I felt so sorry for the actress when she was describing the bikini situation. I can't imagine what it was like to stay on the show so you can represent young teens who relate to you're character only for the writers to completely change everything for the sake of sexiness. Also the way the teen actresses were treated by these creepy grown men was so gross.
Except it was a female writer who ruined her character. She returned in the second season after failing miserably on the US Skins adaptation. Curb your sexism.
Sometimes I stay up at night thinking why didn’t the school administration ever wonder why one of their students died every 2 years lol. I have mixed feelings about there being a death every generation.
@@sheisaMachine Same. Like I Can List Off Every Student Who Died In 2013, A Student Was Struck By A Car 2016, A Student Died By Natural Causes 2019, 4 Students And Another Passenger Was In A Car Accident, 3 Out Of The 4 Students In My School, And The Passenger Died. Only One Girl Survived And That Was Because She Was Wearing Her Sestbelt
Every year at least one student died at my high school. Three were suicides, one was an accident, one was an overdose, and my friend died of heart failure after her transplant was rejected. Not only did my administration not really care, everyone in the school knew someone was going to die. It was like a goddamn lottery.
Both my parents are teachers. My dad's worked at the same school for over 20 years, it is a rural area really close to the city and the connecting road is very tricky. At this point, it is not odd for us to see my dad get a call about one of his students or former student dying in that road. My mom has worked in a few schools on the city, when she worked high school we got to see a lot of deaths due to * illegal * circumstances. Regular people would be surprised at how that is just part of working at a school.
This is minor but the way the 3rd gen was dressed/styled looked nothing like how teenagers dressed\what was actually cool at the time it came out. Some of the ugly/absurd outfits in s1 particularly did actually reflect that kind of tacky teen rave culture in the early 2000s. Trying to still dress them in that way ten years later didn’t work at all. No cool girls dressed like Mini...
The o ly realistic ones were the uncool ones like Chris/Allo because guys like that never change with the fashion. Until they gave him a beiber/sceneasque makeover which was just no. I know he's supposed to have become more open minded but metal heads are stubborn and when they become open minded it's usually bright purple long coats or something rather than being more conventional
I think one thing no one is thinking about is the age gap between the writers and the characters. Of course by the time gen 3 appeared it became part of the "teen drama written by 35 years old immature people stuck in their teen memories" trope.
I just hated that they shed his metal head aspect, it felt cheap like they discarded a costume. Like metal heads can't be soft kind and loving while also wearing leather and listening to thrash.
@pizza, "um" holy mother of misinterpretation lol. Clearly they were talking about why it seemed *_the writers_* may have changed his appearance. As if the writers thought the way he dressed would conflict with him being loving & caring. I liked it, at the time, but in retrospect, they weren't faithful to the characters & just tried to make them all more "normal" & "sexy" to make them more appealing to the audience (which had the opposite effect).
As a queer kid growing up, I felt like a lot of series when they started to portray other queer kids tended towards the one token gay character to show how "progressive" they were. Featuring a character who was objectively "popular" but afraid to have sex, or even uninterested in sex entirely, but interested in both sexes romantically, would have been a HUGE step forward in portraying biromantic asexuals. Another thing that turned me off about watching the show religiously (even though my friends were huge fans) was the sexualization of teens and a lot of male gaze issues. I would have loved to have a character earlier who dressed like Franky and dealing with perhaps how people constantly assumed she was a butch lesbian, or constantly guessed about her sexuality. That's what a lot of genderqueer people deal with, or even queer people who don't follow strict gender norms. It would have totally followed in the show showing real struggles of "real" teens, but not have every plot line based solely on hormones.
I've always loved Cook's heavy accent and his way of talking. Season 1 in JJ's episode he said "I pissing love you, JJ. Feel the love." and I still laugh 3 years later. I dunno, maybe I'm just easily amused lol.
I LOVE JAL ❤️ how can people call her boring?? she had one of the best story arcs in gen 1 and she was one of the only who was a genuinely good and caring person, her relationship with chris was also the best
It's interesting because the first time I watched it, as a young teen, Jal kind of faded into the background for me and I was a lot more drawn to Cassie (I was a moody weirdo kid and even though I never suffered from EDs I really identified with her) but when I watched it again a year or so ago (~23 y/o), Jal was by far the most compelling character for me, and definitely one of the only characters I'd actually want to know in real life (with the addition of Maxxie probably). I think she gets overshadowed because she's one of the most reasonable, responsible, and actually realistic characters, and she's surrounded by a bunch of characters that are constantly acting impulsively and doing ridiculous things. Also, racism more than likely plays a role in the way she's dismissed by a lot of viewers if we're being honest.
