The episode opens with two characters going into a comic shop and asking 'Where is Jessica Hyde?". When nobody admits to knowing her they kill everybody there. Having drawn a blank there they continue kill and torture to find her location. Elsewhere a civil servant is told that he must get his minister to order a flu remedy despite it not being needed; if he doesn't his wife will be harmed. And finally there is the apparently main story; two men and a woman meet up after going on an online forum to discuss the graphic novel 'The Utopia Experiments'... one of the men is convinced that it explains a series of conspiracies; it seems like paranoia but the online group is being targeted by the men looking for Jessica Hyde.
This new thriller got off to an interesting start; raising many questions without providing any answers. The opening scene grabbed my attention but must admit to being put off by the scene where we see the protagonists chatting on line; the words they type appearing on the screen were so tiny that either we weren't meant to be able to read them or Channel Four doesn't care about viewers without huge screens! Apart from that I enjoyed it though; the writing and direction were taut and the cast did a fine job. One or two scenes were quite gruelling; in particular a torture scene... I had to look away once or twice even though I suspect nothing really bad was actually shown. On the strength of this episode I will certainly be watching more; I just hope it isn't one of those series with an interesting premise that can't provide a good ending.
This new thriller got off to an interesting start; raising many questions without providing any answers. The opening scene grabbed my attention but must admit to being put off by the scene where we see the protagonists chatting on line; the words they type appearing on the screen were so tiny that either we weren't meant to be able to read them or Channel Four doesn't care about viewers without huge screens! Apart from that I enjoyed it though; the writing and direction were taut and the cast did a fine job. One or two scenes were quite gruelling; in particular a torture scene... I had to look away once or twice even though I suspect nothing really bad was actually shown. On the strength of this episode I will certainly be watching more; I just hope it isn't one of those series with an interesting premise that can't provide a good ending.
