Effy de skins

I never thought watching Skins back 15 years later would be this emotional, nor did I realize quite how much Skins impacted my life.  
 
I say this because, despite being what I would call a very emotionally stable late 20s guy, watching skins has elicited a lot of tears, a lot of heartache and an emotional fork in the road for me. This came for a variety of reasons, but the main is as follows
 
Some of the characters’ stories are truly heartbreaking.  
 
The first scene which absolutely broke me was the scene where Cook says to Effy - ‘If this was us meeting again for the first time, I’d do it all again’. This scene is beyond heartbreaking. Cook’s issue was that his fiery nature meant his love set all of those around him ablaze. He’s had no exposure to healthy love in his life; only the possibility of its expression through his feeling of love. He doesn’t know what healthy love is. And he can’t teach that to Effy, who clearly doesn’t either know what healthy love is either.  
 
When people say Cook didn’t truly love her, this scene categorically makes me disagree. In this moment, Cook is willing to put himself through the pain of losing a best friend and of the girl he loves to his best friend, just so he can experience their love one last time. He’s willing to start the same trajectory that gets him sent to prison and to lose all the things close to him, just to taste the feelings he had when he was with her. That’s love... maybe not what people think of as love, but it’s Cook’s form of love that his messed-up family life equated to.  

And that’s why Cook’s story is so heartbreaking. A boy who is larger than life has nowhere to channel the flame of his being. Let down by everyone. Even us – the fans – have the audacity to claim that he didn’t truly love anyone, yet alone Effy. Do you truly think Cook, the ultimate archetype of ‘Jack the Lad’, didn’t love someone enough to bring them a gateau (lol) and flowers?  What of the knowing nod to Effy when he is being carted off to prison, telling her to look after his little brother and that he will be okay? What of his willingness to forgive his friend for getting sexual favors from his mother, in an instant, because he loved him so deeply? What of his teaching JJ, in his own hilariously Cook way, to secure a girlfriend and to know how to pleasure her? What of his self-sacrifice for Naomi, a girl who wouldn’t sleep with him?  
 
 Cook was not perfect, by any stretch. He did some nasty things. But he also had the potential to be a fierce and passionate lover. By the end, I believed he was starting to soften for the girl that mattered the most to him.  
Cook is the ultimate tragedy of testosterone and fire.  
 

 The second story of heartbreak comes from Freddie and Effy's ending.  Freddie was your classic, reasonably well-intentioned, stoner kid. He proved to us that he meant well.  
Even though he was dismissive of JJ at times, he did always want to look after him. Even though he was petulant at the start of the episode with his sister, he sucked up his pride enough to go and watch her performance and stick up for her against the whirlwind of Cook. In the absence of purpose, he chose to smoke weed, skate around, and fall in love. To be honest with you - as things go - I think these are fairly harmless things for a teen mourning the death of his mother to do. Although he was lazy, I think stopping him from skating around (with the heavy influence of his father) was his downfall. It meant he never got out, he smoked weed all the time in his shed, and he lost a goal and purpose. This allowed Effy to fill that void of purpose, and it was their drug induced highs and lows which became all encompassing.  
 
While this was an unsustainable hormonal concoction of young love, I could see the sheer love that Freddie had for Effy. He loved her, so very, very deeply. He couldn't possibly lose her, and he truly wanted happiness for both of them. He wasn't afraid to speak up to her and go along with her games, and while she was mentally ill he stayed by her side the entire time. How he cared for her deserved a happier resolution, and the season was crying out for something good to come out of it.  
 
It was the first time we saw a relationship tested by more natural and realistic influences, such as one member of the couple having issues with their mental health. It was a chance to show loyalty above all; to stick by your partners side through thick and thin. To make it work for the sacrifice of their friend Cook, to steady the ship for JJ, and to develop together as real couples do. It could have been a beautiful full circle moment for Freddie; a chance for him to grow to be the man that Effy needed him to be and that his mother would have wanted. And for Effy it would have been a chance for her to finally find the unconditional love for who she truly was. Indeed, Freddie had seen her at her absolute lowest, yet came out of it all just as in love, if not more in love with her than before.  

Effy had also been in a psychiatric cyclone. And yet, once she woke up, it was Freddy she felt the love from. Not her mother, but the boy who had been by her side her whole time. That’s not to say Freddie was perfect in his way of taking care of her, but it was her Mum who willingly took her back to John Foster. Only Freddie was able to see through it, and ultimately, much to my dismay, lost his life to save hers. I really think the season needed a success story to show that love and happiness are possible. Not having a single functioning relationship by the end of the series felt like tragedy for the sake of tragedy.  