Jal, I loved herrr I feel like she deserved so much better, idk if u noticed but I feel like POC in tv shows like this are never given a interesting enough storyline
@@petalchild i agree with you on that last bit and im glad you like her more as character now :) i've always related to her bc just like yhara said in the video: she was always caring and was there for her friends, but didnt have anyone else care about her the same way, at least no until chris and her developed a closer relationship, and thats how i always felt in my life, surrounded by people, but always felling alone.. also her relationship with her dad was very similar to the relationship with my own dad that i had when i was a teenager and was watching the show (2015/2016) so that was another point that i really could sympathize with in her arc. overall shes a very underappreciated character
@@lmaoaims right?? i feel like only her and grace really had some thought put into their stories, but we know how one of them ended up... i would've loved if we had more moments in the series that were focused on them
I’m glad somebody else noticed 😭 I think they thought because they already had Cassie that they didn’t need another character with an eating disorder which is kinda stupid lmao
Can’t remember if this was confirmed or just a theory, but I remember reading it wasn’t supposed to portray eating disorder behaviour, just how “controlled” (re: neurotic) Minnie was
I agree, but the way I see it now, it was toxic diet culture induced by stress in that episode and perhaps not a disorder like Cassie was suffering with
@@0ffline333 i think that’s also telling that they didn’t understand EDs. it isn’t always about losing weight as much as it extremely disordered thinking and attempting to gain control of their life & bodies when they otherwise don’t have that
Am I the only one that feels like nick having feelings for franky was so random and out of the blue, like they barely talked and all the sudden he’s in love with her like wtf-
No, lol. The writers completely pulled that one straight out of their asses. Instead, they should've continued developing Nick's feelings for Liv and had them date once Liv reciprocated his feelings.
Season 6 is awful, and Grace’s death completely unnecessary, but Rich saying “I just spoke to her, I speak to her all the time” and Chris Addison’s character saying “Me too” chokes me up every single time. Both actors are incredible performers.
Honestly, I don't mind this Gen at all for that specific reason. Yeah, there's a lot of bleh in there, and extremely questionable decisions being made throughout, but when it works it works, and it still felt like Skins. That scene in particular, and also the one where Liv is about to beat the piss out of Mini, before she pleads with her for her baby's safety, they give me chills. I genuinely don't think most of this Gen was particularly bad, but the handful of severe errors were enough to tip it for most people. Any problems Gen 3 had, Gen 2 did just as well. Gen 2 just never dropped anything quite so obviously like Gen 3 did.
@@Silvercentipede honestly Rich’s episode of season 6 made me feel like the show should have been about Rich and Arlo they were just my favorite part about that whole generation
discord.gg/pFYmpuReDn I made a discord gc where for skins fans where we can discuss about various characters and themes and stuff join if you want. It will also be a good opportunity to mk internet friends
Same. They were the only characters that weren't toxic in some way and it was really nice to see a healthy relationship in skins. Hated that they killed Grace. She was one of the best characters in the generation.
RIP to Mini and Franky's potential romance/exploration of attraction and sexuality because lord knows the chemistry was through the roof with those two
Omg it bothered me so much that they introduced this in season 5 and dropped it in season 6 then referenced it again in the episode where they run away together as a joke. I hated how the writers treated both characters in season 6.
@@homosoftommorow Right, and even if the two didn't work out as a couple, they were really hinting at Mini's character having a crush on Franky, and dealing with feelings of internalized Homophobia. I think she was so harsh on Franky at first because she recognized things in Franky that she saw in herself but didn't like, and tries to hide, as image conscious as her character is; but at the same time she had this weird obsession with her, perhaps because Franky is unapologetically herself. I was looking forward to seeing how her sense of self would develop in season 6 if she started to come to terms with her sexuality, and maybe drop some of her obsession with being seen as "perfect". They destroyed all of the story lines, and characterizations they set up in season 6 for pretty much every character. Edit: for typos
I loved Anwar and Maxxie’s ending. The fact Maxxie is about to head off with his boyfriend, and Anwar’s all teary-eyed, not quite sure how to say goodbye, and Maxxie is like, “mate, buy a ticket? Come with me? Why should we be apart, we’re best mates.” And then Anwar is just like, “yes, you’re absolutely right, let’s go.” Skins is at its best when it centres around the beauty and depth of platonic love and intimacy. Anwar’s dad accepting Maxxie being gay, and showing Anwar he doesn’t have to shut his friend out because of his religion, was really beautiful to me. Tony and Sid crying as they said goodbye, Tony’s “I always loved you best,” ugh, I wish we saw more of their deeply complex friendship. They had a wonderful opportunity to show Frankie and Minnie’s complicated and confusing friendship as it interacts with and develops into romantic attraction - and sex. Frankie being genderqueer and Minnie being scared of having sex for the first time, not sure how to enjoy it, if she’s able to enjoy it, and if the people she’s intimate with truly care and value her because she can’t seem to care about herself was interesting and relatable. Grace and Rich were wholesome, as were Rich and Alo. It would have being interesting if they explored Nick and Matty’s brotherly relationship more, how them going after Liv and Frankie was really about them chasing after to each other and being desperate to connect. Would have made more sense to me, honestly, and would have built on what we saw between Tony and Effy, Freddie and Karen etc. Like to me, Freddie and Cook were the best parts of Second Gen and I cared more about their friendship and how much they mean to each other than anything else.
