Skins 3: "Thomas"

Not many shows can pull off bringing in a new character just to dump him by the end of the episode to (possibly) never be heard from again. The only other show I can think of that did it was Lost with “Expose” where they featured and then killed off Paolo and Nikki, but most people consider that to be one of Lost’s worst storylines. What’s so great about “Thomas” is that it managed to seamlessly introduce a brand new character that had little to do with the rest of the characters or storyline, and still managed to turn him into a new fan favorite. And then, with no real reason at all, the show abruptly got rid of him. What gives?

For the first three acts of the episode (cowritten by Daniel Kaluuya aka Posh Kenneth) we were forced to follow Thomas, an African immigrant on his own, as he tried to make his way through the new world of London where he had to find a job fast so that he could keep his dump of an apartment. In fact, the episode revolved so much around him, that it wasn’t until the final act that we even got to see the majority of the cast again. And amazingly, I hardly seemed to notice. But perhaps that was because Effy and Pandora were prominently featured and they held up their part of the Skins bargain.

Thanks to Pandora’s increasingly hilarious penchant for vomiting we got to see Effy’s home life once again, and it looks like now that Tony’s out of the house the familial balance is a little off; Anthea is having an affair with her husband’s coworker. This new development seems to have affected the up-til-now seemingly emotionless Effy in ways I’m sure we’ll get to in her episode. Meanwhile, not only has Pandora got a rich pot-growing, and judging by her collection of chainsaws probably batshit crazy aunt, but now she’s got her very own love interest in Thomas, who surprisingly, and adorably, reciprocates Pandora’s affection (perhaps since he’s so pure-hearted he sees her innocence in a way that everyone else dismisses as nuttiness).

The episode not only served to introduce a new character but it also advanced the story. Johnny White was back, and this time digging his very thin claws into Thomas, who deftly got the better of him in, of all things, high comedic fashion with that red hot chili peppers scene. And the Naomi/Emily storyline continued on with a few more tidbits of info into their past. Apparantly both of them are unsure whether Emily is great.

Other points about the episode:

-I am a completely biased fan of Effy and so when she told Katie off with the three simple words, “I never try” I couldn’t have found it cooler. You could write pages of essay and spend hours trying to figure out the enigma that is Effy but she laid it out for us in the simplest and clearest terms. Effy doesn’t try. She just is. Hee. I’m a little apprehensive about where her character will be going this season because I love what she’s been in the last two but I’m also eager to see her transformation.
(Also, was it me or has she never been more stunning than when she was giving her mom the stare down at the dinner table?)

-The problem with Naomi. I really like Naomi so far but I’m finding her inclusion in the gang very hard to believe. All the boys hang out together because.... all the boys hang out together. We know that Effy goes with the group because she’s got a connection to Cook and Pandora goes with Effy because she’d probably get lost without her. Katie follows the group because she’s a follower who will follow Effy wherever she goes, and Emily won’t leave her sister’s side. So that leaves Naomi who’s been continuously ridiculed by different members of the group (mostly Katie who can’t seems to think of anything else to say that doesn’t come down to “GAY!”). She’s not friends with anyone except for maybe Emily.... who she actually seems to want to avoid. I don’t buy it and I wish they would’ve given her a stronger bond to someone so that her inclusion would be more believable. But I’m willing to turn a blind eye on that.

- The last problem would have to be the decision to let Thomas go. I don’t read spoilers so I don’t know if he’ll be back but I really hope he is. He was a truly great character and Merveille Lukeba did a great job acting him out. Alas, we’ll have to wait and see!