Pajiba

I really missed Hannah Murray's Cassie. Anyway, Kaya Scodelario is a lovely pumpkin, albeit a very thin pumpkin.

I had no idea Skins was showing in the US. Excellent!

And I must report with sadness s4 is not as good as s3, albeit it falls short of the mark only marginally. S4 is to s3 what s3 was to s2, and s2 to s1. You get the idea. Just out of interest ... ah, please don’t be upset with me, but I am curious ... do Americans get the social context and such of this show? E.g. the fact that the characters live in Bristol?

Brit TV shows are hard to sell across the pond. Hell, whom am I kidding – they’re hard to sell everywhere. Even Australians don’t want to buy them. Can’t say I blame them.

Stupid idea. The first two series only worked because of the casting and the sharp writing, the premise itself is really average. The English version couldn't even pull it off again with a different cast so this has no chance. It will just be the same as a million other American dramas.

Banksy and Massive Attack are from there. I always got the feeling that it was supposed to be a little badass, but from seeing enough English talk that way about their towns, I just figured I'd take that for boasting, e.g. Liverpool, Manchester.

One thing that does impress me about the show is that nearly every episode has the same writer and same director. I have seen all four series so far*. While I thought 1 the superior for making comic-superheroic quests out of teenage life, I also remember reading message boards that completely missed that irony. I think there were articles that suggested Skins was in part responsible for increased social deviancy in the youth. It was a massively popular show for teens who thought Bryan Eisley was glorifying the verve and pop of life that allows teens to make more mistakes. It was humorous when troves of youth began to question their motives for liking the show and dismiss it as immature or embarrassing. That whole trashiness for promiscuity for sophistication syllogism. If we're trying to sublimate Skins, then I think we're on the wrong track.

#Realistic it is not.

It is a comedy, foremost. If you were ever one of the "bad ones," be prepared to make fun of yourself. If kids are watching this show and pointing to how proud they can be that a sophisticated representation of teens is on tv, they are deluded. This may seem contradictory if what you've seen is from series 1. That was very different in tone and content. The teens, who may as like be mannequins, dress up in only one costume for the length of the season. One of the strengths of the show is that they can essentially change all the characters from one season to the next.

(Too bad Effy was never as cool as she was in the first series. She was the impossible character, the vardøger in green spandex- that let me know this show is not meant to be taken truthfully. Though her walk in the cold night air while her nose is runny and she's reciting her poetry on the extras disc for series 1 is quite fantastic; the special effects for the whole show are the improbability of events.)

Anyway, I really like every season of Skins. It's outlandish. It's exploitive. It's cocky. It's emotional. Its music is fabulous. Series 1 and 2 are more memorable, but while those were running, the ruse was still working on most viewers. Now that the conceit is fleshed out, the writing changes Skins on the main characters more than once per series. This sometimes feels jarring, but still works as a novel solution for essentially 'sketching' a drama show.

I hold little hope for the American remake. How self-aware do you think this show could be? Part of the allure of Skins is that it is not a bloody ass-bag of reality tv famewhores doing this stuff. Stick with the Hills, MTV. There's your poison. It's at least literal and genuine in it's lack of judgment and responsibility. You got you're 'least influential' pop star bullshit for mentioning award. Rest on those laurels.

"Someone's gonna make that Degenerate Dollar."

spoiler*

It looks like a fifth would follow F-man's petite soeur.

I'm really really hoping this goes as well as the plan that was canceled recently to do an American remake of Spaced.

And I will always love Cassie for when she finally has enough of Sid: "HEY! WOW! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU SID! FUCK YOU!"

Channel 4 produces and broadcasts Skins, not Sky TV. I know i'm being picky but a show like this will never be shown on a network owned by Rupert Murdoch.

**spoilers**

I'm sorry, but the death of Freddie made me laugh out loud. I thought it was a brilliant way to end such a soap opera of a season, but seriously, it was so off the wall.
But I guess that's what I like about where Skins is heading. It's similar to Shameless (another brilliant British soap opera) in that it's getting so ridiculous and fun.

I miss Cassie and Chris though.