Ship of Fools: Utopia - Channel 4 program

Thread: Utopia - Channel 4 program Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

Any other Utopia watchers on board? This is a new SF series that is "gritty" but seems like it is becoming awesome.

It is NOT for the faint-hearted. But it is turning into a real can't-wait.

Posted by Snags (# 15351) on :

Saw the first episode, despite needing sleep. 4od screwed up on me for the second, as I had the sense to get some sleep when it was 'live' so I missed it. Not sure if I'll be able to fill in the blanks,now,as it seemed quite unforgiving of casual viewing.

Posted by Starbug (# 15917) on :

Mr Bug and I are both enjoying this. It's very unusual.

Posted by kaytee (# 3482) on :

Yes, me too. I like the way it looks, lots of bright colours. Perhaps it looks like a comic?

I feel for the civil servant. He thought things were bad when he got a hooker pregnant, but he had no idea how much worse things could get!

Posted by Starbug (# 15917) on :

I loved the almost-sex scene in the first episode. All that thrashing around for nothing!

Posted by QLib (# 43) on :

I screwed up the recording of episode 2 before I'd watched episode 1, so gave up. [Frown]

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

Haven't seen this. When is it on and how many episodes have I missed?

Posted by Starbug (# 15917) on :

There have been three episodes, but we've only seen two. The third is sitting on the Sky box.

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

Channel 4, Thursdays. 3 episodes - it should be available from 4OD still.

It is sociopathic, but it gets getter and better each week. Fantastic drama, it could be completely naff, but it manages to avoid this.

Posted by The Great Gumby (# 10989) on :

It's well-paced so far, and the visuals are superb. But I'm still waiting to see whether the plot holds up. It could very easily end up as just another massive sinister conspiracy with a small group of misfits on the run. That's hardly original, so I hope they haven't used up all their creativity on the high-contrast camerawork.

It's not bad, but the plot will be the difference between superb and merely decent.

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

There is definitively more than there seemed to be. I am not sure who is on which side.

But I was intrigued by Arbys comment, when he was facing Jessica, and had talked to her, he still said "Where is Jessica Hyde?"

There is more backstory to this than we yet know. Which is cool. There is also more future story, although it is starting to clarify.

And no more teaspoons, which is a positive.

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

Fuck me, this weeks episode was awesome.

And nice to see what the archdeacon does on his off days.

Don't give up on it people! It has more twists each week.

Posted by The Great Gumby (# 10989) on :

Not sure what to make of last night's conclusion. I won't say too much in case anyone recorded it and has yet to watch it, but it seemed to be a mix of massive surprises and rather predictable intended surprises.

And I feel like I missed something important that happened at the station.

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

The ending was a little odd. I thought Wilsons uncertainly about the rightness was interesting, and quite challenging.

The station was really about the fact that Becky said "I don't know if I want to go through that with someone watching". Even though they had done what they tried to do (which was wrong anyway), it didn't change her prognosis.

Posted by The Great Gumby (# 10989) on :

That would make sense. I don't understand how she got a ticket (wasn't Ian getting them for a different train?) but I can accept that for the sake of narrative convenience.

Wilson's feelings were interesting, and I wished they'd developed that angle a lot more. The idea that the Bad Guys might be doing a good thing (and maybe, given the thorny nature of the problem, that even their extreme methods were justified) could be an intriguing and unsettling moral dilemma and a great dramatic concept. But it seemed that it didn't serve any purpose except to explain why he did certain things that were demanded by the plot. I thought that was a missed opportunity.

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

I would guess she didn't get a ticket, just decided to go somewhere else, and would sort it out when she arrives.

I suppose the Wilson thing was continued through other characters, because it wasn't clear for a long time who were "good" and who was "bad". There was some "bad" people (like the civil servant) who were actually good deep down, and some seemingly "good" ones who were "bad" like the MI6 woman.

I think the ambivalence across the board was quite well played out. Yes it could have been done better by a clearer focus on Wilson, but there was a danger that it would overcome any other plot.

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