S01.E08: Week Four in Utopia - A

[Tara Ariano]

A look at developments in the group's fourth week.

[nottopbravo]

When the announcer said, "A shocking suprise", I was hoping for a dead body.   That the only thing that could liven up this bunch of idiots.  I waiting for better alterative programming, so I can finally say, "I'm out".

[ghoulina]

I didn't realize they were still showing more than one episode a week, so I missed Friday. I was all - "Where did Ernesto come from? Why am I being subjected to Dedeker walking a fence, but denied the meeting to eject Bella from the garden?" Oooops. 

 

I was glad to see Bri was removed from animal duty as well. She is useless. She would be my vote to leave. Yes, Red is toxic, but he actually has quite a bit of knowledge and skill. The calf came on its own, so they didn't even need Bri for that! Plus, she looks about 7 and it creeps me out. 

 

Despite not caring for her, the way Chris treats Bri is appalling. He is so cold and nasty. She was giving him an out, he could have handled it in a more gracious way. But he seemed to want to kick her while she was down. But I bet he'd hook up with her again in a heartbeat. 

 

Under the barn. Or behind the woodpile. No matter where, the show will be sure to let us know. They sure aren't shy about The Sex.

 

I do appreciate where Hex is coming from with not wanting to set up a society that is identical to what we have out here. But she is being really naive about the situation. I'm an anarchist and I believe in tribal communities, but they would be CHOSEN, formed by people with similar goals and values. What you have here is a hodge podge from central casting. There's no way they can come together in some cohesive fashion without having some type of order. It just aint gonna work. Because they DON'T have the same beliefs and objectives. Plain and simple. 

 

I did like their open voting style, as opposed to show like Big Brother and Survivor, where its done in private. And I liked that I felt people were truly voting for whom THEY wanted out, and there wasn't any sweeping "house vote". There was also no vindictive "You voted for me, so I'm going to vote for you". I thought for sure Aaron would do that to Red, but surprisingly he didn't. 

 

I hope Bri goes. She is useless and boring. 

[ElleryAnne]

Why am I being subjected to Dedeker walking a fence, but denied the meeting to eject Bella from the garden?" Oooops.

 

 

This.  The episodes spend so much time trying to convince us that it's all idyllic in Utopia.  Even the few conflicts they throw in - like the vets suggesting Red instead of Bri be in charge of the barn - are toned down so that it looks like everything is peaches and cream most of the time with these guys and they're only dealing with the occasional little hiccup.  It's ridiculous.  And it makes the scrambling before the vote look strange, because they've been so careful not to show much of the trouble beforehand.

[Turtle]

I'm going to say it - I'm liking this show.  But they need better editing.  Whatever happened between Bri and Chris was not really shown (not that I care - just an example; another example is Bella losing the garden).  It all just seems disjointed.  I subscribed to the feeds, but I haven't been able to watch, so I'm watching these aired episodes blind, and it's all very confusing.  It's interesting, but confusing.  

 

Did that cow really give birth and no one noticed until after the calf was born?  Again, I haven't checked out the feeds or the feeds forum, so this is just me spit-ballin', but I can't help but suspect that they brought in vets in deliver the calf, or at least oversee the cow giving birth, because obviously these fools cannot be trusted.  But it is an example of why I'm so disappointed in this show.  I was really excited to see a show of folks really trying to make it on their own, without the overly-manipulated BS we see on Survivor and Big Brother and other shows.  Call me naive, but especially given the massive amounts of money pumped in to this show, I had high hopes that they were going to do something different and groundbreaking.  Instead, I feel like we've gotten Big Brother: Farm Land.  Production clearly has been and continues to be heavily involved in the day-to-day, and that is not at all the show I thought I was going to see.

 

I know I'm not the first to say it; I just needed to vent about it for a minute.  I really wish they would let these people be, let them do what they're going to do.  I think there's a real audience for that kind of show, and I wish that's what we were getting. 

 

ETA: 

Totally forgot to mention -- if Red hadn't volunteered to take himself out of the tie-breaker, would he not even be eligible to leave this week?  Did I understand that right?  Like I said, confusing.  

Edited October 1, 2014 by Turtle

[Sunarku]

I missed bits and pieces of the show tonight, but I got the impression that the edit was set up to make Bri and (maybe) Bella look better, and Red look worse.  I certainly saw a lot of shots of Bri looking like a sad little girl and being hugged by people.  The scenes with Chris were hard to follow, but it looked like he treated her like trash for no reason.  Did they show any of her bad behavior, lies, etc.?  Red does have a lot of outbursts, but it seemed like they didn't show the people who provoked him or were being as angry as him.

 

I don't think I'm going to have much more patience for the way the show is edited to try to make things look so much sweeter than the reality.  It just makes for a show that is boring and confusing because you never get the story behind the things they do show.  I don't understand why you would cast a bunch of crazies, kooks and criminals, and then fail to show the quite dramatic things that they actually do.  I wish they would give us the show that Turtle described above, except I wish they wouldn't cast so many bad people.

 

I don't know the answer to the question about the nominations.  My guess is that they would have had a tie-breaker between Red and Bri, so Red could have stayed nominated.  If Bri was the nominee, then I guess we would have gotten the next person the viewers voted for.

[ghoulina]

The scenes with Chris were hard to follow, but it looked like he treated her like trash for no reason.  Did they show any of her bad behavior, lies, etc.?

