Skins is back, yay! And it is just as ridiculous as before. So much drugs and partying! And adults who just don't understand! And aggressively twee music playing over dialogue! And Freddy's acting face (YES!)! All are back, and all will be discussed by me, in this recap!
Series 4, episode one is THOMAS episode. You will remember that he is the one from the Congo who loves to party but unfortunately has a mom who hates partying, especially when Thomas is doing the partying. Well, this FUNTIMES EPISODE opens up with a drugged-out girl killing herself in a club while all of the Skins gang are too busy partying to notice something is wrong. Everyone feels super bad about it, especially Thomas because he was on DJ duty when it happened, and that somehow makes it his fault. Thomas goes home and his mother yells at him because his girlfriend does not look like a virgin (that Pandora, always dressing so promiscuously!), and it's like, parents, ugh! They just don't understand the emotional significance of witnessing mysterious drug-fueled deaths in shady night clubs! Oh, and Thomas' little brother is dying. So that sucks.
Next, Thomas and his family go to church. Thomas is sad, but this girl in the choir keeps making sexy eyes at him, so that's cool. Thomas' sister is sassy and likes Star Wars. The priest is a charlatan, and this reminds us that all adults are dumb and can't be trusted.
At school, Thomas is still sad and Pandora is not helping because she can be kind of annoying, you know? The rest of the gang is handling the death in different ways; everyone is really bummed out about it, except Cook, who is in great spirits. He blithely DUMPS COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF COCAINE DOWN THE TOILET AT SCHOOL before his questioning by the police (the entire student population is being questioned by the police, because of course they were all at that party). Thomas runs into Cook while he is DUMPING COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF COCAINE DOWN THE TOILET AT SCHOOL and is like "I'm telling" and then Cook is like "Yeah, well remember that time I had an intimate game of strip Twister with your girlfriend when you were deported to the Congo for partying too hard?" They fight, and Freddy walks in. He gives Thomas an Acting Look.
"Disappointed."
Thomas runs into that girl from church. She is so pretty and not too annoying! So he goes over to her house, which is also the priest's house, where she is teaching a music class. Thomas and his siblings sing about Jesus for a bit. It looks fun! The pretty girl makes more sexyfaces at Thomas (and also takes a swipe at Americans? Because they can't sing? And Beyonce is an example of this? A WHAT!!!)! Nice! But then Thomas' brother starts to die again and it's like, come on, AGAIN with the dying. So they all go to the hospital. Thomas gets in a fight with his mom, but luckily that hot chick from church is there to "comfort" Thomas in an "empty room" down the hall from where his "brother is dying" (I mean they had sex!!!). Classy, Thomas.
JJ and Pandora come over to cheer Thomas up. They watch a Reese Witherspoon marathon, featuring such fictional classics as "Redneck Bride" and "Kentucky Hillbilly Love" (on a roll with the American stereotypes!). Thomas tells Pandora about how he cheated on her. She is upset. Some other things happen, and then Thomas buys his family a new house with the bribe money he got from keeping quiet about the girl who died. Now his brother won't die because the new house isn't as damp as the old one. YAY.
THOUGHTS:
- I'm liking the dead girl storyline. Looks like that is going to be the main theme of this season. Cool. Much better than the "Freddy and Cook are two guys that Effy likes but WHO WILL SHE CHOOSE IT'S SO IMPORTANT?!?!?" of last season.
- Overall, this was a promising episode although I'm having trouble relating to Thomas' issues. I've never been involved in anyone's death nor had sex with any acquaintances in a hospital while my sibling was dying nor bought a house with bribe money. I guess those sorts of thing do happen, though. Pretty normal stuff, actually.
You know that song last night a DJ saved my life? Yeah, they're all obligated to make sure no one dies at their party now. Really embarrassing when it happens
ReplyDeleteDeath is a much better crisis than love triangles. But isn't this pretty much how the 2nd season of the first cast started? With a tragic misfortune that they're all connected to. Tony didn't die when he met the bus but I still see a similarity
No, I don't know that song! Interesting, though.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right, Omar! There is definitely a pattern. The first season of each "generation" has a simple/boring them to set up the characters (such as the "Tony is a jerk but he has a lot of friends and sometimes they don't like him because he's a jerk" of season 1 and aforementioned love triangle of season 2) and the second one is TRAGIC ACCIDENT or DEATH. I like it, though.