After an awful start, Skins recovered to make some of the best episodes it ever has. Series 3 was "A Tale of Two Seasons" with contrasts for me pretty clear cut, in acting ability and character development. Below I give a quick rundown on my take on each character/actor and then a few bests and worsts of the season.
Cook
Initially I hated him. My feelings about his centric episode remain the same. The whole storyline with Mackensie Crook was boring and ridiculous. It took 6 episodes for me to begin to warm to him. Partly because Freddie had revealed himself as a bit of a pathetic character, and partly because the Naomi-centric episode finally showed Cook as something over than a complete twat. Don't get me wrong, he is still a complete dickhead and not someone I'd want to be friends with by any means, but by the end of the series and especially in the last episode I was genuinely empathetic for his character, after it was revealed how much of a twat his dad (Super Hans!) is. Jack O' Connell also deserves credit for one of the best performances the program has ever seen, in what was one of the worst storylines the show has ever seen, the love triangle/quadrangle/pentagon/hexagon.Best episode: Finale
Potential for character development in S4: High
Freddie
My issues with Freddie maybe stemmed from the fact all of his storylines were crap and unrealistic. Or perhaps the fact that Luke Pasqualino has a long way to go before he can match many of his co-stars acting level. His "relationship" with Effy is billed as some sort of epic romance, supposedly in contrast to Cooks sexually charged one. This had no basis whatsoever though, they must have talked about twice before they finally got together in episode 8. The short-lived relationship with Katie was also pretty rubbish and unbeleivable, it was almost as if they didnt want to bring in someone new as a love interest so they thought theyd use an existing cast member, resulting in a relationship we didnt see begin, and generally I couldnt see the point in. Finally got together with Effy in the end, I hope it lasts, or that boring storyline may end up continuing.Best episode: Freddie
Potential for character development in S4: Low
Effy
Hmmm. Billed by many (myself included) as the star of s3, her character just didn't live up to expectations. Ok she clearly has issues, parents splitting up etc, but that doesn't justify her random and pretty twattish behaviour all series. She didn't seem to have any firm feelings about anything and was always flitting about, not making her mind up. Fair enough, that was probably what the writers intended, to show her indeciseveness and maybe even make the audience empathise with her. This worked sometimes (Pandoras episode in particular), but by the end, and after her centric episode where she was just a twat really, this was lost. Kaya Scodelario is an awesome actress and her character still has great potential. Here's hoping Tony returns sometime during s4 and sorts her out.
Best episode: Pandora
Potential for character development in s4: High
Naomi
Best Skins character ever? Lily Loveless is definitely the best female actor the starring cast has had i think. Naomis character was consistently brilliant throughout the story. I was worried that the lesbian storyline would be handled badly, but it was done in the best way possible, superb. Although peripheral in many episodes, when she did appear the character development and acting were stunning. Both her centric episode and the Twins were outstanding. I was disappointed not to see her, or the twins, in the last episode, hopefully she will take a more central role in season 4. One of my favourite scenes of the season was when she chose not to shag Cook, both actors showed their talent there.
Best episode: Naomi
Potential for character development in s4: High
Emily
2nd best character of the series. Hers was another brilliant performance, showing so much of her character with actually fairly little screentime. Emily is a doormat, always trodden on by her twin, longing for Naomi. Her desire, desperation and frustration with Naomi and her relationship with Katie were portrayed very well in both the Twins and Naomi's centric episodes. She was also great in JJ's episode, in which she randomly shags him, which was seemingly pointless and only used as a plot development in the lesbian love story. Ach well, another of my favourite characters ever.
Best episode: Naomi
Potential for character development in s4: High
Katie
We didn't learn anything about Katie until her centric episode when her relationships with Freddie and Emily were examined. I was intially indifferent to who I thought was by far the less interesting twin, and although I still think she is a bitch, am much more interested in her character after seeing some of the motivations behind her actions. The Freddie romance was stupid (see above) but apart from that its a big thumbs up. Megan Prescott was shaky at first, but excelled at the end.
Best Episode: Emily and Katie
Potential character development for s4: High
JJ
Another character who suddenly became interesting in his centric episode. His role in the fight between Cook and Freddie was really interesting, and his friendship with Emily also nice. Sometimes came across as a bit of a cliched autistic/aspergus character....and some of the writing for him was not the best.
Best episode: JJ
Potential character development for s4: Medium
Pandora
The worst character ever invented in anything ever. Pointless, boring, unrealistic, delusional, the list goes on...Pandora was my least favourite character of the series, and my least favourite on Skins ever. Her relationship with Thomas was godawful (how could anyone be attracted to her? This isnt a shallow judgement of the actress, its the character that is incredibly annoying). Then when she randomly shagged Cook, and then again....Glad we saw little of her after episode 4, her story was largely pointless and irrelevant to the rest of the plot.
