basically frankie was ruined by the male gaze

I think the magic of the first generation is that they all already started out being friends, so we didn't need to question why this group of people who obviously didn't like eachother would all be hanging out like in the next two generations. They all were just genuinely already a friend group and if there was conflict that was normal because teens who are friends tend to stay friends whether they want to or not.

freddie's death literally made me sick to my stomach and put me in a weird headspace for about a week. I've never had such a visceral reaction to a character's death like that before but my gosh. I think it was the brutality of it + the fact that literally NO ONE got closure. not even gonna count cook for that bc all he saw was freddie's bloody clothes.

Season 6 is awful, and Grace’s death completely unnecessary, but Rich saying “I just spoke to her, I speak to her all the time” and Chris Addison’s character saying “Me too” chokes me up every single time. Both actors are incredible performers.

I fully ignored how bad this generation is because I fancied rich

This is minor but the way the 3rd gen was dressed/styled looked nothing like how teenagers dressed\what was actually cool at the time it came out. Some of the ugly/absurd outfits in s1 particularly did actually reflect that kind of tacky teen rave culture in the early 2000s. Trying to still dress them in that way ten years later didn’t work at all. No cool girls dressed like Mini...

I loved Anwar and Maxxie’s ending. The fact Maxxie is about to head off with his boyfriend, and Anwar’s all teary-eyed, not quite sure how to say goodbye, and Maxxie is like, “mate, buy a ticket? Come with me? Why should we be apart, we’re best mates.” And then Anwar is just like, “yes, you’re absolutely right, let’s go.” Skins is at its best when it centres around the beauty and depth of platonic love and intimacy. Anwar’s dad accepting Maxxie being gay, and showing Anwar he doesn’t have to shut his friend out because of his religion, was really beautiful to me. Tony and Sid crying as they said goodbye, Tony’s “I always loved you best,” ugh, I wish we saw more of their deeply complex friendship. They had a wonderful opportunity to show Frankie and Minnie’s complicated and confusing friendship as it interacts with and develops into romantic attraction - and sex. Frankie being genderqueer and Minnie being scared of having sex for the first time, not sure how to enjoy it, if she’s able to enjoy it, and if the people she’s intimate with truly care and value her because she can’t seem to care about herself was interesting and relatable. Grace and Rich were wholesome, as were Rich and Alo. It would have being interesting if they explored Nick and Matty’s brotherly relationship more, how them going after Liv and Frankie was really about them chasing after to each other and being desperate to connect. Would have made more sense to me, honestly, and would have built on what we saw between Tony and Effy, Freddie and Karen etc. Like to me, Freddie and Cook were the best parts of Second Gen and I cared more about their friendship and how much they mean to each other than anything else.

RIP to Mini and Franky's potential romance/exploration of attraction and sexuality because lord knows the chemistry was through the roof with those two

I wish wish wished they explored Mini's sexuality, as well as Franky's identity.

'Skins' helped Jack O'Connell find the success he has today and I'll always be proud of him for bringing so many layers to Cook.

Rich's character development from incel beginnings to sweet loyal supportive boyfriend is one of my favourite character arcs.

Rich & Grace had the best, most wholesome and least toxic relationship out of every relationship in the entire show. I legit cried when Grace died.

Sometimes I stay up at night thinking why didn’t the school administration ever wonder why one of their students died every 2 years lol. I have mixed feelings about there being a death every generation.

I LOVE JAL ❤️ how can people call her boring?? she had one of the best story arcs in gen 1 and she was one of the only who was a genuinely good and caring person, her relationship with chris was also the best

Am I the only one that feels like nick having feelings for franky was so random and out of the blue, like they barely talked and all the sudden he’s in love with her like wtf-

shout out to Minnie’s eating disorder featured in one (1) episode

I remember being so excited about Franky being genderqueer or trans, and then they made her... a Hot Girl?? A HETEROSEXUAL HOT GIRL?? I peaced out the moment Franky showed up onscreen in Season 6.

all of the scenes and interactions between grace and rich made this gen watchable to me

god if they wanted to "replace effie" minnie was RIGHT THERE. she was RIGHT THERE

"I'm bored. Make it sexy." Yep, it's Brian's fault. Studio pitch: Make a teen drama show, but without involving creeps.

