautiful to watch.

quad_red · 25-07-2014 12:56PM

I'm only realising now that in episode one

This guy

Was a young version of the Assistant.

Facial hair gave it away :P

spiritcrusher · 25-07-2014 06:47PM

That and the massive chinese symbol he etched into himself and the end of episode one! :P

Harry Palmr · 25-07-2014 11:13PM

pixelburp wrote: »

Can't get over how gorgeous this TV series can look: it's just so lush and colourful, with nearly every second shot a painting in of itself.

The look is sensational, normally I don't like programmes where it looks like the colourist has gone mad in the editing suit but here its so well judged and of course in keeping with the parallel world vibe of the drama. Director Marc Murden has a big future ahead of him.

quad_red · 26-07-2014 12:40AM

spiritcrusher wrote: »

That and the massive chinese symbol he etched into himself and the end of episode one! :P

Errr - totally missed that. Teething toddler kinda wrecked utopia concentration!

Daroxtar · 29-07-2014 11:03PM

Yet another great episode. This is definitely my favourite show of the last few years.

DuckStab · 30-07-2014 01:23PM

Anyone else find it a little eerie that S1 aired just as the horsemeat scandal was coming out, and S2 is airing as "the worst Ebola outbreak in history" is happening in Africa? Something for the Wilsons amongst us to ponder!

Quality show, strikes me as one of those where everyone involved was of a singular vision, everything just clicks. Standout soundtrack yet again.

I said it last year and I'll say it again; I'd love if they made replica Utopia manuscripts for people to get their hands on, the illustrations are fantastic!

quad_red · 30-07-2014 03:21PM

A chilling start to the episode.

Wilson's 'fall' into the darkness is so captivating because it's so thorough (murdering Ian's brother!) yet so disturbingly believable and almost justifiable??

Jessica's attempts to be human are so robotic, the damage has been done to her is so great.

Grant wanting to more mechanical like Arby and Arby searching for a bit of humanity.

Davarus Walrus · 05-08-2014 10:39PM

Very weak episode so far. Apart from the lovely Twin Peak references, there really hasn't been much to keep someone watching. Too many spurious and uninteresting characters looking at each other with a sense of foreboding.

Tigger · 05-08-2014 11:02PM

was Philip brainwashed?
why did he shoot at Jessica

Daroxtar · 05-08-2014 11:39PM

Davarus Walrus wrote: »

Very weak episode so far. Apart from the lovely Twin Peak references, there really hasn't been much to keep someone watching. Too many spurious and uninteresting characters looking at each other with a sense of foreboding.

You watching Twilight again ?

Best episode since the season opener imho. No big surprise with the choice of race reveal. I'm going to be really p!ssed off if

Arby dies. He's a great character

Birneybau · 06-08-2014 10:44AM

Daroxtar wrote: »

You watching Twilight again ?

Best episode since the season opener imho. No big surprise with the choice of race reveal. I'm going to be really p!ssed off if
Arby dies. He's a great character

No big surprise but is the writer making a wry political comment? I thought he was. Great show, endlessly inventive.

wonderboysam · 06-08-2014 02:08PM

young Milner was the sexiest vixen!! rarrrrrrr !

pixelburp · 06-08-2014 02:11PM

I commented back in series 1 that when you sat down and thought about it, The Network's plan wasn't all that evil, not entirely. Given how overpopulated the planet is becoming - 7 billion and still growing! - and how relatively 'painless' the initial plan seemed to be, being a quiet and subtle plan to reduce birthrates, I won't deny it, I was a little slow to condemn Milner & co.

So sometimes it seems jarring just how violent and callous its members are scripted, as it feels like the writers are overcompensating in places, in an attempt to offset the already morally-ambiguous plan. After all, if they didn't go around shooting up schools and families in cold blood, the protagonists might come across like the're fighting against a broadly altruistic goal.

Anyway, I thought last night's episode was pretty strong, and quite sad with its various reunions, though I miss Mark Munden's direction. Sam Donovan is directing the back three episodes and while he continued the broadly surreal visual styling, it seemed a little more muted and less imaginative than Munden's direction; felt like there weren't quite as many of those gorgeous compositions Munden arranged.

Birneybau · 06-08-2014 06:30PM

wonderboysam wrote: »

young Milner was the sexiest vixen!! rarrrrrrr !

You know nothing wonderboysam

(She's Igritte in Game of Thrones)

Chimaera · 08-08-2014 04:03PM

It's only occurred to me today to go looking around boards for a discussion on this show!! Been hooked since day 1.

I'm a little skeptical that

Milner and Arby are dead after the last episode. Both of them got shot in one side of the chest. Arby's was highish on the left, nothing there except a lung. Milner's was a little lower on the right hand side, so it could have done some liver damage too. Both are serious injuries, but they're not going to be immediately life-threatening.

Also, who's giggling at the thought of Jessica finding out she's pregnant?

AnonoBoy · 08-08-2014 08:35PM

Harry Palmr wrote: »

The look is sensational, normally I don't like programmes where it looks like the colourist has gone mad in the editing suit but here its so well judged and of course in keeping with the parallel world vibe of the drama. Director Marc Murden has a big future ahead of him.

The colouring and the framing always remind me of a stylish graphic novel.

Which is apt I suppose considering how the whole conspiracy is discovered in the first place.

ricero · 10-08-2014 03:27PM

only have to watching all the episodes of this over the past 3 days. sensational television. anyone know if there will be a third series ?

K-9 · 10-08-2014 04:08PM

Daroxtar wrote: »

Arby dies. He's a great character

Thought it was clever that

Phillip didn't consciously think it was Arby he killed, he went past the young lad who he thinks is his son.

