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tropiaveraWe're now two episodes from the end of this season of Skins, and I have still to wrap my head around it. There has been in the past a certain level of tonal or thematic disconnect from generation to generation, but moreso than any other past transition I feel like this is an entirely different show. I enjoyed the first generation (particularly season two, up until now my favorite) but with significant hesitations (some of which I've mentioned previously), and I didn't really love most of the characters. Some of them feel more like ciphers than real, beating hearts. And then there's the second generation, which, my god. I superedited both seasons for a reason, you know? What an absolute mess of two seasons those were. Offensively terrible (and just offensive in stretches), and yet somehow still sublimely great in other patches? To anyone I know that has expressed interest in watching the previous seasons due to my affection of the show, I give serious caveats about the second generation, because seriously, it's enough to drive you away from the show.
And indeed, I was pretty committed to abstaining from this generation*, until I saw some of the promos. And thenallchildren told me Dakota Blue Richards was going to be involved. And...what can I say, I'm pretty easy. And now I have watched and loved every episode so far this season...?
I JUST LOVE EVERYONE'S FACES SO MUCH AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW THIS IS POSSIBLE. DID THEY SHIP ALL THE TERRIBLE TO SKINS (US)?? I love the more sedate tone of this season, to start off - they still party, but it's in a slightly less surrealistically excessive way, and the fashion is perhaps even more hilariously ridiculous (though having been to H&M today, Liv may, terrifyingly, be not that unrealistic). That the season-long arc ISN'T "how will this love triangle be resolved" is a miracle in itself. Even in gen one, which I legitimately still enjoy despite its flaws, I can recognize that a lot of the plots are not exactly nuanced, but this! Nick's desperation (the energy with which he welcomes Alo to his house party in the last episode slayed me), Mini's calculated callousness (at which she is rarely successful, or only in ways she didn't mean to be), Rich's not-so-quiet rebellions (and oh god, his tinnitus), Matty's sweetness ("It's you!"), Alo trying to stave off adulthood and responsibility and just be a carefree thermal-clad goofball with a puppy, EVERYTHING ABOUT LIV, EVERYTHING ABOUT GRACE, EVERYTHING EVERYTHING EVERYTHING ABOUT FRANKY.
More than any other season of this show (or frankly most shows I can think of off the top of my head), every episode has been so quietly subversive and revolutionary to the way television is normally crafted. God, that moment when Liv tells Nick it's not her that he needs, and the show recognizes that clinging to one person to make you better isn't healthy, or a way forward as a person?** That the show hasn't felt the compulsion to define Franky, but not because they aren't comfortable discussing it, but because Franky isn't (LIV AND FRANKY ON ALO'S STEPS, MY HEART)?
I am in the strange position now of not only not dreading certain character's storylines, but actively looking forward to seeing where everyone ends up, and potentially trusting the show to not go off the rails.....?? WHAT DO I NORMALLY DO WITH MY HANDS.
PS: Liv wasn't even fucking Nick, she was fucking Mini.
* As I was with Doctor Who: Moff Time, after my feelings regarding the fourth season of Nu Who. It's a really terrible track record for my being able to break up with shows in the future.
** Lol fuck you too gen two?
And indeed, I was pretty committed to abstaining from this generation*, until I saw some of the promos. And then
allchildren told me Dakota Blue Richards was going to be involved. And...what can I say, I'm pretty easy. And now I have watched and loved every episode so far this season...?I JUST LOVE EVERYONE'S FACES SO MUCH AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW THIS IS POSSIBLE. DID THEY SHIP ALL THE TERRIBLE TO SKINS (US)?? I love the more sedate tone of this season, to start off - they still party, but it's in a slightly less surrealistically excessive way, and the fashion is perhaps even more hilariously ridiculous (though having been to H&M today, Liv may, terrifyingly, be not that unrealistic). That the season-long arc ISN'T "how will this love triangle be resolved" is a miracle in itself. Even in gen one, which I legitimately still enjoy despite its flaws, I can recognize that a lot of the plots are not exactly nuanced, but this! Nick's desperation (the energy with which he welcomes Alo to his house party in the last episode slayed me), Mini's calculated callousness (at which she is rarely successful, or only in ways she didn't mean to be), Rich's not-so-quiet rebellions (and oh god, his tinnitus), Matty's sweetness ("It's you!"), Alo trying to stave off adulthood and responsibility and just be a carefree thermal-clad goofball with a puppy, EVERYTHING ABOUT LIV, EVERYTHING ABOUT GRACE, EVERYTHING EVERYTHING EVERYTHING ABOUT FRANKY.
More than any other season of this show (or frankly most shows I can think of off the top of my head), every episode has been so quietly subversive and revolutionary to the way television is normally crafted. God, that moment when Liv tells Nick it's not her that he needs, and the show recognizes that clinging to one person to make you better isn't healthy, or a way forward as a person?** That the show hasn't felt the compulsion to define Franky, but not because they aren't comfortable discussing it, but because Franky isn't (LIV AND FRANKY ON ALO'S STEPS, MY HEART)?
I am in the strange position now of not only not dreading certain character's storylines, but actively looking forward to seeing where everyone ends up, and potentially trusting the show to not go off the rails.....?? WHAT DO I NORMALLY DO WITH MY HANDS.
PS: Liv wasn't even fucking Nick, she was fucking Mini.
* As I was with Doctor Who: Moff Time, after my feelings regarding the fourth season of Nu Who. It's a really terrible track record for my being able to break up with shows in the future.
** Lol fuck you too gen two?
no subject
on 2011-03-07 03:57 am (UTC)WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!?!
no subject
on 2011-03-07 03:58 am (UTC)no subject
on 2011-03-08 10:13 am (UTC)YES. This show makes me feel for even the asshole rugby player and the loser stoner! The huge focus on the female characters even in the episodes about the male ones is wonderful. Everything I was worried about they subverted hard.
Also: I need an icon of Liv and Franky on the steps. Or just them in general. Or Grace.