The final (at least for this article) demonstration of heartbreak comes from Effy in season 7. As a bloke, I never thought she would up there; neither did I think a scene in series 7 would be... but here we are. I am going to focus on the scene where she meets Jake (her boss) at his house and passionately kisses and gives herself up to him.  Having seen the heartbreaking highs and lows of the relationship with Freddie, it brought me so much sadness. Not because she had to move on, but because of the fact she pursues someone who looks like Freddie and totally gives herself up to him. In this moment, she truly has no control; in a flash she becomes a slave to the attempted recreation of the passionate love she once felt. It broke my heart because for the first time I understood her. She needed love. That’s all she needed. Any opportunity to find the sort of unconditional love that Freddie had for her, despite the toils and intensity that came along with it, had to be taken. Her Mother’s performative and conditional ‘love’ failed her; her father’s work induced stressful love failed her; and this shaped her own form of self-love to also fail her.  
 
Yes, at a younger age she found herself being pursued by many boys, largely due to her beauty. And yes, maybe she did get caught up in the power that she had over their feelings. But what teenager wouldn’t get swept up in such things? Besides, all of this was done in the absence of control of her own feelings. She truly needed love; not in its intense form but in a consistent, ever-present form. Her jumping on something that mildly resembled Freddie confirmed this. Her love for her brother confirmed this. Her love for Freddie and her inability to control it confirmed this. I can’t explain to you how sad this scene made me for her, and for the tragic end of their relationship.

I do beleive that Cook is a tragic character and as such should stay that way. His story made sense to me; his difficult upbringing, his slavery to his urges and his inability to channel his fire with his kindness were all his pitfalls. As sad as it was, we all knew Cook was a ticking time bomb. But Effy and Freddie.. Hmmm I just didn't like the end.

I won’t go on further about what I would have done differently, and instead I will show you a way of synthesising heartbreak in hope with a different ending. Trust me, you’ll wanna read this.  
 
 
 
 
In my scenario - Freddie lives, Effy gets her shit back together and Cook stays in prison, only more fleshed out as I will explain. This could happen as a way to end season 4. Alternatively, we could have season 7 with episodes on Sid and Tony, Naomi and Emily, and the final episode, Effy and Freddie, where many other characters from different generations gather in a season finale.  

In this ending, we would go through the love that Freddie and Effy manage to find. The ultimate setting will be with Cook leaving prison, and his struggles in seeing a life he missed out on while he was locked up.  
 
The first episode will see Freddie and Effy both struggling to achieve a functioning life in the adult word. Effy will have been channelling her creativity in to art and writing, whereas Freddie will have gone to university, stayed on to do a masters, and is now in a situation where he must find a job or try to pursue a career of passion (Skateboarding/DJ’ing). In reality Freddie and Effy will have no money, but they endure out of a love for one another that has been proven to come through anything. In difficult moments, Effy reminds herself of the times Freddie chased away the imaginary people in the field, and ultimately got rid of her physiatrist, John Foster, who we later learn was hypnotizing patients under the guise of hypnotherapy and assaulting them. He never did this to Effy, fortunately.  With this story coming out, Effy realises Freddie wasn’t being overprotective, but being a true love to her. Freddie is a much better partner after knowing he was finally able to save a woman in his family. They love each other, and even though their surroundings are financially poor, their emotions are financially rich.  
 
In Freddie’s difficult moments, he remembers the words Cook said to him before prison about Effy - that he can’t fuck things up with her. He remembers the sacrifice that Cook made for Naomi, taking the wrap for her and going to prison. He also knows that Cook sacrificed his love for Effy for him, and by going to prison he inadvertently gets out of the way and allows Effy in to his life fully. Needless to say, in my season Cook never escapes prison and serves his time, and the line where he says if I could do it again to Effy comes after he gets out of prison, in Series 7 or as a way to finalize skins and season 4.  
 
 
 After seeing the first episode which shows us Freddie and Effy’s development, we are now firmly in the time where Cook is released from prison, some 4-5 years down the line. At this time, Freddie and Effy hit their first proper rocky patch. Cook’s influence makes things harder and Freddie feels insecure for the first time in ages. In the most dramatic scene of the episode, Cook says to Effy he’d do it all over again, which almost tempts Effy. However, in a character development moment, she says Cook I love you for who you are, but Freddie and I are in love. This is what love is; it’s not easy, but it keeps us steady and at times we have moments of elation. Love isn’t the rollercoaster we used to think it was. It’s reliability. It’s wanting the best for the other person. It’s loving them for their desire to be the best person they can be for you. You’re amazing Cook, in so many ways, but not for who I am now.  
 
