Skins: Season One, "Tony" and "Cassie"

“In the pilot episode of Skins, it’s possibly easy to overlook the story wherein a young boy sets off to a party to sell drugs and have sex, but in fact, does neither of these things, because, he senses that he has been manipulated by friends and does not feel ready to have sex with someone he does not know properly.”

-Bryan Elsley, Co-Creator of Skins

Series One, Episode One, “Tony”

Skins is sometimes a brilliant series: incisive, thoughtful, empathetic. Other times it’s, admittedly, a pretty terrible series: juvenile, broad, careless. Those two qualities often co-exist, and that means in order for anyone to appreciate how good the show is, they need to understand why it consistently makes narrative decisions that seem idiotic or misguided. 

Skins sets for itself the lofty goal of depicting the lives of adolescence as they actually are. Its target audience is the same age group that it depicts. While in some respects, thematically and emotionally, the show rarely ever talks down to its intended audience, in others, it struggles under the delusions that it needs to do incredibly silly and outrageous things to hold their attention. This primarily comes in the forms of some exceedingly dumb humor and some ludicrous plot developments. 

This means that Skins can be both really smart yet frequently unsubtle. However, this largely works (for reasons, I will get into). The pilot episode though fails to capture what makes the show so good. It’s not a particularly good pilot because it’s trying to serve multiple masters. Skins’s structure involves focusing on a single character per episode, but the pilot is trying to focus on one character, Tony (Nicholas Hoult), while also introducing every major character that we will come to follow. 

Additionally, though not quite as clearly, the show is making a mission statement: teens are essentially moral and good but faced with complicated, under-discussed issues. This statement is often missed because it gets buried along the way. Too often, people get caught up in the show’s excesses. There is a lot of partying, drinking and drug-use, and numerous sexual encounters. A lot of it isn’t realistic, and it isn’t meant to be. This is a hook, drawing in viewers through the visual and aesthetic pleasures of the glamor and raucousness of the lavish displays. But once, you get past the absurd excesses, it becomes apparent that Skins has a lot more on its mind than simple drama and shock value. 

The pilot, as previously mentioned, is a bit of a mess. There are glimpses of what the show will become, but in its attempt to drawl people in and set up several major plot developments, the show fails to cohere into something of true substance. It doesn’t help that the show features the head-scratcher sub-plot of a character buying pot (A development that, in of itself, isn’t bad, but is played for such strange comedic effect that it just feels awkward and grating)

But I think we should focus on one of said glimpses and give the show the benefit of the doubt. In particular, the stand out moment of the pilot, as mentioned above by series co-creator Bryan Elsley, features the interaction between Sid (Mike Bailey) and Cassie (Hannah Murray). Tony tries to set-up his best friend Sid with Cassie so that Sid can finally lose his virginity. The set-up for this has a lot of conversation that uncomfortably avoids the issue of consent. But we should not take this as the show’s ignorance of the issue, but it’s understanding of the lack of knowledge and sensitivity of teenagers. It also pay offs later when Sid chooses not to have sex with Cassie. He does this because he ultimately understands that to do so would be wrong. He, instead, chooses to wait.

Deep down Skins is a fairly traditional show. Its amorality is a guise. The series is obsessed with One True Pairings, and it places moral judgements left and right on people and their actions. The latter will become apparent in its treatment of Tony, who is a sociopathic monster manipulating his group of friends. Tony’s charisma and confidence initially disguise just how awful he is, but it becomes clear that season one’s primary aim is to dismantle Tony while spreading empathy to the people surrounding him.    

Grade: B-

Series One, Episode Two, “Cassie”

“Cassie” is the first episode of Skins that expresses the ambition and intelligence of the series. It’s a flawed episode (too much of the episode’s point-of-view shifts away from Cassie to Sid). But it’s a massive leap forward in terms of quality and far more exemplary of what Skins aims to do in its storytelling. It features the template for future episodes: a deep dive into the life and perspective of a single character. 

It’s a fairly radical departure from the first episode which split its time amongst multiple characters. And it demonstrates the value of this type of storytelling. By emphasizing the story of one character, the show can create a greater level of identification with that character, an intimacy that helps us empathize with them and better understand what makes them who they are. 

Choosing Cassie as the first real POV character (I don’t count Tony because the pilot strains to really develop his inner or personal life) is a bold choice. After all, she’s one of the least traditional or familiar characters on the show, and she’s dealing with emotional and mental health problems that people often have a difficult time comprehending. But that’s really the point; Skins will rarely shy away from controversial issues, and rarely will it fail to make the audience understand and grapple with the complicated problems facing its characters. 

