A Skins review.
Sadly, series 3 of Skins is over. And while it had a pretty good run (with a few inconsistencies and pacing problems not withstanding) the finale was pretty uneventful when compared to the finales of seasons past. Nobody got hit by a bus, there weren’t any funerals to attend, and there wasn’t even a big cast musical number to sing along too. Ironically enough, series 1 and 2 dealt with death, suicide attempts, debilitating accidents, eating disorders, and crazy stalkers, and yet this series was missing some of the light-hearted fun we got from the first two. But alas, let’s get to what this finale episode was really about: the ships.
Effy and Cook
The last time we saw Cook and Effy things weren’t looking too bright: they were on the run, excommunicated from their group of wizzar chums, and Effy seemed pretty bummed. Cut to episode 10 and Effy and Cook are living the blissfully unshowered party life. Cook/Effy shippers should have been thrilled to see the mini montage that followed their rave scene, replete with bloody kissing, gallant carrying, and walking off into the sunset together.
If you’ll notice, Effy says nary a word in this group of clips– just laughs, kisses, and parties. And it reminded me a lot of the Effy that was introduced to us in episode 1x08. Even her teasing of Cook Senior at the sidelines of the race was reminiscent of the scene where she sat on a bus next to (the very much missed) chatterbox Julie and teased the old man across the aisle.
I know that a lot of die-hard Effy lovers, who have adored her character from the beginning, think that her involvement in the Love Triangle of Doom has diminished her character somewhat, and their argument holds some merit, but alongside Cook, Effy comes closest to the original version we know. She can stay her mysterious, badass self because she’s found her badass partner-in-crime. If you had to imagine Effy with any partner Cook’s a pretty good candidate. (Personally? I always imagined Effy bringing a good old fashion Cowboy home for dinner, but that’s just me.) The type of guy she can throw her arm around, walk through a town with, kick ass and take names. Sid and Nancy with much less destructive violence.
I wonder if there are fans of Effy’s, all the way from circa series 1, that don’t ship Cook/Effy (if they ship her with anyone at all.)
In a recent post I mentioned that Cook and Effy are right for each other right now, but maybe they aren’t. If the clubbing-with-dad scene showed us anything it’s that Cook’s a tad possessive, and Effy, going out to talk to the Straight Edge dude, is still curious about what’s out there, always looking for the next thrill. When Cook finds her outside and tells her there’s nowhere else to go that’s not what she wants to hear. And her kiss with him is more of a sigh of defeat: that she’s settling– for him, for this town, for this life. So no, they’re not right for each other right now. Cook still has work some stuff out, and Effy is in love with someone else. But this episode showed that Cook and Effy can make for a very dynamic couple. Not right now, obviously, thanks to Fun Sponge, but maybe in the future.
It’s too bad because Cook was determined to keep Effy, even assuring his dad that, “No cunt’s taking her from me.”
Unless, of course, that cunt’s got a penchant for skateboarding and furtive masturbation. Which brings us to....
Effy and Freddie
In the only exposition we’re likely to ever get into Effy’s psyche, Anthea reveals that her daughter is scared to death of all the love that’s in her heart. Which is, we know, the reason Effy has run away from Freddie since the beginning. But do I believe that Freddie and Effy love each other? Um, not really. Mostly because they’ve only had a handful of scenes together and 70 percent of those scenes were taken up by lovelorn glances.
Effy finally declared her love for Freddie in a call for help, and when Freddie arrived in the Small Shit Town he was determined to win her heart, literally, by winning a granny race.
But their big scene came after Effy made her choice, once and for all. The staging of the scene perfectly captured what we’ve come to know as the Freddie and Effy dynamic. She, sitting guiltily, and he, standing, effectively looking down at her, and blaming her for making this into a game. And maybe she did screw up the trio but am I really supposed to root for a couple when, out of the handful of scenes they’ve had together, three of them involved Freddie telling Effy that something was her fault?
But no matter! They soon forgot their one-way argument and resigned to having sex. (I think the sex scene, with Effy finally admitting her feelings and Freddie finally getting his girl, would’ve meant more if they hadn’t have already had sex in the woods.)
My question is, are the Effy/Freddie shippers Freddie fans first, who want to see him with the beautiful girl? Or are they Effy fans who want to see her change, and evolve, and drop the “mysterious and fit” persona that JJ’s sick of too. Because if Effy’s expected to be in a relationship with Freddie than she can’t remain the Effy that we’ve known for years (and the kind of Effy that fits so well with Cook.)
Freddie and Cook
Not technically a ship (unless you swing that way), but Freddie and Cook finally sat down, had a heart-to-heart, and sorted out their problems. It went a little something like this:
Cook: I fucking love her.
Freddie: Right, akay mate, but we’ve got these looks that we give each other, see. So.... yeah. True love and all that.
So by the end of the episode the loose ends of the season got tied up, if a little too neatly. The three musketeers were back together again and Effy finally made her choice. It all ended with Freddie’s, “What happens now?”
That’s what I wanna know. If Freddie and Effy have any connection at all it happens when they’re pining for each other. Now that they’re together, what happens next? Does the future look bright for them? Hooking up this early in the game usually doesn’t bode well for most TV couples. But you never know. As Cook says, it’s about the journey.
Either way, it’s funny how both Cook/Effy shippers and Freddie/Effy shippers think series 4 is going to be their year. Can’t wait to see what happens.
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Showing posts with label skins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label skins. Show all posts
Friday, March 27, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
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??
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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??
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Friday, March 13, 2009
Skins: Effy: "Beware the moon. And the shrooms. And pointy rocks."
A (long) Skins review.
This week’s episode centered around Effy, one of the most polarizing characters on the show. You either hate her or you love her. Personally, I belong to the latter group. For me, none of Effy’s episodes ever disappoint, and 3x08 was no exception. Though the character has changed in profound ways since her humble, silent beginnings of series 1, Effy is still on of the most interesting characters in a show full of interesting people.
One of the things I missed about the Effy from Series 1 and 2 though, was the fantastical, storybook element that used to follow her character around. In her first unseen skins (pop) she told a fable, in 2x06 she helped Tony back to sleep by telling him a tale, in 1x08, her first episode, her only line was a riddle. So I was happy that at least there was a bit of that in this week’s ep. Because you just don’t tell someone to “beware the moon” without the story getting freaky.
The episode started with a shot of Effy bouncing up and down– on Cook, as it happens. The image harkened back to the Effy of yore; detached and disinterested, this could’ve been a scene pulled out of series one or two, when our heroine was still an unemotive mystery. But it was a good way to encapsulate the Cook/Effy relationship. She screws him because he’s there and he screws her because she’s willing (and together, they’re screwed. Ha!) But while Cook plays the part of the fuck-all sex addict very well, his next appearance in the episode sheds new light on him. He comes to Effy with dinner (and a gateau!) He’s trying to be more than just a carnal relation-- he just doesn’t know exactly how to make the connections that he so desperately wants. But more on him later.
