4.06 JJ
I do love JJ, like fierce, you know? And the ep was really nice, Skins back at its best type TV in terms of the tone that it held the whole way through and I'm tearing my hair out that the whole series can't be like this (with maybe a bit more development for other characters).
I don't really have a huge amount to say on the actual episode other than it was cute and JJ's mum is pushing Rob Fitch hard for best parent award.
-The baby thing was a bit whatever, but it's nowhere near as farfetched as some of the stuff we've seen and it did provide a wonderful (if unoriginal) getting peed in the face scene.
- Lara was a good character, and I liked how Lucy Kirkwood explained her in the blog. I want to see her again, I hope that they won't say oh JJ's got that mythical girlfriend that Cook or Freddie have never met like I suspect they might. (Interesting that he took her to Naomi's to meet her and Emily rather than Freddie? I thought the three musketeers were back being mates?)
- Cook has been giving JJ sex tips. I wonder if there was a practical demonstration involved, because JJ looked a lot more at ease with those instructions than he did with the date instructions. Just saying.
- Cook spent the whole ep in as few clothes as physically possible. This should be a new feature. (Also, he shaved his balls with Cecelia's razor. Classy boy.)
- My only gripe with this ep is one that I've had for almost every other one and that is the lack of progression for any other story line/character other than the one whose POV we see. If Naomi's not getting one (which I assume not now) then it's crazy given how important her story line is meant to be. By the same token, I don't want her to get one now, because it would have to be the finale. And if it's the finale then I want to see other characters as it'd be for the last time, and I don't want the whole insular focus on just one of them. I think Naomi has been the biggest disappointment this year in how her characters been written, and I think it's because she hasn't had that focus that everyone else has. Where has her spark gone? Where are the witty one liners and the eye rolling with the smiling? The only time she's felt close to S3 for me was in her (all too brief) banter with Katie and Cook.
- On the season as a whole, can I just state now that I'm fed up of Naomi and Emily. They had the best story line in S3 (ok, they only had the triangle as competition, but still). But this is horrendously boring to watch - nothing has happened since 4.04, and nothing of note has happened since 4.02. The Emily we see in 4.06 is the same one in 4.04, is that house a time vortex? There can't have been that long between 4.01 and 4.02, so first month at college, say September? Then 4.04 we know is February as that's when the Fitches get evicted, and JJ was on about DST which is end of March. So, September to March/April they are just in a state of limbo? That's significantly longer than the part of the relationship they were meant to be happy for!
My real issue with it is that come finale I think there will be a single scene and crying and apologising and that'll be it. JB will be all, "See, told you not to worry, we fixed it!" and I'll be over here rolling my eyes, because no, you won't have fixed it at all.
I'm glad that they decided to explore the less than perfect N/E relationship, because nothing's ever perfect (TM Effy Stonem) and this was no exception. But they have to do something with it after the first incident - either kill it or work it out properly. They've done neither. IMO it would be difficult to write them working it out at the best of times, but given the episode constraints I think it's damn near impossible, and I just wish they would have acknowledged that and didn't try, rather than held off till the end and tack something on (which is what I think they're doing, I don't actually know - no spoilers please! - but the alternative is worse, to drag it out for all this time and then kill it at the end is just a huge waste of the limited time they had). There are too many issues for them to deal with for it to be possible to do properly in a single ep, never mind a single scene.
- I was excited for next week until I saw it was JB writing and now I'm significantly less so. I just don't really get what he tries to do half the time. Still, a group scene in the pub! Will this be the first time they've all hung out this season? Oh no wait, Cook's not there. Sigh. Ensemble show my arse.
I don't really have a huge amount to say on the actual episode other than it was cute and JJ's mum is pushing Rob Fitch hard for best parent award.
-The baby thing was a bit whatever, but it's nowhere near as farfetched as some of the stuff we've seen and it did provide a wonderful (if unoriginal) getting peed in the face scene.
- Lara was a good character, and I liked how Lucy Kirkwood explained her in the blog. I want to see her again, I hope that they won't say oh JJ's got that mythical girlfriend that Cook or Freddie have never met like I suspect they might. (Interesting that he took her to Naomi's to meet her and Emily rather than Freddie? I thought the three musketeers were back being mates?)
- Cook has been giving JJ sex tips. I wonder if there was a practical demonstration involved, because JJ looked a lot more at ease with those instructions than he did with the date instructions. Just saying.
- Cook spent the whole ep in as few clothes as physically possible. This should be a new feature. (Also, he shaved his balls with Cecelia's razor. Classy boy.)
- My only gripe with this ep is one that I've had for almost every other one and that is the lack of progression for any other story line/character other than the one whose POV we see. If Naomi's not getting one (which I assume not now) then it's crazy given how important her story line is meant to be. By the same token, I don't want her to get one now, because it would have to be the finale. And if it's the finale then I want to see other characters as it'd be for the last time, and I don't want the whole insular focus on just one of them. I think Naomi has been the biggest disappointment this year in how her characters been written, and I think it's because she hasn't had that focus that everyone else has. Where has her spark gone? Where are the witty one liners and the eye rolling with the smiling? The only time she's felt close to S3 for me was in her (all too brief) banter with Katie and Cook.
- On the season as a whole, can I just state now that I'm fed up of Naomi and Emily. They had the best story line in S3 (ok, they only had the triangle as competition, but still). But this is horrendously boring to watch - nothing has happened since 4.04, and nothing of note has happened since 4.02. The Emily we see in 4.06 is the same one in 4.04, is that house a time vortex? There can't have been that long between 4.01 and 4.02, so first month at college, say September? Then 4.04 we know is February as that's when the Fitches get evicted, and JJ was on about DST which is end of March. So, September to March/April they are just in a state of limbo? That's significantly longer than the part of the relationship they were meant to be happy for!
My real issue with it is that come finale I think there will be a single scene and crying and apologising and that'll be it. JB will be all, "See, told you not to worry, we fixed it!" and I'll be over here rolling my eyes, because no, you won't have fixed it at all.
I'm glad that they decided to explore the less than perfect N/E relationship, because nothing's ever perfect (TM Effy Stonem) and this was no exception. But they have to do something with it after the first incident - either kill it or work it out properly. They've done neither. IMO it would be difficult to write them working it out at the best of times, but given the episode constraints I think it's damn near impossible, and I just wish they would have acknowledged that and didn't try, rather than held off till the end and tack something on (which is what I think they're doing, I don't actually know - no spoilers please! - but the alternative is worse, to drag it out for all this time and then kill it at the end is just a huge waste of the limited time they had). There are too many issues for them to deal with for it to be possible to do properly in a single ep, never mind a single scene.
- I was excited for next week until I saw it was JB writing and now I'm significantly less so. I just don't really get what he tries to do half the time. Still, a group scene in the pub! Will this be the first time they've all hung out this season? Oh no wait, Cook's not there. Sigh. Ensemble show my arse.