Kevin & Robin Watch "Skins" Series 6: "Everyone"

Taking a cue from my fellow Bloggers, I decided to start a new weekly feature where every week my buddy Robin Wildman and I take a look at the latest episode of "Skins" and offer our extensive and insightful (ha!) fan perspective! This week, the premiere episode of Series 6! What have our favorite characters been up to during the break? Who hooked up with who? And how does it relate to '90s Board Games? Find out below as Kevin & Robin watch "Skins" Series 6, "Everyone!"


Kevin: So, opening off the bat here, I've got to say that I am officially on team Maloysius! That's Mini/Alo shipping to you new comers. I know you must be very excited about that. I was a pretty big Minky supporter by the end of last season, mostly because a) I wanted Franky to get with someone and b) I thought Mini's protectiveness was kind of adorable. I really liked the idea of Mini pulling a 180 on a character she totally brutalized in the season premiere. But within ten minutes of this episode, I was definitely behind Mini and Alo getting together. Especially since Alo got pretty much zero love last season. He was well on the way to getting Anwar'ed. But their interactions (ever since he called her Minerva) have been delightfully hilarious.

Robin: I have been shipping Mini and Alo FOREVER. My "Skins"-obsessed roommate tells me the internet is upset that they got together too suddenly, to which I say, pay better attention, internet. There were signs, and you missed them. Keep up.

Kevin: Speaking of Mini, I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I've really grown to like that character. Like, I always enjoyed her early on, but as the first season went continued and then with the Series 6 premiere, I just think she's great. I can't even really pinpoint what it is. There's something about her. She has that kind of bitchiness to her that I tend to gravitate toward (yes, I have problems), but an underlying sweetness--well, her own brand of sweetness. It could also very well be that she kind of reminds me of Karen Gillen. I'm not the only one getting that, am I?

Robin: I also am a big Mini fan. I always liked that she was really insecure about sex (though I guess, not anymore?), because most of the "Skins" kids are way more confident than people actually are at that age. Also she had the best line of the episode, something about liking Franky better when she might have been a lesbian. But for the record, I don't really see the Karen Gillian thing. Maybe you connect them because both are Scottish?

Kevin: Yes, all Scottish women are the same to me. In that I love every single one of them.

Kevin: Getting to the episode itself, is it me or was the setup kind of weird? Like, they're vacationing in Morocco, just sort of chilling at this run down house. Is that, like, a normal thing British kids do?

Robin: Surely, this is NOT normal. I think I've mentioned before how now that I'm (mostly) a grown-up watching "Skins" (as opposed to the early seasons when I was closer to the characters' age), I spend a lot of time wigging out over how irresponsible they are. Like don't they have homework to do? How do they always have so much money for marijuana when hardly any of them have after-school jobs? Basically the whole first half this episode was me trying to determine who was funding this trip. And more importantly, did David Fucking Blood approve this? Seems unlikely. This episode also made me hate winter. It was difficult to watch in January.

Kevin: "Don't they have homework to do?" Seriously? Jesus, Robin. You and your Lawful Good behavior.

Kevin: Oh! Franky! How could not have mentioned her already. For those who don't know, I was super in love with Franky last season, but right from go we see a very different Franky this episode. She certainly looked like she's grown since we last saw her. And it's funny, cause when she first shows up this episode, I noticed that her braces were gone. And I thought to myself, "Huh. That's interesting. I wonder if the creators did that to signify her growth." Then I thought to myself, "No, you idiot. The actress probably just probably didn't need braces anymore."

Robin: Franky, man. How gorgeous is she in this episode? (Don't answer that actually.) And, also, how bizarre is it that she looks that gorgeous? I get that people reinvent themselves a lot in high school and getting your first boyfriend would probably lead to some of that, but it was really jarring to see her, say, sleeping in sexy bras and whatnot, when last season she was wearing men's briefs around. So, I don't know. I'll reserve judgement on new Franky till I've seen more of her, I guess.

Kevin: Yeah, I agree. I'll see how I feel about "FemFranky" as the season goes. You hit the whole "first boyfriend" thing, too. She's been dating Matty it seems, and immediately we see that they're having major problems. I'm wondering if that's because by her nature Franky can't be in a relationship or if it's just because it's Matty and he's, well, Matty. You've never liked him, right?

