Skins Series Four – Speculation

The hit E4 teenage drama series returns next week, and it’s quite possibly the last of the second generation of characters. So it’s eight episodes of Effy, Cook and Freddie before they end up shutting shop. Unless they are back for a fifth…

But anyways, Skins is going for a fourth series. Will this bring the series back to the heights of its first? Or will it stumble like the sophomore series of its predecessors?

The first series was a brilliant masterclass in plotting, layering and unravelling the depths of characters; leaving its main character as a complete unlikable cretin but as the series went on, it started to show what drove Tony (Nicholas Hoult) and the series rewarded re-watching to pick up all the hints and subtle foreshadowing of the characters. The character-focused structure of the episodes were a breath of fresh air, and the order they focused on the interesting characters was well selected. There was an intelligent approach to the show, and it was a nice hip breath of fresh air if very stylised.

The second series had a few brave approaches to its overall arc in having a mentally disabled Tony, and having a few strange creative choices (Sid/Michelle). The arcs weren’t fully figured out properly and episodes ended up going on weird tangents or being extremely too clever for the target audience. It ended on a sour note which left it far too open with threads left dangling and with a lack of audience satisfaction.

With the third series, there was a brand new cast (bar one) with plenty of strangeness. The mysterious strange kid arc was given to a supporting character and the main arc was the main character’s effect on the friendship of two lads and how it fractures it. It was a double-edged sword due to the comparisons to the first generation, but also because of some characters being very annoying. Cook an example. The hyper style and the weirdness is apparent, with some very strong episodes and characters but again it was littered with some bizarre ideas that didn’t fully work.

And Cook was very very annoying.

So what’s been revealed about series four? Well at the time of writing, only that JJ gets a girlfriend with a nine-month-old baby. Not really much, amongst rumours of Pauline Quirk and Will Young guest starring. But with eight episodes (shortest series yet) have the writers planned what they need? Or will they end up trying to explore secondary characters and leave the most popular relationship unresolved (this case it’s young lesbians Naomi and Emily).

And will Cook befall a nasty accident?

Honestly what I hope series four will bring is a definite conclusion to Effy’s character, basically meaning that she actually grows up, and stops Freddie and Cook from bickering. I’m actually hoping for Naomi and Emily do get a nice satisfactory ending and for JJ to prove himself as good as, better even, than Cook and Freddie.

Thinking about it, I think I’ve clocked on what the recurring problem Skins has: it finds it quite hard to conclude a story. The first series ended with a song, the second…yes, well. The third was more-or-less a two-part cliffhanger…the show really needs to go and learn how to give a proper conclusion. Hopefully they’ve learnt this by the time they reach episode eight in March.

So let’s hope.