Skins: "Katie and Emily:" A Box of Fannies!

This week’s episode of Skins made me realize some things about Katie and Emily that I didn’t realize before. Emily stood out as one of the most promising characters in the introductory episode where it was pretty hard to stand out amongst a new group of new and appealing characters. She seemed to have a good head on her shoulders and we felt for her for being saddled with an annoying whore of a sister who was far more popular and straight than she could ever be. That being said, Katie stood out as being one of the least interesting and one-dimensional characters in 3x01.

It took nine episodes but I’ve finally come around to liking Katie. Stripped of her garish makeup and leopard print getups, her face spoke volumes about what she was going through. And finally she had something to go through. No more being the better half of a colossal douche, be it a football player or a Fun Sponge. For the first time since she was seven Katie was without a boyfriend. And that might seem like a really vain issue to be so damn sad about, but it’s part of a bigger issue that’s coming to a head with her. Katie’s big issue is a loss of control.

She’s at a total loss without her armor of vanity, holed up in her house, afraid to face the world. Not only did she lose Fun Sponge to Effy, with whom he cheated while Katie was rotting away in the woods somewhere, but she also lost her upper hand in relationships, no longer the one that The Guy wants to get with. And to top it off she’s lost her sister, whom she was apparently very possessive of, to Naomi.

The portrayal of the sisterly relationship was very true-to-life in this episode. Most sisters on TV are absolute BFFs who braid each other’s hair and tell each other everything (I’m looking at you, BSG finale.) But Katie and Emily are certainly not BFFs. They fight, verbally and physically, they hate having to be around each other, they’re complete opposites, but then they have their own language, they ban together when the chips are down, they take exams for each other, and, as their mom said (because I believe her), they’re more alike than we know.

I like Katie and Emily when they’re together. They’re much more entertaining than when they’re apart. Which brings me to Emily, who’s actually turned a little bit annoying in her cloying dependency in her relationship with Naomi. She started the relationship as, let’s face it, a stalker who wouldn’t take no for an answer. And after essentially pushing Naomi into the closet she’s already trying to force her out, in a very public way, at the school dance. Yes, it is a little suspect that your girlfriend would rather keep her relationship with you a secret, and that’s always something to frown upon, but this is a different case entirely. Naomi admitting that she’s in a relationship with a girl would effectively out her as gay– at a point in her life when she has to go all the way to Cyprus to figure out just who she is. I can’t say I very much liked the Love Ball scene in which Naomi and Emily declared themselves. Like their relationship, it seemed a little forced.

Other notables from the ep:

-Rob Fitch. Is. Awesome. I love what Skins does with parents, and they hit the ball out of the park with Rob. You can’t get much better than, “They’r not still virgins tomorrow, I’ll hunt you down like dogs.”

-JJ may be brilliant but he really needs to figure out how to wear a tie. And so does Freddie. That or he has to figure out he’s not in the 80s. On that note, Thomas = Best dressed male of the night!

-The return of Pandora’s dancing! I’ve missed her dancing so since Effy’s episode in series 2. I hope they make it a continuing feature.

- I loved that Katie was so nervous about seeing Freddie but then totally laid it into him when he did approach. You go girl.

- A box of fannies! And not just one fanny– a whole box! Really makes you think about a character, don’t it? I mean, exactly how many variations of fannies does Emily need??