After Cook leaves, Effy comes down to find her mom going over the morning paper, (pointing out such horrible men as Nelson Mandela and Bono), and the girl who’s never met a shirt she couldn’t turn into a dress actually wears pants in this episode! (But I’m sure it was for technical reason only, as she had to shatter glass at her feet and then go running through the woods later on. We’ll hopefully be seeing all-legs-Effy again soon.) This might seem like me going off on a tangent but I mention her shirt because Sid and Nancy are on it. Now, this may have just been any other shirt from the wardrobe department or maybe it was more significant than that. For those who don’t know who Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen were, a brief history: Nancy was a teen groupie who had a relationship with punk rocker, Sid. They were addicted to drugs and each other, and no matter how tumultuous their relationship, they always came back together. Some say they were totally wrong for each other, some say that’s what made them so right together. Sadly, Sid and Nancy’s story ended with Sid “allegedly” killing her. Dunno about you but I see the Cook/Effy similarities.
When Effy goes to see Freddie in his shed, finally ready to tell him how she really feels, she catches him making out with Katie. And she has a rather strong reaction to it: she throws up in his driveway. Granted, who wouldn’t throw up after watching Fun Sponge and Tits and Lisp go at it, but it was just the beginning of what proved to be an episode full of strong and physical reactions. (Pandora hyperventilating in the car; the Effy/Katie fight.)
But the weirdness of the episode really starts when the gang’s on their way to “Gobbler’s End,” a place perfectly named for boogey men and serial killers to dump the bodies. If there was any kind of narrative formula to the episode it took the shape of Bad Horror Movie right from the start. When the gang gets lost (and Katie responds to the situation by doing the Smartest Thing Possible and throwing out the map), the gang meets the British Version of creepsters from such movie classics as Wrong Turn and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The kids are rightfully scared. The trio of goons was a pretty random addition to the episode, and many people online are grumbling about how unnecessary they were, but I gotta disagree. I think they were there to set the tone for the episode and make it take the strange turn that it did. They were part of the “what the fuck is going on” dynamic lent the episode it’s spooky vibe.
But it wouldn’t be a Skins episode if drugs weren’t in the mix.
By the time Effy shares her shrooms things are well on their way to being trippy indeed. Effy’s threshold for drugs has never been something to write home about, and as soon as she closes her eyes (with Panda at her side and Freddie at her hand) she officially slips into a demented wonderland. When she wakes up it’s apparently in the middle of a one-way fight she’s having with Katie. I was as confused as Effy was and I wasn’t even high. I mean, what was she accusing her of? Did Effy like, totally sex up Freddie in the middle of the woods? Oh, wait, that comes later. Before any of that can happen, Cook crashes the party.
He scares the gang into putting out their fire and pissing their pants in fear. This is the scene in which you either sympathize with Cook for being a misunderstood troublemaker just out to have a laugh or hate him for being an annoying little prick who doesn’t give a shit about anyone. If you feel the latter, you’re in good company. The gang is super mad at Cookie. So mad that Freddie gets in his face for his shenanigans and JJ has a mini rage episode on the spot and tells him to Fuck off (a little unjustly, I think, given that he was the one who drugged Cook in the last episode, but whatevs.) The scene escalates into a huge fight orgy for nearly everyone involved. Katie leaves after her relationship with Freddie is put into question. Pandora and Thomas finally have it out when Cook reveals that he’s been popping her cherry over. And over. And over again. And that’s bad news for Effy too. Not so much because her “boyfriend’s” been banging another chick but because Pandora has lied to and betrayed her, again.
The emotional turmoil gets to Effy and she runs into the woods where she meets up with Katie, and one of the trippiest scenes in the series since Tony’s whole trip of an episode in season 2 ensues. In the scene, Katie switches emotions and tangents at the drop of a hat, made all the more surreal because the scene unfolds through Effy’s perspective. Is what she seeing real? Is she imagining some of it? Is she experiencing time jumps? Is Katie’s lisp really that annoying?
Too much to handle. She hits Katie in the head with a rock. And from here on out, all the way til we finally find out that Katie’s okay, Skins became one of the most intense, insane, suspenceful, mindfuck of a show on television. If you’re spoiler free (the best way to go) you begin to question whether the show would actually have the balls to kill off a character. To actually launch Effy’s character in this new direction where her biggest problem in life is not who will or will not take her to Prom (or whatever the Brits call it) but having to carry around the guilt of taking a life. And you sorta believe they could do it because a) they like killing characters b) this show is just that fucked up and c) they’ve got a spare! (Without the terrible fashion sense!). But alas, Katies does not die. And though Effy didn’t kill anyone, she’s still going to have to carry around the guilt of doing what she did and then just leaving the Katie in the forest like that.
Kudos to the writers for pulling this whole thing off as absolutely realistic and sympathetic. You get why Effy didn’t tell anyone (who hasn’t been in a situation where they did something really really wrong and it’s just a matter of time til someone finds out) and you sympathize with her even though she’s the villain in this particular tale.
After maybe killing someone, Effy has some sex. Make no mistakes about it, Effy is absolutely out of her mind when she and Freddie make love. If I were a shipper of these two, I’d feel a little jipped that the first sex scene we get between the two of them involves Effy still partially tripping shrooms with blood on her hands. BUT, the prelude to the sex was interesting in and of itself. Cribbing from a scene in Spring Awakening, Effy asks Freddie to hit her so that she can feel something. And Freddie actually does the right thing. Effy, so attached to pain and darkness, is met with a kiss. Because, kids, kissing can sometimes make you feel something too.
That she is the villain is a sad fact when Effy goes to the hospital and meets up with Freddie, Emily, and Pandora. Of the three characters there, Emily has the nicest, most rational reaction to her– and she’s the girl’s sister! Freddie’s look of mere disgust may have been justified (to the untrained eye Effy did just attempt murder, after all), but it was still so disgustingly judgmental of him. He’s ashamed of Effy, we get that, but there was another character this episode who was ashamed of his girlfriend too and yet his reaction was so much more justified and heart-rending than anything Freddie’s capable of mustering. When Thomas confronted Pandora about her cheating ways, he isn’t such a huge dick about it. It’s the difference between “I want him back because I hurt him and I love him” and “I want him back so that he doesn’t think I’m a useless asshole.”
At this point in their relationship, how can Effy really ever be with Freddie without her integrity taking a huge hit? If they’re ever going to be together then Freddie just can’t be the judgment bastard that he is or Effy will never stop measuring her self-worth based on how he sees it.
But the worst reaction of the three came from Pandora, who was unwilling to listen to anything Effy would say. This stung the most, and needed to happen, so that the audience and Effy herself can see that if she ever had any friends she certainly doesn’t have any now.
Enter Cook. Just recently ousted from the gang himself, he’s there for Effy because now they can be alone, together. And she’s coming along for the ride because he’s all she’s got. The dialogue for the scene was clear: “Where are we going?” “Where are we?” “It’s always going to be you and me.” It’s a new frontier for Effy– she’s officially, as she said in a previous episode, off the rails. Although I’m not sold on Cook/Effy, the potential for something explosive to happen between them for no other reason than because they’re stuck together, is there. It’s like Sid and Nancy. They’re all wrong together, but, at least for now, they’re the only two people right for each other.
Notables from the episode:
-Naomi and Emily getting busy while the daft JJ has no clue that there’s more than just “wriggling” going on. Hehe.
- Kaya Scodelario’s acting in this week’s episode was spot on. Spot on. And I’m not just talking about the big emotional scenes (of which there were many). I’m talking about the little cast-off looks in between the big scenes. She’s really come into her own as an actress. Megan Prescott, please take note.
