Kumple

Melancholy. Confinement. Unpleasant feeling. These emotions overtook me almost every episode of this magnificent British series. Forget about Beverly Hills, O.C. or Melrose place. Skins is unique because it does not offer the viewer a display of beautiful, rich, successful students living in luxury villas and killing time with intrigue or promiscuous behavior. All characters are believable and deal with problems that are close to the average viewer. There are, of course, romantic relationships being dealt with, but also coming to terms with one's sexuality, love, disappointment, bleak family background, school problems, and searching for oneself. A big plus is the absolutely unique approach of the producers, each generation of characters only has space for two series, followed by a complete change of cast, which is completely unique in today's times when producers emphasize the popularity of characters with viewers. Many people evaluate positively only the first generation, that is the first two series, I have the opposite opinion. I liked all three generations, each of them had something special, even though the group around Tony, Sid, or Michelle was probably truly unforgettable. Personally, I was most fascinated by the characters of the second generation, specifically Cook and Effie. Cook is a character that the viewer must either love or hate, or perhaps both, but he definitely won't leave them indifferent. Effie has a lot of charm, charisma, but also pain and sadness in her. In the third generation, I liked Al, as he brought a touch of humor to this rather sad series. It is not clear to me what the creators of the series intend to do next, as the seventh series was completely different with the return of Effie, Cook and Cassie and describes their further fate already in the world of adults. If the creators wanted to close the series with this, I understand why they chose Effie and Cook, I do not understand the choice of Cassie. Personally, I would like the series to have two more series and for other characters to return, even from the third generation. (17.03.2014)

- the first generation, or the first two season – Skins was peculiarly nominated for a bunch of awards in drama categories, but not comedy. Despite the misleading or, said more precisely, enticing first episode, this is not a teen comedy built around the usual motifs of losing one’s virginity and out-of-control parties. With each subsequent episode, the drama further crystalises as it focuses on relationships and developing the individual characters. The series has a clever dramaturgical concept by which each episode focuses on a different character. Thanks to that, all of the characters outlined in the first episode (the stoner, the virgin, the sex kitten, the confident show-off, the basket case) get their own personality and ambiguity, as well as their own conflicts, feelings and desires. Both in its characters’ natures and in the chosen style, Skins remains entirely faithful to its target audience. Whereas all of the adult characters, i.e. parents and teachers, are portrayed as caricatures in accordance with the way that teenagers see them, the adolescent protagonists are fully developed without any prejudices or pre-determined patterns. In the case of the first generation of the series, this means that the protagonists do not fit into any outsider or rebel subculture; they are in fact the core members of the class who devote their free time mainly to copulating. Parties, smoking weed and popping pills are only the backdrop for the main thing that makes the world of teenagers go round – intensely dramatic relationships, which are the be-all and end-all of the whole series. In addition to that, particularly the second season of the first generation of Skins brilliantly depicts the end of the last year of high school as a bittersweet time permeated with the feeling that comes with the approaching end and fear of the pain arising from conflicts and the collapse of idealistic plans. Skins is a series about young people and for young people that is in every aspect (including style and great music) uniquely faithful to its target group, but it cannot be said that is naïve. (22.09.2013)