Utopia, Tuesdays at 10pm, Channel 4

CorabalCorabal Posts: 3,371
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I've found not threads on this at all, which is odd. Those who watched this, what did you think?
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  • CorwinCorwin Posts: 16,588
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    Not watched it yet (though may check it out) but there is a thread in the UK TV forum.
  • CorabalCorabal Posts: 3,371
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    Odd, I did do a search in all forums for utopia in thread titles, that didn't pop up.
  • T.K.T.K. Posts: 19,502
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    Just watched this. I still haven't a clue what this show is about whatsoever lol. It's hard to judge without knowing the full concept of the show. I'll put my thoughts into the spoiler tags just in case anyone gets peeved off with me spoiling the episode ;):
    From what I understand, the Utopia Experiments is a comic book that seemingly predicts an apocalyptic event (or events). We learn in the pilot episode that the Utopia comic features a neurodegenerative disease that is genetically identical to a man-made neurodegenerative disease that the Welsh girl's dad died of. I'm guessing this disease will be at the centre of the coming apocalyptic event. Or maybe the neurodegenerative disease is one of many apocalyptic "signs" that will pop up throughout the series. It's too early to say at this point. But all the apocalyptic themes does make me wonder. Right now, it feels like the story is building up to an apocalypse of some kind.

    Generally, I'm really not sure what to make of this show lol. On one hand, there were some intriguing and creepy moments like when the Civil Servant guy is sat in the office with those two guys and they start randomly talking to him about performing a "mission". "Everybody has a mission in life, you should make it yours" - I'm not sure what they meant? What were they referring to here? This whole passage of dialogue and acting was bizarre. I'm guessing those two mysterious guys are the main antagonists and are manipulating the lives of the characters (e.g. having the Welsh girl and Ian arrested for child porn or something). From what I've read about the show, there is a shadowy organisation called the Network who are hell-bent on finding the Utopia comic, so my guess is those two guys are the leaders of the Network. They must have also employed those two violent henchmen to find the Utopia comic.
    The other intriguing element of course is this Jessica Hyde woman and why the two henchmen want to find her so badly. Why is she so important? Does she possess another part of the Utopia comic?

    On the other hand, we have unnecessary OTT violence with the two henchmen attacking folks for information regarding Jessica Hyde - who we don't actually meet until the very last shot of the episode. I haven't the foggiest why the two henchmen think that the staff at the comic book store and the Utopia forum characters would know who Jessica Hyde is, but it does get slightly tedious by the end with the stocky thug continously asking all his victims, "Where is Jessica Hyde?" like a broken tape recorder. Okay, we get it, you want to find Jessica Hyde, but is there really any need to torture and murder every living thing in sight lol? It was unnccessary and It got a bit silly by the end with the thugs just killing carelessly at will and not really covering their tracks like professional killers would do. For starters, they would never leave bodies behind for the police to find. That's like the first thing they teach you in Professional Killer School lol.

    Overall, the dialogue and scenes were written quite well and there was just enough intrigue to keep you interested in the story and for future episodes. It was a decent pilot episode (6.5/10), but I feel we've only been given one half of a concept. Hopefully, Episode 2 will give us the other half.
  • kimotagkimotag Posts: 11,064
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    Just watching it now!
  • nathanbrazilnathanbrazil Posts: 8,863
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    Watched this today, and really enjoyed the quirky British style, something we can do well, when the will - and money - is there. Not so sure about the level of violence, but at least that set Utopia aside from the run-of-the-mill SF based shows in which no one ever really gets hurt.

    So far, the show is looking like a winner, and I'm really looking forward to episode two.

    BTW, C4 have gone to the trouble of setting up a web page where you can click to discover (in reality) how much your local authority has spent on surveillance, including how many CCTV cameras are in your area. Also, a more fun element, wherby you can roughly find out how long 'they' would take to find you. Can anyone here beat without cheating, my stats of 50h 30m?

    http://utopia.channel4.com/
  • nathanbrazilnathanbrazil Posts: 8,863
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    Corabal wrote: »
    Odd, I did do a search in all forums for utopia in thread titles, that didn't pop up.

