Oh cheers, I should have re watched the first series just incase any characters back stories were shown in this prequal.
Wonder if they'll show the meeting between the dumbass father and 15 year old son, when he ties him to a tree and pulls his guts out. Not that he deserves such a thing happening to him. *Rolleyes*.
BROTHER jeckyl and SISTER hyde
thought it was obvious who it was
it's great to have this back, love the colour saturation
LOVE the retro picture format
Really enjoyed the episode Milner is an incredible character and the actress was superb. It was nice to see the backround and see that in a weird way Janus was created with the best of intentions further adding to the moral and ethical dilemma.
Wonder if they'll show the meeting between the dumbass father and 15 year old son, when he ties him to a tree and pulls his guts out. Not that he deserves such a thing happening to him. *Rolleyes*.
Raisin boy didn't eviscerate his father, he killed the guy who had been protecting Jessica after their father was locked up in the Mental hospital.
Are you sure? Surely that kid would have been killed during the radiation leak.
The kid definitely was Raisin Boy, they called him by the same christian name that grown up Raisin Boy finally remembered about himself at the end of series 1.
Great episode. This is the kind of sophisticated, smart storytelling that I really enjoy. It felt like an 80s period drama at times with glimpses of Thatcher, rioting and the like and mentions of the IRA. I like how they weaved all of that into the episode.
As for the episode itself, it shed a considerable light on the backstory of the show. We witnessed the birth of Janus and the origins of Arby and his transformation into the callous killer we saw in Series 1. Arby's childhood was quite saddening to watch, made sadder by the top-notch music score. Carvell is a despicable monster and a modern day Dr Frankenstein, but a thoroughly interesting monster. The Network's machinations to overthrow the Conservative-led government was a nice subplot too and gave us a glimpse into how the Network operate.
Also, Rose Leslie deserves a shout out for her quality portrayal of a young Milner. The actor playing Carvell did a good job of portraying a man descending into madness too.
All in all, a great series opener. Though I gotta admit it's a bit strange that they chose the first episode of a new series to be a flashback episode as these sorts of episodes are usually saved for later on in most genre shows, but I'm not complaining as I enjoyed it.
Whoops, I made a few glaring mistakes in my post. I meant the 70s, not the 80s. And I believe it was a Labour-led government.
Because of your ridiculous mistakes we have no other choice than to torture you, politely of course!
I'm really looking forward to tonight's episode, we get to see what's happened to the gang (although the trailers have kind of spoiled it by showing all the main characters are back).
I thought last night's episode had an almost Adam Curtis-like feel to it. I loved the old 4:3 picture format and how it was rounded at the edges to resemble the old TV's. The over-saturated colours worked well as always (very Wes Anderson) and the whole show is just really well produced. You can tell a lot of thought and love goes into making it.
Thought it was great & gripping, but the scene with Piotr/Pietre and the rabbit shocked the hell out of me and I've watched the show from the start. Grim, grim, grim.
Rose Leslie was excellent as Milner- got the mannerisms and the voice just right. Tom Burke was brilliant as well.
I thought it was good but it lacked the humour that is usually present in Utopia, which I think made it a tad hard going. But the trailer is full of witty one-liners so i'm confident that this was just a one off.
I agree that young Milner was spot on (although kept expecting her to say "You know nothing Jon Snuuur", the actress coming fresh from Game of Thrones). The mannerisms were superb, although almost bordering on caricature sometimes. In fact the casting in general was excellent with young Jessica looking exactly how you would imagine too. Does anyone know is that the only flash-back or will there be more interspersed throughout the series? Would be good to see a bit more of Krystophe (spelling?), who essentially brought up Jessica, and who we saw right at the end.
The attention to detail is excellent. I doubt it holds any importance but did anyone notice that Pietre/Arby was wearing the exact same colour clothers that Arby wore throughout Series One?
The Three Mile Island scenes threatened to jolt me out of my suspension of disbelief and the influence of Lost was visible in this ep even more than the previous series but it was great comic-book telly though.
C4 should do more of this kind of stuff although with disastrous ratings last night of just 556k it seems unlikely!!