While series 4 was a disaster, this was the season that made me really see the strengths in Jack O’Connells acting. Love him or hate him, Cook was compelling to watch cause of Jack.
Cook’s whole arc was so amazing, at the beginning of season 3 I thought, there’s no way they’re ever going to make me like this guy (I suspected they would repeat the Tony thing and have him get hit by a metaphorical bus and become a better person, but I was like no way, he’s too awful). I don’t think the writing alone could have swayed me, Jack really sells it and really puts Cook’s humanity on display
i love cook as a character, and his strongest moments were with freddie. jj as well, sometimes. the relationships between them should've been more of the focus. they felt far less shallow than the effy lust plots, and the fighting over her when she offered nothing outside of sex for either of them. or, maybe she served as a source of sex _and_ as someone who needed his caring for, in freddie's case. but, he had that with cook and didn't need another dynamic to explore that nurturing part of him. and, cook had more genuine and believable care for freddie, in my opinion. him comforting fred at the firepit, with just the two of them, was one of my favourite scenes from the second gen. hell, maybe from all generations! and jj working as the glue when they needed to come back together after separating was interesting. i loved the dynamic between the three and got bored quickly with effy's one-noted rubbish.
The infinite love I have for that man Mainly because of that role… is probably unnatural lol but it’s how I feel about Frankie before they ruined her and then even some parts after they ruined her… I see myself in those character and I love those actors so much for playing these characters that I saw so much of myself in. I felt seen by people I’d never met and it felt so important. That’s why I’m so angry at what they did to Frankie
Mini was so clearly the effy replacement idk why they had to destroy franky's character to make their show sexier. Just make them kiss! That's my shit!
discord.gg/pFYmpuReDn I made a discord gc where for skins fans where we can discuss about various characters and themes and stuff join if you want. It will also be a good opportunity to mk internet friends
During season 4, I began to think that freddie's sister Karen was gonna lead the next series because she was the right age, was given more screen time at the end, and she was given a lot of empathy when she admitted she felt insecure that she didn't feel like she liked 'the right things'. I think she should have led season 5/6 because it would have given more context - I have in mind Karen starting college but also dealing with the grief of freddie's death and sort of figuring out her place in the world/making friends at college type thing
I also feel that the strength of gen 1 was that it started off an established friends group that had great chemistry so their friendship was convincing - I think gen 3 would have been good to begin with an established friendship group if they were to ditch all previous characters and begin from scratch
i liked mini and alo as well. i do have a soft spot for franky though because she had so much potential - i loved her style in series 5 and i hate how they made her a discount effy
I remember being so excited about Franky being genderqueer or trans, and then they made her... a Hot Girl?? A HETEROSEXUAL HOT GIRL?? I peaced out the moment Franky showed up onscreen in Season 6.
I remember my friends being super into Skins growing up, but as a queer asexual kid, the unnecessary sexualization of a lot of the teenagers really turned me off a lot of the series despite following along loosely. A script about Mini being scared to have sex, or a genderqueer/trans person in Franky that wasn't involved in a ton of sex scenes initially really would have appealed to me and would have been forward thinking for the time. Not all people want to have sex, not all people want to dress for the male gaze. If they wanted to really continue that idea of "real teenagers" as a selling point, I think evolving with that plot line would have made a sort of "next step" jump of portraying "real" teens with "real" struggles.
Wtf just because she expresses herself that way means nothing. Not every gender queen teenager have short hair or whatsoever. Sounds exactly like a boy who awaits "androgynous look" to a nb person. Fuck u.
Minnie just have the mean girl vibes on season 5, I think they wanted to pick a more "deep and interesting" character to become Effy. Effy and Franky has one thing in common: they're written to be "different" and destacable, which is why they chose her for the replacement. Don't misunderstand me, every Skins character is, in essence, notable. The creators just didn't develop them at all.
freddie's death literally made me sick to my stomach and put me in a weird headspace for about a week. I've never had such a visceral reaction to a character's death like that before but my gosh. I think it was the brutality of it + the fact that literally NO ONE got closure. not even gonna count cook for that bc all he saw was freddie's bloody clothes.
i was literally so scarred by it. to see effy’s supposed shot at healing be not only completely manipulated and ruined by the therapist’s intentions, him blunt force trauma murdering the person she was closest to, who saved HER from dying…as a very mentally ill teen effy was my favorite character who i saw myself in. so to feel like i was in her shoes, and like her story was the type of thing that happens to troubles girls, that whole plot line made me hysterically upset for a loooong time
Yeah and season 7 showed us how he had evolved since, but the episode about Cook focused more on his attraction to a new Effy than the aftermath of the murder he committed and the impact that Freddie’s death had on him. We don’t even know if he told anyone that Freddie had been killed…
frankys switch always made me so wildly uncomfortable because her whole arc in s5 was about rejecting the femininity people pushed on her and then suddenly off-screen she just became ok with it? what happened!!!!