AND UR SO RIGHT ABOUT JAL SHE DESERVED MORE LOVE FROM THE AUDIENCE 😩

If they went with minixfranky and didn't kill off grace i would have given this season much more credit.

FACT CHECK: Maxxie’s bf isn’t shown in the show bc maxxies bf is ME and I was unavailable

During season 4, I began to think that freddie's sister Karen was gonna lead the next series because she was the right age, was given more screen time at the end, and she was given a lot of empathy when she admitted she felt insecure that she didn't feel like she liked 'the right things'. I think she should have led season 5/6 because it would have given more context - I have in mind Karen starting college but also dealing with the grief of freddie's death and sort of figuring out her place in the world/making friends at college type thing

I have my criticisms of Skins but we are so blessed for the acting talent it gave us (namely Daniel Kaluuya, Nick Holt and Dev Patel)

While series 4 was a disaster, this was the season that made me really see the strengths in Jack O’Connells acting. Love him or hate him, Cook was compelling to watch cause of Jack.

In my headcanon, Mini realized she was a lesbian, she and Franky got together (Franky didn't become a sexed up male gazey Effy 2.0 of course, she's still gnc); Grace didn't die and she and Rich lived happily ever after; Liv, Alo and Nick all got some actually interesting arcs and Matty disappeared from the face of the earth

"I'm bored make it sexy." wow... just wow.

frankys switch always made me so wildly uncomfortable because her whole arc in s5 was about rejecting the femininity people pushed on her and then suddenly off-screen she just became ok with it? what happened!!!!

“A case of irresponsible show running, lazy writing, and what happens when creators stop caring about the things they create.” Sooooo basically teenage Game of Thrones.

Chris' death absolutely traumatised me. Those first two series were utterly brilliant.

You know what everyone also seems to forget about Gen 1? The weird musical cover ending of season 1. That was the weirdest thing Skins ever pulled tbh

I liked the first season of gen 3 but was bummed how the second season they just forgot about the sexual tension between Mini and Frankie and also did away with Frankie's genderqueerness! Also rich stopped being metal pretty much entirely. Also what was the point of Alex/why did they need to kill Gracie? Such a bummer

Making the teen female cast (only!!! the boys aren't of course) come in before adult men, in bikinis, telling them to freaking starve themselves... jesus fucking christ. Michael Bay vibes.

On a related topic, a lot of people really hate Series 7, the “where are they now” season, but I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as people say it is. I think a lot of people were expecting something different than what they got and that made them hate it. I know people hated that Cassie and Sid broke up, but they were literally in high school and Sid spent most of their relationship being a shitgibbon. It makes perfect sense they broke up. It makes sense that Cook got into organised crime. And it makes sense that Effie ends up in prison, too. As problematic as season 4 was, at least they attempted to make a logical progression for the character they had rather than trying to just make her completely different like they did with Franky.

"Why are so many producers, directors, and writers so obsessed with the sex lives of teenagers?" Sam Levinson has entered the chat

franky was so irritating to me and everyone being in love with her really tuned me out of gen 3

"holy shit i forgot nick" wish i could say i blamed you mate

i hated what effy represented - the manic pixie depressive dream girl who loves being abused and who is nothing but a glorified aesthetic for tumblr girlies who spent their time romanticizing depression and toxic relationship. so i was happy they finally let effy and her bullshit go, and then they gave me franky... i was so mad lmaoooo

people had no interest in Jal because she was a well adjusted genius and SWEETHEART all while being the only black girl on the show back in the naughties--to do this day no one can convince me it wasn't just blatant antiblack horseshite. her and chris carried HELLA

grace made 3rd generation watchable for me tbh

Frankie was such a great character in series 5. Her style, her love of stop motion (which became nonexistent in series 6) and how unapologetically herself she is. It would've been amazing to have seen her evolve throughout both seasons while still being rooted to her interests and her personality. But no, it's like we got a completely different person in series 6. Even though I know her character was hated in this season, I still had a soft spot for her because I just felt so bad for the complete destruction of her character. It was so pointless and stupid (not to mention the fact that her relationship with Mini from series 5 changed completely in series 6).