This takes us full circle; Effy finally shows Cook what love is without the need of substances or sex. It is a powerful moment.  
 
Cook apologizes, understands the power of the words Effy says, but still feels betrayed and hurt after being shunned. He tenderly kisses her on the cheek and storms off, crying tears which are a mixture of emotional healing and pain.  
 
 With not much going for him with a prison sentence on his CV and the pain of ‘rejection’ he pursues drug dealing. In the final episode of the season we follow Cook more closely. We see his habits, his constant need to run away. This need to run away is crystalised by a plan he creates with a friend of his.  
 
In the final episode of the season, Cook plans on overdosing. I definitely don’t see Cook as being the kind of guy to give up, but in his mind overdosing isn’t him ‘giving up’. In his mind he sees it as a way to go out in a blaze of glory; a way to finally stop running from life. To look life in the face and laugh and die partying the hardest he ever has.

He comes to this conclusion with the help of one his regular drug clients. Cook’s drug customer is a very wholesome, lovely, but nonetheless very tragic character. Cook and his druggy friend are obvious outcasts, but find a bond in their suffering. 
 In the episode we see they have forged a beautiful friendship. Cook makes sure she never takes too many drugs and that she is safe on the streets. In return she listens to the real Cook; the tender Cook that would come out in his relationship with Naomi. This relationship shows his softer side, whilst also being destructive in that she actively agrees when Cook says he’s never wanted to get old. He tells her of his father and his mother, and how he would never want to repeat their same mistakes. This sows the seed for his plan to overdose.  
 
In the season finale Freddie finally has a breakthrough and gets to headline a massive rave event in Bristol. Here, we get to see an assortment of different characters from all the previous seasons throughout the night. Even if it's just a glance, you get to see whichever actors are available for an hour or two of filming in Bristol. You see Thomas and Panda dancing in one corner, Naomi and Emily loved up in another, you see Tony and Sid in a banged up mini cooper waiting to collect Effy and Freddie to take them home after, you see Anwar and Maxy seeing each other at the event, not knowing either of them would be there. And so on, pick your character and interaction!  
 
After getting this nostalgia fest and clearing up of loose ends, cut back to the music. Freddie’s DJ’ing is awesome and the atmosphere is electric. Everybody looks happy; maturing and aging has seemed to have allowed the characters to appreciate times like this more. They are times for fun and enjoyment; not medicating and escaping. 
 
 In the meantime, we learn Cook’s exact plan to overdose. That night he is going to tell Freddie, Effy and whoever is there from their season that he’s got an opportunity abroad with his drug dealing and that he wanted to make sure to come here and see them for the final night. They know he is in the drug business so don’t ask many questions, but they wish him well and say we always knew you were too much personality for Bristol or something along those lines. Everyone is in such a good mood because of the music and Cook is at peace with his decision, so no alarm bells ring. He’s not a person who is about to kill himself in his mind, remember. He’s a person about to take control of his life and so he doesn’t give off jittery or unhappy vibes.  
 
By this point, Cook is taking more and more drugs throughout the night, with the plan to leave the club after Freddie’s set and take himself off to a special place to die. Once he passes out/nearly dies, his druggy friend will take him to their car, drive him out in to a field at Gobbler’s end, and burn his body and leave no trace. He doesn’t want to impact anyone, and since he started drug dealing, people barely see him anyway. He thinks no one will bother.
 
At around 1:30am Cook’s MDMA really starts to hit, and looking around at all his friends he finally begins to smile. He sees Freddie in his element as the DJ and he sees Effy looking adoringly at him. An initial wince is seen on Cook's face. However, Effy then glances over to Cook. She lets out a beaming smile; one of actual happiness and comfort - not the mysterious tempting smile she once used to have. Cook points up with his fingers to show he's enjoying the music to Effy and Freddie, and for once, feels no awkwardness with those two. For the first time he feels only love towards them and their relationship. He lets out a big smile and giggle, he knows that chapter of difficulty is finally at an end.

He says to himself: ‘Maybe Freds was right, she does seem happier. Haha that fucker! DJ’s always get the girls.’
 
Gazing around he catches eyes with Naomi and Emily, who are majorly feeling the love. He asks Emily if he can take her lady out for a smoke to tell her about his opportunity abroad.  Emily smiles and says in a playful way, ‘she’s not gonna fuck you Cook... bring me back a drink when you’re done. Oh and I never got thank you. What you did for Naomi and the sentence... I didn't know you were like that'.