Franky had an incredible body and she seemed to develop quite a bit between those seasons. Can't really blame them for showing her off in a show this clearly exploitive
Making the teen female cast (only!!! the boys aren't of course) come in before adult men, in bikinis, telling them to freaking starve themselves... jesus fucking christ. Michael Bay vibes.
@@camilofajardo9199 no it doesn't happen. in euphoria i already saw the crew talking about the filming process and is nothing like that. elite and riverdale i don't really know if that still happens it has to change
Nothing was mentioned about the male cast. It's inconclusive if they did the same but just haven't talked about it. I acknowledge it's probably unlikely they did, but with the information given, we can't say with certainty. Life has too many problems we have no choice but to deal with, without getting upset over something that may or may not be true. That can't be a healthy way to live, extrapolating and imagining things to get mad about. Also "starve" is a bit melodramatic: "to die or perish from lack of food or nourishment. · to be in the process of perishing or suffering severely from hunger." They were purportedly (and believably) told to skip a meal and have a light dinner. That's inappropriate and bullshit, as that will make zero difference but could give them a complex about their body, but it's a far cry from almost dying from malnutrition. Would it be considered starving to suggest the same thing to someone who's morbidly obese and who's quality of, and potentially actual, life depend on losing weight? How else would you lose the weight? Eat less- Move more: That's how weight is lost.
Frankie was such a great character in series 5. Her style, her love of stop motion (which became nonexistent in series 6) and how unapologetically herself she is. It would've been amazing to have seen her evolve throughout both seasons while still being rooted to her interests and her personality. But no, it's like we got a completely different person in series 6. Even though I know her character was hated in this season, I still had a soft spot for her because I just felt so bad for the complete destruction of her character. It was so pointless and stupid (not to mention the fact that her relationship with Mini from series 5 changed completely in series 6).
“A case of irresponsible show running, lazy writing, and what happens when creators stop caring about the things they create.” Sooooo basically teenage Game of Thrones.
When she was listing the characters, I was like "hmm, wasn't there someone else?" And then I hear "holy shit, I forgot Nick" and I burst out laughing cuz saaame.
i'm sorry but i feel like that when i think about effy. i watched this series as a teenager and rewatched it like two years ago but Effy CONSTANTLY makes me furious because GIRL WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING and why is everyone fascinated by this girl
Gen 1 was so successful because it accurately reflected what we (I was 16 in 2007) were doing. They way they dressed, the lies they told their parents, the skins parties (just house parties but later dubbed skins parties after the show). This group of kids weren't rich, like 90210, they made their own fun, just like we did. The hardships they faced were very similar to the British teenage experience (failing grades, dealing with strict Muslim parents, or coming out). The later generations tried too hard to be angsty and deep, and just ended up falling flat.
Exactly this. I ran away from home roughly the same time gen 1 started and I identified SO STRONGLY with Chris. I’ve seen people say it was unrealistic, but although I was never into drugs, most of my friends were taking pills and speed every weekend and we were definitely always looking for someone’s house to have parties in.
i hated what effy represented - the manic pixie depressive dream girl who loves being abused and who is nothing but a glorified aesthetic for tumblr girlies who spent their time romanticizing depression and toxic relationship. so i was happy they finally let effy and her bullshit go, and then they gave me franky... i was so mad lmaoooo
@@eternalbliss330 it kind of was season three. But season four showed how awful she truly felt. It seemed more glorified because of the media. Which was stupid
@@eternalbliss330 So you have a character who walks around looking a mess, she barely talks, when she does she isn't very nice to anyone. She is seriously mentally ill, not just depressed, but very ill. She is instantly one of the coolest girls at college, all the boys want her, hell her therapist wants her, and despite being rather unfriendly she now has several female friends. And in the show I think they make it clear that it isn't despite her being 'pretty but broken' that everybody wants her, it is because of it. Effy isn't just a little romanticized, it is what defines the character.
Effy was the more abusive person in her relationships though. Abusive is a stretch but she was incredibly toxic to her friends like Pandora and she was extremely mentally ill.