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This week’s episode centered around Effy, one of the most polarizing characters on the show. You either hate her or you love her. Personally, I belong to the latter group. For me, none of Effy’s episodes ever disappoint, and 3x08 was no exception. Though the character has changed in profound ways since her humble, silent beginnings of series 1, Effy is still on of the most interesting characters in a show full of interesting people.
One of the things I missed about the Effy from Series 1 and 2 though, was the fantastical, storybook element that used to follow her character around. In her first unseen skins (pop) she told a fable, in 2x06 she helped Tony back to sleep by telling him a tale, in 1x08, her first episode, her only line was a riddle. So I was happy that at least there was a bit of that in this week’s ep. Because you just don’t tell someone to “beware the moon” without the story getting freaky.
The episode started with a shot of Effy bouncing up and down– on Cook, as it happens. The image harkened back to the Effy of yore; detached and disinterested, this could’ve been a scene pulled out of series one or two, when our heroine was still an unemotive mystery. But it was a good way to encapsulate the Cook/Effy relationship. She screws him because he’s there and he screws her because she’s willing (and together, they’re screwed. Ha!) But while Cook plays the part of the fuck-all sex addict very well, his next appearance in the episode sheds new light on him. He comes to Effy with dinner (and a gateau!) He’s trying to be more than just a carnal relation-- he just doesn’t know exactly how to make the connections that he so desperately wants. But more on him later.
After Cook leaves, Effy comes down to find her mom going over the morning paper, (pointing out such horrible men as Nelson Mandela and Bono), and the girl who’s never met a shirt she couldn’t turn into a dress actually wears pants in this episode! (But I’m sure it was for technical reason only, as she had to shatter glass at her feet and then go running through the woods later on. We’ll hopefully be seeing all-legs-Effy again soon.) This might seem like me going off on a tangent but I mention her shirt because Sid and Nancy are on it. Now, this may have just been any other shirt from the wardrobe department or maybe it was more significant than that. For those who don’t know who Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen were, a brief history: Nancy was a teen groupie who had a relationship with punk rocker, Sid. They were addicted to drugs and each other, and no matter how tumultuous their relationship, they always came back together. Some say they were totally wrong for each other, some say that’s what made them so right together. Sadly, Sid and Nancy’s story ended with Sid “allegedly” killing her. Dunno about you but I see the Cook/Effy similarities.
When Effy goes to see Freddie in his shed, finally ready to tell him how she really feels, she catches him making out with Katie. And she has a rather strong reaction to it: she throws up in his driveway. Granted, who wouldn’t throw up after watching Fun Sponge and Tits and Lisp go at it, but it was just the beginning of what proved to be an episode full of strong and physical reactions. (Pandora hyperventilating in the car; the Effy/Katie fight.)
But the weirdness of the episode really starts when the gang’s on their way to “Gobbler’s End,” a place perfectly named for boogey men and serial killers to dump the bodies. If there was any kind of narrative formula to the episode it took the shape of Bad Horror Movie right from the start. When the gang gets lost (and Katie responds to the situation by doing the Smartest Thing Possible and throwing out the map), the gang meets the British Version of creepsters from such movie classics as Wrong Turn and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The kids are rightfully scared. The trio of goons was a pretty random addition to the episode, and many people online are grumbling about how unnecessary they were, but I gotta disagree. I think they were there to set the tone for the episode and make it take the strange turn that it did. They were part of the “what the fuck is going on” dynamic lent the episode it’s spooky vibe.
But it wouldn’t be a Skins episode if drugs weren’t in the mix.
By the time Effy shares her shrooms things are well on their way to being trippy indeed. Effy’s threshold for drugs has never been something to write home about, and as soon as she closes her eyes (with Panda at her side and Freddie at her hand) she officially slips into a demented wonderland. When she wakes up it’s apparently in the middle of a one-way fight she’s having with Katie. I was as confused as Effy was and I wasn’t even high. I mean, what was she accusing her of? Did Effy like, totally sex up Freddie in the middle of the woods? Oh, wait, that comes later. Before any of that can happen, Cook crashes the party.
He scares the gang into putting out their fire and pissing their pants in fear. This is the scene in which you either sympathize with Cook for being a misunderstood troublemaker just out to have a laugh or hate him for being an annoying little prick who doesn’t give a shit about anyone. If you feel the latter, you’re in good company. The gang is super mad at Cookie. So mad that Freddie gets in his face for his shenanigans and JJ has a mini rage episode on the spot and tells him to Fuck off (a little unjustly, I think, given that he was the one who drugged Cook in the last episode, but whatevs.) The scene escalates into a huge fight orgy for nearly everyone involved. Katie leaves after her relationship with Freddie is put into question. Pandora and Thomas finally have it out when Cook reveals that he’s been popping her cherry over. And over. And over again. And that’s bad news for Effy too. Not so much because her “boyfriend’s” been banging another chick but because Pandora has lied to and betrayed her, again.
The emotional turmoil gets to Effy and she runs into the woods where she meets up with Katie, and one of the trippiest scenes in the series since Tony’s whole trip of an episode in season 2 ensues. In the scene, Katie switches emotions and tangents at the drop of a hat, made all the more surreal because the scene unfolds through Effy’s perspective. Is what she seeing real? Is she imagining some of it? Is she experiencing time jumps? Is Katie’s lisp really that annoying?
Too much to handle. She hits Katie in the head with a rock. And from here on out, all the way til we finally find out that Katie’s okay, Skins became one of the most intense, insane, suspenceful, mindfuck of a show on television. If you’re spoiler free (the best way to go) you begin to question whether the show would actually have the balls to kill off a character. To actually launch Effy’s character in this new direction where her biggest problem in life is not who will or will not take her to Prom (or whatever the Brits call it) but having to carry around the guilt of taking a life. And you sorta believe they could do it because a) they like killing characters b) this show is just that fucked up and c) they’ve got a spare! (Without the terrible fashion sense!). But alas, Katies does not die. And though Effy didn’t kill anyone, she’s still going to have to carry around the guilt of doing what she did and then just leaving the Katie in the forest like that.
Kudos to the writers for pulling this whole thing off as absolutely realistic and sympathetic. You get why Effy didn’t tell anyone (who hasn’t been in a situation where they did something really really wrong and it’s just a matter of time til someone finds out) and you sympathize with her even though she’s the villain in this particular tale.
After maybe killing someone, Effy has some sex. Make no mistakes about it, Effy is absolutely out of her mind when she and Freddie make love. If I were a shipper of these two, I’d feel a little jipped that the first sex scene we get between the two of them involves Effy still partially tripping shrooms with blood on her hands. BUT, the prelude to the sex was interesting in and of itself. Cribbing from a scene in Spring Awakening, Effy asks Freddie to hit her so that she can feel something. And Freddie actually does the right thing. Effy, so attached to pain and darkness, is met with a kiss. Because, kids, kissing can sometimes make you feel something too.
That she is the villain is a sad fact when Effy goes to the hospital and meets up with Freddie, Emily, and Pandora. Of the three characters there, Emily has the nicest, most rational reaction to her– and she’s the girl’s sister! Freddie’s look of mere disgust may have been justified (to the untrained eye Effy did just attempt murder, after all), but it was still so disgustingly judgmental of him. He’s ashamed of Effy, we get that, but there was another character this episode who was ashamed of his girlfriend too and yet his reaction was so much more justified and heart-rending than anything Freddie’s capable of mustering. When Thomas confronted Pandora about her cheating ways, he isn’t such a huge dick about it. It’s the difference between “I want him back because I hurt him and I love him” and “I want him back so that he doesn’t think I’m a useless asshole.”
