Skins - Series 4 [DVD] [2009] (film on DVD)
from 4DVD
Starring: Kaya Scodelario, Lisa Blackwell, Megan Prescott, Kathryn Prescott, Lily Loveless
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Audience Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
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DVD Box Price: £12.99
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Channel Four’s controversial yet much-loved Skins had a bit of a bumpy ride with its third, and less satisfying season to date. Its decision to replacement the bulk of the cast was a risky one, that didn’t fully pay off. Thus, the pressure was on to recapture what had made the show so compelling for series four. Fortunately, there’s a bit more of a feel of back to business about it, something that’s evident right from the first episode. The characters feel more confident and settled, the narrative’s more interesting, and--while not perfect--it feels a bit more like the Skins of old. The catalyst for much of the drama of Skins’s fourth series is a death of a stranger that we see in the first episode. It’s an event that has ramifications for the group. We’ve no intention of spoiling what happens here, but it’s quite a satisfying narrative the series follows, and well played on the whole by the cast. Furthermore, more episodes than not capture the mix of comedy and drama well, and the overall feeling is of a show that’s recaptured a lot of what made it so strong in the first place. Roll on Skins series five… --Jon Foster
Great !  Sent: 05 September 2010
Amazing stories, amazing characters, and beautiful actors ! As sad as funny... Best TV show ever !!!
Oh Dear.  Sent: 18 July 2010
***WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!***
I had high hopes for this series that unfortunately went unfulfilled. One of the main flaws of Series 4 is that it's just too bleak. Skins is a drama but in it's early days the dark bits were balanced out with some very light-hearted scenes. This is not the case for Series 4. Right from the off we are bombarded relentlessly with suicide, adultery, more adultery, mental illness, attempted suicide, and (inexplicably) memory erasure. Having said that, episode 6 is outstanding. Although it's clearly a 'filler' episode, it's unashamedly charming and heartwarming. Episodes 1 - 4 are entertaining enough in their own right but seem to be a little lacking in some areas. Episode 5 is just horrendous and is an outrageously blatant case of 'jumping the shark'. As I mentioned before, episode 6 is excellent. Episode 7 is far too angsty and takes a ridiculous look at mental illness (a scene featuring mental patients on space hoppers comes to mind) and throws logic out of the window. This is where the aforementioned memory erasure comes in. Episode 8 is the crowning turd in the water pipe. It contains some of the laziest writing I've ever seen in my life. Bringing in random plot elements that make no sense and are factually incorrect (Bryan Elsley could have at least bothered to do some basic research), turning the episode into some kind of fantasy horror film (You'll understand when you see the last few minutes of the episode) and leaving absolutely everything up in the air on an exceptionally irritating cliffhanger. The cast give reasonable performances but then again if you give a writer bad material, it's not going to turn out well. The phrase "you can't polish a turd" is particularly apt here. The guest stars are mainly good but not really up to the standard of the previous series (unfortunately Harry Enfield has vanished despite playing the father of the main character). Those of paticular note are Chris Addison, Paul Kaye, Georgia Henshaw, and Margaret John. While I'm on the subject of guest stars, there's another thing that really got my goat: stunt casting. For reasons beyond the sphere of human knowledge, Will Young is a guest star in episode 5.
The series as a whole is worth a watch but I'm warning you, don't get your hopes up.
Still awesome Sent: 12 June 2010
Skins still has that awesome formula that works so well, perhaps not quite as good as the first 2 seasons that where truly inspired but that is a very hard act to follow :)
The end of the series has that unanswered question that I find so frustrating but apart from that no other complaints. Enjoy :)
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Skins: The Novel
Epicc :) Sent: 06 June 2010
Skins: Series 4 is darker and deeper than ever as the gang - led by the irrepressible Cook (Jack O'Connell) - return for their second year at college.
With more twists than a particularly tangled roller-coaster, each characters story is played out with a clever fusion of drama and delight - reflecting those unique years of carefree yet life-changing experiences.
Boozing, sexuality, drug taking and mental health problem are some of the issues to be tackled in the show's fourth outing as the show - which has never been afraid to court controversy - again sets out to shock.
But superb acting added to a very solid script gives the series a gritty, realistic edge even during the somewhat surreal moments that are conjured up.
As well as the talented cast of kids, the Channel 4 series is smattered with celebrity appearances from the likes of Will Young, Pauline Quirke and Hugo Speer.
They're joined by the wonderful - but criminally underused - new headteacher David Blood, whose scheming to improve grades is an amusing diversion from the main - and far heavier - plotlines.
One quick word on the ending.
I'm not a rat so I won't spoil it for those of you who have yet to tune in.
However English teachers always tell the GCSEs student never to end an essay with "And we woke up and it was all a dream" because it's the worst possible way to end a story.
