Tag Skins Series 7

Skins Rise - Part 1 Review

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One thing I’ve learned is that you should never look back, the past is dead and buried. You get nothing from living there. It’s all about today. But I’ve been having these dreams. In them nothing’s real, nothing’s solid everything’s fantasy- fucked, an illusion. In these dreams I’m a life that’s already gone by. Today means nothing. Today is just a ghost that’s haunting me. I’m at the end of the world on the edge of things, and I think about letting go. I think about falling. My name is James Cook.

Well then, what do we have to say about the Cookie monster’s return? It was a sombre episode, littered with elements of series three/four with none of the humour, ultimately leading to a dark first part- not unlike Fire and Pure. Cook, having obviously survived the final encounter with John Foster at the end of series four, is now a footman for a Manchester drug dealer. Only, gone is the boisterous Jack-the-Lad Cook we’d all come to know and love (to hate, mostly) and in his place is the shadow of a man who’s on the run from his past. It’s refreshing, actually. One of the stronger actors from the second generation Jack O’Connell, for me, was at his best during scenes of quiet revelation for Cook. Jamie Brittain did well with Cook’s development as a person, although we have minor flashes of Cook beating someone in the beginning of the episode we find that he’s definitely matured if seemingly emotionally stunted and guarded.

From the very beginning, with the novel use of voice over narration by Cook, something Skins has never attempted, (Effy getting into Sid’s head and simulating a voice over that one time in series two doesn’t count) we know that Skins Rise will prove to be a very different tone to Fire and Pure. And so far, so good.

Cook, as you can imagine is the same yet not. While he may be pedaling drugs for someone it appears he’s toned down the substance abuse himself. He appears to have discovered restraint, evident in the way he refuses Louie’ (Boyle) girlfriend Charlie’s (Britland) advances and the way he doesn’t appear to take what he sells. When Louie offers him a line of coke he declines it and also cautions Emma (Smith) his sort of friend-with-benefits to ‘go easy on that shit’ when she’s snorting coke. Her response, ‘if you do enough [everything] stops’ seems kind of like a throwback to Cook’s past. The guy who wanted to do everything, who lived for it all. As Naomi pointed out to him. ‘Life. You just live a bit harder then everybody else does. You splash about, you wallow in it, like you can’t lose a moment.’ Cook’s not that person anymore, that person now haunts him. And it’s interesting that Emma is the one who suggests to him that they should just take off and they would have if Charlie didn’t call him. Her shouting that she doesn’t even know who he is as the camera focuses in on Cook’s expression tells us that he doesn’t know himself.

Charlie’s been screwing Louie’ other lackey, Jason (Laviscount), and Cook happens across them. It’s after this that he gives in when she comes onto him again. Louie calls them to the house he’s recently purchased for Charlie, with an indoor pool where Charlie had tried to seduce Cook earlier and failed. It seems Louie had known about Jason and Charlie and he proceeds to have Jason drowned in the pool before Cook and Charlie’s very eyes.

Cook rushes to Emma’s place afterwards and convinces her to leave with him. They’re almost home free when Charlie calls crying and he’s sucked back into her orbit, he veers off the course without an explanation to Emma, supposedly to pick up Charlie. The implications of all three of them in one car together should prove an interesting dynamic.

Special Mentions:

- If Cook hadn’t killed Foster, he would have been killed himself- I have no doubt about that. I don’t know if Cook is running and is afraid because of the cops or because he’s running from his own psychological trauma of facing down the murderer of his best friend and killing him.

- If Charlie knew Louie was cheating on her why not just leave him? Easier said than done I suppose. I feel bad for Emma, she just happened to be with Cook when this all goes down.

- Next week we shall see if Cook continues to practice restraint, I hope he doesn’t get killed. Trailer HERE. The last ever episode of Skins, ever.

Skins Pure - Part 1 Review

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‘Because if it didn’t end, it was forever.’

Ethereal, that’s the word that comes to mind when I think of Cassie. Not just in terms of her physical appearance, but her entire mannerism. There’s always been something other-worldly about Cassie that one either loved, or got annoyed by. Mostly loved. Now, Skins Pure part one, from the trailers looked a lot more sinister than what it turned out to be. It wouldn’t be too farfetched for Skins to have gone either way, really. Having already covered a psychotic therapist and even an actual crazy stalker type main character in series four and two, respectively, it’s safe to say that Skins could very well have chosen to go dark with Pure. However I’m glad it didn’t, we’ve seen Cassie go from airy-fairy to dark and scary before and this new Cassie was a breath of fresh air.

