Skins- Series Review

*NOTE: THIS IS FOR THE UK SERIES, screw the American take and don't bloody watch it.

This review will contain my personal thoughts and opinions over the whole seven seasons but I have condensed this to just putting it under each generation below.

This show basically follows the individual lives of many British college students living in Bristol and deals with sex, drugs, image, mental illness, death and bullying.

Generation 1: Each generation runs for two seasons, just like the sixth-form structure of college in which each of these characters attend. My favourite season for this generation was the first, as it seemed most together at this point. It clearly indicated that all characters had faced some kind of an issue within that season, who was paired up with who and the particular significance they had on each other and the audience. I also thought it was interesting that at one point they were able to break the fourth wall. My favourite characters for this generation: Maxxie Oliver (Mitch Hewer) and Hannah Murray (Cassie Ainsworth)

Also, I refuse to watch season 2 ever again. Breaks my heart.

Generation 2: Seasons 3-4. A new bunch of teenagers doing the same thing but if anything, generation 1 seems so tame compared to these following generations. Harder drugs, more violence and different character progressions. Sure, from me saying that it sounds completely interesting and I'll admit, it was but I didn't 100% feel that the actors were all that true to their characters as much as they were in the first generation. I have a few issues with this generation but we'll get to that later. My favourite characters from this generation: Cook (Jack O'Connell) and Freddie (Luke Pasqualino).

Generation 3: Seasons 5-6. Quite possibly the worst batch of characters Skins ever had to be honest. I wasn't nearly as interested here as I was with generation 1 or 2. I found myself to be nodding off, pulling out my phone (and then putting it away respectfully) and my brow furrowed constantly. The characters and actors in this generation were so dislikable and in all honesty, I hated it. The difference in this generation from the others included a stronger reference to drugs, weaker characters wi†h melodramatic attitudes and plenty of vigorous sex scenes. Although, it is fair to say that I did have a favourite character...only one though: Rich (Alex Arnold)

Season 7: Not part of any new generation but restored three characters from generation 1 and 2: Effy, Cassie and Cook. This season had each of these three characters perform in a two-part series that focused just on their lives after college. I don't know who selected these characters over others, but I think I was more impressed with the idea behind it. Especially Cook's episodes...those were brilliant. It's clear to say who my favourite character/ two-part series was.

The cons: It's pretty sad to say that I was actually looking forward to writing the cons. I'll start by putting each con to the generation, like above.

Generation 1: There were a few useless and unnecessary characters in this generation, mostly like Sketch who I believed had no particular use at all. Sure, filler characters do exist in movies and TV series, but she really didn't interest me at all. However, we did get to see some of her backstory but that only further made me think of her as a possible supporting cast member who just didn't take off.

I was interested in the concept of them breaking the fourth wall here and it was fun but afterwards, I felt it to be kind of silly. Definitely not something I'd really find realistic after watching these teenagers deal with real-world issues, to serenade the audience at the ending. Least favourite characters in this generation: Sketch (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) and Angie (Siwan Morris).

Generation 2: Effy is the most overrated character ever. Let me repeat that for everyone in the back, Effy Stoneham is OVERRATED. She's one of the only cast members to appear in two generations and I really didn't understand her at all. She goes from being selectively mute in generation one, to being able to speak and saying nothing of any importance. I really don't know why she was pretty much the face for Skins and tumblr aesthetics. She was boring and I hated her.

At times in this generation it was hard to keep up with people's relationships and the drama going on in each of them. Even harder when characters swapped from one to another while still being together was tricky and it might be an understatement to say that at times I was confused.

Generation 3: UGH so much wrong and not enough right with this generation. I think I mainly stated above that I hated this generation the most but characters like Mini and Franky just proved that nothing better would come out of this. I was so disappointed because I thought that they'd use some new material and make it interesting, silly me. The only thing that really held my patience and attention with this generation was Rich. That's open to opinion but in my own opinion, putting aside his physical appearance, he was the only thing particularly different and interesting about this generation.

Season 7: Take away Effy and Cassie's episodes and you've got Cook, all by himself like it damn well should have been OR use previous characters who were more interesting and replace the Effy and Cassie episodes. Cassie's episodes in particular were more boring than Effy's because I think I liked it better when Cassie was tripping balls and saying weird things that made you laugh a little hopelessly. Sure, she radiates on a positive light of overcoming certain trials and tribulations in her previous life but sometime I feel that it may have really been the only important aspect of her back in seasons 1 and 2.

Again, don't get me started on Effy. Her episodes just seemed so irrelevant and by the time the episodes are done, you realise that she never truly changed anyway.

This series has highs and lows but unfortunately the lows can be pretty bad for the general appeal of this series. Most people begin watching this because of what they see on sad posts on tumblr, because Skins really has just become a bit of a cliché (gen 1 and 2) but I do feel that sometimes this show offers more for people with similar life experiences than to those who don't, so like a coin, give it a flip and see what you think. Cook's episodes in Season 7 definitely make watching this entire series worth it.

Score: 6/10.