The actress who played Frankie was the lead in the film adaptation of The Golden Compass. That has literally nothing to do with anything but I never realised until I just IMDbd her
I like the darker tone of gen 2 in concept. It's just a shame the writing was so messy because showcasing a friend group that slowly falls apart, contrasting from gen 1, could have been an interesting angle to go if the writing hadn't been nonsensical and if they dedicated more time to fleshing out all of the characters rather than making it the Effy show.
people had no interest in Jal because she was a well adjusted genius and SWEETHEART all while being the only black girl on the show back in the naughties--to do this day no one can convince me it wasn't just blatant antiblack horseshite. her and chris carried HELLA
as a person who had selective mutism till i turned 14 (and still haunts me), growing up while having someone as effy with the same issue was really comforting. she didnt talk with anyone except for a few people, and it wasnt for a exact shyness thing but those she thinks are valuable enough to listen to her will do (me, on the other hand, was for a extreme social anxiety case that didnt allow me to talk since i saw myself as a "no one wants to listen to me," kind of problem and stutter a LOT when i did. i didnt trust people and hated everyone bc they were able to speak and i wasnt). and even when the 2nd gen came and she started talking more and more until it was common to see her using words and not only gestures and eye movements- it didnt bother me bc i saw it as in a "oh, she made it. she found the people shes comfortable with and safe enough to talk to" but what really bothered me was how her speaking made her be less "mysterious" and "cool" as if it was a aesthetic to have selective mutism (bc it wasnt a "im not a talkative person" it was a "i dont talk even tho i can", and it was even written on her blog and implied she had s.m), her development couldve been so much better, but apparently on s4 they forgot she ever had it and made her personality be completely different... they couldve even brought it up on THAT ONE ep but no, it never happened
yeah the third generation is the worst one and i say this as someone who’s favorite generation is the third one. it’s my fave solely for grace and rich, everyone else is pretty irritating but grace and rich are so perfect they make up for it. and yeah i never rewatch season 6.
discord.gg/pFYmpuReDn I made a discord gc where for skins fans where we can discuss about various characters and themes and stuff join if you want. It will also be a good opportunity to mk internet friends
I hated what they did to Franky in the sixth season, like I'm still mad at it. Mini waa my favorite because I could personally relate a lot to her on some levels, and I also thought she and Franky were going to be a thing, It'd definitely been more interesting than what we ended up getting. Now watching your video I think they totally could've had Mini and Franky connect on the basis that they're insecure about the roles they're assigned to play. Franky didn't conform to a gender binary was my take, and Mini genuinely felt scared to have sex and her hyperconforming to feminity drained her a lot. I genuinely think that would've made for a great plot and something for them to develop a great friendship. Whatever, maybe I'll write fanfic!
discord.gg/pFYmpuReDn I made a discord gc where for skins fans where we can discuss about various characters and themes and stuff join if you want. It will also be a good opportunity to mk internet friends
Honestly, my favorite part of this generation was alo's first episode. His family were genuinely some of the nastiest adults yet. The fact that Alo showed such deep love for them regardless, spoke a lot to the type of guy he was. Also, just Alo. He was always fun, charming and supportive, if a bit creepy.
I agree with you completely, I loved his character. I think the creepiness was just him being a hormonal teenage boy who got overzealous about getting laid lol. I went to high school with boys just like him. They'd act gross and creepy when in a group of other boys or in front of the whole class, but, whenever I talked to them one on one, they'd always surprise me by often revealing the hidden layers of their real personalities, their hopes, dreams, interests and passions. They'd act respectful and polite in private, but like total creeps in front of others.
i thought the whole thing with mini was her being a lesbian in denial? and then they just kinda forgot about it... the only character i really liked was rich, but his whole purpose in the end was to carry grace's legacy.
as much as i disliked gen 3, the ending where rich says goodbye is genuinely a great ending to such a messy and chaotic season. it feels like the closure of a life stage which is really nice, and it's also the end of the disaster that season six was which makes it even better
Matty was the freakiest fucking dude ever, it's mad that a single person contemplated getting with him. Looks like the sort of kid who turns up to school with a samurai sword and threatens the teachers with it when they tell him he can't have it
I think to make this generation better, they should've: - Kept Franky exactly how she was instead of trying to make her Effy 2.0. One thing that was excellent with Franky from the get go was that she had already accepted her identity and how she chose to present herself to the world before we even met her, so they should've continued on that route and concentrated more on how others came to accept her as she was, and on her finding her birth mother like she did at the end of the series. - Kept the storyline of Matty's hit and run, but had him kill someone that's not in the cast. That would have put a dent in his relationship with Frankie, as he would have run away without giving her any news, leaving her worried and alone. - Left Franky and Minnie's relationship hostile to begin with, but make that a catalyst for Minnie coming to terms with her sexuality, through her attraction to Franky. Maybe make them a couple in season 6 once Franky realizes that Matty is a dirtbag. - Kept Grace and RIch's relationship development as it was, but made her pregnant instead of Minnie in season 6, and have her drop out, becoming everything that her father was dreading for her to become, whilst having Rich navigate through his feelings of becoming a father, especially since his relationship with his own dad was discussed in season 5. - Had Nick put all the girls aside (Minnie, Liv and Frankie) for a moment, explore his professional journey after his career in sports crashed, and see him try to find a new purpose. It would have also been great to see development in his relationship with his father, and maybe there could've been a bridge there between him and Rich. - Alo's whole story with that 14 year old girl was the only bit that I would have kept intact. It was hilarious, wildly inappropriate and such an Alo-esque segment. I could also really see Alo and Minnie becoming fantastic friends and I would have loved to see them develop a great friendship. At last, maybe Alo could've found someone who truly loved and deserved him like JJ did at the end of his season. - Had Liv explore her insecurities of always pursuing and falling for people who are unavailable for her. That girl had massive mommy issues and a huge inferiority complex, especially with her sister and her friends. Exploring that would've been worthwhile!
