By Simon Wright
A few weeks
ago, I shared some of my memories and also vindication of the impact Skins has
made on British television drama.
However, after the first part of the final series, all it has seen to do is alienated fans even further than it has managed before.
The two-part
Skins Fire was the first episode, held over the last two Mondays of the seventh
and final series. Set in the heart of
London, it promised much, especially after the trailers and the interviews in
the lead-up to the series.
Unfortunately, all it provided was heartbreak, devastation and an ending
that provided more questions than closure.
The plot
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| Effy's job was the main plot for Skins Fire - it ended badly |
Skins Fire
was mainly based around the character of Effy Stonem (pictured), played by Kaya
Scodelario. Effy was a mysterious
character who was part of the first two generations (series 1-4). Her character by the end of the last time we
saw her was one who had gone nuts and ended up in a psychiatric ward.
When it was
picked up last week, Effy has landed a job in The City, working initially as an
assistant in a financial company. The
job doesn’t hold many prospects, mainly focusing on photocopying documents and
making tea and coffee for the big bosses.
However, when Effy stumbles on a financial deal that is dodgy, she uses
this to her advantage.
She starts
making huge investments for the company, earns a promotion and eventually,
starts an affair with her wealthy boss Jake, played by Kayvan Novak.
Eventually,
Effy’s actions see her reaching the top, then crashing back down to earth in
typical fashion, when the FSA investigate her actions, worth £11m of dodgy
asset dealings.
Hoping to be
protected by her lover, Effy gets a shock when her boss ships her in. Realising she has been used; Effy eventually
makes a statement to the FSA implicating Jake’s knowledge in the dealings. However, she is told by ice queen Victoria,
played by Lara Pulver that she faces time in jail for what she has done.
A secondary
story runs through and that is the declining fortunes of Naomi Campbell. Played by Lily Loveless, Naomi has not
managed to find work since leaving University, and is doing very little in
London, annoying Effy who is flat-sharing with her. Even a crazy idea as a stand-up comedian
doesn’t go to plan for Naomi, who left college with perfect scores of three A
grades.
However, it
is a shock health diagnosis that rocks her world. Naomi is diagnosed with cancer, and the
second episode sees her having to deal with protecting the information from her
girlfriend Emily, played by Kathryn Prescott, but also attempt to get
treatment.
When radiotherapy
and then chemotherapy don’t go according to plan, Naomi’s health starts to
decline rapidly and by the end of part two, the audience is left shocked by
knowing that she is going to die. Emily,
who has been on a photography internship in New York, doesn’t find out until it
is too late and a heartbreaking end for one of TV’s most popular couples sees
Emily breaking down in Naomi’s dying arms in the hospital. If anyone watching last night didn’t feel a
tear when this scene played out, then emotional control is not one of your strengths.
Skins Fire
also saw Craig Roberts appear as Dominic.
He is another financial worker who has a serious crush on Effy, and is
left used by Effy’s devious ways to gain the information she wants.
Too many questions
As Effy’s
character was the longest serving in the three full generations of Skins previously it
was understandable for Skins Fire to focus intensely on her activities three
years on from college.
However, the
main storyline was weak and at times, underwhelming. It was difficult to follow, especially if you
have no interest in the financial sector.
It did show a lot of financial greed though, which is a common theme of
the British banking industry since the recession began to hit us in 2008.
This was
meant to be series about closure rather than questions, but that hasn’t
happened. Effy’s final scene is
disappearing in the back of a car with a smirk on her face. That shouldn’t be the case for someone who
faces time behind bars? The ending to
Fire was far-fetched and didn’t provide closure. At times too, everything seemed rushed. Perhaps the story should have been told in
two 90-minute parts rather than two 60-minute episodes.
While the
cameo characters played their part, and Novak, who played Effy’s boss, was an
interesting character, the lack of information about what happened to the other
members of generation two was startling.
While the audience didn’t need too much background information, the
majority of us would want to know whether Pandora had been a success on her
History scholarship, or where JJ and Katie were nowadays.
Most importantly, there were no mentions of
Freddie McClair, Effy’s former boyfriend who was beaten to death with a
baseball bat by mad psychiatrist John Foster (Hugo Speer) in the penultimate
episode of series four.
It means we
have no clue whatsoever of how Effy found out Freddie was dead, and it was
noticeable how much of a lookalike her new boyfriend was to the one she was in
love with throughout generation two.
That was a massive disappointment.
Naomily’s happy ending turns sour
The biggest let
down of all though was the unhappy ending the writer gave to Naomi and Emily’s
story.
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| All smiles here, but it wasn't the ending Naomily fans hoped for |
Three years
ago, fans of ‘Naomily’ (couple pictured) got the happy conclusion they wanted, when after months
of punishment and hiding away true feelings, Emily finally forgave Naomi for
her fling with a girl at the start of series four. After new events, Naomi’s emotional speech,
which included the words: ‘I’d die for you,’ sound even more touching and
poignant now.
It was brave
for Skins to go with a cancer storyline and credit has to be given for
that. However, everything again seem
rushed and hassled, and when it became clear that there was no chance of
recovery for Naomi, social media on Twitter and internet forums probably went
into periods of rage and disgust.