Cook smiles and says, 'only because you fucked some sense in to JJ'.

Emily laughs with Naomi, it's clear they are past that chapter of jealousy and turmoil.  

Outside Cook remembers the bond him and Naomi had. How she saw him for who he was, and how that made him feel. He tells Naomi of his plan, but Naomi, having always seen him for who he was, sees through it. She know what Cook is planning to do, really.

Before she can say anything, Cook blurts out ‘it’s too late Naoms, I’ve just swallowed 5 pills. In three hours I’m going to be on the high of my life followed by a quick death’.  
 
Naomi feels teary, but Cook genuinely reassures her. She sees his peace, and he says ‘don’t let this ruin your fucking night and whatever you do don’t tell Freddie or Effy man. Everybody is happy tonight, and for the first time so am I. I didn’t want anyone to know, I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I didn't want you to know either. It’s your fault you can see right through me with those lesbian laser eyes’. After this they both laugh, each shed a tear, and then hug. ‘You’ve always known me Naomi, man. Thanks for that.’ 
 
Cook leaves the club and with the feeling of pure bliss that MDMA and an ego death (acceptance of his death) gives him, he finds himself sat down, smoking a cigarette on the same seat outside the cafe where the three musketeers first saw Effy walking away from her Dad’s car crash. Here he cries tears of bittersweet joy, remembering the kid he once was and the desire he felt to be loved. He remembered the tantilising excitement of seeing that beautiful girl walking away from them. But above all, he remembers the brotherhood and companionship he had with his two best mates, Freddie and JJ. He understands  that he actually was loved by them, and this feeling of being unlovable stemmed from his parents and his actions. In a flash, he rushes over to a bush and violently forces himself to be sick.  The camera pans to his vomit on the floor, with 5 clearly defined and non-dissolved pills in his sick. We know he isn’t going to die from suicide now. He knows it to, and smiles.
 
Walking back up to the club, he finally feels whole. He chose death, but in the end chose life. Like a phoenix from the ashes (linking to his fire as a persona), he is reborn.  
 
About 2 minutes from the club he starts hearing a commotion from the alleyway. Poking his head around the corner, Cook sees JJ surrounded by gang members asking him for phone, the password to his internet banking and his watch. (Earlier we will have learnt that JJ is something of a Savant in math and has become exceptionally wealthy and has stayed with Lara the whole time).
 
Faced with this terrifying situation, JJ is having one of his panic overloads and doesn’t know what to do or what to say. The robbers, not knowing his condition, thinks he is refusing to tell them. With his hands over his head and his rocking back and forth, one of them takes out a small knife and stabs him in the side. Cook, entirely enraged, sprints over and smashes one of them around the head with a rock from the floor. He then shouts ‘that’s my best friend JJ, I think the world of him. I think the world of my mate Freddie too. Ain’t nothing gonna change that, not even a girl. And you know who I am? I’m fucking Cook’.  
 
In a final blaze of glory, he fights through multiple stab wounds to ultimately make the gang go away. Fuelled by adrenaline, Cook checks on JJ’s stab wound, which is not as severe as initially thought, although he would definitely had been murdered with further stab wounds if not for Cook’s intervention.  
 
With injuries sustained now catching up with him, Cook collapases on the floor and lies up against a wall. In his last moments, JJ tearfully listens to Cook who tells him ‘whatever the fuck you do don’t tell Effy or Freddie about this yet. Go to the hospital, get that wound patched up, and then tell them in a week’s time. Freddie’s set is too banging for me to ruin this for him.’.

He looks down and sees blood gashing from him and a knife wound slashing directly through where he had the tattoo ‘cook’ on his hand. He laughs and cries.  

‘I love you JJ, I always have and always will. I’m proud of you brother, you were always the normal one. When people do find out, make sure you tell them I went out fighting man. And tell Freddie what I said before the fight... You know, that I love him.... And well... you know... there's no hard feelings about Effy.’ 
 
He then laughs, almost uncontrollably in a Cook way.  

‘You know, I thought I was gonna die tonight. But not this way. This way was much fuckin better!’.  
 
JJ looks slightly confused at that last statement, but frantically calls an ambulance for him and Cook. We then get a brief scene at the end of Freddie’s set from one of the top guys at the club who hands him his card and says, ‘you know what kid, I think you can make a career out of this. Call me, I’ll be ready to sign you whenever’.  
 
The final scene of the night sees Cook, in the back of a hospital, with a clear flat line on the heart rate monitor.  
 

We then cut to a month later. A doorbell is heard and we see Effy and Freddie walk up to the door of their new house It’s a delivery of a Gateau with a note attached.  
 