That approach could leave room for a very PSA-style, but Skins avoids this by making its story not about the Big Issue but rather about its characters. There is a specificity to Skins’s stories that make them transcend a lot of their shortcomings. This is a story about anorexia, but the show really doesn’t feel like hammering home that Cassie is anorexic (although, the “Eat!” text messages come pretty close) or making this is the only thing that defines her. 

The episode is also concerned with the intersection of other issues plaguing Cassie: her problematic home life, her feelings of inadequacy and her desire to be with Sid as an extension of this. Through this we can understand why Cassie might become anorexic. Neglected by her parents and ignored or misrepresented by her peers, she formed a low sense of self-worth. Cassie presents herself with a loopy confidence, but we’re supposed to understand that it’s all an act. 

I’m going to state something that I find to be a crucial centerpiece to the show’s success: the show’s greatest strength comes in the form of mapping out mental landscapes. The series is interested in placing us in the headspace of a character, and insisting that we recognize where a character is coming from. After all, Cassie is introduced in the pilot as a fairly one-note joke and will grow into one of the more complex and tragic characters on the series. That’s what Skins is constantly aiming for. I can forgive its shortcomings because its bolder and more thoughtful than many other series, especially of its genre.

Grade: B+

Stray Observations:

-“Skins” refers to the rolling papers used to make cigarettes. It also doubles as a metaphor for getting under the skin of the characters and getting to know them (Like I said, not always a subtle series, but I think it’s a nice metaphor even if it’s a little obvious)

-Before we overstate the partying craziness, we should actually take a serious look at the two major depictions of parties in these episodes. The pilot features a party but it’s treated mockingly. The second episode shows the aftermath of a party, but while the house is a wreck, the truly notable elements are the fact that the party centered on a food fight and that the party-goers were essentially just a core group of friends. 

-A lot of what makes the show work are its performances. Tony works, in large part, due to Hoult’s overwhelming magnetism. Murray also turns Cassie into so much more than an eccentric weirdo; she’s vulnerable and anxious, and there’s a lot of nice adolescent posturing. 

-Cassie’s episode features a number of lovely small moments, such as Cassie explaining to Sid how she avoids people noticing that she doesn’t eat. But my personal favorite has to be Cassie saying “Look up if you like me” as Sid passes by. I feel like a lesser show would have scrapped a moment like that, but for Skins it’s those small moments that it’s really interested in depicting. It’s going to couch them among some broad bits of comedic business, but it also isn’t afraid to remind you of those painful adolescent experiences just about everyone has had. 

-When Sid asks his friends for help with the drug money problem, they quickly abandon him. Everyone’s so wrapped up in their own issues to even care. This is a reoccurring theme of the show, the interconnectedness of friends and yet the simultaneous disconnect from them. Everyone is going through their own issues but rarely do we take the time out to notice those problems because we’re so wrapped up in our own drama. 

-Abigail is treated pretty derisively in the pilot because we’re largely seeing things from Tony’s perspective and he treats just about everyone with contempt. This treatment will continue, but take notice that in Cassie’s episode we briefly meet Abigail’s mother and it makes a lot of things snap into focus for that character.  

-There are a lot of (mostly) understated class tensions going on throughout the series and this can be particularly seen in the pilot. The main characters attend a public school and attend the party of a bunch of stuck-up rich, private school kids. The economic situations of the characters vary widely and there is a lot of interesting commentary playing out in the background. 

-Maxxie’s depiction is problematic and a little stereotypical (He borders on token gay character status). This is partly reconciled in the second generation’s episodes with the introduction of more nuanced depictions and discussions of sexuality. But it's still incredibly disappointing.

-For that matter, the group of friends is a little too neatly split amongst a cross section of all possible genders, races and sexual orientations. 

-Chris’s major season-long storyline is also super problematic, and already being uncomfortably hinted at.

-Skins's depiction of parents is a little questionable. There aren't a lot of competent, responsible adult figures presented. This isn't going to always be the case, but it's a consistent portrayal throughout the show's run. The best argument in its favor is that, sometimes, it's intended to be the perspective of the character on their parents and not necessarily an entirely accurate look at those individuals. 

-“Really, Skins?” (Stupid Things Skins Did): The Polish girl at the party is just so bizarre and a little offensive. The car rolling into the river is similarly dumb but more forgivable. But we haven't even gotten around to the truly idiotic moments of the series.