Skins was a show that my wife and I started watching streaming off Netlfix (the much inferior US release which had the music changed) and really got into the show, even if it is a much more intense version of a teenage soap opera. It was with trepidation that I learned that the 3rd series would feature a new cast going to take their A levels before going on to college. Quickly I found the characters were interesting enough to keep going with. We already knew Effy Stonem (Kaya Scodelario) and her best friend Pandora Moon (Lisa Backwell) and the rest of the cast made for an interesting show. I especially like the sweet Emily Fitch (Kathryn Prescott) and the troubled but sweet JJ Jones (Ollie Barbieri), but it soon became obvious instead of being about relationships this show was more about ruining relationships, with everyone seemingly doing everything to destroy their relationships, and that was when this was good. The Second series completely jumps the shark, adding in a serial killer, and a bunch of other nonsense that was badly written and unnecessary. When the final episode of Series 4 ended, both my wife and I were in shock that they could have so completely destroyed the show! I mean seeing James Cook doing synchronized dancing and having a major killer randomly killed by a serial killer! WTF!!!! And they weren’t even close to bringing many of the story threads to a close. It was like the show runner had a stroke and thought he still should have total control yet his brain wasn’t working correctly. That is how much of an incredible mess the 4th series of this show was.

The show starts with 3 best friends on their way to school for the first day, this is the unruly and womanizing James Cook (Jack O’Connel) the skateboarder Freddie Mclair (Luke Pasqualino) and JJ Jones (Ollie Barbieri) who has some mental problems, but is as sweet as could be. On their way to school they Elizabth “Effy” Stonem (Kaya Scodelario) on her way to school and all three fall in love with her. Effy’s best friend finds that she can’t handle just taking beauty classes, so she joins her friend Effie. Other students are the twins Katie (Megan Prescott) and Emily Fitch (Kathryn Prescott) who could not be more different. Katie always has a man and is very outgoing, while Emily is quite and is fact gay and is love with another student Naomi Campbell (Lily Loveless). Naomi though is straight, and hates that Katie is always giving her shit about trying to seduce her sister, when it fact it was the other way around. On the first day the school lays out new rules, and Effie makes a game of breaking them all basically telling Freddie and Cook that they can have her if they break all the rules. Cook quickly does, and has Effie in the school nurses office, leaving Freddie to pine for the woman he loves (and who Effie actually cares for, but is not willing to ever let her emotions get the best of her). They soon meet Thomas Tomone (Merveille Lukeba) a recent emigrant from the Congo. He is a good kid, and sweet and starts seeing Pandora, but they get in a lot of trouble first, both with a gangster and then with his mom who catches the kids all doing drugs and having sex, and sends Thomas back home for a while.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Naomi, JJ, Katie, Cook, Effie, Tony, Panda, Emily and Thomas

Panda gets quite depressed that Thomas has left and ends up sleeping with Cook before he returns to her. And that isn’t the worst part, because she keeps sleeping with Cook after Thomas returns and of course he finds out pulling them apart.

Effie and Cook keep having sex, and hurting Freddie, who ends up going out with Katie.

Emily meanwhile realizes she is gay. She becomes friends with JJ and gets him a sweet sympathy fuck. And then she finally gets Naomi to start to see that she might love her, and the two become lovers, and seem to really love each other in what seems to be the best relationship of the series. This of course pisses of Katie who is homophobic and wants to run her slightly younger sisters life the way she wants it.

Effy breaks it off with Cook, who she was only using for sex, and wants to tell Freddie, but he has already started seeing Emily. They go out on a camping trip with the group minus Cook (who shows up later on his own to cause trouble) and all do magic mushrooms. Katie is attacking Effy saying not to steal Freddie when Effy fights back and hits her in the head with a rock. Effy then in a psychedelic haze stumbles back and sleeps with Freddie. The next day they wake up and can’t find Katie, and they leave, with Effy quickly calling an ambulance to try and find her. Of course Katie is found and is OK, but tells what Effy did, so Effy goes on the run with only friend she has left, Cook.

Effy and Cook wander around until they end up in the hometown of his dad. And you see where Cook got his obnoxious personality. Effie finally calls Freddie and JJ to come and help Cook and bring him home, and she tells Freddie she loves him. JJ and Freddie arrive and end up in a race that Cook is also in that Cook’s dad bet his boat on to pay off his bar debt. Cook ends up losing, as JJ wins, and his Dad is pissed and almost kills him. Effy and Freddie finally have sex, and they end up throwing Cook’s dad out his boat and heading back to London.

The 4th series starts with a girl at a party where Thomas is DJing kills herself while on Ecstasy and it causes nothing but trouble. A new school principle expels Thomas. And Naomi starts freaking out because she sold the girl the drugs, but it is more than that.

Emily has moved into Naomi’s house with her since her parents are out of town, and her parents nor her sister can accept that she is gay.

Emily starts digging into what happened and eventually finds out that Naomi went to visit a college and ended up cheating on Emily with the girl, and the girl became obsessed with her, took the drugs she sold her and kills herself. Emily is crushed, and though she stays with Naomi, she starts treating her badly and hanging out with other girls.

Effy eventually returns to school, but she is all messed up in a severe depression. And she starts to drag Freddie down, as his grades drop and all he does is stay with her.

Cook freaks out too and beats some guy up, also hitting JJ (which he doesn’t even remember) and also takes the rap for the drugs, but refuses to plead guilty and is eventually sent to jail, but escapes and keeps showing up and forcing himself on his friends.

Effy loses it and tries to kill herself, and is institutionalized. ANd starts seeing a messed counsellor Dr. John Foster (Hugo Speer) who really messes with her brain, brainwashing her to forget her friends.

Katie finds out she has premature menopause and can’t ever have kids, and then they find out their dad lost them their house, and they end up having to move in with Emily and Naomi, though Emily is not happy about it.

JJ starts dating a girl named Lara (Georgia Henshaw) who is a single mother, and starts to come to grips that the drugs the doctor’s are giving him may be messing him up.

Effy returns to school and is given all A’s even though she doesn’t deserve them, but to give the school a perfect record. She goes nuts again though and Freddie and her mother stop her from seeing Dr Foster who messed her up.

Doctor Foster calls Freddie to his house and murders him so he can get back to Effy who he is obsessed with (WTF!!!!).

All the friends have a party and do synchronized dancing (right Cook would do this) for Freddie’s birthday.

We find out that Pandora actually did well in school and is going to Harvard, and so is Thomas who is getting an athletic scholarship, so maybe they will have a chance.

Naomi finally confesses to Emily that she really did always love her, from back when she was supposed to be straight, and they decide to try to work things out.

Cook tracks down Doctor Foster and finds Freddie’s bloody clothes, and we see Dr. Foster hit Cook, but Cook just laughs and runs and attacks him yelling that he is Cook!

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WTF! This show so jumped the shark, especially with the serial killer thing. Would have been much more in the vein of the show to have Effy actually kill herself and have the kids dealing with their friends suicide, but a fucking serial killer? You have to be kidding me. I mean the whole Effy storyline just got ridiculous.

And the show just seemed to want to ruin everyone, I mean Naomi and Emily were the one good couple and their relationship got ruined. Pandora was so sweet, but she was fucking Cook on the side, not only cheating on Effy but also on Thomas. Everyone here are just assholes, and it is like they are trying to destroy their friendships and themselves.

And it is really too bad, as it seemed interesting with the 3rd series, but the 4th series is utter crap. I hope the fact that she runners have left the show, will make it better, but possibly it will get even worse.

Really sad that such a promising series can go so badly downhill and just stop making any sense or being gooda t all!