botherd: (Default)
botherd ([personal profile] botherd) wrote2011-01-28 12:20 am

Obligatory Thursday Skins Post


My overwhelming feeling is... meh.

I actually quite liked Franky and think she could be a cool character, but I wasn't hugely interested in the story. Mostly because there didn't seem to be much story. I kept waiting for something to happen, and it never really did. Girl is bullied; girl finds friends. (Too bad two of those friends are Rich and Alo. It's really hard to feel happy for Franky when you consider that.) And that was basically it.

The only other character I'm remotely interested in is Mini, and that's just to see if there's a reason why she's so heinous. But really, it was fairly standard Mean Girls characterisation, wasn't it?

Grace was super annoying. Liv was whatever. Nick hardly did anything but is probably awful. Matty was eye-rollingly pretentious. Rich and Alo were just dreadful. Basically, they're all twats and need to fuck right off.

I guess I'll keep watching just because I feel vaguely obliged to, but I could easily give up. In terms of writing and acting I'd say it's better than US!Skins, but it was much less likeable.

Also, did we really need to see Alo's arse? Jesus fuck.

[identity profile] immortality.livejournal.com 2011-01-28 12:46 am (UTC)(link)
In terms of writing and acting I'd say it's better than US!Skins, but it was much less likeable.

My thoughts exactly. Like, the difference for me between US!Skins and UK!Skins is that my interest in UK!Skins basically lives and dies by each episode. Really, the only characters I'm genuinely interested in are Franky, Grace, and Mini (if only to see how and why anyone could be that horrible). Whereas with US!Skins, it may falter in terms of writing and acting, but I really want to know more about each character and see where everything goes. With G3, I'm kind of just like ... eh. Don't really care.

I would have liked to know WHY Franky was bullied before Roundview. Like, yeah, I guess she dressed a bit strange and she does have two dads, but there wasn't ever a point when I was like, WOW FRANKY IS SO ~WEIRD. Idk, none of the bullying ever really made sense to me.

Grace was kind of over the top, but Idk, I liked her. She seemed ... sincere, I guess. I didn't like that she was basically stalking Franky after knowing her for five minutes. I felt like any second Grace was gonna grab Franky and snog the hell out of her. It was awkward. And what was with the random shoplifting? Idk, Idk.

Mini is terribly unlikable -- it's like the worst parts of Katie and Michelle shoved together into one person. And yet, I want to know why exactly she's such a goddamn bitch.

Didn't have much of an issue with Liv, but Rich and Alo were just ... stop. Matty is like a male!Effy and yeah, I was rolling my eyes at his and Franky's horribly contrived scene. (And people said the scene with Tea and her grandmother was contrived? Jfc.) Do not care about Nick at all.

[identity profile] botherd.livejournal.com 2011-01-28 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
I'm glad you agree, because I just read a few really positive reaction posts and thought I was the only one that wasn't that bothered. The thing is, it was well done - a lot better than some previous episodes - but I just didn't care.

Yeah, I agree that more context for the bullying would have been good. I don't know if we can expect more backstory or if this is as much as we're going to get.

I actually liked Grace a bit more as the episode went on (she started off REALLY annoying) but she just didn't feel like a real person to me.

I was expecting to ship Franky/Mini but wow, Mini was SO awful to Franky that I just can't.

[identity profile] immortality.livejournal.com 2011-01-28 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
The thing is, it was well done - a lot better than some previous episodes - but I just didn't care.

EXACTLY. And I don't agree with the people who say this is better than 301 -- at least in 301 we got to see equal amounts of almost every single major character (Thomas excluded), where here we didn't really see Nick at all and Rich, Alo, Matty, and Liv played minor roles. All I know about Grace is that apparently she REALLY LIKES Franky. I feel like I don't really know anything about these characters at all, Franky included.

I mentioned it to someone before and I think it applies here -- this episode didn't have a ~plot, but it was bright and shiny and ~action packed~ so everyone thinks it's great.

I was expecting to ship Franky/Mini but wow, Mini was SO awful to Franky that I just can't.

I seriously could not agree more.

[identity profile] botherd.livejournal.com 2011-01-28 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
Yes! 301 really felt like an introduction to the characters, as did 101 (which was technically Tony's episode, but felt more like an ensemble). This is the problem with the episodes getting increasingly insular. I mean, now I kind of feel like once a character's episode is over, their whole story is done.

this episode didn't have a ~plot, but it was bright and shiny and ~action packed~ so everyone thinks it's great.

Totally agree. There were lots of moments that I thought were enjoyable but it just didn't really add up to much. Whereas last series it felt like a character's whole story was told in one episode, this one was the opposite and it felt like nothing progressed at all. And because it wasn't a proper introduction to the characters, it didn't even really set up any interesting dynamics.

[identity profile] immortality.livejournal.com 2011-01-28 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
This is the problem with the episodes getting increasingly insular. I mean, now I kind of feel like once a character's episode is over, their whole story is done.

Yep. I expect to never see Franky's dad again or having the bullying issue be brought up again or anything like that. It's all, Well, that done with, never need to touch that storyline again. And that really bothers me.

There were lots of moments that I thought were enjoyable but it just didn't really add up to much. Whereas last series it felt like a character's whole story was told in one episode, this one was the opposite and it felt like nothing progressed at all. And because it wasn't a proper introduction to the characters, it didn't even really set up any interesting dynamics.

Again, completely agreed.

I thought I was going insane because I saw so many people being all, OMG THIS IS THE BEST GEN EVER and I was just like, Wow, really? It wasn't a BAD episode, but I feel like G2 and even G1 were so much more lovable. I look at Mini and Nick and Rich and I'm just like, really? Even though Tony was a dick and Cook was a cock and stuff like that, they were still lovable in some way. I don't feel this at all with G3. I WANT to, but I just don't.