At this point in their relationship, how can Effy really ever be with Freddie without her integrity taking a huge hit? If they’re ever going to be together then Freddie just can’t be the judgment bastard that he is or Effy will never stop measuring her self-worth based on how he sees it.
But the worst reaction of the three came from Pandora, who was unwilling to listen to anything Effy would say. This stung the most, and needed to happen, so that the audience and Effy herself can see that if she ever had any friends she certainly doesn’t have any now.
Enter Cook. Just recently ousted from the gang himself, he’s there for Effy because now they can be alone, together. And she’s coming along for the ride because he’s all she’s got. The dialogue for the scene was clear: “Where are we going?” “Where are we?” “It’s always going to be you and me.” It’s a new frontier for Effy– she’s officially, as she said in a previous episode, off the rails. Although I’m not sold on Cook/Effy, the potential for something explosive to happen between them for no other reason than because they’re stuck together, is there. It’s like Sid and Nancy. They’re all wrong together, but, at least for now, they’re the only two people right for each other.
Notables from the episode:
-Naomi and Emily getting busy while the daft JJ has no clue that there’s more than just “wriggling” going on. Hehe.
- Kaya Scodelario’s acting in this week’s episode was spot on. Spot on. And I’m not just talking about the big emotional scenes (of which there were many). I’m talking about the little cast-off looks in between the big scenes. She’s really come into her own as an actress. Megan Prescott, please take note.
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Thursday, March 5, 2009
Skins: JJ: Everyone’s on the pill!
One of the big things that separates Skins from every other (American) teen show out there is their casual use and portrayal of drugs. Teen shows have always dealt with drugs but while a show like 90210 would focus on Addiction and Overdose and the General Badness of Drugs In General, Skins doesn’t judge. Characters take drugs like candy, and there’s hardly ever any consequences. In “JJ” practically everyone was on the sweet stuff.
JJ isn’t normal. We know this because he kept saying as much throughout the entire episode. His mum wishes he were normal, he hasn’t got any friends because he isn’t normal, “normal” people don’t go to therapy and he does, and there’s even a handy graph on his wall with the word NORMAL scribbled on it and then the word “unusual” next to his name. (There’s also the words “Head Butt” next to Effy’s name which should also indicate just how not normal JJ is because that’s just weird.) His room’s littered with toys, the little kids on his block tease him, and his therapist is an ass. Suffice it to say JJ’s got issues.
At therapy JJ finds Emily, who needs therapy also because... she’s a lesbian. No, she’s there to try and see if she can be more open with people. And possibly score roofies for another “rendevous” with Naomi. And she kinda sorta did! After bonding over their new STUN pills and Emily finally coming out as a lover of tits and fanny, she and JJ form a rather cute new friendship. Except for the little mishap with the explosive vomit. That wasn’t so much cute as TOTALLY GROSS. I mean what was that??
Anyhoo, after talking with Emily, JJ realizes that he’s got to be more honest about what he wants if he wants to be treated differently. And from then on out his character took on a kind of interesting role. JJ acted as a sort of vessel: through his interactions with each individual character as he went on his Quest To Get What He Wants(And Walking In On People Half Naked To Get It) we saw a glimpse into who they really are. Emily finally shared that she’s gay; Effy expressed honest interest in being someone’s friend for the first time; Cook came out with his “fuck people” (both figuratively and literally) philosophy; and Freddie proved himself to be an enormous turd.
The whole gang eventually find themselves in a club at a party thrown by Thomas (?) where Cook’s tripping on some STUN pills JJ gave him, Emily’s drunk off her ass and dancing slutty, and Effy and Naomi are united in their mission to avoid their one true loves. Cook gets beat up and in his messed up state he tells Freddie that Effy loves him. He also reveals that he’s popped Panda and Freddie has to save him once again from beat by Thomas, who overhears.
The episode ended with the virgin and the lesbian having sex.
The whole thing was kind of out of left field, but the only way I reconcile it is by remembering what JJ said in the beginning of the episode: that if he was normal he’d lose his virginity. Maybe the scene was suppose to summarize that in spite (and probably because of) all of the things that make him an unusual guy he’s actual just as normal as everyone else. But the scene still felt totally incongruous, if only because Emily is certainly not in the right frame of mind to be giving pity fucks. She just got over figuring out her sexality and is still not over her (oddly unmentioned) relationship with Naomi. A more likely candidate to have done the deed with JJ? Effy. He likes her, and she likes fucking. Not something I’d necessarily want to see, but still would’ve made more sense to me.
Other notables about the ep:
- I liked the scene in which Cook comforts JJ after he has his fit. And if I have to compare it to the hug Freddie gave JJ I gotta say Cook’s was way better (but then again I also think Freddie’s a turd, so....) Because while Freddie hugged he asked for space, and while Cook hugged he didn’t ask for anything, he just offered his love.
-“Grab my balls” sounds even funnier over loud speaker.
- I was a little disappointed with JJ’s mom and lack of dad. The previous episodes alluded to them being especially quirky folks who love to give maxims about pubic hair. I would’ve liked to see some of that!
- Katie/Freddie? Any takers? No? Didn’t think so.
- Cook’s living situation leaves me wondering. His episode unfairly left out any of his familial backstory. I’ll guess we’ll have to wait and see what’s got him living in a dorm. But it’s just another thing that makes his character very similar to Chris.
- The ep revealed that Pandora is still crawling back to Cook for some surf and turf sessions. This could mean two things: she’s either really obsessed with sex, or, she’s going the Effy route and running to Cook out of fear (what’s she got to be afraid of, you ask? Having to face Thomas after unwittingly betraying him.) One thing’s for sure though: she clearly regrets going to Cookie, no matter how many times she does it.
- New JJism: “shitification.”
- Cook has a tendency to look hot with any girl they pair him with. And he’s pretty much had his share of all of them. His dance with Emily was brief but definitely had shades of hotness. Let’s rank these pairings, shall we? From least to most hot:
Cook/naomi (school scene)
Cook/effy (nurse’s office)
Cook/emily (club dance)
Cook/pandora (twister sex)
- And finally, things we learned about British people today: They’ve all got a supply of mango juice at the ready. Who knew!
Next week, Effy! (The Bon Iver song used in the “Next Time” clip only got me more excited :D)
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JJ isn’t normal. We know this because he kept saying as much throughout the entire episode. His mum wishes he were normal, he hasn’t got any friends because he isn’t normal, “normal” people don’t go to therapy and he does, and there’s even a handy graph on his wall with the word NORMAL scribbled on it and then the word “unusual” next to his name. (There’s also the words “Head Butt” next to Effy’s name which should also indicate just how not normal JJ is because that’s just weird.) His room’s littered with toys, the little kids on his block tease him, and his therapist is an ass. Suffice it to say JJ’s got issues.
At therapy JJ finds Emily, who needs therapy also because... she’s a lesbian. No, she’s there to try and see if she can be more open with people. And possibly score roofies for another “rendevous” with Naomi. And she kinda sorta did! After bonding over their new STUN pills and Emily finally coming out as a lover of tits and fanny, she and JJ form a rather cute new friendship. Except for the little mishap with the explosive vomit. That wasn’t so much cute as TOTALLY GROSS. I mean what was that??