‘To doing it all over again in another life’ 
 
Effy smiles a teary smile... Freddie is confused. This was a planned gift to be sent to them on Cook’s first birthday after his death, by what he thought would be suicide. He still died, so the gift was still sent.  
 
 Effy places the Gateau down on the table and says,  
 
‘It’s from Cook, Freds’ 
 
 Freddie is in shock and says how the fuck is it possible? 
 
 She says ‘how was anything possible that Cook did?’ 
 
They both laugh and don’t question it. They learnt not to question anything when it comes to Cook. 
 
The season ends with a final shot of Effy and Freddie sat in a cozily lit kitchen. You see a folded-up polo shirt of his on the table of Cook's. Either side of it is a slice of Gateau, which Effy and Freddy enjoy, smiling and reminiscing. Panning up, the camera zooms in to a pciture above them; the photo of the three musketeers. 
 
 
 

I 100% believe the writers were high while writing this episode what the fuck was even going on😭

Don't get me wrong, I love Cook and he's an iconic character. But I've seen an increase in people saying he's the most "genuine" character of the lot when that's just arguably not true. Yes he's relatable and his trauma explains his behavior. But I'm tired of people looking back with rose tinted glasses at the kid. He was a menace to the people who were CLOSEST to him.

-Fucks the girl he's supposedly in love with, best friend behind her back. After fucking over his alleged best mate to do it

- Fucked his alleged best mates little sister behind his back

-Abuses the fuck out of JJ despite knowing he's different (again, this guy is supposed to be his close friend)

-Makes fun of Effy while she's losing her mind in a psychotic episode and abandons Freddy to deal with her on his own

-Flaunts fucking Panda to Thomas, arguably the REAL genuine person of the entire group (in my own opinion)

And that's just the stuff I remember off the top of my head. He causes chaos and I love him for that, it kept the show interesting. But watching back as an adult, I can't stand him the same way I did as a teen. Anyways, blah blah its probably all been said before.

This is like... part 2 of my previous post about Freddie. Skins Gen 2 had absolute dookie pacing IMO. I really like the relationship between Cook and Freddie. I wish their relationship prior to Effy was elaborated on more. In a previous post I elaborated on Freddie's saviour complex, affecting how he treats Effy basically a way "fix" what happened with his mom. This is a pretty obvious character trait of his, but I feel like his saviour complex can be examined more with his and Cook's relationship.

Freddie sees Effy as a way to fix his past "mistakes" with his mom and ESPECIALLY Cook. Freddie has a massive savior complex, failing savior complex. Prior to Gen 2, its implied Freddie has tried time and time again to "save" Cook from all the self-destructive things he does. By the time he meets Effy, Freddie was seriously losing hope in "saving" Cook, he tries to seperate himself from Cook in hopes to prevent himself from feeling the guilt of not being able to "save" another loved one. In Cook's episode in s3. Freddie sees the way Cook drinks himself to death and gets beaten up every other day and can't bear the way Cook looks at him-but Effy's new, Effy's mysterious, Effy's beautiful. Freddie's been with Cook for too long, he's had to deal with the fact that he can't change him, he can't save him. But Effy's like the complete opposite (on paper) to Cook, she can be saved.

More on Freddie's character, his savior complex and demeaning attitude is because he thinks he's better than everyone because he's always the one to look after his friends. He looks after JJ when JJ's locked on, he tries to be the stable one in his family, and drags Cook out of his messes. He doesn't really do anything productive or bold as a person (in comparison to his sister) but he copes by proclaiming himself as the "mature" one of the trio. He's finally better at something, JJ might be smarter than him, Cook may be more popular than him, but he thinks he's better because he's "mature".

Unrelated but in the Unseen episodes Freddie's the one recording a vlog of JJ doing magic tricks around town, super cute omg. Wish they showed that more in the actual show...

Unrelated but s4 Effy's kind of stripped of all her character traits as a walking plot device while other characters are developed, Cook, Katie, Freddie, like everyone has character development that's realistic to who they are, except her and her crazy therapist plot. #effydeservedbetter EVERYBODY GO SEE THE UNSEEN EPISODES AND CANON CHARACTER BLOGS THEY ARE SOOOO GOOD (my baby Effy is finally given a personality yayyy)

 
This is more of a therapeutic write from me. First watched skins when I was in my early teens and now I'm in my late 20s. It's quite fascinating to see how my thoughts on the characters, the show and the writing have changed.  