With Cassie’s episodes and storylines in the past we’ve always had a touch of the surreal, for instance text messages from no one telling her to eat, usually attributed to her fragile state of mind. It seems that time has changed Cassie in ways that can only be understood by remembering the character she was before now. If we have a look at the focus of Skins Fire we should note that where Effy had control over her own agency, even when she started to go mad in earlier series, Cassie always seemed to me to be someone who was influenced so much by those around her. So much so that the only time she felt powerful was when she harmed herself in the form of anorexia.

I stopped eating, and then everyone had to do what I said. That was powerful. I think it was the happiest time of my life. But I had to stop before I died, because… otherwise it wasn’t fun.

Cassie now is a stark contrast to the Cassie of series one and two, I’ve seen a few ‘where’s Cassie’s iconic ‘oh WOW’ and ‘lovely’? Makes me wonder what exactly about ‘Time Changes Everything‘ they don’t understand. Cassie’s grown since those years when she always seemed ready to either run or harm herself at the first sign of trouble. Don’t get me wrong, there are still traces of that old Cassie present, she will always be slightly unearthly, and a bit disconnected with the goings on around her, however she’s not one to run anymore.
She’s been back in London for about two months, working as a waitress at a diner and we find out that since the last time we’ve seen Cassie her mother’s passed away and it’s sent her dad into his own funk, judging by the telephone conversations she has with him. She goes about her life quietly and calmly, not knowing that she is being photographed by someone and the photos being uploaded anonymously for the world to see. Although the photographs are rather beautiful, the idea of not knowing that someone’s taking photos of you, without your knowledge let alone your consent is a little disconcerting. It’s brought to her attention by a random customer of the diner who seems to be in love with the pictures, promising to keep Cassie’s ‘secret’ before stating she wished she looked like Cassie and leaving Cassie to her thoughts once more.
Cassie’s reaction is to seek the stalker out, she discovers that it’s Jakob (Olly Alexander) from the diner where she works, a weedy almost pathetic fella. When she beats the crap out of him and shouts ‘Don’t speak to me! What do you do, do you want!?’ It’s a throwback to earlier heavy use of slapstick humour in the show. After Cassie takes his very expensive camera and leaves, thinking it over a bit she meets him again at the end of the episode. Jakob pleads with her, saying he ‘just takes pictures’ and that it’s the only thing he can do before telling her that all it is is pure. You wind up believing him and so does Cassie. Part one ends with Cassie agreeing to let Jakob photograph her, because it’s him, her and a camera and the audience sees what they want them to see.
Special Mentions:
- Yes I, too, believe that the boy she mentions traveling with before she left was Sid. It was the writers’ way of saying ‘yes she found him’ and ‘they were together for a bit’ but this is Skins and together forever just isn’t done.
- Yaniv (Daniel Ben Zenou) seems like the kind of dude that doesn’t mess around when it comes to something or someone that he wants or likes. So Cassie screwing him and then saying she just didn’t want to be alone and subsequently ignoring him, doesn’t sit well with Yaniv at all. Especially when Cassie can’t explain what it is that she’s ‘waiting for’.
- That girl with the room near Cassie, she gives some interesting life advice. I like that she’s upfront with how it is she earns a living what with being an actress. It’s nice of her to listen to Cassie’s problems, even if she cuts it short because she’s about to have sexy-time with men.
- Something’s coming. Magic. Cassie did say she was waiting.

Skins Fire - Part 1 Review

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Better late than never, better late than in a ditch somewhere. Words to live by, kids. Now, onto our thoughts regarding part one of Skins Fire. We know Effy’s living in London with Naomi, and working as some sort of assistant at a hedge fund, from the trailers and sneak peeks. Although the trailers seemed to portray Naomi as the one holding it together we find that Naomi’s unemployed and living the life of a serial drinker and resident unambitious. This, to me, rings a little weird. I always thought Naomi was a character with a healthy drive for success in some undisclosed field. Apparently not, although she does decide she wants to go into stand up comedy. Here’s a hint, her first gig doesn’t go very well.

I would say it’s strange seeing Effy being the responsible adult, but to be honest it actually makes sense. Effy’s always been intelligent, perhaps too intelligent for her own good. In those earlier series her intelligence, and the boredom of not having that intelligence challenged, used to land her into quite a bit of trouble. However with a focus and a challenge, it would appear that Effy can keep things together fairly well. Although I don’t know how easy it is to get into the world of trading, Effy seemingly uses what she’s got (with some help/insider info) to find her way out of being an assistant and into being a successful trader.

