SKINS 4.2

WRITER: Ed Himme
DIRECTOR: Phillippa Langdale
GUEST CAST: Ian Watkins, Ronni Ancona, John Bishop & Pauline Quirke

[SPOILERS] Skins returns from last week's tedious angst-driven episode with... well, another angst driven episode, only this time they nail it. It's partly a testament to Kathryn Prescott's lead acting as Emily, who carries the episode, and partly down to a script that allows itself to work with the relationships between characters as opposed to merely focusing on one, whilst neatly sidestepping common Skins pitfalls and predictabilities.

The episode kicks off by going back to basics; a carefree love scene shows Emily and Naomi (Lily Loveless) as they motorcycle around the city (backed by the Temper Trap's "Sweet Disposition" - officially making it the most overused soundtracking song of the year). But soon enough the death that opened the current series is back to haunt, and Naomi's suspicious behaviour during her interview with the police forces her to admit to Emily that she supplied the MDMA that lead to the girl's suicide, provoking curiosity (which soon morphs into jealousy) from Emily, thus setting the plot in motion for the episode.

Emily ventures to the girl's home to find the extent of Naomi's relationship with the girl, which leads past awkward family scenes and to an army camp which the girl attended. Along the way is the obligatory "Skinsian" sex scene and the obligatory Skinsian party scene, the latter proving a particular highlight as it's the first time in the series where the cast come into play as a group -- Cook (Jack O'Connell), having discussed relationships with Emily, and spurred by jealousy over losing Effy (Kaya Scodelario) to Freddie (Luke Pasqualino), takes his anger out by assaulting on a random passer by, much to his friends despair, as the couple in question walk out amidst the chaos.

Later, the climax of the episode see's Emily and the dead girl's brother opening a box found in her room, containing a sketchbook detailing her loneliness and the revelation of her affair with Naomi. The sequence, with emotional backing music and shots of Emily teetering on the edge of a 10 story car park flirts with melodrama, but it's just about kept in check.

One of perhaps the most touching moments in the episode comes from a subsequent scene showing the relationship between Emily and her father (John Bishop). As he comforts his daughter and discusses the reality of love it's a welcome departure for a show that all too often paints parents as over the top caricatures rather than human, mature characters (as demonstrated by Emily's homophobic mother earlier in the episode), and a nice reminder that, however cocky or mature the main characters might act, they're still growing, and they're still little more than kids.

In essence episode two took all the mistakes made in the first episode and learnt from them. There's a decent amount of screentime for Cook and the rest of the cast (even Thomas makes a typically glum appearance), whilst the central relationship between Emily and Naomi develops interestingly and stylishly, via a storyline that refrains from being consumed by angst. More of this please.

4 FEBRUARY 2010: E4 (HD), 10PM