Best episode: NONE
Potential character development for s4: Low
Thomas
Hard to judge, he was great in his centric episode but rarely appeared after that. His main storyline was the relationship with Pandora that I was not a fan of (see above). I hope that they don't get back together.
Best episode: Thomas
Potential character development: High
Best episode: Naomi
Best actor (male): Jack O'Connell (Cook)
Best actor (female): Lily Loveless
Best character: Naomi
Best relationship: Emily/Naomi
Worst relationship: Pandora/Thomas...but take your pick tbh
Predictions for season 4
Effy will cheat on Freddie with Cook
Cook will continue shagging Pandora
Naomi and Emily will split up but get back together
One or more of the past stars will return for a couple of episodes, Nicholas Hoult (Tony) seems the most likely contender. Dev Patel is the least likely.
Series 4 starts filming towards the end of the summer. I look forward to it.
Hmmm. Billed by many (myself included) as the star of s3, her character just didn't live up to expectations. Ok she clearly has issues, parents splitting up etc, but that doesn't justify her random and pretty twattish behaviour all series. She didn't seem to have any firm feelings about anything and was always flitting about, not making her mind up. Fair enough, that was probably what the writers intended, to show her indeciseveness and maybe even make the audience empathise with her. This worked sometimes (Pandoras episode in particular), but by the end, and after her centric episode where she was just a twat really, this was lost. Kaya Scodelario is an awesome actress and her character still has great potential. Here's hoping Tony returns sometime during s4 and sorts her out.Best episode: Pandora
Potential for character development in s4: High
NaomiBest Skins character ever? Lily Loveless is definitely the best female actor the starring cast has had i think. Naomis character was consistently brilliant throughout the story. I was worried that the lesbian storyline would be handled badly, but it was done in the best way possible, superb. Although peripheral in many episodes, when she did appear the character development and acting were stunning. Both her centric episode and the Twins were outstanding. I was disappointed not to see her, or the twins, in the last episode, hopefully she will take a more central role in season 4. One of my favourite scenes of the season was when she chose not to shag Cook, both actors showed their talent there.
Best episode: Naomi
Potential for character development in s4: High
Emily2nd best character of the series. Hers was another brilliant performance, showing so much of her character with actually fairly little screentime. Emily is a doormat, always trodden on by her twin, longing for Naomi. Her desire, desperation and frustration with Naomi and her relationship with Katie were portrayed very well in both the Twins and Naomi's centric episodes. She was also great in JJ's episode, in which she randomly shags him, which was seemingly pointless and only used as a plot development in the lesbian love story. Ach well, another of my favourite characters ever.
Best episode: Naomi
Potential for character development in s4: High
KatieWe didn't learn anything about Katie until her centric episode when her relationships with Freddie and Emily were examined. I was intially indifferent to who I thought was by far the less interesting twin, and although I still think she is a bitch, am much more interested in her character after seeing some of the motivations behind her actions. The Freddie romance was stupid (see above) but apart from that its a big thumbs up. Megan Prescott was shaky at first, but excelled at the end.
Best Episode: Emily and Katie
Potential character development for s4: High
JJAnother character who suddenly became interesting in his centric episode. His role in the fight between Cook and Freddie was really interesting, and his friendship with Emily also nice. Sometimes came across as a bit of a cliched autistic/aspergus character....and some of the writing for him was not the best.
Best episode: JJ
Potential character development for s4: Medium
PandoraThe worst character ever invented in anything ever. Pointless, boring, unrealistic, delusional, the list goes on...Pandora was my least favourite character of the series, and my least favourite on Skins ever. Her relationship with Thomas was godawful (how could anyone be attracted to her? This isnt a shallow judgement of the actress, its the character that is incredibly annoying). Then when she randomly shagged Cook, and then again....Glad we saw little of her after episode 4, her story was largely pointless and irrelevant to the rest of the plot.
Best episode: NONE
Potential character development for s4: Low
ThomasHard to judge, he was great in his centric episode but rarely appeared after that. His main storyline was the relationship with Pandora that I was not a fan of (see above). I hope that they don't get back together.
Best episode: Thomas
Potential character development: High
Best episode: Naomi
Best actor (male): Jack O'Connell (Cook)
Best actor (female): Lily Loveless
Best character: Naomi
Best relationship: Emily/Naomi
Worst relationship: Pandora/Thomas...but take your pick tbh
Predictions for season 4
Effy will cheat on Freddie with Cook
Cook will continue shagging Pandora
Naomi and Emily will split up but get back together
One or more of the past stars will return for a couple of episodes, Nicholas Hoult (Tony) seems the most likely contender. Dev Patel is the least likely.
Series 4 starts filming towards the end of the summer. I look forward to it.
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