Anyhoo, after talking with Emily, JJ realizes that he’s got to be more honest about what he wants if he wants to be treated differently. And from then on out his character took on a kind of interesting role. JJ acted as a sort of vessel: through his interactions with each individual character as he went on his Quest To Get What He Wants(And Walking In On People Half Naked To Get It) we saw a glimpse into who they really are. Emily finally shared that she’s gay; Effy expressed honest interest in being someone’s friend for the first time; Cook came out with his “fuck people” (both figuratively and literally) philosophy; and Freddie proved himself to be an enormous turd.
The whole gang eventually find themselves in a club at a party thrown by Thomas (?) where Cook’s tripping on some STUN pills JJ gave him, Emily’s drunk off her ass and dancing slutty, and Effy and Naomi are united in their mission to avoid their one true loves. Cook gets beat up and in his messed up state he tells Freddie that Effy loves him. He also reveals that he’s popped Panda and Freddie has to save him once again from beat by Thomas, who overhears.
The episode ended with the virgin and the lesbian having sex.
The whole thing was kind of out of left field, but the only way I reconcile it is by remembering what JJ said in the beginning of the episode: that if he was normal he’d lose his virginity. Maybe the scene was suppose to summarize that in spite (and probably because of) all of the things that make him an unusual guy he’s actual just as normal as everyone else. But the scene still felt totally incongruous, if only because Emily is certainly not in the right frame of mind to be giving pity fucks. She just got over figuring out her sexality and is still not over her (oddly unmentioned) relationship with Naomi. A more likely candidate to have done the deed with JJ? Effy. He likes her, and she likes fucking. Not something I’d necessarily want to see, but still would’ve made more sense to me.
Other notables about the ep:
- I liked the scene in which Cook comforts JJ after he has his fit. And if I have to compare it to the hug Freddie gave JJ I gotta say Cook’s was way better (but then again I also think Freddie’s a turd, so....) Because while Freddie hugged he asked for space, and while Cook hugged he didn’t ask for anything, he just offered his love.
-“Grab my balls” sounds even funnier over loud speaker.
- I was a little disappointed with JJ’s mom and lack of dad. The previous episodes alluded to them being especially quirky folks who love to give maxims about pubic hair. I would’ve liked to see some of that!
- Katie/Freddie? Any takers? No? Didn’t think so.
- Cook’s living situation leaves me wondering. His episode unfairly left out any of his familial backstory. I’ll guess we’ll have to wait and see what’s got him living in a dorm. But it’s just another thing that makes his character very similar to Chris.
- The ep revealed that Pandora is still crawling back to Cook for some surf and turf sessions. This could mean two things: she’s either really obsessed with sex, or, she’s going the Effy route and running to Cook out of fear (what’s she got to be afraid of, you ask? Having to face Thomas after unwittingly betraying him.) One thing’s for sure though: she clearly regrets going to Cookie, no matter how many times she does it.
- New JJism: “shitification.”
- Cook has a tendency to look hot with any girl they pair him with. And he’s pretty much had his share of all of them. His dance with Emily was brief but definitely had shades of hotness. Let’s rank these pairings, shall we? From least to most hot:
Cook/naomi (school scene)
Cook/effy (nurse’s office)
Cook/emily (club dance)
Cook/pandora (twister sex)
- And finally, things we learned about British people today: They’ve all got a supply of mango juice at the ready. Who knew!
Next week, Effy! (The Bon Iver song used in the “Next Time” clip only got me more excited :D)
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Friday, February 20, 2009
Skins: Ass to Ass with "Freddie"
Every episode of Skins is basically a self-contained coming-of-age novel but none more so than Freddie’s ep. We got the hook: Freddie’s got a dancing whore of a sister, a dad who favors her more, and to top it all off his mother’s dead. The conflict: Freddie’s stuck in a slacker slump and in love with a girl who won’t love him back. The resolution: Freddie forces himself to grow up and tell the girl how he feels. But the formula stops there because although he is the hero of our tale he doesn’t get the emo girl of his dreams in the end.
The ep starts with Freddie’s dad forcing him to tell his sister she’s sexy. Score one for the creep factor, show! And then he does and goes outside to be angsty and is surprised to find Effy in his garden. And she’s all, Yeah I’m in your garden. That’s not strange at all. And Freddie’s all, It kind of is. And she’s like, I wanna go inside your shed. And Freddie’s like, Is that a euphemism? And just like that the spark of romance ignites.
It burns brighter in class in the most chaste of ways when Freddie and Effy’s forearms touch and the hair on his skin stands on end.
And finally, when he decides to do something about it and goes to Effy’s house to “return her bracelet” aka tell her how he feels. Now, the thing about Freddie is, he’s not very good at articulating anything. This was his primary character trait throughout the episode so it was nice when he got to the point and told Effy that they’d be good together. And she tells him something about how she’s a heartbreaker and therefore it would be a seriously stupid idea. So Freddie goes to explore his feelings some more and we’re subjected to yet another skateboarding montage where we’re meant to understand that Freddie’s a crap skater when girls don’t love him back. And things are about to get a lot worse: his dad destroys/cleans up his shed; he learns that Cook fucked his sister; and then, in a gratuitously gross scene, he throws up.
But then, like an angel, Effy appears to him in a post-vomit haze and enlightens him with the words, “Just be.” which sounded a lot like “just pee” to the point where I thought she had a secret remedy to cure vomiting, but alas, she was just the catalyst to make him point his life in a new direction.
He decides to stop skating, stop smoking, put on a suit (later) and go kiss Effy in a lake. (The scene was sweet, and probably had all the Effy/Freddie lovers absolutely dying, but I’m still not sold on this ship. They just seem wrong for each other and I can’t picture what a relationship between the two of them would look like. Suffice to say, the Freddie/Effy scenes made me cringe a little bit.) But anyway, Freddie’s loosened up! Here’s the thing about Freddie: he may be a bore (when he isnt being a self-richeous little pris) but he’s still the prettiest boy on the show (he’s got the dirty-boy-chic thing down.) And when he loosens up his personality matches his looks and he becomes... cute. That scene of him singing along to “Ass to Ass”? Adorable!
He continues the adorableness by reconciling with his sister and supporting her throughout the loss of her Sexxxbombs competition. But Cook comes over and completely amps up his dick quota for the series by revealing that he was the one who sabotaged of Karen’s career as a singing slut. Freddie head butted him and Cook retaliated by kissing him- which actually isn’t the non sequitur that it sounds like.
After all this, Freddie’s still thinking about his undying love for Effy, and in a climactic scene towards the end Mrs. Stonem essentially tells him that Effy doesn’t want any Freddiebrek because she’s having a Cookie upstairs. And maybe Freddie and Effy aren’t that wrong for each other because the one thing they share in common is that neither one is much for communicating well. They give and receive messages through action. Freddie proclaims himself to her through a kiss. Effy turns him down by showing him, deliberately, that she doesn’t want him (well, she does want him, she just doesn’t “do” relationships.)
The closing of Freddie’s story opened up a whole new one. Not only has the show’s main romance taken a turn for the worse, but we’ve seen the turning point of Cook/Freddie too (and I’m not talking about that kiss.) Cook’s acting out of jealousy now and his actions are becoming a lot more malicious. He’s definitely taking notes from Tony Season 1 in the ways of alienating friends and making yourself the most hateful “friend” of the group. An interesting character arc but I like my Cook to be flavored mild, thanks very much.
