WARNING: SHOW SPOILERS!
If you love the show as much as I do, I hope you enjoy reminiscing in subconscious smiling and head-nodding as you read and remember wonderful memories of your favorite characters.
Skins (UK) is amazing. Breath-taking. Wonderful. Horribly depressing. Perfectly funny. Absolutely beautiful. From the incredibly dark scenes to the wild party scenes, Skins tells the story of teens and what is unseen or misunderstood in their young lives.
Personally, I don't think there's a better show that's just as equally as relatable as it is depressing, as funny as it is lovely. Not only does it have the most awesome music ever and deliver amazing plots that make us cry, laugh, and scream; but the characters are incredible. I just want to personally thank Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain for creating the perfect amount of angst and beauty in each character.
Each generation is totally different but very similar. The first generation is my personal favorite, focusing on Tony Stonem and his friends. The second generation focuses on Tony's sister Elizabeth (Effy) Stonem and her friends, and the third generation is a totally new crowd.
Each episode focuses on a specific character, following their lives and making viewers cry and laugh all over the place. I decided to take the time to list out each character in the first generation and discuss brief descriptions on why they are perfect.
1. Tony Stonem
The beautiful boy who stole our hearts with his charm. Sure, he got annoying with his nature in that he knew he was adored, but his humble being after getting hit by the bus made us fall in love even more. He is goodhearted, and his improvement after the coma definitely strengthens that.
2. Sid Jenkins
Misunderstood. What other word is there to describe him? Sid is that stereotypical misunderstood high school boy who longs for love and acceptance, especially by his father. His borderline-obsession with Michelle and his absolutely adorable newfound love for Cassie make him out to be the lovely, beautiful character we all adore.
3. Chris Miles
My all-time favorite character. Not only is he ridiculously funny, but he is misunderstood just as Sid is due to his family situation. His initial feelings for his teacher, Angie, shows the true hardships that come from relationships, but with effort, that love can prosper. His later adorable relationship with Jal makes it extra-heartbreaking when he died. It still hurts me to admit that he's gone. Ouch.
4. Anwar Kharral
His trouble with his faith and his parent's stronghold on him make him to be the angsty young boy we all feel for and love. While his family situation and the difficulty of his beliefs putting a strain on him and Maxxie's relationship, we feel the sad feeling along with the giggles as he goes completely against the ordeals with sex and parties.
5. Maxxie Oliver
We love his charisma, his flaunt of his sexuality, and his we are so in awe of his talent of dance. We ache for him when Sketch is in the picture, and we admire his forgiving personality. We just fall in love with him even more when he's the one to help Tony after the accident.
6. Cassie Ainsworth
Wow. (Pun fully intended) Cassie is complicated, but a wonderful character nonetheless. Her strength is so admirable; as she is masking her mental health struggles. Her eating disorder, emotional pain caused by Sid and ignorance from her parents are things we want desperately to help her with. In contrast, we smiled at her bubbly and quirky personality.
7. Jal Fazer
The charismatic, strong, talented woman who we all come to love when we view her close friendship with Michelle and when she becomes pregnant with Chris' baby. It's heartbreaking when she doesn't want to keep it, and it's heartbreaking when her beloved passes.
8. Michelle Richardson
Though she's my least favorite character, "Nips" is still a part of the family all the same. Her difficult relationship with Tony, Sid's initial infatuation, and good friendship with Jal shapes her into the person she is. Michelle is a great girl, and we view that through the season.
Skins (UK) is my all-time favorite show, if you haven't realized. Even simply looking up these gifs to put under each of the characters' names put me through nostalgia of first watching the season and realizations of how much I love the show. Being an adolescent is weird and hard and this show just makes our angst understandable. All sentiments aside, stop whatever you're doing and turn on Netflix! (But be prepared to have your heart ripped out.)
