skins, series 5

right, so the first two seasons of skins, starting in 2007, were rather phenomenal in their gritty portrayal of teens with issues (i highly recommend them, it's a far better show than whatever's on mtv). it was a perfect drama with bits of comedy and a few moments of suspended disbelief, but the whole cast remains grounded and the performances are very realistic. i would have compared it to degrassi, but skins is not an after-school program like degrassi (and i hate degrassi).

it deals with issues in a much more mature way. the first three seasons are available for instant watch on netflix. if you can, watch them at ~1.09x speed. the dialog is very natural, but sometimes too slow for me.

since i haven't seen the entirety of skins mtv yet, i'm not going to compare it to the original. the acting on it is indeed horrid, though. whoever plays tony doesn't have near as much charm as nicholas hoult (who's playing beast in x-men: first class, and he was in clash of the titans (didn't see)), which is a large selling point to get interested in the series, mind the sex, drugs and partying. it's a genuinely entertaining show, go watch now.

then after two seasons, the cast changes with minimal ties to the seasons before it. i watched the first couple episodes and really couldn't get through them. the season starts like a 'life at school' show instead of 'life in general.' i wasn't feeling it, so i haven't watched the third or fourth seasons yet (though i hear they get better). a lot of it has to do with the characters being less mature, but maybe that's how they're supposed to start.

now onto season 5. i liked the first two seasons so much that when i read that they were recasting for the new season, i started to watch again. i was pleasantly surprised! the show seemed to sink back to its deep melancholy roots and told us the story of franky, a girl with two dads who looks like la roux. she is very shy and just moved to the area coming from a school where she was bullied, which i commend them for not portraying it in a sappy, preachy way. then there's the rest of the cast, which half we still have to get to know. the series is run in a way that each episode is dedicated to a character, and we see their perspective of how everything is progressing.

there's some of the backstory, now here's the scores:
season 5, episode "franky" - 8.5/10
season 5, episode "rich" - 6/10
season 5, episode "mini" - 7.5/10
season 5, episode "liv" - 9.5/10

skins is on thursdays, so i usually get to watch them by the weekend. i just watched the fourth episode "liv" and thought it was so good that i wanted to write about how much better the writing on the show is doing. i'll be posting my review tomorrow, so look forward to it!