All in all, not the best ep of the series by far, but it moved things along somewhat. Some great moments in the episode:
- Naomi = I moan. Hehe. Naomi gets all the sexual references and I love it.
- Cook = “Crayola Dick.” Now I’m just really curious.
- Speaking of Naomi and Cook, this episode was not without its Naomi/Cook allusions. Cook thinks she’s funny, and along with his “I like her” statement from the premiere episode, it was just another subtle hint that he’s developing more than just boner-inspiring feelings for her. At least imo.
- “Hi this is Effy, I’m not talking right now.”
We finally got an answer to a question we never thought to ask: How did Effy talk on the phone back in her non-speaking days? She didn’t! And thanks to Effy’s fantastic voicemail we now know that she really took the silent vow thing to heart. A great throwback to series 1.
- Speaking of the earlier series we got a few other refrences in this episode. Cook said something about encountering an “Anwar the Magnificent.” (So Anwar’s a magician now?) AND, Josie’s back! Ever since counseling Chris in the ways of careers she’s been a delightful recurring character on the series. And she even brought back Chris’ beloved “pucking.” Glad she’s back.
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The ep starts with Freddie’s dad forcing him to tell his sister she’s sexy. Score one for the creep factor, show! And then he does and goes outside to be angsty and is surprised to find Effy in his garden. And she’s all, Yeah I’m in your garden. That’s not strange at all. And Freddie’s all, It kind of is. And she’s like, I wanna go inside your shed. And Freddie’s like, Is that a euphemism? And just like that the spark of romance ignites.
It burns brighter in class in the most chaste of ways when Freddie and Effy’s forearms touch and the hair on his skin stands on end.
And finally, when he decides to do something about it and goes to Effy’s house to “return her bracelet” aka tell her how he feels. Now, the thing about Freddie is, he’s not very good at articulating anything. This was his primary character trait throughout the episode so it was nice when he got to the point and told Effy that they’d be good together. And she tells him something about how she’s a heartbreaker and therefore it would be a seriously stupid idea. So Freddie goes to explore his feelings some more and we’re subjected to yet another skateboarding montage where we’re meant to understand that Freddie’s a crap skater when girls don’t love him back. And things are about to get a lot worse: his dad destroys/cleans up his shed; he learns that Cook fucked his sister; and then, in a gratuitously gross scene, he throws up.
But then, like an angel, Effy appears to him in a post-vomit haze and enlightens him with the words, “Just be.” which sounded a lot like “just pee” to the point where I thought she had a secret remedy to cure vomiting, but alas, she was just the catalyst to make him point his life in a new direction.
He decides to stop skating, stop smoking, put on a suit (later) and go kiss Effy in a lake. (The scene was sweet, and probably had all the Effy/Freddie lovers absolutely dying, but I’m still not sold on this ship. They just seem wrong for each other and I can’t picture what a relationship between the two of them would look like. Suffice to say, the Freddie/Effy scenes made me cringe a little bit.) But anyway, Freddie’s loosened up! Here’s the thing about Freddie: he may be a bore (when he isnt being a self-richeous little pris) but he’s still the prettiest boy on the show (he’s got the dirty-boy-chic thing down.) And when he loosens up his personality matches his looks and he becomes... cute. That scene of him singing along to “Ass to Ass”? Adorable!
He continues the adorableness by reconciling with his sister and supporting her throughout the loss of her Sexxxbombs competition. But Cook comes over and completely amps up his dick quota for the series by revealing that he was the one who sabotaged of Karen’s career as a singing slut. Freddie head butted him and Cook retaliated by kissing him- which actually isn’t the non sequitur that it sounds like.
After all this, Freddie’s still thinking about his undying love for Effy, and in a climactic scene towards the end Mrs. Stonem essentially tells him that Effy doesn’t want any Freddiebrek because she’s having a Cookie upstairs. And maybe Freddie and Effy aren’t that wrong for each other because the one thing they share in common is that neither one is much for communicating well. They give and receive messages through action. Freddie proclaims himself to her through a kiss. Effy turns him down by showing him, deliberately, that she doesn’t want him (well, she does want him, she just doesn’t “do” relationships.)
The closing of Freddie’s story opened up a whole new one. Not only has the show’s main romance taken a turn for the worse, but we’ve seen the turning point of Cook/Freddie too (and I’m not talking about that kiss.) Cook’s acting out of jealousy now and his actions are becoming a lot more malicious. He’s definitely taking notes from Tony Season 1 in the ways of alienating friends and making yourself the most hateful “friend” of the group. An interesting character arc but I like my Cook to be flavored mild, thanks very much.
All in all, not the best ep of the series by far, but it moved things along somewhat. Some great moments in the episode:
- Naomi = I moan. Hehe. Naomi gets all the sexual references and I love it.
- Cook = “Crayola Dick.” Now I’m just really curious.
- Speaking of Naomi and Cook, this episode was not without its Naomi/Cook allusions. Cook thinks she’s funny, and along with his “I like her” statement from the premiere episode, it was just another subtle hint that he’s developing more than just boner-inspiring feelings for her. At least imo.
- “Hi this is Effy, I’m not talking right now.”
We finally got an answer to a question we never thought to ask: How did Effy talk on the phone back in her non-speaking days? She didn’t! And thanks to Effy’s fantastic voicemail we now know that she really took the silent vow thing to heart. A great throwback to series 1.
- Speaking of the earlier series we got a few other refrences in this episode. Cook said something about encountering an “Anwar the Magnificent.” (So Anwar’s a magician now?) AND, Josie’s back! Ever since counseling Chris in the ways of careers she’s been a delightful recurring character on the series. And she even brought back Chris’ beloved “pucking.” Glad she’s back.
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Thursday, February 12, 2009
Skins 3: "Pandora"
Pandora. Who woulda thunk that the girl who likes to eat pens (and cocaine) would turn into one of this season’s most interesting characters. At the beginning of this episode Pandora’s still pining for Thomas, her lost love of three days, but she isn’t exactly down in the dumps about it just yet (that comes later). In fact, she’s in quite a cheery mood, talking up an intelligible storm at Effy’s breakfast table and being giddy about her pajama party.
At the party we finally get to meet Pandora’s mum who we’ve only had to imagine since Pandora told her over the phone that she was staring at Tony’s cock. Suffice it to say Mrs. Moon is everything I was hoping her to be. The thing that keeps surprising me about Skins is how fully formed all the individual worlds are. The peripheral characters especially (Pandora’s neurotic mom, the neighbor with the affinity for Edward Scissorhands-like landscaping and a penchant for S&M) remind me of the kind of characters you’d find in a Wes Anderson movie: quirky, crazy, and innately interesting. Most of the writers for this show haven’t reached their thirties yet but you’d think they were doing this sort of thing for ages.
The party, which was supposed to consist of jelly and twister (and a bouncy moonwalk in the yard!) quickly turns into something more appropriate for Skins, which is to say it’s filled with sex, drugs, booze, and unruly behavior. And thanks to Effy’s scheming Pandora’s mom is blissfully out of it for the duration.
Though, as much as it was Pandora’s name in the title, this episode was shared with Effy.