Daroxtar · 12-08-2014 11:27PM

Last season after the finale I didn't know if I wanted a season 2 as I was afraid they might ruin it by coming back with a weaker show and if it ended the way it did then so be it.
Shouldn't have worried.
Now I'm left wondering, could they wrap it at that? Has the story been completed , to a point?
TBH I can't wait for season 3. Don't have a clue what direction it will take but I'm sure Dennis Kelly has a proper story arc worked out.
Best show on TV for the past few years IMHO.

ricero · 13-08-2014 01:20AM

Who would of thought that wilson could steep so low. His descent into darkness was fantastically well written

Basq · 13-08-2014 10:14AM

Don't know about anyone else but I was gutted to see

Lee killed off. His character was fantastically creepy!

It was a very short 6 episodes but can't wait for more... just stunning TV!

pixelburp · 13-08-2014 08:31PM

Wilson's downwards spiral has certainly been the most compelling part of series 2, no question. I guess as a man already believing in conspiracy and fringe science, it made him more likely to fall into The Network's line of thinking. And while I suspected he would eventually

have his revenge upon Lee

, I didn't think it would act as a punctuation to his final descent into darkness. Chilling stuff.

Hard to think where a series 3 might go though, they couldn't do yet another 'oh no, Janus is to be released!' without the law of diminishing returns really kicking in. Still, if it was as well executed as the first two series, I'll still be tuning in; fantastic TV.

Will I Amnt · 13-08-2014 10:11PM

Basq wrote: »

Don't know about anyone else but I was gutted to see
Lee killed off. His character was fantastically creepy!

It was a very short 6 episodes but can't wait for more... just stunning TV!

Yeah, great charachter, somehow manages to be sort of likeable and add a bit of humour all the while being by far the most outwardly sinister and psychopathic of them all.

I was full sure

Becky was a goner and would have been more disappointed over her.

That Welsh accent makes her scathing comments all the funnier, I proper lolled when she had a go at Wilson for calling them "The Three"

Daroxtar · 13-08-2014 10:36PM

Will I Amnt wrote: »

Yeah, great charachter, somehow manages to be sort of likeable and add a bit of humour all the while being by far the most outwardly sinister and psychopathic of them all.

I was full sure
Becky was a goner and would have been more disappointed over her.
That Welsh accent makes her scathing comments all the funnier, I proper lolled when she had a go at Wilson for calling them "The Three"

"Facking Space Goblin"

:D:D

Chimaera · 13-08-2014 11:42PM

There's a very real difference in personality between season 1 and season 2, more so now that S2 is finished.

S1 was all about figuring out what Janus was, what the Network was, realising what was happening and who was pulling the strings.

S2 was much more about the characters coming to terms with themselves and what they have had to do as a result of what's happened. The small handful of new main characters (really just Carvell and Gorsand) that were introduced in this season just served to bolster that.

Wilson's psychological unwinding is perhaps the most stark and unsettling. Arby has started out trying to redeem himself, but will his true nature undermine that? Jessica wants to finally fit in to the world as an adult, now that she thinks it's all over and she's found her family. Ian wasn't able to handle this stuff well in S1, and that's continued in S2; he's being dragged along for the ride whether he likes it or not - he'd really prefer if everyone could be nice to each other and Janus wasn't needed after all. Grant's trying to establish his own identity as any teenager does, and picks quite possibly the worst role model in history (Arby); the irony is that he does this as Arby is coming to terms with himself and his dark nature and realising it's all wrong.

I'm feeling sorry for Dugdale now. In S1 he came across as a miserable puppet, but he found himself in S2 just in time for Wilson to crush him. I really like Jennifer though: do not get between a mother and her family

I'm still trying to straighten out my thoughts on Becky.

Prediction for S3: Carvell is forced to fix Janus or help in doing so; with Becky, Ian and Jessica held hostage against this. Dugdale continues in his role at Corvadt, but trying to figure out how to undermine Mr. Rabbit. Arby escapes and plots to free Jessica and co. Grant's up to something but it's impossible to tell what: he's a loose cannon at this point. Wilson goes ahead with the controlled release of the flu but it goes wrong and much of his season will be engaging in damage control with Leah.

DuckStab · 15-08-2014 01:51PM

Just a stellar show, can't say much more than that. Wilson's descent (ascent?) reminded me of the "bad ending" in Streets of Rage

But I have to say I'm irate that what is (in my opinion) one of the all time best looking and sounding shows - filmed in HD, broadcast in HD - is not getting a HD release! I have S1 on Blu-ray and it looks tremendous. Having a DVD only release is simply mind boggling.
C4 are shooting themselves in the foot, a lot of people will just keep the 4HD broadcasts rather than shelling out for an inferior version, which may have a knock-on effect when it comes to commissioning S3. Can't understand the reluctance to get rid of DVD as a format, BD's been around for 8 years now. I mean how many VHS only releases can you remember from 2007? There's a petition in case anyone wants to sign it, probably won't do any good but still.

Looking forward to the S2 soundtrack at least, provided of course it doesn't get a cassette only release :rolleyes:

Will I Amnt · 19-09-2014 08:16PM

This ad has been wrecking my head every time I see it, the voice is so familiar and I couldn't put my finger on it, still not 100% but it sounds very like a certain Jessica Hyde...

Sanchez83 · 19-09-2014 08:30PM

I spotted that the 2nd or 3rd time I heard the ad.Has to be her.

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

Comments

Utopia (Channel 4) [ Spoilers ]