I heard about Skins through MTV’s remake for the US. The first 3 series recently popped up on Netflix Instant and I decided to give it a spin as I was looking for a new tv series to get into. I knew it was about High School kids and it was supposed to be pretty provocative show. Being on British TV, they can show much more in terms of language and sex so that throws American’s into a tizzy.

Easiest way to describe the show is Harry Potter, but replace the magic with sex, drugs and the real world. You follow along with this group of friends through the last year or two of their high schooling and really, their childhood. They’ve known each other for years and the world as they know it, changes. Growing up is harsh.

I watched the first episode and slowly felt it draw me in. I caught a few minutes of the US version and couldn’t stick with it because it looked really fake. It felt too filtered and phony to get into it. After that I dove head first into the original series. I blitzed through 19 episodes (two series) in about 3 weeks. I fell in love with the characters. If a show can make me love it’s characters, it’s a wrap. There’s 9 main characters and while I didn’t love them all, I felt like they were all real. And more importantly, their relationships were real. The layout of the show is really smart, each episode focuses on one character (as you can see in the title of an episode). While one is the focus, the other kids come in and out, sometimes you don’t see a character for awhile, but in the end they each have their own full fledged background and story arc. Tony, Michelle and Sid are arguably the main characters, but everyone really has their moments.

The writing is really well done especially considering the subject. Each kid does fall into a stereotype, but guess what? Kids do fall into a stereotype. It’s really easy to make teenagers annoying, but Skins manages to walk that fine line of writing intense drama without falling into the dreaded emo pit. Skins manages to take on some After School Special type scenarios (drugs, sex, shitty parents, eating disorders) without being cheesy and insulting. No one is perfect, they all make mistakes and you’re going to yell “What are you doing! You idiot!” at the TV. But that’s what happens when you have the perspective of an adult and you see that they really are just kids and they just don’t know any better. You learn from mistakes and you become a better person when you recognize that and can grow up. It’s not all gold though, there’s some scenes that don’t work or are too soap opera-ish and some acting can get rough. The main cast is typically very good, some ancillary characters can be amateurish. The rough stuff is pretty minimal I think and the good far out ways the bad. I really like how it’s shot too, it has a more cinematic look and feel to it than a TV show.

It’s been 3 days since I saw the season 2 finale and it’s stuck with me since then. It burrowed down into my head and brought up some memories, it really made me think about life. Now my teen years were nothing like what’s on the show, but it throws out feelings and events that I think just about everyone can relate to (especially when you’re older and you’ve lived through some shit).

Very few movies and shows have a lasting effect on me and those become my all time favorites. There’s a big cast change for season 3 so while it’s the same show, it’s a different story. That could change my perspective on the show as a whole, but as it stands the first 2 seasons is some of my favorite story telling I’ve seen since Inception.