Skins - Freddie, 4.05

To be honest, I usually watch this series of Skins in a small browser window while I play solitaire next to it.

It's still shot beautifully, gorgeous cinematography, utilizing light better than most shows on TV, and it still has a cast of really gorgeous and talented young actors. The individual episodes are written well; none as stand-out as the earlier seasons' stunners like "Cassie" (s1), "Sketch," or "Everyone," but they are still plainly good stories.

My main complaint is the same as it was last series: the second generation characters are not as strong, and neither are their relationships with each other, as the first generation's. In the second series, if Jal had a heart-to-heart with Sid, it was completely natural because you knew these people were all best friends. However, this series, I found it weird when Katie admitted her medical problem to Thomas (frankly, I think it's weird when anyone interacts seriously with Thomas -- when did they become even remotely close?) and when the girls showed up at Cook's birthday party in series 3. There is no evidence that they know each other at all. I expected them to create and grow relationships throughout series 3 so that in series 4 the writers could play with that, but it didn't happen. Plus, we were left with an irritating finale that only focused on the least interesting group of the bunch -- Freddie, Cook, JJ, and Effy.

Scratch that -- not the least interesting. That award would go to one of the twins or Thomas. Or Naomi.

I have quite a few complaints about this generation I suppose...

"Freddie" does nothing to assuage my annoyances. It is a moving, but very average, love story, what with Freddie trying to save Effy from depression, interspersed with beautiful scenes of field-frolicking and the like (not to mention, lines like "I fucking love you so fucking much"). I appreciate this episode for what it tries to be, but unfortunately, I don't care enough about Freddie and Effy to be moved.

Thoughts:

• Freddie runs into Cook dressed as the Devil, appropriate for a whimsical carnival scene where Katie is an angel and saves Effy.
• I am convinced I would love this episode a thousand times more if I wasn't so annoyed with Effy. Because the scenes with Freddie and his granddad are brilliant. Freddie is such a good person, and it's heartbreaking that his efforts are in vain in the end.