Robin: OF COURSE she and Matty are having problems. He's the worst. Give me an Alo over a Matty any day.

Kevin: Incidentally, speaking of Franky's new wardrobe, how awesome was Rich's pink tank top and shorts? That had to be one of my favorite bits this episode.

Robin: How awesome were ALL the clothes in this episode. I really want Mini's red one-piece. Just saying.

Kevin: What is your obsession with clothes? This is at least the fifth or sixth thing in which you've mentioned how adorable the clothing was as a main point. I believe it was the first thing you said to me about the HUNTRESS miniseries.

Robin: Huntress's clothes WERE really cute in that miniseries.

Kevin: Was it me or did that Luke guy look super weird? There was something off about him. And he's like some weird drug dealing, creeper. Plus, Franky was all over him. I was like, "What? Why? He's super freaky looking!"

Robin: I'm really happy you brought this up. I watched this episode with my roommates and we got into a HUGE thing over whether that guy was incredibly attractive or incredibly terrible. For the record, I vote terrible looking. He looks like the weird 90s-guy dates from that board game Dream Phone. But maybe some people are into that?

Kevin: Then there's the big thing that happened this episode. Franky drives off with freaky dude. Matty goes speeding off after her with Liv and Grace in the car with him. Sure enough, car flips, and poor Grace gets hurt BAD. You know, since her and Rich got together, I think every fan knew she had a target on her back. This is "Skins," after all. Happiness cannot last for an extended period of time.

Robin: It sounds weird to say, "I'm glad this happened." But they're fictional, so, it doesn't matter. I'm glad she's in the hospital. The show wasn't going to have them be happy and drama-free, so I prefer this to breaking them up over something dumb.

Kevin: Well, this is "Skins." It's either in the hospital or DEAD. Obviously, the repercussions of this episode are going to play out for a while. Franky obviously feels very guilty about what happened. Rich must be PIIIISSSSSSEEDDDD. Nick's a bit torn. And Matty's run off. I'm sure you're of the opinion that Matty actually doesn't even need to come back?

Robin: Matty can stay away forever for all I care.

Kevin: Let's talk a few predictions for the season. Who do you think is hooking up with who? Obviously, Alo and Mini are secretly together. But it seems every other relationship has been torn up. I'm wondering if Franky and Nick's guilt will pull them together. Liv... I'm not too sure what her story is going to be this season. Last season it seems she was just the girl who got with other people's love interests, and drama ensued. Rich... poor, poor Rich. What do you think?

Robin: I actually really like the idea of Franky and Nick having a mismatched romance founded on mutual guilt, but I wouldn't want them together for all time. And since Liv seems to have nothing going on, I predict her storyline will dovetail with the new character's. Though probably not romantically, as I just read online that he's gay.

That's all from Robin and me this week! Next week, we got Episode 2 headed our way, focusing on our favorite metal man, Rich!

Skins: The British version is better

I need to credit Chris Ward for this post, first because he got me and Megan watching the UK series Skins in the first place, but also because the title above is totally his doing. I was waffling on whether or not to even try to the U.S. version of the series, when he said to me, “C’mon, you have to—haven’t you ever wanted to be able to watch a show and be able to tell everybody the British version was better?” And he’s right; that’s a dream I didn’t even know I had, but I totally do.

And though I haven’t even watched the pilot of the U.S. Skins yet (it’s DVRed) I can safely say yes, the British version is better.

First off, for those of you not familiar with the show I’m talking about, here’s the quick description Wikipedia gives (and if you click that link, I’d highly advise just to skim and look at the pics, because you really should watch this show yourself at some point): Skins is a British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of sixth form. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness (including eating disorders), sexual orientation identity, substance abuse and death.

In about two weeks, we’ve devoured the first two seasons of 10 episodes apiece, which in a sense is almost like watching an entire series as they change over the entire cast with season three (apologies to our UK fans for using the terms “season” and “series” the American way). Once time has given the show its proper context, I’m not sure how it will ultimately rank among my all-time favorites, but I can say that I’m deeply impressed with the sheer amount it’s able to accomplish over the span of just 20 installments.