Gen 1 was so successful because it accurately reflected what we (I was 16 in 2007) were doing. They way they dressed, the lies they told their parents, the skins parties (just house parties but later dubbed skins parties after the show). This group of kids weren't rich, like 90210, they made their own fun, just like we did. The hardships they faced were very similar to the British teenage experience (failing grades, dealing with strict Muslim parents, or coming out). The later generations tried too hard to be angsty and deep, and just ended up falling flat.

Honestly, my favorite part of this generation was alo's first episode. His family were genuinely some of the nastiest adults yet. The fact that Alo showed such deep love for them regardless, spoke a lot to the type of guy he was. Also, just Alo. He was always fun, charming and supportive, if a bit creepy.

I like the darker tone of gen 2 in concept. It's just a shame the writing was so messy because showcasing a friend group that slowly falls apart, contrasting from gen 1, could have been an interesting angle to go if the writing hadn't been nonsensical and if they dedicated more time to fleshing out all of the characters rather than making it the Effy show.

yeah the third generation is the worst one and i say this as someone who’s favorite generation is the third one. it’s my fave solely for grace and rich, everyone else is pretty irritating but grace and rich are so perfect they make up for it. and yeah i never rewatch season 6.

i thought the whole thing with mini was her being a lesbian in denial? and then they just kinda forgot about it... the only character i really liked was rich, but his whole purpose in the end was to carry grace's legacy.

Dakota Blue Richards said in an interview not long ago that she got shouted at because she said the wardrobe and first script for season 6 were so out of character for Frankie and she said she felt like they were trying to make her another "Effie" in season 6, which she wasn't keen on but because of how they shouted at her for questioning their choices for the character she just tried to do her best with what she got because she didn't want to get fired. Edit: you just started talking about April Pearsons podcast which is what I was referencing lol!

jal and chris were hands down the best characters of the first generation

Okay but the third generation did have some great soundtrack choices

as much as i disliked gen 3, the ending where rich says goodbye is genuinely a great ending to such a messy and chaotic season. it feels like the closure of a life stage which is really nice, and it's also the end of the disaster that season six was which makes it even better

As a British teen, season 1 definitely explains life as a kid in london, Bristol or any city in England

okay but i need to know your opinions on season 7 tho, the one where it’s just effy, cook and cassie

I hated what they did to Franky in the sixth season, like I'm still mad at it. Mini waa my favorite because I could personally relate a lot to her on some levels, and I also thought she and Franky were going to be a thing, It'd definitely been more interesting than what we ended up getting. Now watching your video I think they totally could've had Mini and Franky connect on the basis that they're insecure about the roles they're assigned to play. Franky didn't conform to a gender binary was my take, and Mini genuinely felt scared to have sex and her hyperconforming to feminity drained her a lot. I genuinely think that would've made for a great plot and something for them to develop a great friendship. Whatever, maybe I'll write fanfic!

Matty was the freakiest fucking dude ever, it's mad that a single person contemplated getting with him. Looks like the sort of kid who turns up to school with a samurai sword and threatens the teachers with it when they tell him he can't have it

as a person who had selective mutism till i turned 14 (and still haunts me), growing up while having someone as effy with the same issue was really comforting. she didnt talk with anyone except for a few people, and it wasnt for a exact shyness thing but those she thinks are valuable enough to listen to her will do (me, on the other hand, was for a extreme social anxiety case that didnt allow me to talk since i saw myself as a "no one wants to listen to me," kind of problem and stutter a LOT when i did. i didnt trust people and hated everyone bc they were able to speak and i wasnt). and even when the 2nd gen came and she started talking more and more until it was common to see her using words and not only gestures and eye movements- it didnt bother me bc i saw it as in a "oh, she made it. she found the people shes comfortable with and safe enough to talk to" but what really bothered me was how her speaking made her be less "mysterious" and "cool" as if it was a aesthetic to have selective mutism (bc it wasnt a "im not a talkative person" it was a "i dont talk even tho i can", and it was even written on her blog and implied she had s.m), her development couldve been so much better, but apparently on s4 they forgot she ever had it and made her personality be completely different... they couldve even brought it up on THAT ONE ep but no, it never happened

The actress who played Frankie was the lead in the film adaptation of The Golden Compass. That has literally nothing to do with anything but I never realised until I just IMDbd her

“Getting up to no good and realizing their actions have consequences” is basically the description of all good television. And also my life.

