[Z]

I didn't watch Gen III partly because I thought it was ridiculous carrying the show on with a completely new cast and partly because I no longer felt like I was part of the target audience; Skins resonated with me when I was 17ish because that's how old the characters were and while the show was dramatised for the sake of it being a television show, it still spoke to me and many others like me about things that we were all going through. So I can't comment on the quality of Gen III's acting or writing because I never watched it. It just seems strange that they'd have a seventh series to "wrap it all up" yet it's only three characters, one from Gen I, one from Gen II and one that appeared in both. Why no Gen III characters? Why not get all of the actors is back (aside from those who were killed off) or as many as possible? Why those three and whichever others featured in their stories?

[Braden]

I don't know, I've been enjoying the episodes.

[Z]

I mean I haven't watched them at all but I think it's really ****ty to do this to the legacy of the show. The one thing they've got right is having one of the films be about Effy because she was the longest serving character in the show and the most fascinating... and Cassie was an interesting character too, but she was so detached from the rest of the Gen I storylines at times, it just seems a bit ridiculous to have an episode about her. I'd rather it was about Jal for example; someone who was friends with everyone in their 'group' thus opening up cameo appearance opportunities. It could have been about how Jal was coping without Chris. The fact there was no Tony or Michelle in any of these episodes (that I'm aware of) is so sad. They were the lead characters in the most popular series of Skins. Ach, I'm going to get around to watching these soon and maybe I'll enjoy them enough to change my mind about the whole concept, but it just strikes me as an odd way to end what has been a very successful program that has kept itself fresh by changing things up every two years.

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

i didn't even watch series 6 but can we just talk about alex for a moment

lol im so random im gonna roll some dice and punch someone in the face bc the dice tell me to~

no please die

[Jamesy]

Gen III was actually really good. Series 5 was a bit hit and miss, but series 6 felt very much like 'classic' Skins - unfortunately the time it got good was the time half of the show's viewers had written it off and not bothered watching it.

This series has been slow moving, but I've enjoyed it in ways - I think it's been done very realistically. As when you reach your 20s you're not out partying and you do not talk about your teenage years. I honestly don't know why people have expected all the other characters to be mentioned as when you reach your 20s you often try to forget about those years!

Cassie had quite a happy ending at least (she's happy without a relationship and has a younger brother to take care of) and I thought that was handled nicely. Effy's ending I really wasn't sure about, it didn't end positive (Effy going to prison, Emily alone in future, Naomi about to die) but in hindsight it was probably a right ending for Effy - summed up her life well, ****ed up.

[Braden]

The problem with these specials is that Skins doesn't work with only having one character as the centre-focus. I liked Effy's episode because of the involvement of 'Naomily' but I just can't compare these episodes to the usual series of Sins where there are different characters who form various story-lines.

[Tom4784]

Cassie's story was ten times better then Effy's but it all still felt very flat. I can't imagine that Cook's story will be any better.

They should have just ended it after Series 6. There's no point in a farewell season if you don't bring back most of the cast.

[Z]

Originally Posted by Braden

The problem with these specials is that Skins doesn't work with only having one character as the centre-focus. I liked Effy's episode because of the involvement of 'Naomily' but I just can't compare these episodes to the usual series of Sins where there are different characters who form various story-lines.

This is exactly the problem. I started watching part 2 of Cassie's story last night but I gave up after 10 minutes because I just couldn't get into it. Yeah while it's true that you move on when you leave school; this is a TV series that was inspired by its characters and their relationships with one another. I'd forgotten how polarising Cassie was until I started watching her episode and I actually got really pissed off watching Hannah Murray and Neil Morrissey carry the show 'forward' when Neil only ever played a minor role at best (he wasn't anywhere near the most prominent parent) and the character of Cassie was a bit unlikeable at times, especially over the Jal/Chris situation. If this was a longer series and had a few more characters getting their stories wrapped up then it'd be fair enough; but they've picked a bizarre bunch to end this all with (e.g. having Emily as a bit part in the Effy episode - okay, but then no mention of her twin sister Katie?!) and I think it's a poor manoeuvre from the writers, from planning through to execution. I hope that people who don't have the same problems with it as I do are able to enjoy these new episodes but I just can't accept it and will choose to remember Skins series 1-4 as they ended and not acknowledge what came after.

[Jamesy]

I do think they've really struggled with persuading actors/actresses to come back. In all the interviews with Kaya and Hannah they said it was really hard coming back. So it wouldn't surprise me the reason for there being so little of the old cast is simply because they've moved on. For most of them Skins was their first acting role and coming back to something like that is a big risk. The Skins producers must have struggled with this.

