Whirled Peas

*** Spoilers - maybe *** Oh my God, this show is awful. Utopian has the worst parenting skills ever. It's not that his "standards are too high" as the show keeps suggesting - it's that his belief system about parenting in general (that it is the parent's job/role/responsibility to instill values and teach their children to be good) is completely backassward and GUARANTEED to produce dysfunction and self-destruction. Children love to meet high standards - and often create higher standards for themselves when given a chance. They are not empty vessels for parents to fill or clay for adults to mold. That is a recipe for disaster (so predictably this self-fulfilling prophecy just gets worse and worse for him and his kids). It was a train wreck that could have been avoided. Unfortunately, this is the way things play out in many households. Parents impose a belief system on children. Children rebel and then crash and burn. They realize their parent's belief system was correct and adopt it for themselves - and then do the same thing to their kids. The problem is that this can all be avoided. Parents can model their belief system, support children in learning to make choices and to take responsibility for themselves (building these skill sets incrementally over time), and we can reach adulthood ready to achieve amazing things (with a healthy relationship with parents still intact). So much time and pain is wasted propping up an ignorant approach to parenting. This show only furthers this outdated and avoidable cycle of mutual torment.