The first episode of ‘Skins‘ series 5 aired in the UK last Thursday. Despite the popular show’s fresh portrayal of UK teens, the entire series was unrealistic and juvenile. I’m pretty sure most teens can reflect more in ‘The Inbetweeners‘; as in, trying to act like the characters from ‘Skins‘ and failing.
The charm from lead characters like Tony (Series 1) was absent and in it’s place was a depressing outcast called Franky, played by a new edgy Dakota Blue Richards of ‘The Golden Compass‘ fame. The emotional turmoil from Franky as the-misunderstood-new-girl is cliched, but at least she has reasonable vulnerability unlike previous leads. I’ll once again refer to how unrealistic the writing is – when is the first lesson on the first day of school ever P.E? It is the muddy first games class where we are introduced to the antagonist ‘queen bee’ Mini, played by Freya Mavor.
Mini and followers instantly borrow from ‘Mean Girls‘, and that’s including a scene where photocopied hate pictures of Franky, a victim of pretty horrible bullying, are flashed around the school corridors. This first episode also unsubtly questions the choice of individuality and the decision to change oneself to fit in. The new episode did little to introduce the new gang evenly, but did present a neat little group of misfits, including a new metal head stereotype, by the end of the episode.
These are a troubled bunch of bratish characters I don’t give a damn about. However, as much as I disliked Cook from Series 2, I suppose (and I can’t believe I’m typing this) he was a bit more exciting and unpredictable than a repeat of an American teen movie where girls have fashion codes and their fights are done sneakily. But don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll get the usual amount of drugs, sex, guns and messed up relationships soon.
I was never going to like this new series of ‘Skins‘ because I was never much of a fan to begin with, but for those who are fans of the first and maybe second series, what are your thoughts? Are you going to keep tuned in?
3 comments
Bek says:
Jan 30, 2011
The first generation characters had the best series’. The second gen were…well, naff to be honest.
I felt that where in series 1 and 2, while the events were a little ott, you felt as though they could actually happen. Series 2 and 3 however, stepped over a mark and became rather farfetched. Okay, yes they COULD happen, but so unlikely that you couldnt relate.
The first episode of this series I have to say I rather liked. (Although this is most probably because I watched it a day later than everyone else and had already been told by so many people that it was really bad. My expectations were so low that it exceeded them a little).
But yes, it was a rather realistic portrayal of a type of bullying, and yes the preppy female characters appear to be taken out of mean girls. But most colleges/schools do in fact have a group like that, who would do pretty much the same things.
However, it did seem a bit boring. Not that much happened in the episode. Well, not compared to an episode of any of the previous series’.
I think the series will end up being as good as 3 and 4, and no way will they compare to 1 and 2. But no matter how good/bad it seems now, I will continue watching because so far we dont know many characters well, and it may get better.
Olivia says:
Jan 30, 2011
Hi Bek,
Yeah it’s true that because we don’t know much about the characters, it may be worth watching to find out about them and their back stories!
I’ve heard a lot of original Skins fans bashing about how bad the first episode was, but that was always going to be the case, particularly when fans get so loyal about the original characters. It wasn’t, however, awful for a first episode of Skins – I’m sure there are other TV shows around with much worse acting and writing. But my review is biased because, well, I didn’t like the series to begin with!
Thanks for your thoughts Bek!
rather be anonymous says:
Feb 11, 2011
I thought the first and second series was excellent but that’s probably because i had no expectations for it, however, series 3 and 4 highly disappointed me as though it is television, all the characters seemed just to “TV ready” for my liking whereas in the 1st generation the cast looked ike your average teen and looked like they had been scouted from the street.
I felt the first episode of this generation was too dramatic! It screamed for attention “bullying this” and “Queen Bee” that, walking around with names like “Mimi” and i, for, one certainly can’t see Dakota Blue Richards past the Golden Compass and just can’t connect with her character. I stopped liking skins after series 2 but now it’s just a shambles.