My love for this show grew exponentially last night after watching Freddie’s episode. Many people had mixed feelings about the episode, but I personally loved it. I think people who had a hard time accepting it or liking it are those who have never dealt firsthand with mental illness, and therefore are unable to relate to Effy and her actions.

Skins is an English show that revolves around the lives of teenagers living Bristol who are attending the fictional sixth form college Roundview College. The series recycles its cast every two seasons, since at the end of two years the characters have (for the most part) moved on and gone to university. Every episode also centers on one character in particular (sort of like LOST, but with no flashbacks), although each episode usually tries to include everyone in some way, even if we just see a couple of glimpses of them.

Even though I watch shows like Gossip Girl, that depict a rather glamorous and unattainable form of teenage life, I much prefer Skins because of its blatant realism. Teenagers are shown for what they are: most of us are messed up and confused about who we are and who we want to be. We fall in love several times a week, and we try to make sense of our overwhelming hormones and emotions. We are overwhelmed with the responsibilities that we are starting to face, but resentful of the fact that the world still treats us like children. We dream big, but we’re conflicted about whether or not we should live for the now and risk messing up our lives later on, or give up having fun in the present in order to concentrate for a better tomorrow. Being a teenager is not fun, which is exactly what this show is all about.

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