Friday, December 7, 2012

Top 10 Skins Moments



One of my best friends has recently gotten addicted to the Skins youtube channel – it happens – and she sent me this video, a Top 5 Skins moments, and asked me to give me my top 5 moments… because I figure more is actually more I am going to give you my top 10 moments (also because it’s kind of a theme on this blog). It’s taken me a while (and a re-watch) to compile this list but I hope you enjoy my Top 10 Skins Moments.



10. Tony is hit by a bus and a musical number (1.9)


Let’s start with a bang – literally – because I really did not see this moment coming. Series 1 was wrapping up nicely most of the storylines had an ending of sorts (heck Effie even spoke) and it looked as if Tony might actually have learned his lesson. Then bang he’s hit by a bus and what the hell? No seriously did anyone see that coming? I was left starring at the screen in shock and awe.

But it was what happened next that really drove it home for me – the moment was so surreal that the musical number that comes straight after actually works. The haunting rendition of “Wild World” by the cast members has stuck with me since I first saw it. I know it has divided a few people but I just love how perfectly it sums up the heighted world of Skins. And the image of Tony lying broken in Effy’s arms is just heartbreakingly beautiful.


9. Opposites Attract – Metal and Ballet come together in love  (5.2)


The only moment from Gen 3 on this list – it’s not that I didn’t like them; I just didn’t warm to them as much as I had with the earlier groups (maybe I’m getting old). Anyway this moment perfectly represents the relationship that is at the heart of series 5 and 6 – Rich & Grace. If I felt anything in for this generation it comes from this couple and I doubt I’m the only one that feels this way.

The juxtaposition of the pristine ballet recital and the messy metal concert is visually stunning and the image of Rich with tears in his eyes as he watching Grace dance turned me to mush. Then again – Grace in all her beauty at standing out in the middle of all that black, it’s magic. The only thing standing between this couple is their own preconceived notion about appearances. It’s moments like these that make me watch this show.


8. Tony goes down on Maxxie (1.6)


Tony is a manipulative asshole, in fact it’s one of the main reasons I love him as much as I do. He does a lot of horrible things over the course of the first series but this is quite possibly the worst – it’s certainly the most controversial. While in Russia on a school trip Tony makes it his mission to seduce Maxxie. Because he’s Tony, and Maxxie is all emotional about a fight with Anwar, he succeeds, going down on Maxxie while his girlfriend Michelle is passed out on the bed next to them. Of course she’s not as passed out as they thought, and poor Michelle has to witness the whole event.

This moment is Skins, because only on this show would a straight guy going down on his friend be all about cheating and not gay panic. It’s never once suggested that Tony might be gay (or not), just that he’s an asshole and this is just another one of his dickhead moves. Nothing to see here, just another reason to love this show.


7. “I’m Cook” (4.8)


At the first generations end we were left with a cliffhanger, would Sid find Cassie in New York – I like to use it as a guide to see if people are optimists or pessimists – but that was nothing compared to the way series 4 ended. It’s a moment that divides many a fan, and I can’t really blame them because the whole Freddie is killed by Effy’s crazy therapist storyline had me asking: What the hell?

There is no doubt that Cook was the breakout character of Gen 2 and what a way for him to go out. Confronting a murder is probably not the smartest thing to do and it’s not looking good as the crazy Foster turns his baseball bat on Cook but then Cook just starts laughing and it’s amazing and you know this crazy guy has no idea what he has just gotten himself into. Freddie was Cook’s life, one of the only things he genuinely cared about and Foster took him away. The image of Cook as he lunges at the psycho screaming his name, I think that sums up this situation pretty well and it was certainly and epic end to the series.


6. Sid/Michelle/Tony dance and Cassie’s suicide attempt (1.5)


This awkward, heartbreaking and visually stunning moment perfectly represents the sick romance square that runs through the first two series.  Tony has intentionally fucked things up with Michelle because he’s bored and because he wants to give Sid a chance to have his dreams come true. Sid being the naïve bastard he is, has ditched Cassie for a chance with Michelle. Of course just when things are starting to get interesting – Michelle and Sid are dancing – Tony turns up, joining Sid and Michelle for a seriously fucked up three-way dance. Intercut with this moment are images of Cassie washing a large amount of pills down with a water pistol full of vodka… cue the tears.

If you think it sounds fucked up, you would be right but it’s this emotionally damaged behavior that made me fall in love with the first generation. It’s this perfect combination of crazy and heartbreaking that they have not been able to replicate with the following generations.