Well, Skins came up with a pretty close alternative according to the hundreds of complaints from aghast fans.
I, for one, loved it.
Questions at the end of programmes always spark debate rather than the rather routine 'all-wrapped-up' feel that so many dramas strive to provide for end of season finales.
Whatever happened to the greatest drama series ever to be shown on TV? Sent: 30 May 2010
I am, as you all know, referring to Skins series 3, a program I have watched more than any other and even written a 16000 word review/recap of it. It was a series that reached out and touched people. Like Glee, it transcended its target demographic. It was important television and Series 4 was the most anticipated (by me anyway) program ever since the moon landing.
And then we got Skins series 4 which was like being slapped with a wet piece of cod. It wasn't all bad, not by a long way, and did have some good stuff. But what it didn't have was the magic of Series 3. So, what happened? And I should add that in my attempt to find out, we'll doing serious spoilers, so if you aren't already familiar with it, you'd be best off reading another review.
It opened promisingly if grimly. Sophia, a girl unknown to us wanders through a heaving club, walking by or bumping into our friends. After walking past a snogging Naomi and Emily she climbs onto a balcony and jumps off. The first two episode are about the aftermath. When Naomi lies to the police in front of Emily, Emily starts digging into what really happened. What she finds out shatters her relationship with Naomi, even though they've just moved in together, and they spend the rest of the series in a living hell as Emily is full of anger and resentment and Naomi is full of guilt and self-pity.
Thomas, who had been running the club night is expelled from Roundview by the new ruthless head who speaks softly and carries a bull-pizzle whip with which to lash recalcitrant students. Actually that's a metaphor, or maybe just a fantasy of mine. Thomas then undergoes his own journey into the heart of darkness by foolishly if understandably (she's hot, she's talented, she's from the Congo, and she wants him anyway) having sex with his minister's daughter and then, stupidly, tells Pandora who won't, at Effy's urging, forgive him.
So far, so glum.
On the other hand, Katie 4king Fitch comes up trumps. When her family starts to collapse around her due to her father's incompetent financial dealings, it's Katie who holds everything together even to the extent of getting them to movie in with Naomi and Emily. What do you think, Mysterious Voice-over from The Weakest Link? "Well Ian, from the weakest player in the last round, Katie has become the strongest in this one." Thank you, sir. Katie, unlike some of our characters, is growing up and doing a good job it it.
The next biggest surprise is Cook. An even bigger one is his mother who is just as selfish a monster as his father was in series 3. Except she's a millionaire conceptual artist who has loud sex within the hearing of Cook and his 10 year old half-brother. Cook comes to learn that his actions have consequences which he finally faces up to and it appears that he too is beginning to grow up. Sadly it doesn't last.
Thank god we get some well-earned light relief with JJ falling in love with a single mother who cute and pretty and bright enough to realise that a gentle 18 year old who flirts with old ladies at a checkout is a better bet than her chav ex-boyfriend. There are lots of funny scenes and painful ones too, plus an encounter with JJ's quiet father who has always thought that JJ would do just fine even while he tolerates JJ's mum dragging him to see dopy shrinks. And it has a happy end.
Meanwhile, Freddie and Effy (my two least favourite characters) are living in a haze of drugs, sex, and madness. Freddie blames his father for his mother's suicide and when Effy develops similar symptoms he can't cope. This leaves Effy at the mercy of an obsessive psycho-shrink who makes her even worse and who, when it seems she's out of his clutches, murders Freddie and Series 4 jumps the shark. Madness is a serious and important subject and it was right to tackle it in Skins. But what they should not have done was to introduce a genuinely homicidal psychologist into the mix and reduce it to cheapest and crudest of melodrama. More than anything else, this ruined series 4 for me. And getting his comeuppance from Cook didn't help any either.
And so to the last episodes when loose ends are tied up and relationships are resolved. Like you, I desperately wanted Naomi and Emily to get back together properly and if they hadn't I would probably have destroyed the television set and stalked the writers with a baseball bat. That's another metaphor; I wouldn't really. So, no surprise, they did get back together with lots of crying and some kissing (not enough). Thomas, in the space of five minutes is seen running by a coach who tells him he's international class and fixes him up with a sports scholarship at Harvard. Wow! And they say fairy tales don't happen. Pandora, who was always cleverer than she admitted to be, has got several squillion A*s and a history to scholarship to- Oh, you'll never guess.
Outside the party in Freddie's shed where all this has been happening, lurks psycho-shrink who is followed home by Cook who finds, all neatly laid out in the living room, the evidence that his best mate has been murdered. Violence is about to ensue when the credits come up.
Great cast, great acting, great adult guest stars, and some bloody horrible plot developments. Still, we'll always have Skins 3.
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Associated dvd film / movie categories: Channel 4, Television, Gay and Lesbian, Comedy, Drama |
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