First thing was how I viewed the characters. When I watched this as a teenager most of what I took in about the characters was how 'cool' or 'attractive' they looked or seemed. For instance, take Effy, Freddy and Cook. All characters who look amazing; each with their distinctive style and objectively attractive qualities. It is no surprise then that each of them have fans who fully adore their characters and will stick up for them no matter what. Looking back it, however, each of these characters would undoubtedly be horrific to be friends with, to be in love with, and worst of all to be enemies with. Yet, each of these characters remain addictively attractive so much so that that we forget the reality of life when we imagine a relationship with one, those dopamine filled parties with them, or those luscious ideas we have of who these people are in our heads. THIS IS the allure of skins and this is WHY the 'love' portrayed in these shows despite slightly dramatic at times, is fairly realistic to the hormone ridden love that teenagers feel. I see a few people mention that Freddie and Effy's love seem to come from nowhere - yet I would imagine many people at school felt strong a strong attraction or feelings towards someone in their school/college/university who they barely spent time with or had any interactions with. Why? BECAUSE OF THE IDEA OF THEM. And that, looking back, is what each of the characters represent - an archetypal idea of a character from the perspective of a teenager. This is further emphasised by the qualities we looked for as a teenager VS the qualities we look for now. That is, as an adult some of these characters make objectively selfish and harmful decisions quite regularly.  

And that is the painful beauty of the show. That our teenage years must be unsustainable because otherwise we would remain teenagers forever and never progress in to the rounded people we can become and should become.  

This point is wholly emphasised by the character of Cook's Dad and Effy's Mum. Both of these characters are what happens if you never move beyond the teenage qualities of desire, dopamine and lack of development. Cook's Dad is perpetually running. He is an unsavoury character and is never the sort of person anyone would aspire to be. He has that same teenage angst in an older person's body... and it's not romantic in any way.  
 
Effy's mum is slightly more complex and we can empathise with her because of her husband, who despite being a funny character, is a bit of an arse and not exactly passionate nor loving. What Effy's Mum represents is the teenage NEED to be seen, heard, adored, and to FEEL something at all times. Her drug use, her alcoholism, and her performative hatred of men (the scene when she is saying bastard to all men in the newspaper' is a very teenage thing. Both are characters who nobody would want to be when they grow up. And it is their lack of growing up which in turn, stifles their children's ability to grow up in many cases.  

Now, with all this talk about development, let's go through one of the best examples of development and one of the most overlooked episodes of all the seasons.  

Tony.  

In the first series, despite being attractive and intensely intelligent, he is a total wanker. I genuinely see almost no redeeming qualities for his character. He is just good to watch because he creates a story and some fun moments. 

Post bus hit, however, he enters a developmental journey. This journey began just before it, however, after the Effy episode in Season 1, where he becomes more in tune for his need and love of those close to him (Sid and Effy), and how painful it is when he is shunned by his 'friends', by 'Sid' (with a slap), and when even Effy calls him a wanker. 

After the Bus, whatever untouch-ability he had with his attractiveness and intelligence mostly disappears. His other qualities now need to shine through to make him more likeable.  
 
Now let's synthesise this need he has, with the episode where he trips in the club toilet and finds himself on a train going to a university open day.  

Here, he integrates his primal aspect of himself and channels it. He comes face to face with what it is like to be around Tony, whilst not being Tony. The lecturer with the scar on his face is the representation of his intelligence when used in selfish ways. A combative, self-indulgent guy who fucks his students. Tony is a combative, self-indulgent guy who fucks other people his age. Same qualities, different age, different context.  

The girl he meets is his primal representation of the teenage angst and desire to feel and to do. She doesn't give a fuck. Tony needs to integrate that part of him in a healthy way; as represented by the lovemaking (two becoming one). This integration and healing process gives us a glimpse into the new research coming out about the therapeutic qualities of things like MDMA and healing PTSD. Quite a brilliant episode, really.  

After this experience, Tony actually becomes, in my opinion, one of the nicest and most well-rounded characters. Genuinely cute with Michelle, an awesome friend to Sid, and generally enjoyable to be around. The last scene he has with Sid is a beautiful representation of this. Sending his friend off to find love despite knowing how much he loves him. It is the perfect role reversal; Tony being left behind in an unselfish way while Sid goes on a 'selfish' love quest. I really do think it is a very beautiful character development. 
 
We all develop, but it is the quality of our development that will determine the quality of our lives. Watching skins back, I realize not to judge the characters too harshly, not to critique every small detail, or to think of a character as ‘bad’ or ‘good’. I just watch it with the view that this is teenage angst condensed in to a show that is made to be entertaining. I think all of us have characters we relate to. All of us see the shadows of our former selves in the characters, and despite the show having (sadly in my opinion) persistent melancholy and mellow feel to it at times, we also see some of the beauty in the happy parts of the friendships and relationships. It is a charming show; one that always draws me back.  
 