5. Emily comes out at the dance (3.9)


Most people would probably put the ‘holding hands through a cat flap’ moment above this one but there is something about this teen cliché that makes my heart leap out of my chest. This is basically that moment from every teen movie or tv show where a character is finally willing to speak up and admit their love in front of god and more importantly the entire student population. Except this time it’s a girl that loves another girl and it’s amazing.

Although they’re the supposed to be the beta couple of the series, Emily and Naomi are the ones that everyone was rooting for and this moment is the culmination of their romantic journey (until series 4 breaks our hearts). Plus this is has added Katie/Emily sister emotions, and a bitch fight. I’m seriously smiling just thinking about it because this moment makes me so happy.


4. Chris talks to Jal about his brother (1.4)


I could have picked 10 moments from this episode alone because this is the episode that made me fall in love with this show. Up until this episode Chris was a background character with very little depth. He was basically just the comic relief and then this episode comes out of nowhere with the shocking realization that Chris is actually the most interesting character of the series. While there are so many moments in this episode that made me fall in love with Chris I just can’t go past his speech about his brother in the graveyard.

Chris has basically had the worst day ever, his mum left him and his dad has a new family but it’s not until he breaks down in front of his brother’s grave that we understand the full extent of his tragedy. Jal doesn’t know what to say, because what do you say in a moment like that but it is a beautiful beginning to their relationship, which progresses further in series 2.


3. Sid breaks down in Tony’s arms (2.3)


This moment is probably one of my television favourite moments of all time, it’s utterly heartbreaking and beautiful and it so perfectly sums up the relationship between Tony and Sid. When Sid wakes up to find his father dead he just doesn’t know how to deal with it, so he goes about his daily routine until it’s all too much and there is only one place he feels safe enough to break down and that’s in Tony’s arms.

The fact that even though Tony and Sid are not talking and Tony isn’t who he used to be, he still lets Sid fall into his arms in the middle of that crowded dance floor. We can’t hear Sid crying but we can feel it. The people in the club, and the rest of the world move on with their lives unaware of the tragedy that is happening to Sid. That’s how it feels when you loose someone; life goes on around you even though your world has collapsed in on itself.


2. “I’m Katie Fucking Fitch” (4.4)


It’s no secret but Katie is my favourite character of the Gen 2. I just love her transformation from a silly little girl that only cared about appearances to a well-rounded woman and this moment signifies everything I love about her. The whole episode is heartbreaking to watch and Katie is forced to evaluate her entire future – finding out she can’t have kids, realizing her parents aren’t perfect – she could have given up and she almost does.

Katie is doing everything to please a girl she hates because she thinks she has no other choice… but she does have a choice and in her crowning moment of awesome Katie punches the bitch in the face and tells her exactly who she is. She might not have the life she planned out for herself but she is still “Katie Fucking Fitch” and no one can take that away from her. She had everything she ever wanted ripped away from her but she’s still herself and that’s enough for her to keep going – that is my definition of strong.


1. Chris’s funeral (2.10)


This, for me, is the ultimate Skins moment. Chris was the heart of the first two series and a funeral is such a beautiful metaphor for leaving your childhood behind that this is just the perfect way to say goodbye to these characters. You know they say that there are always certain character deaths that you never get over and Chris is mine. Then the way they kill him – urgh I’m literally crying right now but then this moment, the funeral where the whole gang come together to pay tribute to their friend, it’s sad but there is hope as well.

I’m not really sure what I can say about this moment that can express just how much I love it so I’m just going to post Jal’s speech and then you can all join me in a much needed crying session.

“I’ve been thinking about what Chris would have wanted me to say today. The advice he’d give me, which’d be something like, “Know what, babe? Fuck it. These guys know all about me. Tell them about someone different.” So I thought I’d say something about a hero of Chris’s: a man called Captain Joe Kittinger. In 1960, climbing into a foil balloon, Captain Joe ascended 32 kilometres into the stratosphere. And then, armed only with a parachute, he jumped out. He fell for four minutes and thirty-six seconds, reaching seven hundred and forty miles per hour before opening his parachute five kilometres above the Earth. It had never been done before, and it’s never been done since. He did it just because he could. And that’s why Chris loved him - because the thing about Chris was, he said yes. He said yes to everything. He loved everyone. And he was the bravest boy - man - I knew. And that was - he flung himself out of a foil balloon every day. Because he could. Because he was. And that’s why - and that’s why we, we loved him.”


Well there you have it, my Top 10 Skins Moments. I hope they are to your liking Rach… if they are not you can deal with it because this is my blog not yours *pokes-tongue-out. 

What about you lonely reader? Do you love this show as much as I do? What are your favourite moments? 

Oh and remember if you want to request a top ten list you can hit me up here and you can check out more Top 10 lists here

And remember - Fuck it for Chris!