also i met sid and JJ's actors on the tube and they were the loveliest people ever, sat with us, spoke with us and asked us about our night, took pictures etc. I walked past liv and alo's actors in shoreditch and being awkard said 'oh you guys were in skins!' and they gave me the dirtiest look and walked straight past lmfaooooooo. first two generations SUPREMACYYYY
The whole time during this video I was like "yep, yes, oh my god yes exactly!" Also props to Michelle's actress, she is doing genuinely amazing work with that podcast.
Dakota Blue Richards said in an interview not long ago that she got shouted at because she said the wardrobe and first script for season 6 were so out of character for Frankie and she said she felt like they were trying to make her another "Effie" in season 6, which she wasn't keen on but because of how they shouted at her for questioning their choices for the character she just tried to do her best with what she got because she didn't want to get fired. Edit: you just started talking about April Pearsons podcast which is what I was referencing lol!
that’s so sad omg. i can imagine her just not being very keen and suggesting some changes and being roared at. some adults think they’re so much better than children.
my big take away from gen 3 is, i never actually felt that they where friends in small groups yes alo and Rich mini and liv (kind of) but as a whole group they never had a purpose to actually like each other and it felt off
iirc the book delves into the friendships more (before series 5); I felt Mini & Liv were closer than the trio they formed with Grace (who met them in Newquay over the summer as Mini/Liv were friends way back as per mentioned in the book).
@@buri.bii3I was so confused where grace came from because she supposedly went to an all girls school but also the girls met in at least year 10 defo not at the posh boarding school
maaaaaaan... like a lot of mentally ill teen girls/afab people i really loved s3 and effy (unhealthily so - effy was a role model in the eating disorder communities i participated in, which, yikes), which was why s4 was such a colossal mindfuck. like the blatant anti-psychology messaging is just terrible, the worst, it's SO irresponsible, on top of taking a topic that earlier series of skins would have handled delicately (mental illness) and treating it the same way a soap opera would, including with random amnesia. ugh.
I’ve never seen the later seasons but skins never handled mental health problems right. They romanticized shit so much. Like the characters Cassie and effy specifically, like Cassie literally giving young girls (like me at the time) a step by step guide on how to hide your ED from your family. It was so toxic and bad but people don’t want to admit it bc of nostalgia
I was so mad when minnie and franky didn’t end up together or at least addressed, for me minnie had a lot of potential as a character we could remember
The best thing about skins was it's ability to spot and nurture young acting talent. Dev Patel, Daniel Kaluuya, nick Holt, the entire cast of game of thrones, etc.
Frankie was such a missed opportunity. Why make her androgynous and have her be a straight girl with a love triangle between 2 super annoying characters. Uggg
@@fenschrute7724 specially because they simultaneously undermined every other plot line about the other characters. Skins was good bc it was a very shared ensamble piece, with interconnected friendships. It rly piss me off how much time was spent in pointless and underdeveloped romance centered around her, without any good and touching exploration of why these characters were deeply into her. And this all ties in with the changes to her character bc after they did that you start to wonder were did the character u initially like went and the romance seems even more pointless. Even tho i love minnies relationship with aloe i would have loved to see her with frankie. Actually, a minnie/aloe vs Minnie/frankie love triangle were minnie comes to terms with being bi and frankie explores her pansexuality would be much more interesting then the love triangle insipid and reasonless we got.
Gen 2 was always my favourite because I related to Effy more than any character ever through the entirety of my teen years. However, it's been over 10 years and I'm still not over Freddie's unwarranted, unceremonious death. The betrayal was real.
im forever frustrated with how minis sexuality wasnt explored. they set up so many hints of her being queer and hinting at her and frankie getting together but never delivered. im so sick of queerness being hinted at and then never executed, its tiring
massive issue with most these coments effy was never hinted to be lesbian she was implied to be oan even this video showed a clip of her outright stating she doesnt like men or woman she likes people Generic pan character writing
I never watched Skins but having irl teens (and yes, 18 and 19 year olds are still teens. don't give me the "but they're legal" loophole bs) on tv with bikinis and underwear and getting intimate is so messed. Even worst that the girls would get openly judged on their sexines for the show. Wasn't it supposed to be about "real teens" without the beautification? So shouldn't all body types be represented???
