5. Lose Some of the Unnecessary Violence
This might be a bit of sore point for some fans of the show, but
Utopia really could do with toning down a bit of the ultra-violence. I'm not saying to make it a family-friendly thriller, not at all - some of the show's best and most thrilling moments have involved violence from the 'spoon' moment in the first episode to Alice's shotgun execution of a guilty party to Grant's smart takedown of the man they believed to be Mr Rabbit. But there is a certain degree where the violence is perhaps too graphic, too used liberally for dramatic purposes. The beginning of the third episode almost had me switching off and vowing never to watch it again - if you haven't seen it, it involves a mass shooting of teachers and young students at a school to frame young schoolboy Grant for the murders. Considering that this took place only a couple of months after the horrors of the Sandy Hook shooting, it's ill-advised at best. We're not saying to lose the violence together, but if they could tone down some of the stronger stuff, it might make the whole show move together a bit better.