I think to make this generation better, they should've: - Kept Franky exactly how she was instead of trying to make her Effy 2.0. One thing that was excellent with Franky from the get go was that she had already accepted her identity and how she chose to present herself to the world before we even met her, so they should've continued on that route and concentrated more on how others came to accept her as she was, and on her finding her birth mother like she did at the end of the series. - Kept the storyline of Matty's hit and run, but had him kill someone that's not in the cast. That would have put a dent in his relationship with Frankie, as he would have run away without giving her any news, leaving her worried and alone. - Left Franky and Minnie's relationship hostile to begin with, but make that a catalyst for Minnie coming to terms with her sexuality, through her attraction to Franky. Maybe make them a couple in season 6 once Franky realizes that Matty is a dirtbag. - Kept Grace and RIch's relationship development as it was, but made her pregnant instead of Minnie in season 6, and have her drop out, becoming everything that her father was dreading for her to become, whilst having Rich navigate through his feelings of becoming a father, especially since his relationship with his own dad was discussed in season 5. - Had Nick put all the girls aside (Minnie, Liv and Frankie) for a moment, explore his professional journey after his career in sports crashed, and see him try to find a new purpose. It would have also been great to see development in his relationship with his father, and maybe there could've been a bridge there between him and Rich. - Alo's whole story with that 14 year old girl was the only bit that I would have kept intact. It was hilarious, wildly inappropriate and such an Alo-esque segment. I could also really see Alo and Minnie becoming fantastic friends and I would have loved to see them develop a great friendship. At last, maybe Alo could've found someone who truly loved and deserved him like JJ did at the end of his season. - Had Liv explore her insecurities of always pursuing and falling for people who are unavailable for her. That girl had massive mommy issues and a huge inferiority complex, especially with her sister and her friends. Exploring that would've been worthwhile!

The whole time during this video I was like "yep, yes, oh my god yes exactly!" Also props to Michelle's actress, she is doing genuinely amazing work with that podcast.

I did a full-body shiver when Laya recounted her experience with the creator when he that she looked " _Great_ ." These poor kids

maaaaaaan... like a lot of mentally ill teen girls/afab people i really loved s3 and effy (unhealthily so - effy was a role model in the eating disorder communities i participated in, which, yikes), which was why s4 was such a colossal mindfuck. like the blatant anti-psychology messaging is just terrible, the worst, it's SO irresponsible, on top of taking a topic that earlier series of skins would have handled delicately (mental illness) and treating it the same way a soap opera would, including with random amnesia. ugh.

also i met sid and JJ's actors on the tube and they were the loveliest people ever, sat with us, spoke with us and asked us about our night, took pictures etc. I walked past liv and alo's actors in shoreditch and being awkard said 'oh you guys were in skins!' and they gave me the dirtiest look and walked straight past lmfaooooooo. first two generations SUPREMACYYYY

‘Oh yeah, grace is dead, and if you thought Freddie’s death was unnecessary....’ I snorted out loud

my big take away from gen 3 is, i never actually felt that they where friends in small groups yes alo and Rich mini and liv (kind of) but as a whole group they never had a purpose to actually like each other and it felt off

I’d love a Degrassi analysis. The last seasons of TNG (with the exception of Cam’s storyline) as well as Next Class felt so hollow. So many reused storylines and everyone has a personal stylist.