    Could it be because 'they' have already deleted them? :rolleyes:
  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    50 h 50 m 16 sec :)
  • McrRedMcrRed Posts: 50
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    Brilliant. First show really was very good...
  • T.K.T.K. Posts: 19,502
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    So would anyone like to share what they think this mad show is about lol?

    Right now, I'm thinking we might be dealing with an alternate reality story. Sort of like The Matrix where the characters discover that the reality they know isn't real, and in fact the fictional world of the Utopia comic is actually the true reality. Maybe the guy who wrote the comic is one of many people who can see this reality. Wilson Wilson's line about the comic being a "doorway to reality" particularly felt like a hint to me.
  • McrRedMcrRed Posts: 50
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    Lol. Just enjoying the ride, TK, just enjoying the ride. :-)
  • T.K.T.K. Posts: 19,502
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    McrRed wrote: »
    Lol. Just enjoying the ride, TK, just enjoying the ride. :-)

    Haha as am I :cool:. The upcoming episodes should be interesting as we learn more about the story.
  • nathanbrazilnathanbrazil Posts: 8,863
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    50 h 50 m 16 sec :)

    The Invisible Man is among us. ;)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,637
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    I saw it looked good from what I saw, and from what I perceived was that there appeared to be a secret conspiracy to do something and the writer of utopia appears to have either worked with in the past or has knowledge of what plans are in motion, which is in the unreleased copy of utopia
  • VisionMan1VisionMan1 Posts: 2,111
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    Gazinuk wrote: »
    I saw it looked good from what I saw, and from what I perceived was that there appeared to be a secret conspiracy to do something and the writer of utopia appears to have either worked with in the past or has knowledge of what plans are in motion, which is in the unreleased copy of utopia

    I recorded this and have just watched it. And I'm gripped.

    What on earths going on? Not got a clue, really.

    But! Mad theory -

    A bent medical organisation wants to deliberately introduce into the populace a 'vaccine' that actually infects and makes ill (terminally) all the people it's given to (Russian Flu vaccine anyone?). So they can then miraculously and extortionately sell 'the cure'. Thereby making a huge profit from human death and misery. Not that they care about that.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 14
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    59 hours dead to find me :-)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 14
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    Good theory Visionman
  • VisionMan1VisionMan1 Posts: 2,111
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    Deeepred wrote: »
    Good theory Visionman

    Thanks. And reference was made to a disease called 'Deals'.

    Was that a sick pun from the perpetrators of this sick scheme? If so, thats very clever from the writers of this series.
  • kendogukkendoguk Posts: 13,800
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    That was one of the oddest shows I've ever seen ill watch more :)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 116
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    29:15:60
  • brangdonbrangdon Posts: 14,090
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    (I'm not bothering with spoiler tags for broadcast episodes.)
    T.K. Mazin wrote: »
    On one hand, there were some intriguing and creepy moments like when the Civil Servant guy is sat in the office with those two guys and they start randomly talking to him about performing a "mission". "Everybody has a mission in life, you should make it yours" - I'm not sure what they meant? What were they referring to here? This whole passage of dialogue and acting was bizarre.
    It was a reference to the civil servant's phone conversation with his girlfriend's Russian pimp. The pimp now owns him, and told him he'd have to do a mission. The two guys touting the Russian Flu inoculation were connected to the pimp, as was the guy who eventually replaced his boss and told him "mission accomplished."
    I'm guessing those two mysterious guys are the main antagonists
    Since The Utopia Experiments is apparently about creating and then spreading infectious disease, it makes sense that those people involved in disease research would be connected. I doubt they are the leaders, though.
    I haven't the foggiest why the two henchmen think that the staff at the comic book store and the Utopia forum characters would know who Jessica Hyde is,
    Well, they were right. Jessica contacts them at the end. If they'd asked Wilson Wilson a few hours later, they'd have got an answer.

