Utopia (TV Series) Episode #1.6 (2013) User Reviews

A fine conclusion to the first series

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 24 February 2013]

As the series reached its sixth and as I thought final episode I expected a solid conclusion to the story; I was a little worried that they would have to rush things to get to that conclusion but when the ending came it was clear that things were being set up for another series!

After Grant's capture he is forced to complete one of the pictures he had started to copy from the manuscript; The Network believes the numbers contained within the picture will tell them how to make Janus… the drug that will wipe out most of the human race. Meanwhile Jessica gets Wilson to hack into GCHQ to find the identity of the mysterious Mr Rabbit; he manages to find a single reference in a heavily redacted file; it might not give them a name but it closes the field to one of a small group of men. They will have to work fast to uncover him and stop The Network as Dugdale learns that the so called antidote to Russian Flu is to be distributed the next day and with it The Network's approximation to Janus.

People expecting a final conclusion to the story may be disappointed with this but those hoping for more will be pleased that the conclusion is clearly designed to set things up for another series; the distribution may have been stopped but Mr Rabbit gets what he was after and our protagonists are all separated… in a way that does not look good for some of them. The episode contained plenty of tense moments, some unexpected twists as well as the expected bloodshed. Things were shot in the same distinctive way previous episodes had been filmed although I noticed that the trademark bright yellow had started to get a sickly green tinge. The cast continue to do a good job. Overall I'd say that people who enjoyed the previous episode will like this although like me they will be disappointed that the story isn't continuing next week!

Season 1: Surprisingly engaging season which works due to its style, pacing and brutal belief in its own world

[bob the moo · 14 January 2016]

Someone recommended this show to me and I really knew nothing about it other than knowing the other person generally had taste I trusted. I almost skipped it when I looked on Metacritic and saw awful reviews, but it turns out there is some reality show of the same name (which is no good it seems!). The plot is a little bit X- Files as a group who met online around their shared interest in a graphic novel which appears to be very much rooted in fact, come together in real life. It turns out there is a second volume of this, which exists as one manuscript and will reveal more than the shadowy, all-powerful The Network are willing to have out there. As the group try to comprehend how much trouble they are in, they are assisted by Jessica Hyde - herself very much wanted by The Network. Meanwhile, a Ministry for Health adviser is pressured into using his influence to cover up his discretions - only to find himself equally at risk when he tries to push back.

The narrative plays out a high level conspiracy while focusing on the group as they get drawn into the hunt for the manuscript to try to uncover the identity of the person at the very top of it. In doing this it works surprisingly well. At the top level the details are general enough to paint a shadowy organization but without getting into the practicals of that. Meanwhile at the lowest level we have the payoff for that shadowy organization by virtue of the constant danger they pose and power they wield. These two elements work together well, and it is only in the middle where they meet where the plot holes form - specifically with lots of convenient writing where sometimes they are omnipresent, and other times they are not. How much this bothers you depends on how engaged in the narrative you are - for me I was into it and enjoying the show, so happy to go with it and not linger on such issues but just enjoy the overall ride.

It helps that the tone of the season is so well set and maintained. The first episode establishes it well, even in the opening scene. Two men enter a comic book store and calmly but sinisterly incapacitate everyone in it and then kill them. The first episode also contains a surprisingly brutal torture sequence of one of the main characters. Reading about the show, I noted that the show got lots of complaints for its violence - particularly a scene of a gun massacre in a primary school (which screened just a few weeks after the Sandy Hook shooting - which does seem insensitive scheduling, but then the US politicians seemed not to act in response to this, so why should Channel 4?). There are some reservations I had about some of the adult content, but generally speaking the violence was an important part of the show, and very well done. I say this because it was actually horrific, it was shocking, and it was oppressive to watch. It was not done in such a way that you felt the show enjoyed it, but rather that it emphasized the danger and callousness of The Network. A good comparison is with the recent film Kingsman, which features a violent massacre in a church; in that case though while it is horrific in content, the presentation feels like a comedic action sequence, and I thought it was terribly judged. With Utopia the violence is done very well to produce and maintain a sense of danger and tension which is key to keeping the viewer involved.

The season is presented with style, and good use of music to create a modern but ominous tone. The cast are also a key part of it working. Although not a lead per se, Maskell brings a lot of tragic menace to his character. O'Shaughnessy is closer to being the lead and her character is played with equal emerging fragility, which is effective. Stewart-Jarrett, Roach, Woolford, Higgins all fill their roles well, while Fox and Rea add a bit of brand recognition to the cast. Comedian Akhtar is probably one of the strongest in terms of character and performance thereof.

Utopia is not a perfect show, but I was really surprised by how engaging the season was, with a satisfying tone and a convincingly brutal belief in its own created world (even if a lot of the middle ground doesn't stack up).