[Z]

Originally Posted by Jamesy

I do think they've really struggled with persuading actors/actresses to come back. In all the interviews with Kaya and Hannah they said it was really hard coming back. So it wouldn't surprise me the reason for there being so little of the old cast is simply because they've moved on. For most of them Skins was their first acting role and coming back to something like that is a big risk. The Skins producers must have struggled with this.

That's a very good point... the first generation cast in particular saw a couple of alumni move on to Hollywood roles... Kaya, Nicholas and Dev all moving onto notably bigger and better things. I suppose Kaya was the main draw because she starred in 4 series of Skins and she probably felt a stronger pull back to it. I think Skins probably alienated its former cast too by cutting things short with just 2 series per cast. Total acting time probably isn't all that much, all things considered, seeing as most episodes revolved around one character or even a shared episode and certain cast members got greater priority over others. Still, it's pretty sad things didn't pan out better. Even if they'd worked a few more characters back into it, it might have been more worthwhile... it's hard to suddenly care about characters who haven't been on our screens for years.

[Jamie.]

I've seriously changed my mind on Skins after seeing Gen 1 on Netflix, but Gen 2 and 3 just killed it in my opinion, but Pure was better than Fire

[Z]

Tony, Michelle, Jal, Chris, Sid and Cassie were all quite developed and important characters... Anwar was criminally underused and I think they could have explored Maxxie a lot more than they actually did but they set themselves up for a fall by having a gay character who didn't have any insecurities about his sexuality which, although a bit of a cliche, could have been very interesting seeing as Skins was so on the ball with all of the issues it tackled in those first two series... I think they realised early on that they needed more female characters hence Sketch but she too was 1) underused 2) underdeveloped and 3) turned into a bit of a joke when they could have done the opposite. Effy was a very different character in the first two series compared with 3 & 4 but she was still very important and her development came later.

The next generation cast I felt had much better characters but the storylines weren't so great. Where Skins Gen I felt realistic and its drama came from very real scenarios; Skins Gen II felt like it was plucking problems from thin air rather than developing storylines and allowing the drama to emerge naturally... does that make sense? Specifically the way the 4th series ended was hilariously unrealistic and completely ruined what had been a bigger and better generation, and the biggest insult was how it ended on a completely flat cliffhanger. It felt like there were 15 minutes missing from the end.

[Jack_]

Well that was some ****ed up sh*t I'm actually terrified LOL

Really love the way they've actually continued his story on though with where it left off at the end of series 4, if they hadn't have addressed that cliffhanger I would've been so pissed off. And I like the voiceovers too, they're quite effective.

This is definitely a promising end so far, just messed up

[Jords]

Was it really good then Jack?

Always found Cook overrated so didnt rush to watch it tonight, will be a 4oD jobby sometime this week.

[Jack_]

Definitely the best of the episodes so far IMO. What I wanted from these episodes was some kind of continuation of their previous story and a resolution from the cliffhangers and we didn't get that with Effy and Cassie only made a slight reference to Sid but with this his whole story is (I'm assuming...unless it's a twist and it's not related at all) based upon what happened at end of series 4, like how he's dealing with it. I could tolerate them not resolving the other cliffhangers but if they'd have just started Cook's story with no kind of reference to what happened when we last saw him I'd have just been annoyed.

So yeah, in terms of continuing where he left off it's going well so far in that sense. It was just a ****ed up episode, like a mild horror story tbh...I was genuinely scared

[Jords]

oh Im looking forward to watch it now!

[Ramsay]

Get the feeling Cook gonna get clipped next week

[BBUKAUSFAN]

that was an intense scene :O definably show casing the dark side of skin with cook

[reece(:]

Only 1 more episode until Skins ends</3

[Z]

I wonder what happened to Jal in this post-Skins universe

[Ramsay]

Originally Posted by BBUKAUSFAN

that was an intense scene :O definably show casing the dark side of skin with cook

what scene was that?

[Jack_]

I assume the

Spoiler:

drowning

scene, I thought Freddie's murder was chilling but that was a different level altogether

[Ramsay]

oh right. i didnt really pass any heed of that scene..

Spoiler:

mainly because he was a cuunt and i hated the wee prick

[Jamie.]

I haven't had chance to watch Cooks yet, but I finished Gen III today and I have to admit, it was brilliant. But stick to what I said, Gen I is the best!

[Jordan.]

Last one tonight

Cook is my least favourite out of the three but his story has been the best, not surprised they saved it to last.