On Skins Fire Episode One. (Or When Effy Gets Responsibility But We Know That Can't Last Too Long.)

Effy Stonem Makes A Comeback. But Is She Who We Remember?

There's a ridiculous amount of pressure and ridicule when it comes to Skins in my life. it's an important television series to me for reasons that are a little cornball, but I digress.

Effy Stonem is a character that is divisive, pulverizing and overall, plain brilliant. while she may not have the charm or the wit that the previous kids from Series 6 did (MISS YOU MINI), her devious nature and signature DGAF style is what appeals to so many, and now that she's an adult, it's awkward to see.

Effy was the queen bee through her college experience, and now, we see her fully responsible, paying rent, trading stocks, and even making friends that she won't use and abuse at some point. (you know that poor Dominic kid is totally fucked though come next episode.) while she still lashes out the occasional one liner here and there ("you look like a horse when you laugh.") the idea that Effy has got it together is foreign. it feels awkward, until you realize that she kind of doesn't.

She can't sleep. her roommate, Naomi (UGH WE HAVE TO WAIT NEXT WEEK FOR EMILY) is practically helpless. her big twist is actually quite big, but we'll get to that in a minute. Effy travels through clubs at night, docile, feeling the groove and letting bodies rub up against her. it reminds me of her Series 1 moment where she felt like she was 'born backwards.'

Instead of lashing out, Effy seems to let these moments of insomnia keep her usual paranoia and insanity that we got used to in series 4 at bay. she's together. she's stable. until, just so slightly, she wants what she never had in previous series: control.

Effy as a stocktrader could be the worst possible career choice. she has no control over the companies that she has to invest in. no control over whether the stocks will go up or down. no control in who is watching, why they're watching and how they're watching her every move. she's at a loss. she freezes. she tenses up. instead of just quitting, instead of walking out like the Effy we're used to, she breathes. she gets it together and sometimes, gets a lucky break.

While the Naomi-cancer reveal felt a bit forced, in the grand scheme of things, having someone yell at Effy that 'YOU WON AGAIN.' is incredibly self-aware on the writers part to have the characters realize so much about themselves. Effy always gets away with it. she never has gone through true pain, just trauma. she never has experienced true loss, just distance. if they kill Naomi, Effy won't realize how lucky she truly is, but rather, how she can move on to the next step in her life without breaking a stride.

It sucks that these storylines are split in two because it definitely seems like the formula of setup-then-drama is definitely being used here. i'm always ready for shit to hit the fan in Skins, but at least i only have to wait one week for a storyline to finish instead of a whole season.