    I don't see how they found the house they were hiding in in the second episode.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,637
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    They mosy likely found the house because one of them is not like the others
  • T.K.T.K. Posts: 19,502
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    Just watched Episode 2, it was better than the first. Things are looking good for this show. The plot is progressing very nicely whilst maintaining a level of mystery, which is what I like. I hate mystery shows that try to keep EVERYTHING a secret and only throw a few scraps to the viewers. This is how you write mystery. Kudos to the writers. As far as recent UK sci-fi shows go, Utopia is already superior to Outcasts, which suffered from bad writing despite an interesting concept.

    I'd like to know what the "science fiction" element of the show is? Right now, it's been written as a straight-up dark conspiracy thriller - and a very good one, but where's the sci-fi? Don't get me wrong, I'd be still watching this regardless of whether it was sci-fi or not, but I'm curious to know.
  • T.K.T.K. Posts: 19,502
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    brangdon wrote: »
    (I'm not bothering with spoiler tags for broadcast episodes.)

    It was a reference to the civil servant's phone conversation with his girlfriend's Russian pimp. The pimp now owns him, and told him he'd have to do a mission. The two guys touting the Russian Flu inoculation were connected to the pimp, as was the guy who eventually replaced his boss and told him "mission accomplished."

    Yep, I suddenly clocked that after I posted my review of Episode 1, but didn't have enough time to edit my post. My bad, it sometimes takes me a while to make obvious connections :o.

    Based on Episode 2, it certainly looks like the Civil Servant's mission was to get his old boss fired, so the new boss could come in charge. His new boss must be working with the drug company, Corvad (or whatever they're called) as he knew about the Civil Servant's affair and impregnation of the prostitute. The two mysterious guys in the office are Corvad executives from the looks of it (I didn't clock that until I saw the "Corvad" writing in the reception in Episode 2 :o) and are connected to the Russian pimp as mentioned in your post.
    brangdon wrote: »
    Since The Utopia Experiments is apparently about creating and then spreading infectious disease, it makes sense that those people involved in disease research would be connected. I doubt they are the leaders, though.

    Yes, unlikely that the two Corvad executives are the main antagonists. At the time, I didn't realise who they were as mentioned. Also, unlikely that they hired the two hitmen. But they could still be working with the Network.

    We were told in Episode 2 that the Network were originally created to combat a bio-weapons threat from Russia, who were weaponizing viruses such as Ebola, Anthrax and Smallpox. Based on Jessica's exposition- heavy dialogue, It's likely that the Network turned corrupt and began developing their own bio-weapons and releasing them on the populace, and then profiting on them with vaccines. Corvad could be the Network's front company.
    brangdon wrote: »
    Well, they were right. Jessica contacts them at the end. If they'd asked Wilson Wilson a few hours later, they'd have got an answer.

    I don't see how they found the house they were hiding in in the second episode.

    True. I guess it now makes sense why the two hitmen were interrogating the staff of the comic book store and the Utopia forum members. They know that Jessica Hyde is looking for the Utopia manuscript, so it's possible she contacted or met them. But it still irritates me how the waddling hitman keeps assuming that they all know Jessica Hyde (keeps asking "Where is Jessica Hyde?" rather than "Do you know Jessica Hyde?").

    A question regarding Jessica Hyde... why has she allied herself with the Utopia forum members? Obviously, Jessica wants to find Utopia Part 2 and believes they can help her do that, but why has gone out of her way to help them evade the Network? She could've just asked them a few questions and then left to find Utopia. There must be more going on than she is letting on. I think the characters are important to her mission (whatever that is). Hopefully, we will learn more about Jessica's motives in the coming episodes.