Yeah, there's something extremely creepy about young actresses having to line up in bikinis and judged on how 'sexy' they look. Sure, real teenagers sometimes dress 'sexily', but a show as committed to realism as Skins would surely understand that not everyone (especially Frankie!) would dress like that...
discord.gg/pFYmpuReDn I made a discord gc where for skins fans where we can discuss about various characters and themes and stuff join if you want. It will also be a good opportunity to mk internet friends
I don't think the issue was necessarily just that they were in revealing clothing or filming intimate scenes. It seems to be about how it was done. Like bringing in actors and having them film a sex scene on the first day without any real discussion or preparation. Or requiring the girls to parade around in bikinis in front of the producers. I think those are the things that really cross the line. The actors did go into this knowing that they would be filming sex scenes so that wasn't the main issue. It seems that the producers and show runners were really taking advantage of these actors who were all new to acting and didn't know what was appropriate and what wasn't.
Skins was a show I tended to watch after being out on the piss, and came back home pissed, a halal burger + fries in hand and just enjoying the surreal wierdness of it all! Pretty suitable when your out of your head! So glad it worked in America. UK shows tend not to translate very well stateside very often.
If you think Laya Lewis and Dakota's episodes are depressing, listen to Jessica Sula (Grace's) episode, she literally teared up talking about the way they treated her on set.
Franky’s genderqueerness and sexuality was sth i found so so interesting watching generation 3 as a teenager but I HATED how they had away with that in season 6 just for the sake of turning her into another effy
I was hoping that they were trying to pull an internalized transphobia/male gaze thing with Franky because I know it's a fairly common experience, but then they didn't and I was so disappointed.
in my opinion as a brit, the buzz/ essence of skins died off after the 2nd generation more shows aimed for their target audience was available so it wasn't all we had any more
I loved all 3 generations. They all managed to cover very sensitive and relatable topics such as eating disorders, trauma, abandonment issues, sexuality, teen pregnancy grief and etc. All of them contained a fair share of life lessons. The first two generations were really well executed and all the characters stayed true to themselves, whereas in the third generation we see some unnecessary changes in style and in character. For example, I never really understood why Rich became this ‘mainstream’ kind of guy and stopped being a metal head, and why did Franky change her entire personality and became this mean, manipulative, careless and even selfish girl (she hated these types of girls). I feel like Alex’s character was kind of unnecessary in this show and I personally would’ve wanted to see more of Rich’s or Nick’s stories instead of Alex’s. I hated how everyone blamed Matty for Grace’s death, but no one (except for Liv) blamed Franky. What I really liked about the third generation was Rich’s and Grace’s love story. It felt so real and genuine. They never cheated on each other (which happens a lot in the show) and truly cared about their relationship. Nevertheless, I really liked the show, and in my opinion, the third generation is a bit underrated.
I was SO ready for Frankie‘s storyline when the first episode aired but then it just went downhill. I feel like the writers didn‘t really know what to do with her
i personally hated gen 2, it totally turned me off to the whole show unfortunately :(( they're such caricatures of people and don't feel like actual characters. i think gen 1 felt like it could have happened at the same school as the inbetweeners but gen 2 felt like an american high school. nobody was likeable and a few of them were so annoying i couldnt push through at all. gen 1 is so close to my heart i felt genuinely betrayed
@@lmaoaims it's weird because for series 3 they made effy feel like a bit of the main character and then in series 4 she was not much more than background until her episode
This is undoubtedly the most special show I've ever watched and it helped me cope with a LOT of feelings as a teenager. I've seen every generation multiple times and I will never get bored or tired of them.. this show was a real passion project, and Sid doesn't get enough recognition.
Honestly, the only memorable thing from this generation for me is hearing Glockenspiel Song by Dog is Dead for the first time 😬. Haha I was OBSESSED with that song after the finale. I'll have to re-watch this generation.
Another good one (that I keep hearing is like.. a tiktok audio now or something?) is "Lights Are On" by Tom Rosenthal. A couple other songs by him olay in Alo's ep in S6
Such a great video! I didn't know the environment was that difficult for the cast but of course it makes sense! If you're going to hire young you need to protect and look after them! I also think Kaya Scodelario who played Effy has spoken up about wishing that they had an intimacy coordinator. I think the show's downfall for me was season 4 - Freddy's death was so out of the blue, abrupt and also very violent?? I remember the shot after all this time. A shame because I loved season 3 (although now looking back at it the writing for Effy's character is a bit yikes!)