Now, as with everything Skins, it’s only a matter of time before things come tumbling down in the most spectacular way. Especially with Effy, I don’t know it seems, as a character, Effy always winds up not being able to handle the situations she finds herself in. When she’s solving other peoples’ problems she’s fine, but eventually her world/mind/life crumbles when it seems things are going well. We would all do well to remember what Effy’s mum, Anthea, said in regards to her daughter.

“She was four years old the first time she beat me at hide and seek. Four. I was looking for her for hours. When I finally found her she just smiled. You know, that Effy smile that means ‘you don’t know me at all, you never will’.”

Things start to slightly unravel, externally, towards the end of the episode with Naomi pointing out that the investors Effy has to schmooze are gross and grabby and Effy snapping at her before shoving her and telling her to go home. The next day we’re shown Naomi going in for an MRI scan before Effy is woken up, still wearing the clothes she’d gone out with the investors in, by extremely loud music before going up to the roof to get Naomi to turn it off.

Boom. Naomic bomb.
Effy, perhaps needing more of an escape than a late night trip to a club alone, winds up at her bosses’ place for bow chika wow- Wow I’m sorry for that.
Special Mentions:
- How did I not realise in the trailers that Dom was Adam (Craig Roberts) our whiny 40ish year old teenaged vampire from Being Human/Becoming Human? Honestly, he was my favourite.
- I’m sure there are a few of you out there who will think that Effy’s boss looks a little like Freddie. Coincidence or intentional slap in the face to Freddie fans? (Also, cancelled Sirens feels.)
- Emily’s in New York! Exciting! There may be some major conflict regarding Naomi’s illness. I’m thinking Naomi keeps it from Emily until the last minute, or tries to break up with her for a ridiculous reason in some misguided martyr’d attempt to save Emily from seeing her disintegrate. I’m just glad that Naomi and Emily are still together, if living apart at the moment. But surprise, surprise there will be no happy ending, potentially. (Also, Emily slapping Effy in that preview, what what?)
- I love that Effy still has the ability to reduce another character to nothing with just a few cutting words.
More thoughts? How about Convos with Friends!
Freya: I agree. I can’t help but feel like Eff still had it relatively easy in terms of her obstacles. The ever-so-helpful Dom came at an uncanny time and it all seemed superficial how she understood Trading 101 so easily, albeit with chalk and concrete. Maybe she had a super good sensei, yes? She’s a super genius? I don’t know, but overall it was Skins. Didn’t feel like it ever fell away too far from the Skin’s tree, so I’m happy about that.
Mata, err Me, guys: Yeah I always saw Effy as somewhat of an overly-intelligent figure in the series, like Tony but much more sophisticated in her manipulation of people. And she’s always been calculating, I just figured this was a more practical use/manifestation of that traits- along with her other skills. However it was always her emotions that seemed to stump her, overwhelm and eventually lead to her downfall, from which she then starts to rebuild again. Some people (read as tumblrers) have theorised that maybe Effy was abused as a child or something. Although it always harks back to the first words she uttered on the show, that maybe she was born backwards. Idk, I’m just glad Skins is back haha.

What do we remember about Effy Stonem? She was the ever mysterious, silent, little sister of Tony who became a chip off the old block before going nutso. The deterioration of her mental state was something that had been hinted at from the very beginning, after all her first words on the show were ‘Sometimes I think I was born backwards.’ However “Skins Fire” follows Effy, now 21, working a dead-end job in the city where she apparently starts an affair with her boss. She’s flatting with Naomi, which is interesting and also means we get to see Emily, YAY!

Speaking of Naomi and Emily, how about that hug? The trailer shows a conversation between the two where Naomi is talking to Emily about Effy, however where does this hug occur? When Emily arrives to see her, or when she’s leaving? What does it meeeeean?

Yet in the end the episodes themselves are centered around Effy’s descent into lord knows what. I’m ready to see things go up in flames. And I also foresee Effy, rising from the ashes. If anyone’s a phoenix, it’s Elizabeth, Effy, Stonem.

The series’ tagline, ‘time changes everyone,’ isn’t something new. Everyone knows that time makes strangers of us all and for the returning Skins alum change is something we both dread and look forward to. We’ve had our gripes with each change of the series, shux remember when we found out that the first generation cast weren’t going to be returning save for Effy? This is the final series and I suppose the biggest change will be the fact that after this series, there won’t be another.

‘Skins Fire’ Trailer Breakdown

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