The attention to detail is excellent. I doubt it holds any importance but did anyone notice that Pietre/Arby was wearing the exact same colour clothers that Arby wore throughout Series One?
I was amazed that the kid looked so much like the grown-up Arby; same vacant glum expression. I wonder if some CGI was involved in certain scenes to maintain his 'look'.
The music was spooky & excellent, even better than last series'.
I was amazed that the kid looked so much like the grown-up Arby; same vacant glum expression. I wonder if some CGI was involved in certain scenes to maintain his 'look'.
Comments
Raisin Boy
Oh cheers, I should have re watched the first series just incase any characters back stories were shown in this prequal.
Wonder if they'll show the meeting between the dumbass father and 15 year old son, when he ties him to a tree and pulls his guts out. Not that he deserves such a thing happening to him. *Rolleyes*.
thought it was obvious who it was
it's great to have this back, love the colour saturation
LOVE the retro picture format
Raisin boy didn't eviscerate his father, he killed the guy who had been protecting Jessica after their father was locked up in the Mental hospital.
The kid definitely was Raisin Boy, they called him by the same christian name that grown up Raisin Boy finally remembered about himself at the end of series 1.
As for the episode itself, it shed a considerable light on the backstory of the show. We witnessed the birth of Janus and the origins of Arby and his transformation into the callous killer we saw in Series 1. Arby's childhood was quite saddening to watch, made sadder by the top-notch music score. Carvell is a despicable monster and a modern day Dr Frankenstein, but a thoroughly interesting monster. The Network's machinations to overthrow the Conservative-led government was a nice subplot too and gave us a glimpse into how the Network operate.
Also, Rose Leslie deserves a shout out for her quality portrayal of a young Milner. The actor playing Carvell did a good job of portraying a man descending into madness too.
All in all, a great series opener. Though I gotta admit it's a bit strange that they chose the first episode of a new series to be a flashback episode as these sorts of episodes are usually saved for later on in most genre shows, but I'm not complaining as I enjoyed it.
Yes, of course.:)
Because of your ridiculous mistakes we have no other choice than to torture you, politely of course!
I'm really looking forward to tonight's episode, we get to see what's happened to the gang (although the trailers have kind of spoiled it by showing all the main characters are back).
I thought last night's episode had an almost Adam Curtis-like feel to it. I loved the old 4:3 picture format and how it was rounded at the edges to resemble the old TV's. The over-saturated colours worked well as always (very Wes Anderson) and the whole show is just really well produced. You can tell a lot of thought and love goes into making it.
Yeah you're right. Shame really. At least dad went insane, although that doesn't quite seem punishment enough for him. >:(
Looks like everyone enjoyed the episode despite it being a prequel and not featuring anyone we know, that's good to see.
I assumed that was some kind of metaphorical vision, the kid wasn't actually there.
I have the first half of episode 4 missing though, so that will probably turn out to be crucial.
That was my thinking too. Carvel was pretty far gone by that point, and how would the kid have escaped from wherever he was.
4OD is your friend. ;-)
Rose Leslie was excellent as Milner- got the mannerisms and the voice just right. Tom Burke was brilliant as well.
I agree that young Milner was spot on (although kept expecting her to say "You know nothing Jon Snuuur", the actress coming fresh from Game of Thrones). The mannerisms were superb, although almost bordering on caricature sometimes. In fact the casting in general was excellent with young Jessica looking exactly how you would imagine too. Does anyone know is that the only flash-back or will there be more interspersed throughout the series? Would be good to see a bit more of Krystophe (spelling?), who essentially brought up Jessica, and who we saw right at the end.
The attention to detail is excellent. I doubt it holds any importance but did anyone notice that Pietre/Arby was wearing the exact same colour clothers that Arby wore throughout Series One?
C4 should do more of this kind of stuff although with disastrous ratings last night of just 556k it seems unlikely!!
I was amazed that the kid looked so much like the grown-up Arby; same vacant glum expression. I wonder if some CGI was involved in certain scenes to maintain his 'look'.
The music was spooky & excellent, even better than last series'.
They used twins. No CG as far as I know.