Her mother’s affair has finally come to light and in a sad and all-too-real scene that involved Mr. Stonem both calling Anthea a bitch and telling her he loves her we got to see Effy emote– which is a rarity. “They fuck you up,” she tells Pandora.
Effy deals with a lot of issues in this ep; her parents, her love life, but what it all really comes down to-- what’s been the great big elephant in the room since last year– is friendship. Effy may be hanging out with a lot more people this season and she may have collected herself a sidekick but things haven’t changed much since Episode 7 of Series 2 when she told Pandora that she doesn’t have any friends.
Effy starts to realize the impact of her friendless friendships when Pandora confronts her through the door of her loo, accusing Effy of not being sympathetic to her needs and ruining her party. Because it’s her party and she’ll cry if she wants to. (Lisa Backwell does an amazing job of straddling the line between bonkers and sincere. Well, she’s always sincere but this time she asks us to empathize with her character and she absolutely holds the viewer in the palm of her hand.)
And then comes Freddie, or as I’m going to start calling him now; Fun Sponge (thanks show!), who was quick to point fingers when he came tosave pick up JJ. “You have to look after him!” Ah, Freddie. Effy doesn’t exactly “look after” people. In fact, she looks pretty confused at the concept, mumbling something about Cook being the guy’s friend. The scene ended with Effy realizing just how big of a mess she’s gotten herself into by running to Cook when she should have been following her heart and getting it on with Freddie. But that’s Effy for you. She’s a runner. When her parents split, she splits, and when she develops feelings for skater boys with emo haircuts she jumps into bed with the Wrong Guy.
But it wasn’t til episode’s end that Effy finally got the message she needed from Pandora. You don’t get to be mad at your best friend stealing your man when you aren’t really best friends to begin with.
Which brings us to Pandora/Cook! This ship sailed in out of nowhere but... it just felt so right! Nothing has to happen between them again (and nothing probably should) but in that Twister scene we got to see what a Cookie and a Panda looks like together. And it actually worked! Cook may be a horn dog on the loose but what makes him so ultimately lovable is that he’ll try everything but he isn’t above anything. If the weird girl wants to play to Twister why shouldn’t he? He was the only one out of the gang who wasn’t mortified by the idea. And you gotta love the guy for that.
And as if the episode didn’t tackle enough it also gave us the Emily/Naomi storyline that so many fans have been pining for. Emily’s been a favorite of mine since the beginning but my love for Naomi has grown with each episode and it hit its high point here. Everything from the way she dealt with the prying neighbor to the way she described herself as a “cock cruncher” (loved the “tennis elbow” joke in her little erectile dysfunction discord). Their first kissing scene was executed really well (especially with the chorus of the Lily Allen song perfectly suiting the scene; Emily not being able to find the words to ask for a kiss but Naomi figuring it out anyway; Naomi’s “Oh” afterwards like she maybe should consider doing this female kissing thing more. She may have blamed it on the drugs but if that bouncy moonwalk scene was any indication, she enjoyed it.
Other things about the ep:
-THOMAS!!!! I think I missed the guy just as much as Pandora.... ok, not quite, but still, it was so nice to see that he’s back! And seeing the two of them hug just looked so right. I’m rooting for this couple.
- Katie. For the last three eps we’re meant to like her about as much as Emily does but this episode finally turned things around for her character. She’s such an annoying little bitch that it’s actually funny at this point. Especially the scene where Effy looked non-too-pleased to see her again and Katie proceeded to gush to her boyfriend about her new BFF.
- Leave it to Skins to give new meaning to the words “Pandora’s Box.” What will we find in there next!
- Kaya’s acting has gone leaps and bounds since last year. She was at the top of her game in this episode.
- JJ seeing all the naughty stuff that Cook warned him about was pretty funny, but I’m starting to question his character a little bit. Is he so socially awkward that he’d really start to go mental at a party? I don’t know what to make of him yet.
- They’re doing an awful job of covering up Jack O’Connell’s tattoo (the one beneath “Jack the Lad”). First there was his green shirt which rode up when he was on the roof with JJ and showed the tattoo creeping under the rim. Then there was the makeup that did not match his skin tone at all. His character’s already got tattoos, so why bother covering this one up?
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At the party we finally get to meet Pandora’s mum who we’ve only had to imagine since Pandora told her over the phone that she was staring at Tony’s cock. Suffice it to say Mrs. Moon is everything I was hoping her to be. The thing that keeps surprising me about Skins is how fully formed all the individual worlds are. The peripheral characters especially (Pandora’s neurotic mom, the neighbor with the affinity for Edward Scissorhands-like landscaping and a penchant for S&M) remind me of the kind of characters you’d find in a Wes Anderson movie: quirky, crazy, and innately interesting. Most of the writers for this show haven’t reached their thirties yet but you’d think they were doing this sort of thing for ages.
The party, which was supposed to consist of jelly and twister (and a bouncy moonwalk in the yard!) quickly turns into something more appropriate for Skins, which is to say it’s filled with sex, drugs, booze, and unruly behavior. And thanks to Effy’s scheming Pandora’s mom is blissfully out of it for the duration.
Though, as much as it was Pandora’s name in the title, this episode was shared with Effy.
Her mother’s affair has finally come to light and in a sad and all-too-real scene that involved Mr. Stonem both calling Anthea a bitch and telling her he loves her we got to see Effy emote– which is a rarity. “They fuck you up,” she tells Pandora.
Effy deals with a lot of issues in this ep; her parents, her love life, but what it all really comes down to-- what’s been the great big elephant in the room since last year– is friendship. Effy may be hanging out with a lot more people this season and she may have collected herself a sidekick but things haven’t changed much since Episode 7 of Series 2 when she told Pandora that she doesn’t have any friends.
Effy starts to realize the impact of her friendless friendships when Pandora confronts her through the door of her loo, accusing Effy of not being sympathetic to her needs and ruining her party. Because it’s her party and she’ll cry if she wants to. (Lisa Backwell does an amazing job of straddling the line between bonkers and sincere. Well, she’s always sincere but this time she asks us to empathize with her character and she absolutely holds the viewer in the palm of her hand.)
And then comes Freddie, or as I’m going to start calling him now; Fun Sponge (thanks show!), who was quick to point fingers when he came to
But it wasn’t til episode’s end that Effy finally got the message she needed from Pandora. You don’t get to be mad at your best friend stealing your man when you aren’t really best friends to begin with.
Which brings us to Pandora/Cook! This ship sailed in out of nowhere but... it just felt so right! Nothing has to happen between them again (and nothing probably should) but in that Twister scene we got to see what a Cookie and a Panda looks like together. And it actually worked! Cook may be a horn dog on the loose but what makes him so ultimately lovable is that he’ll try everything but he isn’t above anything. If the weird girl wants to play to Twister why shouldn’t he? He was the only one out of the gang who wasn’t mortified by the idea. And you gotta love the guy for that.
And as if the episode didn’t tackle enough it also gave us the Emily/Naomi storyline that so many fans have been pining for. Emily’s been a favorite of mine since the beginning but my love for Naomi has grown with each episode and it hit its high point here. Everything from the way she dealt with the prying neighbor to the way she described herself as a “cock cruncher” (loved the “tennis elbow” joke in her little erectile dysfunction discord). Their first kissing scene was executed really well (especially with the chorus of the Lily Allen song perfectly suiting the scene; Emily not being able to find the words to ask for a kiss but Naomi figuring it out anyway; Naomi’s “Oh” afterwards like she maybe should consider doing this female kissing thing more. She may have blamed it on the drugs but if that bouncy moonwalk scene was any indication, she enjoyed it.