Jal is basically the character that’s like “I’m surrounded by idiots” she’s one of my favs in the entire series along with Maxxie, Rich (S5) and Frankie (S5)

im forever frustrated with how minis sexuality wasnt explored. they set up so many hints of her being queer and hinting at her and frankie getting together but never delivered. im so sick of queerness being hinted at and then never executed, its tiring

Frankie is the problem. The series would be mid without her, with her is bad. Specifically her love life. I just hate that love triangle so much.

franky was robbed of the arc she deserved

I totally overlooked how bad this gen was bc I loved Grace and Rich’s relationship

The best thing about skins was it's ability to spot and nurture young acting talent. Dev Patel, Daniel Kaluuya, nick Holt, the entire cast of game of thrones, etc.

I never watched Skins but having irl teens (and yes, 18 and 19 year olds are still teens. don't give me the "but they're legal" loophole bs) on tv with bikinis and underwear and getting intimate is so messed. Even worst that the girls would get openly judged on their sexines for the show. Wasn't it supposed to be about "real teens" without the beautification? So shouldn't all body types be represented???

Also. Idk if anyone else ever thought this but Grace always gave off big neurodivergent vibes to me

Grace's death really effected me simply because of how senseless it was! Having Rich and Grace be together as an endgame would've been perfect for Jamie's 'lighter direction' of the show. It would've been nice to see a couple that is a high school sweetheart trope be together forever, even if it doesn't feel realistic at times. Also, I might get some hate or controversy for this.... but I do wish that Franky and Nick's relationship was explored more. I would've liked to see how their friendship developed into the romance. I mean since the showrunners went full cishet with Franky for series 6 then might as well go all in and give her chance to explore a relationship with the 'misguided' jock. pls don't judge me for this one *hides behind table*

If you think Laya Lewis and Dakota's episodes are depressing, listen to Jessica Sula (Grace's) episode, she literally teared up talking about the way they treated her on set.

Chris from Skins & JT from Degrassi Next Generation are still haunting me.

Gen 2 was always my favourite because I related to Effy more than any character ever through the entirety of my teen years. However, it's been over 10 years and I'm still not over Freddie's unwarranted, unceremonious death. The betrayal was real.

bombarded by knowledge of my own existence once again! youtube is not a safe space!

I absolutely loved franky before they completely DESTROYED her character. Also mini being a biromantic asexual would make some actual sense since she genuinely feared sexual intimacy. I really wish they would have gone with that instead of doing...season 6

I was so mad when minnie and franky didn’t end up together or at least addressed, for me minnie had a lot of potential as a character we could remember

Franky’s genderqueerness and sexuality was sth i found so so interesting watching generation 3 as a teenager but I HATED how they had away with that in season 6 just for the sake of turning her into another effy

I honestly think they could redeem Franky by making a new season for this generation, like they did the others. Overtime Franky realized that her suddenly acting "girly girl" was a weird phase that she went through as a teen and she went back to her true self. Mini and Alo have broken up but still coparent their baby. And if course, Mini no longer suppresses her feelings for her dearest friend Franky. I would forgive the mess the writers made of these characters if they could just make this story come to light.

Frankie feels like an unintentional meta reference to conforming dissolution in patriarchy...and it breaks my heart. To think of all the young people at such a venomous era in our times for anyone not similarly privileged losing a valuable touchstone in representation. I have been enjoying your work. I learned so much from your Brittany Murphy video. Thank you for such illuminating perspective xox

Skins was a show I tended to watch after being out on the piss, and came back home pissed, a halal burger + fries in hand and just enjoying the surreal wierdness of it all! Pretty suitable when your out of your head! So glad it worked in America. UK shows tend not to translate very well stateside very often.

in my opinion, from best to worst: 1 - season 2 2 - season 1 3 - season 3 4 - season 5 5 - season 4 6 - season 6 i only liked season 5 bc of rich and grace, and mini carried season 6 on her back... yes there are some good moments but they are kinda messy, and dont even get me started on THAT death in the beginning of s6.. ruined the series for me