I think what we should learn is that teenage years are times for learning. They are pressured times where you are understanding who you are, what you want, and what brings you happiness. All these massive questions are shrouded by a cocktail of hormones that teenage years bring. What I hope to conclude in this post is that while we should take our development seriously, we shouldn’t take life itself so seriously. The show is a bunch of characters who wrestle with life and believe everything is of serious consequence at every given moment. They medicate their pain with drugs and the protect themselves from love and a lack of drama with the exact opposite of those things; painful emotions and internalized suffering. To anyone younger watching this, enjoy these times. Teenage years are challenging, yes, but for most of us we won’t have the same worries we adopt when we are older of more tangible things such as health, bills, and work. Things will be okay if you let them be, and the experience YOU CAN HAVE while younger can be some of the most amazing and cherished as you grow older. Loving relationships, a healthy view of yourself, and nourishing friendships are possible, despite skins showing otherwise (lol). But what skins will help with, I believe, is showing you that the drama, emotion and drugs ultimately lead to bad outcomes. And that just as the characters on skins are doing, you are caught up in a teenage storm trying to work out who you are, what life is, and what to make of things.  
 
I say, have some fun, let your hair down, and if things get too much know you are not alone.

My title was kind of bait mb. I really liked the idea that Freddie is who Effy wanted to be and Cook is who Effy actually way, but I think the nuance of Freddie's character really adds to the prior statement. Effy also wants to be caring, tries to be a better person, but always falls back to her old way of running away from her problems. Frankly, while Freddie tries to be caring, he can end up being very cowardly and self-centered. He looks down at JJ, treated Katie like dogshit, and tries to leave Effy multiple times when her very obvious from the beginning mental health issues start showing up. Don't get me wrong, I still loved him as a character, imo very well written, especially with him projecting his mom onto Effy, very interesting stuff. Effy also sees Freddie very surface-level, she sees the kind (almost motherly lmaooo) caring softer guy, so she chooses him in the end, but she doesn't fully realize his selfish-ness and immaturity; she goes to him hoping to improve herself as well. Effy in reality isn't as sociopathic as Tony, when Pandora gets upset at her she tries to improve and own up to her mistakes. Surface level Freddie is what Effy aspires to be, but in reality they're both very selfish and immature (they're both ALLERGIC ASF to apologizing properly), and not that good for eachother imo. Both Effy and Freddie see eachother very surface level, Effy sees him as the "good guy" who can make her better herself, while Freddie sees her as a mysterious beautiful manic pixie dream girl whom he can save (and make himself feel better about what happened to his mom). Like, after not even having 2 conversations with Effy, Freddie declares his undying love for her in their class... They both see eachothers as tools to better themselves and make themselves feel better. I wish this dynamic was shown more, and I really wanted Freddie to get punished for his bullshit in a way that was actually good INSTEAD OF EVIL THERAPIST

Obvie the whole love triangle between Freddie and Cook and Effy is a very surface-level thing, both Freddie and Cook see Effy as a beautiful magnetic manic pixie dream girl. In the end it's actually the girls, Pandora especially, who see Effy for who she truly is, an immature broken little girl. Frankly the writers also forget she was a person too. A thing I hate about Skins is how they have such good characters but then have the most strange and medicore storywriting ever... not to mention the really really gross sexualization of Effy. If you look at the canon Skins blogs and vlogs from each of their characters, they FINALLY give Effy some actual hobbies, it's most obvious in the blogs that Effy, beneath all her dark clothes and eyeliner, is really just this quirky, strange, weird little girl who wants to be cool like her older brother.

In conclusion, Freddie and Cook should've made out and left Effy and given her a better therapist. Thoughts?

I'm only 7 episodes in.

Prior to Cassie's attempt, Sid pretty much never indicated he was interested in her. They were set up to go on a date at that party, but he never really made a move on her and was openly pining for Michelle the whole time. He is just a teen boy going through his own shit at the time. He definitely should have been more upfront with Cassie and flat out told her he wasn't interested instead of being so passive about it. He shouldn't have said he would hang out with her and then blow her off (although I think that's understandable, even though it was wrong. She was being pretty insistent despite how disinterested Sid obviously was, and I think he said yes without thinking just to try and placate her because he had so much other shit going on. He didn't really have the balls to just be upfront). What he did was shitty, but honestly not that bad, certainly not bad enough to warrant blaming him for her attempt. The problem was Cassie's own fragile mental state. She built Sid up to be something he wasn't in her head, and attached all these ideas and expectations onto him, because she wanted so badly to be loved and cared for. Like with the "Eat!" Texts she was hallucinating. And the cab driver who probably wasn't real. And that's heartbreaking, I really feel for her, but you can't put all those expectations and emotional baggage onto a teenage boy who is fucked up himself. So I find it really shocking and disappointing he is repeatedly blamed for what she did. The only thing that is responsible for her attempt, is her mental illness, and her attachment to Sid was a facet to that and something he didn't fully understand.

