Reaction post for Skins 6.01 Everyone
Unfortunately, we pretty much all guessed that this season Grace was going to:
(a) die or
(b) be paralyzed or
(c) be in a coma
And then they showed a car crash in the preview and then the whole internet was like OH DUH.
So that took a lot of the shock value out of the episode and it was absolutely nothing like watching Tony suddenly get hit by a bus.
Thus, I think the real shocker of the episode is the bizarre character assassination the writers performed on Franky. Fuck, I honestly cannot think of a single other character in all the television I have ever seen that was fire-bombed this thoroughly. They basically wrote Franky off the series and then replaced her with a new character that bares the same name.
When I heard the spoiler that the writers had decided to shift courses and completely ignore all of the Mini/Franky UST from S5, I thought it was a poor idea story wise (the girls had good chemistry, had received excellent build-up, it was a popular ship with a fanbase, viewers had happily welcomed a f/f canon pairing in previous seasons)... but I assumed that there was a decent character arc coming that would justify this and I was still open to being pleased. Instead, the fact that the writers seemed to feel that they had to ignore the basic foundations of both Franky and Mini's characters from last season (and the official Skins novel) just makes me feel like this direction is turning out to be a fateful flaw for Season 6 -- far, far more than I would have ever expected.
'I think she can't do it. Be with someone.' I honestly don't know where they're going with this... Especially since this Franky is basically a completely different person in every way from S5.
But the impression I'm getting (which is possibly not what I'm supposed to think) is that maybe she's just not as into all the sex and the pretentious ~artistic discussions as he thinks she is?
or maybe he's just a REALLY ANNOYING BOYFRIEND. I mean, seriously? Yammering on and on about a subject after she asked him to stop? Staring at her like a creeper constantly and unable to have fun by himself? Touching her when she seems uncomfortable with it? Maybe she can't commit yet, or maybe she's just feeling completely suffocated by someone with attachment issues...
Franky: 'Is that what life's about then? Not upsetting our boyfriends?'
Again, I can't decide if the writers want her to be coming off like a bitch or if we're supposed to sympathize with this statement.
And again I kind of feel torn, because the public dramatics and petulance is making things uncomfortable on everyone's holiday... and if you don't want to be with someone, just break up with them. But then we can see there's peer pressure that would make her feel like she can't and that she's wrong for feeling this way. And also, yeah, if you just take that line for what it is... good point. Not upsetting her boyfriend shouldn't be Franky's major concern in life. That's fair.
Really, the bottom line is that the complete character re-write of Franky makes it almost impossible to read her emotions or motivations.
I thought Liv was lovely in this episode, by the way. That's one character I like even more than last season. (That's how it's supposed to be for the season premiere, writers!)
Grace and Rich were simply adorable, per usual. Their easy affection and enjoyment of each other's company, for me, only serves to show how unhealthy the Franky/Matty relationship is. It just makes me think that Franky's dwindling patience and interest in Matty is simply because she doesn't actually love him and their relationship doesn't work.
Though there were some slight indications from last season, the Alo/Mini hook up came way too much out of nowhere. Yeah, Mini just loves causual sex now and has no discernible body issues. Whoooo sex and penis! Fuck all those key components of her characterization! If we're rebooting Franky, then why not?
I mean, I'm sure there's a dozen ways that they could have set up this pairing that would have made sense with characterization in the prior season. But they just.... decided not to? *facepalm*
I agree with some other complaints I've seen, that the drug dealers weren't necessary. Why not have a regular car crash? Or a DUI? It's a typical teenage tragedy - perfect..
whaaaat with Matty running away. NICE ONE. I mean, ok I get the drugs bit and that there was really nothing he could do in this case for Grace. But my issue is that he didn't check. He didn't look. What if she was bleeding somewhere badly and needed to wound to be wrapped and with pressure to save her from fucking dying? AT LEAST CHECK.
eh, I'm so at two minds about this. Basically, I know that I'd give this as a freebie if someone like Nick did it, who I really like now and who seems to have a secret squishy heart of gold. I'd be like, "oh, he was scared and he didn't want to go to jail." But since I already dislike Matty, it just makes me dislike him even more. And I'm okay with the hypocrisy, since they're just fictional characters.
I'm torn on the decision to include a 3 week jump. Though every season has its serious missteps (especially the follow up season for every generation), when the writing is good on Skins, it is very very good. And so I can't help thinking that if they got it right, the depiction of the days following the accident might have elevated the quality of this episode. On the other hand, it's I can understand that the writers wanted to push forward so that the season's narrative could be about the long term affect of the crash on the group dynamics instead of on the drama of the immediate aftermath.
The Nick scenes at episode end are lovely. The small moment between him and Mini was absolutely beautiful and the best moment of the episode in my opinion. I'd love to see more quiet, earnest scenes together as friends.
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