SKINS 4.3

WRITER: Ben Schiffer
DIRECTOR: Philippa Langdale

[SPOILERS] The third episode of the current series of Skins sees the writers cook up (excuse the pun) a good script that works as a result of Jack O'Connell's lead acting -- at times fightingly menacing, at others lost and confused. What really impresses about his performance is his success in making such a potentially unlikeable character so completely watchable...

The episode starts with Cook moving in with his mother (against his will) as a result of his outburst of violence in the previous episode, which has now landed him in trouble with the cops, who have electronically tagged his leg. This fuels the predictable "tension-with-the-loopy-parent" theme running through the episode -- a recurring concept in the program, which has become increasingly stale of late. The appearance of Cook's brother, however, is a more interesting take on the family theme, as he starts to take on and display the negative traits of Cook's personality that start to help Cook recognize his flaws.

In this way, the rest of the episode focuses generally on Cook coming to learn, effectively, the error of his ways. It's a perhaps surprisingly corny storyline for Skins, a program which you’d think would tend to shy away from the typical "realizing the error of their ways" storyline cliché. But then, with the current cast rounding off their time on the show, now is as good a time as any for Cook to finally start to grow up.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the episode's soundtrack is once again a perfectly pitched selection of alternative choices: from HEALTH to The Drums, whilst the use of Motorhead's "Ace Of Spades" being played on Guitar Hero by Cook's brother was a great throwback to it's use at the beginning of series three, while also being representative of the link between the two characters.

The episode was an interesting look at Cook's character, with some memorable scenes -- in particular the moment where Cook argued with his lawyer (Paul Kaye) and he was guilty of attacking the stranger (... "and I fucking enjoyed it".) The only real disappointment with these last few episodes has been the lack of a clear, continuous plot; episodes are becomingly increasingly self-contained, which is slightly frustrating considering how each character only get's one episode focusing on them each season. This means they often get one big dose of development followed by very little for the remaining episodes. Given the quality of Jack O'Connell's acting, let's hope that's not the case here...

11 FEBRUARY 2010: E4 (HD), 10PM