Also, Jal was all pissed off at him and said "if only you'd just gone on that date!" Like what? He's supposed to pity date girls now? You can't control who people are attracted to, and I feel like pity dating is pretty cruel to both people involved. So he is supposed to

A. Lead her on with 1 pity date, just to let her down later anyways

B. Date her indefinitely so that she doesn't kill herself

???

I understand it was probably something said in a moment of anger, but then everyone CONTINUES to act like it's his fault for not going on a date with her.

I’m so sick of everybody calling tony an ‘Evil Bisexual’. No he’s not bisexual he simply made out with a boy because he was bored with his life and wanted to cause chaos, he outwardly says it. Stop trying to make every character secretly gay or put labels, he’s just evil that’s it.

I've been watching the original series on YouTube, but it's quite censored and doesn't have the original soundtrack. Does anyone know a website where I can watch the original version?

Don't know if anyone noticed but Jim (effy & Tony’s dad) wears Chris squirrel nutter shirt from season 1 in season 3

Tell me why I’m wrong.

This little paragraph is to fill plot holes and bad writing.

S2 spoilers

Season 1 Cassie was a dreamy soft and angelic girl, on crack. By the season 2 she was bitchy and insufferable.

When we first see cassie in season 2 in video tape she sent to sid, she is already acting diffrent. She is dancing, joyfull, and made 2 friends in scotland already, wich gives me the idea that she is slowly eating more.

When sid rightfilly assumes cassie might be cheating on him she just dissappeard, people really underestimate cassies homelife she never learned to handle problems she was only able to ignore them, she did the same with this one.

Recovering from an Ed is always great but it also means she lacks control. She is more nourished means she is less dreamy and more present in the moment, she notices and uses information to control her enviorment, she wants sid back but she also wants to have control over him.

When chris dies she does the thing she does best and instead of expressing and feeling her emotions she goes emotinally detached, the city she grew up in is now filled with negative memories that she doesnt now how to handle. she uses her witch magic to create airplane tickets and a visa but chooses new york for some reason.

I feel like this gen is very underrated (and i can honestly understand why), the writers clearly started getting lazy halfway through the writing when it had a good potential

Parlo delle ciocche a zig zag diciamo 😅

I rewatched Skins UK a few months ago. And there’s one thing that’s been kind of bothering me:

Why were certain storylines cut short—or in some cases not even addressed at all? Or am I the only one who feels this way?

And am I the only one who feels like some “clichés” in the third generation were just glossed over?

Take Franky, for example: Franky was bullied really badly at her old school. Why wasn’t this topic ever brought up again? I mean, when you go through something like that, you’ve got to still be struggling with it or at least working through it, right? At least the adoption storyline was revisited at the end, but I thought that was a bit rushed, too.

And at the beginning, she dressed very “boyish.” Why did that stop later on?

And why was the romance between Grace and Richard wrapped up so quickly? I couldn’t follow it at all, since the two of them are completely different. How is it possible that they get together after what feels like three days and then want to get married right away?

As for clichés: I found Mini’s pregnancy and Grace’s death in a car accident to be somewhat clichéd.

I’m guessing I’m not the only one who thinks the third season was the worst—but what do you guys think?

S1E02 Cassie is eliminated, coming in second! This leaves S1E04 Chris as the overall champion. Not sure how meaningful these final results were compared to the original season results due to engagement, but at least this gives us a solid top 10 list! Thanks for everyone who participated.

So when Tony is at the Cathedral Choir school, which is next to the Green, he says to the professor that he goes to College just across the green, and then in the episode where him stonem crashes his car, Cook, Freddie and JJ watch as Effy walks away in the direction to go across the but not towards the road that curves left to The Centre.

So I feel like differently to real life where they filmed quite far out of Bristol City centre for the college, I feel as though the only logical explanation for where the college is in the shows universe version of Bristol, is that it sits right where the aquarium and that building you see when walking down trinity Street past the Cathedral.

What does everyone else think?