LOADS OF Spoilers! I watched skins recently and I completely fell in love with the first generation. In the first two series I loved all of the characters, which is strange because normally there will be at least one character I dislike/can't relate to. The Cassie story was amazing, it drew you in so well, especially in (I think it was the second or third episode) when she was showing Sid how she would get away with not eating. Dark and chilling, but interesting in a odd way. The love stories in the show were fantastic and I didn't find myself getting annoyed at any of them, surprisingly. Most series make the relationships so repetitive and sickly you just want to find the nearest bucket
I loved the way all the characters were different, and weren't all trying to have the same 'I don't care about anything or anyone' act that you get so often with teen series. (That was a problem with the 3rd and 4th series, but I'll go on about that later). I could go on about how amazing this generation was for days but I won't, at the end of the day all you need to know is it is addictive and that every teenager and young adult should give it a try.
Anyway, the 3rd and 4th series... Can I just say, I know many people who really enjoyed this series, even more so than the first- so your opinion about it may be different than mine and you should still try and give it a go. Keep in mind that when you start the 3rd series you're still be heartbroken because of your attachment to the 1st generation, and that that might affect the way you feel about the start of this series. Just have a open mind and ignore the fact the starting episode is full of clichés and so many annoying moments that made me want to slap myself in the face
The biggest problem I would say this generation had was the fact they weren't all friends at the beginning. In the first generation they were, and their friendship with each other was what made it so interesting, emotional and funny. In the second, they start off hating each other, which I think was a poor move because it starts to remind you of one of those American programmes they show on Disney channel with never-ending stereotypes. You can't relate to the characters because the script is written poorly and they don't go into depth enough. I found myself getting so annoyed at the way they focused the entire two series on the effy-cook-Freddie love triangle and hardly any of the other characters got a good look in (not that they were that interesting).
I think the way I'm looking to describe it is no substance. Like the popular people at my school, all these characters really seemed to care about was being better than everyone else. I felt like it was a massive pity parade and a competition to get the most attention. Effy was great in the first generation and the seventh series, but in this I found her annoying and greedy (leading both boys on). It's true that there were a few good episodes but these were minimal, and I don't understand the huge fuss about this generation. The first made me feel and think about it even when I wasn't watching it (the way good series do) yet the second didn't at all. It was just boring.
The 3rd generation was even worse. It made the same mistake AGAIN and didn't have them friends at the start. (Oh skins, do you not learn?) I thought rich was a good character, he was actually REAL, the way skins was when it was good. Frankie was good but only in the first series, after that she followed the same line as effy and tried to keep every boy possible to herself. In the first series she actually had personality but in the second she was a car crash, I had no idea who she was trying to be anymore. Grace annoyed me, I don't know why, I think that could just be my opinion, but she wasn't realistic at all.
The seventh series was good because they brought back Cassie! Yay! Her episodes were really interesting, I wish there were more but it has to end sometime. Effy was actually quite likable in her reprise episode, it was quite emotional and I really like Dominics character. Cooks one was good too, quite surprising though because it was nothing like any of the previous skins episodes. Scary (or should I say creepy) and quite sad. I was happy to see cook again, he was one of the only characters I liked in generation 2. I was ECSTATIC they didn't bring back any of the third generation characters, I had no interest in seeing any of them again.
So yeah, overall: watch the first and second, one of my favourite series ever and so worth the watch. Try the third and fourth even if you think you won't like it- it has some good moments and can be bearable. I don't know whether you should bother watching the fifth and sixth, if you've gotten that far I guess you might as well try- some characters are okay Watch the seventh, it's interesting to see them all grown up
I loved the way all the characters were different, and weren't all trying to have the same 'I don't care about anything or anyone' act that you get so often with teen series. (That was a problem with the 3rd and 4th series, but I'll go on about that later). I could go on about how amazing this generation was for days but I won't, at the end of the day all you need to know is it is addictive and that every teenager and young adult should give it a try.
Anyway, the 3rd and 4th series... Can I just say, I know many people who really enjoyed this series, even more so than the first- so your opinion about it may be different than mine and you should still try and give it a go. Keep in mind that when you start the 3rd series you're still be heartbroken because of your attachment to the 1st generation, and that that might affect the way you feel about the start of this series. Just have a open mind and ignore the fact the starting episode is full of clichés and so many annoying moments that made me want to slap myself in the face
The biggest problem I would say this generation had was the fact they weren't all friends at the beginning. In the first generation they were, and their friendship with each other was what made it so interesting, emotional and funny. In the second, they start off hating each other, which I think was a poor move because it starts to remind you of one of those American programmes they show on Disney channel with never-ending stereotypes. You can't relate to the characters because the script is written poorly and they don't go into depth enough. I found myself getting so annoyed at the way they focused the entire two series on the effy-cook-Freddie love triangle and hardly any of the other characters got a good look in (not that they were that interesting).
I think the way I'm looking to describe it is no substance. Like the popular people at my school, all these characters really seemed to care about was being better than everyone else. I felt like it was a massive pity parade and a competition to get the most attention. Effy was great in the first generation and the seventh series, but in this I found her annoying and greedy (leading both boys on). It's true that there were a few good episodes but these were minimal, and I don't understand the huge fuss about this generation. The first made me feel and think about it even when I wasn't watching it (the way good series do) yet the second didn't at all. It was just boring.
The 3rd generation was even worse. It made the same mistake AGAIN and didn't have them friends at the start. (Oh skins, do you not learn?) I thought rich was a good character, he was actually REAL, the way skins was when it was good. Frankie was good but only in the first series, after that she followed the same line as effy and tried to keep every boy possible to herself. In the first series she actually had personality but in the second she was a car crash, I had no idea who she was trying to be anymore. Grace annoyed me, I don't know why, I think that could just be my opinion, but she wasn't realistic at all.
The seventh series was good because they brought back Cassie! Yay! Her episodes were really interesting, I wish there were more but it has to end sometime. Effy was actually quite likable in her reprise episode, it was quite emotional and I really like Dominics character. Cooks one was good too, quite surprising though because it was nothing like any of the previous skins episodes. Scary (or should I say creepy) and quite sad. I was happy to see cook again, he was one of the only characters I liked in generation 2. I was ECSTATIC they didn't bring back any of the third generation characters, I had no interest in seeing any of them again.
So yeah, overall: watch the first and second, one of my favourite series ever and so worth the watch. Try the third and fourth even if you think you won't like it- it has some good moments and can be bearable. I don't know whether you should bother watching the fifth and sixth, if you've gotten that far I guess you might as well try- some characters are okay Watch the seventh, it's interesting to see them all grown up