I loved all 3 generations. They all managed to cover very sensitive and relatable topics such as eating disorders, trauma, abandonment issues, sexuality, teen pregnancy grief and etc. All of them contained a fair share of life lessons. The first two generations were really well executed and all the characters stayed true to themselves, whereas in the third generation we see some unnecessary changes in style and in character. For example, I never really understood why Rich became this ‘mainstream’ kind of guy and stopped being a metal head, and why did Franky change her entire personality and became this mean, manipulative, careless and even selfish girl (she hated these types of girls). I feel like Alex’s character was kind of unnecessary in this show and I personally would’ve wanted to see more of Rich’s or Nick’s stories instead of Alex’s. I hated how everyone blamed Matty for Grace’s death, but no one (except for Liv) blamed Franky. What I really liked about the third generation was Rich’s and Grace’s love story. It felt so real and genuine. They never cheated on each other (which happens a lot in the show) and truly cared about their relationship. Nevertheless, I really liked the show, and in my opinion, the third generation is a bit underrated.

As a gender fluid pan person I was so in love with Frankie in the fifth season. Right off the bat, in the first episode of season 6, I was like "WHAT HAPPENED???"

I was hoping that they were trying to pull an internalized transphobia/male gaze thing with Franky because I know it's a fairly common experience, but then they didn't and I was so disappointed.

Grace was honestly my favourite character in the whole show, when they killed both her (and Franky's character) in Series 6, I just lost interest. Gen 3 had such great potential to be good tbh.

This is undoubtedly the most special show I've ever watched and it helped me cope with a LOT of feelings as a teenager. I've seen every generation multiple times and I will never get bored or tired of them.. this show was a real passion project, and Sid doesn't get enough recognition.

unpopular opinion but I really liked liv. she made mistakes but she was honest and down to earth. i felt like she was the realest character. the dynamic between mini and liv kind of reminds me of quinn and santana from glee. liv is sort of introduced as a second in command to mini, however as time goes on you see that she has her own personality, her own style and opinions. she was very lonely and just wanted to be loved. but she was always second best. she lived alone only with her sister, who she had to raise pretty much by herself. she was disloyal only once and mini forgave her. the other characters have done much worse than her. seeing the fandom hate on her was sad. at least we can all agree she's better than s6 Franky lol

I as a trans person really related to the first part of Frankie's arc and then.... I got really frustrated because I saw so much of myself in that character and then was told to do basically the opposite of what I wanted to do. which isn't like... cancel worthy it just very much frustrated me as a teenager and I immediately stopped watching after that.

I was SO ready for Frankie‘s storyline when the first episode aired but then it just went downhill. I feel like the writers didn‘t really know what to do with her

Unrelated, but I _REALLY_ love the fact that you played the song *Primadonna by MARINA* in your video as she is one of my favorite singers and I personally think that song of hers is a bop!

it almost would’ve been more fitting to reverse frankies change… having her start off as a ‘girly girl’ who doesn’t looks quite right and it being a bit awkward and then gradually transitioning to her being more androgynous. idk it could’ve worked if there was some development because if u think about it, we pick up on season 6 like a few months after the end of season 5 since it’s set in the two years of college/sixth form. i just don’t think frankie would have such a drastic change in the span of a month. but yk. too late now

in my opinion as a brit, the buzz/ essence of skins died off after the 2nd generation more shows aimed for their target audience was available so it wasn't all we had any more

Such a great video! I didn't know the environment was that difficult for the cast but of course it makes sense! If you're going to hire young you need to protect and look after them! I also think Kaya Scodelario who played Effy has spoken up about wishing that they had an intimacy coordinator. I think the show's downfall for me was season 4 - Freddy's death was so out of the blue, abrupt and also very violent?? I remember the shot after all this time. A shame because I loved season 3 (although now looking back at it the writing for Effy's character is a bit yikes!)

I auditioned for gen 3, in hindsight I'm glad I got rejected Was cool meeting Ollie Barbieri & Daniel Kaluuya tho

The only character I properly connected to in S3 was Alo. The actor isn't mysteryman, he isn't the jock, he isn't the weirdo. He genuinely has no cliche, and his backstory is really normal as well as upsetting. He reminded me most of how Skins used to be