    Good point about the house. I think we're suppose to assume that they traced the CIA agent to the location. She must have had a tracker on her or something else that allows the Network to track all their agents in the field in case they go missing.
  • brangdonbrangdon Posts: 14,090
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    Gazinuk wrote: »
    They mosy likely found the house because one of them is not like the others
    She's working with someone but I don't think it's the Network. Her report told them nothing they didn't already know. They knew the manuscript existed because they had it in their possession, and they knew the boy had it because they saw him steal it. Either it was poorly written, or else at least one other group is trying to track down the manuscript.
  • phil solophil solo Posts: 9,669
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    I'm running a bit behind and haven't got around to watching Episode 2 yet, but this is my thinking so far:-

    I hope it's not just an "introduce a disease so as to profit from the cure" storyline, as we've just had that with episodes 3 & 4 of the current series of Silent Witness (the one about the anthrax).

    I expect it to be a bit more apocalyptic than that and I'm leaning toward something that riffs on the theories of Thomas Malthus.


    In Episode 1 when he, Ian and Becky are in the pub Wilson Wilson mentions, as one of his conspiracy obsessions, the idea that the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami was the result of the USA detonating a nuclear device on the ocean floor. As part of his reasoning for such a claim, he states that "we're living on a planet with dwindling resources". The rest of that thought is left unspoken.

    Malthus' thinking was that "The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man", i.e. that population growth eventually and inevitably outstrips the growth of resources to support that population, and ultimately leads to a catastrophic event such as famine or disease that reduces the population levels significantly, thus restoring the balance.

    This is not dissimilar to James Lovelock's Gaia Hypothesis that the Earth is a self-regulating, self-correcting ecosystem that actively works to maintain the optimum conditions for sutainable life, a concept that was woven into the fabric of legendary 1985 series Edge of Darkness .

    Malthus thought that the dangers of population growth would preclude endless progress towards a utopian society. If those who control the worlds resources control the world, it follows that to extend the (profitable) life of those resources, they might beprepared to give Malthusian theory a bit of a helping hand and engineer such a catastrophic event by, for example, genetically modifying a strain of influenza virus to include a fatal degenerative disease element, DEALS, and distributing it to the population in the guise of a vaccine for the heralded 'Flu epidemic.

    Note also that although the DEALS illness didn't appear to exist before 1986 Becky has said it was hereditary, so she has it, and can, presumably, pass it on to any offspring she should have before her own body begins to shut down. Thus, by releasing DEALS into the wild, you arrive at a situation where the population, or that part of it that is exposed to the Russian Flu, is genetically programmed to "shut down" and die off before overpopulation takes hold and causes a sustainability crisis.

    As a side note, assuming we've got the spelling right, the last 3 letters of DEALS are ALS a form of Motor Neuron Disease also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, whose symptomatic progression is similar to that described by Becky.

    Mark Dane, writer of the Utopia graphic novel is believed by the nurses at the institution where he lived, wrote Utopia (being presumably the confused outpourings of his damaged mind) and eventually died, to have been a geneticist. I expect to learn that he originally worked at Corvadt on what ever project became corrupted into the Network conspiracy, until such time as he became "troublesome" and was "taken care of" by his employers, evidently (at least initially, as there may be unanswered questions about his suicide) in a less extreme manner than the methods now used by the gruesome twosome.

    Utopia Part I is Dane's attempt to "get the story out" and warn of the coming 'apocalypse', the theme of 'Evil' appearing in the novel as a human/animal hybrid probably hints at the type of experimental gene-splicing activity behind the creation of DEALS (did you all spot the man in a 'rabbit suit' outside, ahem!, 'Doomsday Comics' right at the beginnnig of episode one :cool:).

    I expect Part II of the Manuscript to contain clues as to how to counter the threat, perhaps including information for countering the threat. I also expect Jessica Hyde to be significant to this purpose - the blatant nod to Robert Louis Stephenson's creation, and the urgency with which she is sought suggests that she may have been genetically modified in utero (by Dane, presumably) to contain the antibodies necessary to counteract the Network's evil plan. Note that the civil servant's mistress is pregnant, and his wife is undergoing IVF treatment, which I'm sure is also some kind of 'flag'.

    I expect, once I actually watch episode 2, much of the aforegoing will require a significant re-think :D:D
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