Another Look at Skins

After watching series one of Skins, I was eager to continue watching to see what became of Cassie and Sid’s relationship, how Maxxie and Anwar’s friendship would grow, and whether or not Tony survived getting run over by a bus. So I patiently waited for my DVDs to arrive in the mail and once they did I was utterly disappointed. The problem is Skins focused on some ridiculous storylines this season and effectively ruined a lot of the amazing relationships they originally built.

In a typical melodramatic turn of events, Sid and Cassie suffered through a pretty horrible breakup due to a complete misunderstanding. While webcamming with Sid, Cassie accidentally left her camera on and he saw her sitting with a half naked man. The man, of course, was gay and just a friend of Cassie’s. Sid did what most immature teenagers would do and refused to ask Cassie about it. Instead, after his father’s death he starts sleeping with Michelle. Meanwhile, Tony is undergoing physical therapy and trying to get back to his normal life after suffering brain damage. In other ridiculous plots, Anwar and Maxxie’s friendship is destroyed when Anwar starts dating Sketch, a girl who stalked Maxxie because she wanted to date him regardless of his sexuality.

The only interesting plot to happen this season was between Jal and Chris. Jal was my least favorite character in the first series, but she became the breakthrough star this series. The writers gave Larissa Wilson the hardest story. She had to make Jal transition from the boring supportive friend to a romantic love struck girl dealing with pregnancy and death. In an unexpected twist, she falls in love with Chris and is impregnated the first time they have sex. Shortly after telling Chris, her lover dies from a hereditary disease (another problem with this show is how much quickly some of the plots move forward). The series three finale shows Jal coping with Chris’ death and her decision about whether or not to keep the baby. Cassie may have been the star of series one, but Jal takes the cake in series two.

The final episode also marks the sendoff of all the original characters. As far as sendoffs go, it was probably one of the worst in television history. The storylines were rushed, characters were not fully developed, and the emotional goodbyes were lacking. High school goodbyes should be elongated, full of emotion, and they should give meaning to the past relationships. None of this was successfully accomplished by Skins. The best goodbye was between Tony and Sid, but only Tony showed a good deal of sadness to see his best friend leave.

My biggest problem with the finale, which is still driving me insane, was the way things were left with Sid and Cassie. These two proved to have the best relationship throughout the series and it was a pleasure watching their friendship develop into something more. Cassie runs off to New York, missing Chris’ funeral, and Sid follows after. The episode ends with Sid searching for Cassie in the city, but we are given no glimpse into their possible reconciliation. In fact, it seems like the directors want us to believe that Sid might not actually find Cassie. After watching the miserable ending, I checked up some information about series three to see if Cassie and Sid return for some closure. According to the credits, they don’t!!!!

The last shot in series two shows Effy laying in Tony’s infamous bed (infamous because the bed spread shows two naked people and is a staple of the show) and she gives the camera a sly smile right before the credits role. The reason for this shot is to show the direction of the series. Effy takes over in the shows junior year as the main character. I have no desire to continue watching Skins because Effy never really interested me as a character. Also, I’ve lost faith in the writers for this show. Series one was engaging, realistic, and had a great deal of emotion. This was all lacking in series two. I’d still recommend watching Skins, but only on a rainy day.