Other things about the ep:
-THOMAS!!!! I think I missed the guy just as much as Pandora.... ok, not quite, but still, it was so nice to see that he’s back! And seeing the two of them hug just looked so right. I’m rooting for this couple.
- Katie. For the last three eps we’re meant to like her about as much as Emily does but this episode finally turned things around for her character. She’s such an annoying little bitch that it’s actually funny at this point. Especially the scene where Effy looked non-too-pleased to see her again and Katie proceeded to gush to her boyfriend about her new BFF.
- Leave it to Skins to give new meaning to the words “Pandora’s Box.” What will we find in there next!
- Kaya’s acting has gone leaps and bounds since last year. She was at the top of her game in this episode.
- JJ seeing all the naughty stuff that Cook warned him about was pretty funny, but I’m starting to question his character a little bit. Is he so socially awkward that he’d really start to go mental at a party? I don’t know what to make of him yet.
- They’re doing an awful job of covering up Jack O’Connell’s tattoo (the one beneath “Jack the Lad”). First there was his green shirt which rode up when he was on the roof with JJ and showed the tattoo creeping under the rim. Then there was the makeup that did not match his skin tone at all. His character’s already got tattoos, so why bother covering this one up?
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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!
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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!
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Wednesday, February 4, 2009
There’s something about Cookie
This week we got an inside look at James Cook, better known as Cook to friends and Cookie to gangsters. Here are a few of the things we learned:
1) He’s got the thickest accent in the bunch (He'll be hogging all the subtitles on BBC America)
2) He loves booze/drugs/birthday cake
3) He’s absolutely crazy.
Number 3's a big one because that’s all we got in terms of character backstory. Unlike most of the episodes in the first two series, Cook’s episode didn’t actually take us into his home or family life (the only hint of family came when he threatened Johnny for mentioning his mother, but who wouldn’t do such a thing when their mother’s honor is at stake?). The point is, the home life of a character is almost always an indicator of why they are the way they are, but when it comes to Cook sometimes it's better to experience the crazy without being privvy to the source of it.
A lot of people have been comparing Cook to series 1 and 2's Tony and Chris and sure, his character does share some things in common with them, but Cook’s a whole different animal. Chris was a “Fuck it” pills-obsessed party animal but unlike Cook his partying ways were more lighthearted, and though extreme, all in the spirit of living life to its fullest. Cook wants to live life till it kills him.
Tony lacked a conscience and did things just to see how far they would go before someone finally stood up to him. He was twisted and conniving and for the better part of series 1 he was a psycho, clearly having no compassion for anyone or anything. While Tony pushed others to the brink of insanity Cook doesn’t push anyone but himself. He threatens men that could kill him, he sleeps with whoever he wants, and his liver must look like a full ashtray. But he's having fun.
The best and scene (with the most insight into who Cook is) comes right after everyone in the party starts fighting; Cook takes in the scene before him and cracks up. Chris and Tony could've found themselves in that position at one point but there's no way they would've reacted like that. Cook's laughter, more than anything, made him dangerous. And as if that wasn't enough the tense scene between him and Johnny upped the ante.
The rest of the episode didn't really give us anything new. We're getting closer to learning the truth about Emily. (but I'm sre we all guessed that she's gay from the first episode.)
The only other major character development came from Freddie who is proving himself to be more of a douche as the episodes go by. His choice to not look after Cook anymore would've made a lot more sense had we seen more instances of where Cook has failed him. And this might be pacing problem, because as it stands all we've seen are two episodes of him and we can't yet believe that he's this fed up with his best friend.
Some great things about the episode:
The moment shared between Cook and Effy in the tunnel. I don't know how I feel about this pairing yet and it seems Effy isn't quite sure either. She's so unreadable that it's almost frustrating but I wouldn't change that about Effy.
Pandora eating coke. Nuff said. :)
And Gareth Keenan! Mr. Mckenzie Crook was fantastic as Johnny White the gangster. (I had no idea he could pull off scary.) His Johnny came off a little like Captai Jack Sparrow but it worked. And speaking of Pirates of the Carribean, Kayleigh looked a lot like Keira Knightley. Ok, a whorish Keira Knightley, but still.
And finally, Skins really lucked out in finding Jack O'Connell. He's a great actor and really deserving of being on this show.
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1) He’s got the thickest accent in the bunch (He'll be hogging all the subtitles on BBC America)
2) He loves booze/drugs/birthday cake
3) He’s absolutely crazy.
Number 3's a big one because that’s all we got in terms of character backstory. Unlike most of the episodes in the first two series, Cook’s episode didn’t actually take us into his home or family life (the only hint of family came when he threatened Johnny for mentioning his mother, but who wouldn’t do such a thing when their mother’s honor is at stake?). The point is, the home life of a character is almost always an indicator of why they are the way they are, but when it comes to Cook sometimes it's better to experience the crazy without being privvy to the source of it.
A lot of people have been comparing Cook to series 1 and 2's Tony and Chris and sure, his character does share some things in common with them, but Cook’s a whole different animal. Chris was a “Fuck it” pills-obsessed party animal but unlike Cook his partying ways were more lighthearted, and though extreme, all in the spirit of living life to its fullest. Cook wants to live life till it kills him.
Tony lacked a conscience and did things just to see how far they would go before someone finally stood up to him. He was twisted and conniving and for the better part of series 1 he was a psycho, clearly having no compassion for anyone or anything. While Tony pushed others to the brink of insanity Cook doesn’t push anyone but himself. He threatens men that could kill him, he sleeps with whoever he wants, and his liver must look like a full ashtray. But he's having fun.
The best and scene (with the most insight into who Cook is) comes right after everyone in the party starts fighting; Cook takes in the scene before him and cracks up. Chris and Tony could've found themselves in that position at one point but there's no way they would've reacted like that. Cook's laughter, more than anything, made him dangerous. And as if that wasn't enough the tense scene between him and Johnny upped the ante.
The rest of the episode didn't really give us anything new. We're getting closer to learning the truth about Emily. (but I'm sre we all guessed that she's gay from the first episode.)
The only other major character development came from Freddie who is proving himself to be more of a douche as the episodes go by. His choice to not look after Cook anymore would've made a lot more sense had we seen more instances of where Cook has failed him. And this might be pacing problem, because as it stands all we've seen are two episodes of him and we can't yet believe that he's this fed up with his best friend.
Some great things about the episode:
The moment shared between Cook and Effy in the tunnel. I don't know how I feel about this pairing yet and it seems Effy isn't quite sure either. She's so unreadable that it's almost frustrating but I wouldn't change that about Effy.
Pandora eating coke. Nuff said. :)
And Gareth Keenan! Mr. Mckenzie Crook was fantastic as Johnny White the gangster. (I had no idea he could pull off scary.) His Johnny came off a little like Captai Jack Sparrow but it worked. And speaking of Pirates of the Carribean, Kayleigh looked a lot like Keira Knightley. Ok, a whorish Keira Knightley, but still.
And finally, Skins really lucked out in finding Jack O'Connell. He's a great actor and really deserving of being on this show.
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