 

Yea, I don't know. She kept saying things like, "I really fucked up". But the only "fuck up" I've seen with her is regarding her laziness with the cows. So did Chris want to break it off because she sleeps through barn duty? 

 

My guess is that he just wanted to bang and she wanted to be a legitimate couple, so he made her feel like she somehow did something wrong, in order to feel better about shutting things down. 

[Primetimer]

One-fifth of the colony is placed on the chopping block. Whose Utopia includes having to listen to the reasons other people want them gone?

Read the story

[DeLurker]

 

he scenes with Chris were hard to follow, but it looked like he treated her like trash for no reason.  Did they show any of her bad behavior, lies, etc.?

Over in the live feed thread there is a discussion about how Bri was cuddled up on the bedding with Chris and Aaron was nearby as they were all talking.  Bri invited Aaron over for a "sleepover" with them.  

 

If I come across the section that gave it in more detail, I'll come back and link it.

[Uncle Benzene]

"like Fred Schneider but without the machismo."

Well now, that just made my day. Outstanding.

[DeLurker]

Extracted from andyourlittledog2's post from the live feed recap.  Not sure how to link to the post, but this is what was said:

 

Baby Bri, still very aware of how she feeds the cameras,  has now decided to read aloud the letter she was writing on the dock. To no one, just us. Anyway, the letter is to Chris and is very humble and apologetic about that night she made that offer to Aaron for the threesome? I think it was while they were talking in bed. (Bri and Chris slept right next to where Aaron sleeps and they had been having a long evenings' conversation with Aaron and some others that night before this offer occurred. I don' t know if Bri was serious or joking but it pissed Chris off and he told Taylor later that he thought Bri was 'sick'. And he broke up with her.)  Anyway, she says in this letter that she just wanted to be his friend. and to forgive her. Now she is reading aloud the letter her boyfriend sent to her today; 'Never forget, whatever happens, I will always be in your corner.'  And she's crying. 'With love, Willie' (I think she said Willie, it could have been Luis. I don't know.)

[ghoulina]

. I don' t know if Bri was serious or joking but it pissed Chris off and he told Taylor later that he thought Bri was 'sick'.

 

I wonder if it would be "sick" if Chris invited Hex or Dedeker to have a threesome with them? 

 

So Bri has a boyfriend back at home and he's still in her corner? Sucker. 

[MrHufflepuff]

This show is sooo boring.  If they would show all the crack-tastic craziness that actually goes on, it might be a real-life version of "Under the Dome," which is totally crazy crack-tastic.

[APSimpson]

Aaron is so malicious. What he said to Taylor about Hex, that if a "badass woman" came walking through the gates that Taylor would drop Hex for her. How disrespectful. And that's the thing about Aaron. He's insidious. He makes my skin crawl. And Mike sits there and laughs. What a bunch of reprobates some of these people are.

I loved it when Nikki picked Aaron to leave. She makes a good point about him not being the best person in charge to feed the group. I don't watch the live feeds, but I read the thread and it sounds horrible the things they're attempting to do with Nikki's food.

I don't understand what Hex's problem is with Red. You'd think she'd vote out Bella. I think she took the coward's way out. And Hex's whole idea about the "outside world failing them" is tiring. Maybe she should realize that not everyone came to Utopia for the same reasons she did. 

 

I'm so tired of watching the "couples" in Utopia. Watching Hex and Taylor together is nauseating.

The cow baby was delightful, one of the positive parts of the show.

[ghoulina]

Aaron is so malicious. What he said to Taylor about Hex, that if a "badass woman" came walking through the gates that Taylor would drop Hex for her. How disrespectful. And that's the thing about Aaron. He's insidious. He makes my skin crawl. And Mike sits there and laughs.

 

Not surprising given the previews for next week show him hooking up with a new girl. This show is becoming less Big Brotherish and more Real Worldish.

[In Pog Form]

I had to laugh at the intro when the Pringles mascot said "thanks to their skills and initiative, they are making money." Why do you lie to us, show?

Firstly, what skills? Any money they made was because of the TV show handing them visitors on a platter. Nobody is going to "The Utopia Experience" to admire their amazing skills - they go because they want to be on TV. What initiative? Production basically dictated to them what to do to make money.

Secondly, the amount they are pulling in is not nearly enough to cover the outgoing expenses. And many of their expenses, such as all the medical care they've been getting, are completely paid for by the show.

Also, how did Rob end up in charge of the voting ceremony? He clearly led it with an agenda.

[DeLurker]

Quote: I wonder if it would be "sick" if Chris invited Hex or Dedeker to have a threesome with them?

Seems like a thing a normal (hahaha ) couple would talk about given Dedeker's polyamourous status in the group. In fact I don't believe the other Topes haven't talked about it.

[Scout Finch]

I wonder if it would be "sick" if Chris invited Hex or Dedeker to have a threesome with them? 

 

So Bri has a boyfriend back at home and he's still in her corner? Sucker. 

 

We don't know for sure if her boyfriend still is. She told Kristen that they had been together for four years and was very perplexed as to why he hadn't written her any letters. As someone on the live feed thread said, she needs to buy a clue. Unless they have an open relationship, I wouldn't be surprised if she gets a Dear John(Jane?) letter. If I were him I'd feel humiliated by being associated with someone who has displayed nothing but negative public behavior.

Edited October 2, 2014 by Scout Finch

[North of Eden]

Ha Kristin is so boring they didn't air her nomination speech. Bella is the "star" of this show so she had better not get voted out or they will have nothing.