Naomi was a
popular character with many, and to give her a storyline like this was brave,
but turned out to be massively unpopular.
Why did they mess with the ‘Naomily’ pairing three years on? It would have been best for them not to have
returned for the final series.
As most of us
know, happy endings in television don’t happen too much, especially in soaps,
but also in dramas. They probably look
too soppy for the writers, and on occasion, too boring to watch for the
audience.
However, if
one television couple deserved to break that tradition, it was ‘Naomily.’ The relationship between Naomi and Emily was
one of the most beautiful portrayals of a same sex relationship. At the end of the day, it wasn’t just this fact;
it was a love story between two characters that fell for one another, without
any concern for their sexuality.
The
storyline broke down new boundaries for relationships between two women on
television, especially in the UK. Skins
had been the ground-breaking for this, and as the actresses have said in
numerous interviews in the past, they’ve had letters of support from people who’ve
come out to their families and friends on the true identity of their sexuality,
inspired by the story of Naomi and Emily.
We have to
remember that this is just a television drama and it didn’t happen in
real-life, but it was such a massive shame that the audience and particular
fans of the pairing got such a sorry and heartbreaking ending to a passionate
storyline. The only consolation is to
remember the happy moments and that Emily was with Naomi in her final
moments. If she hadn’t been, the ending
would have been even more insulting.
So, with Effy
in jail, Naomi dying and Emily now alone and miserable, a sarcastic round of
applause should be given to the team behind Skins Fire for creating such a dark
and devastating two-part series.
Time changes people
However, I
don’t want to sound bitter, and there were some positives from the story. Jess Brittain was the writer of Skins Fire,
and it would have been massively difficult for her to come up with an idea, write a
detailed and emotional script and see it all play out from there.
I didn’t
agree with the way how things ended, but she tried her best, and that is all you can ask for at the end of the day.
Some
criticised the Skins team for the way the show has changed, but the aspect is that this is Skins in an adult life.
The days of
raving parties, boozing on regular drugs and sexual encounters are a thing of
the past. This Skins series was always
going to be different. There were
elements of these in Skins Fire, and so there should be as the show’s identity
and appeal would be totally lost otherwise.
However,
people grow up and that is a natural aspect of life. Effy, Naomi and Emily will have all developed
by at least three or four years since we last saw them, so they were now playing
characters in their early 20s, a time where the excessive partying and not
having much of a care in the world should really have stopped.
Kaya, Lily and Kat stand out
Skins has
been the foreground for some young actors and actresses to really go and make
their mark. Joe Dempsie, Nicolas Hoult,
Hannah Murray and Dev Patel from generation one have had great success
post-Skins. Jack O’Connell and Luke
Pasqualino from generation two stood out, and Freya Mavor and Dakota Blue
Richards from the final generation.
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| There are bright futures for Kat, Kaya and Lily |
However,
Skins Fire once again portrayed the stunning work of three actresses (all pictured) who are
among the best talent around. I’d even
go as far to say they are three of the best the UK has at the moment.
I never
appreciated how strong Kaya Scodelario was in the main series before, but she
really stood out in Skins Fire. Kaya has
already made her name in movies, and she will only go onto bigger and better
things.
She has a
confidence element to the characters she plays and no-one could have played
Effy’s role better.
I’ve said it
before, but Lily Loveless is an outstanding actress. Her comic timing, the emotion she shows in
her scenes and the way she portrays her expressions are up there with the best
in British television.
Lily has had
roles in Bedlam on Sky One and in BBC Three’s powerful drama The Crash earlier
this year, but she has the world at her feet.
The cancer storyline for Naomi was a sad ending to a popular character,
but Lily played the scenes exceptionally, especially the close heart-to-heart
moments with Scodelario.
In Kathryn
Prescott, Skins has uncovered another gem.
Gone are the days of the timid, shy Emily Fitch from the first few
episodes of series three. The scenes
Emily has in Skins Fire see a confidence, a conviction and a belief in her
character, helped by the internship work in New York. It was a real shame that we didn’t see enough
of Emily in Skins Fire; her scenes were kept to an absolute minimum.
Like
Loveless, Prescott has had a guest role in Bedlam, and also appeared in one-off
episodes in BBC medical drama Casualty and in another supernatural drama called
Being Human.
Kat is also
making her name in photography. Her
first official photographic exhibition is taking place in September, in
collaboration with her continued work with The Big Issue. I’m sure the four-week exhibition, titled ‘What
Makes Us Care,’ will be a total success.
It is something I even hope to go and visit when I get a spare day from
my new job.
So, high praise
for three actresses who made their characters in Skins stand out with
incredible acting. I hope they go on and
achieve the success they deserve. The
performances of Scodelario and Loveless in Skins Fire were so good, they should
be recognised at award ceremonies, but will probably sadly be ignored like on
so many occasions before.
Skins Fire
was tough to watch, and far too dark for the show’s usual unique identity. At least the performance in terms of acting
couldn’t be faulted.
