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If you’ve been reading my reviews of Skins, you’ll know that I’ve been less than impressed with the teen drama’s fifth series so far, particularly with the episodes ‘Rich’ and ‘Mini’. However, I’m happy to declare that this week’s offering, ‘Nick’, was actually kind of fun and enjoyable, providing a strong story focussed on the lives of rugby player Nick and his rebellious brother Matty.
The episode begins by showing us Nick in his element as a rugby player and team captain (he even gets to give some sort of motivational speech) and then continues to show us what his life is like at home as his brother Matty moves back in (in last week’s ‘Liv’ he was running away from home). As the episode progresses, Nick grapples with how he feels about Liv and Matty being together and his relationship with girlfriend Mini. Matty also re-enrolls to Roundview College (thanks to headmaster David Blood, who their father refers to as “a jumped-up babysitter with an office”) and the whole gang go out drinking.
It seems that this series of Skins is slowly and steadily finding its feet and growing into the kind of television that’s actually worth tuning in for. One of my big issues with the past few installments has been that, for the most part, the acting has been subpar. In this episode, there’s definitely a marked improvement as far as the acting goes. I have to commend Sean Teale for turning Nick from a character that I found highly irritating to someone whose point-of-view I can really understand - I also quite like Sebastian De Souza’s turn as Matty.
One character I didn’t particularly warm to was one of Nick’s rugby playing friends, Ryder. In many ways, though, the grating presence of Ryder always helps to remind viewers that Nick could actually be more of an obnoxious fool than he already seems to be (Nick, also, does get some redemptive scenes). Another success of the episode was the dynamic between Nick and Matty as brothers. The two of them managed to be believable and interesting, especially when considering their relationship to their overbearing father. I found scenes like the one where they played rugby together and when Nick finally stood up for himself against his dad to be some of the most engaging of the episode.
When I finished with watching this episode, I spent a little while reminiscing about the earlier (and far better) series’ of Skins with one of my housemates. Aside from the obviously stronger characters and writing of series 1 and 2, I realised that there has been a fairly significant shift in the storytelling approach between now and then. In each episode of the first series, we were told where each separate character fitted within the overall group, in this series, what we get is a very clear focus on what each character is like as an individual. It’s a more risky strategy, as it raises the possibility of weak episodes, but I could also see it really paying off in series 6 when these actors have really grown into their roles.
So, ‘Nick’ was a better episode than most of the others in this series (except probably the premiere ‘Franky’), and it certainly makes me a little more positive for the remaining few offerings of series 5. Next week, it’s all about Alo. Aside from the fact that he spends a lot of time in his van, we know little about his character, and the episode could possibly be an interesting one.
Skins airs on Thursdays at 10pm on E4
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