As Ronnie mentioned, Skins seems to fit right in with the Channel 4 objective, one I would sum up as “edgy”, to borrow Ronnie’s term. And edgy it is, but only for one particular reason, in my opinion.
I hated the first episode. I hardly got through it. It seemed absurd, shallow, and the only real “shock value” for me came from the fact that these are younger teens, not of-age adults looking for a good time. But even so, I wasn’t impressed. The whole car-in-the-river bit felt forced, and the subplot romances didn’t interest me in the slightest.
And then I watched “Cassie”. What a fantastic television episode. It immediately drew me in, fascinating in its exploration of the single character. It was hilarious at points and absolutely tragic at others. The episode actually made me care about the character of Cassie instead of being annoyed by her as I was in the first episode, as I rolled my eyes at the stupid antics of troubled teenagers. The background information we get on her family, while possibly just an excuse to add more nudity, was intriguing and gave Cassie’s character a distinct reason to be a bit “off”, and certainly explains her previously inexplicable, incredibly casual views about sex.
Perhaps certain deep problems faced by the characters in Skins are rather skimmed over (this was one of my main issues with the first episode) but the second episode gives us at least a better idea of where these kids are coming from and why they act the way they do. The attitudes of both Cassie’s parents and the people at the counseling center give insight into her issues and also reflect how strong a person she really is, despite how annoying she seemed in the first episode.
Hannah Murray was brilliant in her portrayal; she had to be at the same time totally spacey but show the depth of Cassie’s inner turmoil. I looked up Murray’s imdb profile, and she hasn’t really done much since Skins, her only really notable role for me being a guest appearance on Game of Thrones. But although I am a huge Thrones fan, I honestly don’t remember her appearance. I didn’t notice her like I did in Skins, and I think that’s a shame. She’s certainly a talented actress, and I’d keep watching the show just to see more of Cassie.
I completely agree that the Cassie episode was one million times better than the Tony episode. I felt more connected to her in the first five minutes than I did with any other character through the entire pilot. Since the show became so popular and continued for many more series (although with a few different casts), I wonder how the other introductory episodes went deeper into the backgrounds of these characters. If they were as fluffy as the first episode, it would only solidify my, and many of this class’s, idea that British entertainment can be drastically different to American. But for it to become as big as it did, I would assume the audience can connect on as deep a level with some of the other kids as they did with Cassie. It is a fine line between portraying something that could be real and showing such sensationalism that it is not longer believable. These two episodes show the two different sides in my opinion, and the trajectory of Skins shows that (hopefully) the rest of the series followed the path of “Cassie” and not “Tony.”
One thing you touched on that really strikes me is that these episodes seem to be very comfortable with handling very delicate, dramatic issues both seriously and comedically. I think that its bold to do so, since they are so sensitive to many people. However, I do think that it makes them more accessible to the audience, because things are not all-good or all-bad–there is almost always an overlap. I am not sure if it is a representation of British culture, or just one isolated example, but I think that its noteworthy.