Frankie feels like an unintentional meta reference to conforming dissolution in patriarchy...and it breaks my heart. To think of all the young people at such a venomous era in our times for anyone not similarly privileged losing a valuable touchstone in representation. I have been enjoying your work. I learned so much from your Brittany Murphy video. Thank you for such illuminating perspective xox
Season one episode one is the most beautiful and genius episode in tv history, I can almost smell every character. It’s also incredible how we learn information with each of the characters instead of knowing information and waiting for each character to learn.
Grace was honestly my favourite character in the whole show, when they killed both her (and Franky's character) in Series 6, I just lost interest. Gen 3 had such great potential to be good tbh.
I just wanted to say that this was such a fantastic video and put so many of the words I couldn't muster, on to paper (so to speak.) Franky was such a disheartening change, Michelle deserved much more, and Effy should not have been the blueprint for every season!
Too bad being non gender conforming wasn’t ‘cool enough’ yet when skins was made. If the show was made now I don’t think they would of ruined frankies character
@Solaria N No. Sketch's chest flattening and wearing male clothing were purely to attract Maxxie's attention, because getting him to like her was her entire character. Straight up, there's nothing else to it. She's so one-dimensional that they literally named her "Sketch", because she's fucking sketchy, similar to typing "lol" after "Trans gay".
Although I would only wear variations of them, they were on their own absolutely bomb. Why oh why would they want to sexualise her for the sake of the shitty plot they wanted.
As a gender fluid pan person I was so in love with Frankie in the fifth season. Right off the bat, in the first episode of season 6, I was like "WHAT HAPPENED???"
in my opinion, from best to worst: 1 - season 2 2 - season 1 3 - season 3 4 - season 5 5 - season 4 6 - season 6 i only liked season 5 bc of rich and grace, and mini carried season 6 on her back... yes there are some good moments but they are kinda messy, and dont even get me started on THAT death in the beginning of s6.. ruined the series for me
The only character I properly connected to in S3 was Alo. The actor isn't mysteryman, he isn't the jock, he isn't the weirdo. He genuinely has no cliche, and his backstory is really normal as well as upsetting. He reminded me most of how Skins used to be
I as a trans person really related to the first part of Frankie's arc and then.... I got really frustrated because I saw so much of myself in that character and then was told to do basically the opposite of what I wanted to do. which isn't like... cancel worthy it just very much frustrated me as a teenager and I immediately stopped watching after that.
Yeah when I first watched I was a young teenager and had short hair just the same as frankie. I was thinking I was nonbinary at the time and I am asexual. I related to frankie being an outcast and nonbinary and they took that away and it was horrible.
A romance between Mini and Franky would have been interesting (if a little trite, as it would have essentially been a gender-swapped version of Adam/Eric from Sex Education) and it was heavily implied: "[Mini's] girl-crush is so blatant!" -Liv That being said, I genuinely quite liked Mini's eventual relationship with Alo and Mini is probably one of the most compelling characters on the show. My desire for more queer relationships onscreen aside, Mini and Franky didn't seem very compatible to me. They were both quite tightly wound and controlling. Mini needed someone laid back like Alo and they have good chemistry and some really sweet scenes, and the eventual pregnancy made sense for Alo, whose arc was all about taking responsibility, as he had to take care of something other than himself.
I think it could've worked since them going from enemies to friends to lovers would've felt like a natural progression for Franky & Mini but comparisons with Naomi & Emily love story would've been inescapable. But that was one hell of a missed opportunity. With that said, Mini & Alo came out of nowhere but it was still believable since its the misfit boy getting with the popular girl. Makes you wonder what direction their relationship would've gone had it not been for Mini's pregnancy.
Franky was so important to me when I was young to recognize myself as androgynous and bisexual, and I remember the first episode of season 6 that it just breaks my heart to see they just kill the essence of the character, her story has many potential, it would show something that they never explore, but I feel more comfortable now that I know Dakota doesn't want that too, it's good to know she also sees what Franky could be to the people that we're watching, I would always believe that the right continuation should be Franky and Mini having the first relationship on the show between two bi or pan woman.
Okay, but can we acknowledge that series 7 was pretty great? I loved Cook’s episodes and some moments were so cinematic. (Cook is my favorite Skins character which is amazing because I hated him the second I saw him on screen.)
Yeah they were amazing, I think it's cos they got the original writers back (I've heard this show changed writers every generation, and boy can you tell). Cooks and Effys were amazing
I agree Cook is actually one of the best characters. Season 3 and 4 were... questionable/hit and miss, but his episode in season 4 is incredible in my opinion
ngl as a closeted non binary teen what they did to frankie hit very hard, and grace was my other favorite character from that season so I was PISSED and this vid explains the issues so well