For one, I was amazed at how much the characters change over the course of the show, but also how natural it feels. Season two has a completely different—and markedly darker—vibe to it than season one that really keeps things fresh and incredibly interesting. In particular, I was pretty blown away by just how much of a 180 Nicholas Hoult does in his portrayal of central lead Tony Stonem, already an immensely complex and layered antihero type in season one who comes back with a completely altered personality in season two; Hoult changes everything from his posture on down to illustrate the shift and you get tingles when traces of the “old” Tony surface from time to time. Similarly but more subtly, Hannah Murray takes Cassie Ainsworth from, as my wife put it, “quirky to bitter” with an arc that feels almost sadly real. These are probably my two favorite characters on the show—though there’s not a single member of the ensemble I don’t like to at least some degree—because the actors portraying them are immensely talented as well as because of the weight of their stories.

Something that really sets Skins apart from, say, Gossip Girl, for me (and there are many things) is that on Skins some really tragic stuff happens to these kids, but it resonates. They never get over their tragedies fully, just like we never get over a lot of the bad stuff that happens to use in real life, at least not completely. For Tony, Cassie, Sid, Chris, and heck, really all of them, stuff just keeps chipping away at them, whether it’s “small” stuff like relationship trouble or comparatively big things like a loved one dying, and they do not emerge rebooted a few episodes later as characters on American teen soap type shows (most of which I love) tend to do; they don’t become completely joyless and the program doesn’t stop being fun to watch, but they gain a harder edge and for me they became more endearing as a result. I really cared what happened to these kids to a degree I can’t honestly say I feel for, say, Serena and Dan.

It’s also worth noting the degree the folks writing and producing the show go to in order to try and make sure you don’t latch onto just one or two members of the cast—though picking favorites is of course inevitable—but that you feel at least some connection to all of them. Each episode (aside from the finales) is titled after a specific character and makes them the focal point. Something I found frustrating to begin with is the way an episode will end with a cliffhanger involving the title character and then the next installment you find out what happened only matter of fact since they’re now a background player in the new focal player’s story, but it’s actually pretty ingenious and works only because they throw down the gauntlet to make you forget about what came last time in order to focus on the new story and pull it off just about every time.

So with all the hubbub about the U.S. version of the show on MTV and having heard I’d been watching the original, a couple of my friends asked me what exactly the big deal was.

More to the point, they wanted to know why the U.S. version was getting so much attention, much of it negative, alienating advertisers and critics and so forth who have described it as “just kids running around in their underwear doing drugs and having sex.” They also wanted to know what exactly set Skins apart from any other teen soap opera and why it’s anything different.

To the second question, I answered pretty much what I summed up above: There are no gimmicks or hooks that set the UK Skins apart from 90210 or what have you to me, just the fact that it’s a really well done show with impressive writing and excellent acting. As I got into a bit, the fact that the kids seem somewhat more real at least in terms of their reaction to hardships and forced maturation in the face of difficult times certainly makes it stand out, but it’s hardly groundbreaking, I just haven’t seen it done quite as well much elsewhere.

To the first question, I think the controversy and hullaballoo is coming primarily from the fact that the people making the American version (which, again, I have yet to watch) don’t seem to understand what makes the original special. They do indeed see a group of kids running around in their underwear having sex and doing drugs, but fail to realize that’s just the setting, not the meat of the show. Even just from watching commercials for the U.S. version and seeing ad after ad on the subway, I can see that they’re pushing the “kids gone wild” angle fast and furious, not really making much effort to say “and also, this is a really smartly-written and well-acted show,” which who knows, maybe it is. It’s a sad commentary on MTV and probably the American television industry that in this Jersey Shore era the logical ad campaign is “These barely legal kids like to fuck!” as opposed to anything else (and it’s also worth noting the cast of the UK version is meant to be and appears to be around 18, whereas the MTV crew looks about 13 tops).

I’ve been sparse on the spoilery details throughout here because I really do encourage anybody who hasn’t and is able to check out the UK version of Skins, the first two seasons in particular. It’s really something and I’m pleased to say my first true insight into some of the stuff you can do over there when it comes to making television as opposed to over here; I am proud to proclaim that in this case, the British version is indeed better.