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!
