History YMMV / Skins

** The various books Tony and Cassie read as members of the GeniusBookClub are often related to the events of the episodes in which they are seen. For example, Tony reading ''[[Creator/FriedrichNietzsche Thus Spake Zarathustra]]'' in Sid's S1 episode which features Tony at his most [[TheUbermensch Übermenschian]], or ''Literature/OrangesAreNotTheOnlyFruit'' (about a young girl coming to terms with her homosexuality) in the episode where he [[spoiler: has sex with Maxxie]]. Cassie's choice of Creator/MargaretAtwood's ''The Edible Woman'' to read to Chris in her S2 episode functions more as a nod back to her struggle with anorexia in S1, but could also be seen as foreshadowing: A major theme of the book is alienation, something Cassie would experience as a result of [[spoiler: Chris's death]].

** Adele's "Hometown Glory" playing in the scene where [[spoiler: an alienated, and now truly alone Cassie, who had ran off to New York after Chris's death takes a bite out of an apple and breaks down in tears]] is particularly poignant and upsetting considering the character.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Emily's [[spoiler:night out in Paris - you know the bit I mean]] in the novel.
** At the end of season one, Sid (and others) singing ''Wild World''.

* ColbertBump: The soundtrack.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Josh gets this in some corners, in spite (or perhaps [[EvilIsSexy because]]) of his dark streak. Same goes for Luke of the third generation.

* James Fitch had quite an amount of popularity, and was someone people wanted for the third generation, while realising he wasn't old enough. Alas, as the third generation was the last, he never would be.

* IdiotPlot: Headteacher David Blood resolves to send his daughter Grace to a better college than Roundview, but makes the compromise that this will only happen if she gets a single sub-A grade. He resorts to foul play to make this happen, trying to enlist her boyfriend to deliberately throw the drama play, but this entire scheme is contrived and rests on unreliable factors. There's no reason given as to why Blood doesn't simply change Grace's grade himself – something he'd already been established as capable of doing in Gen 2, when he nonchalantly falsified Effy's test scores to keep the college average up.

* {{Narm}}: Freddie's line to Effy in 3x05 is definitely this: ''"Now I've told you. '''Now you know'''."''

* NightmareFuel: [[spoiler:Chris's death by hemorrhage is both terrifying and also very realistically portrayed, between the blood from his mouth and nose, the memory loss, the vomiting, convulsions, and, most scarily, the speed in which it happens.]]

** Dev Patel after ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire'', his StarMakingRole.

** Kaya Scodelario (Effy) and Nicholas Hoult (Tony) are much bigger stars now than they were before ''Skins'', starring in movies like ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|2010}}'' and ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' respectively. Scodelario was even once considered for the role of [[Film/TheHungerGames Katniss Everdeen]], though she lost out to Creator/JenniferLawrence (who is, coincidentally, Nicholas Hoult's real-life girlfriend). Scodelario did get the main female role in another dystopian young adult book-to-movie adaptation - Teresa Agnes in ''Film/TheMazeRunner''.

** Creator/DanielKaluuya after his ''BlackMirror'' episode or his StarMakingRole in ''GetOut''.
%%* RomanticPlotTumor / MalignantPlotTumor: How many people saw the Freddie/Effy storyline in S4.

** Season 7’s ’’Rise’’ has Charlie who screws around which leads to her boyfriend turning into a homicidal stalker, and she still tries to seduce Cook despite knowing that his girlfriend Emma is clearly hurt by it.

** James Newman from the US version was absolutely hated as much as Tony for his lack of acting skills

** A decade ago, "lesbian" characters who slept with men were a dime a dozen, often the only way to get homophobic viewers to accept them. However, the US remake of ''Skins'' ignited quite a controversy over Tea, a character touted as a "confident lesbian," spending so much time mooning over and sleeping with Tony, with even a lot of straight reviewers attacking it for relying on a tired and offensive cliche. Along with a similar firestorm over ''Film/TheKidsAreAllRight'', it showed just how much SocietyMarchesOn. And these days they could easily just say she was bisexual with a preference for women, but in the 2000s a lot of people still believed in NoBisexuals.

** In general, Skins doesn't handle mental illness with much sensitivity, or in a way that would encourage any mentally ill people watching to seek professional help. The institution Cassie is sent to is full of useless, money-hungry psychologists who don't genuinely care about her...and when Effy finally receives treatment for psychotic depression, [[spoiler: her therapist brainwashes her and murders her boyfriend.]] Whilst corrupt psychologists do exist and there are issues with the way the British health system handles mental illness, the show's tendency to shy away from drawing light to the issues that really ''do'' exist in favour of fuelling paranoia with sensationalist drama doesn't send out a great message.

** It's generally accepted within the fanbase that S4 spent way too much time on Effy and Freddie, while wasting a lot of storylines with more potential like Thomas and Pandora's relationship issues, or developing Thomas and JJ's friendship (which seemingly came out of nowhere). Effy's S4 episode, in particular, elicited a lot of comments along the lines of "It would have been such a beautiful episode if it weren't for the [[ShockingSwerve horrible]] [[DroppedABridgeOnHim ending!]]"

** There have also been reports that James Newman and Sofia Black D'elia, who play Tony and Tea in the US remake, are dating.

** Joe Dempsie (Chris) as Gendry and Hannah Murray (Cassie) as Gilly on ''Series/GameOfThrones''.

** Also, Naomi and Emily's random Mexican pregaming scene in season four, episode two.
*** Well, [[spoiler:a good chunk of the episode was spent talking about their plans to spend their gap year travelling in Mexico, so at least it was reasonably foreshadowed. The subsequent party they went to, though... I got nothing.]]

** And where did [[spoiler:the random carnival]] come from in Freddie's S4 ep?
*** Well, [[spoiler: that Carnival of Fools was to show how bad Effy's psychotic depression had gotten--she had just finished telling Freddie how much she loved him but "the demons" were "hungry" and coming for her because she's let her own guard down and finally let herself fall in love. Then she began to hallucinate that demons were actually coming for her and told Freddie to take her home but Freddie wanted to prove to himself that he could and would do anything to keep her alive, something he believed his father never tried for his mother who was in a similar if not worse state as Effy. As he tries to take her elsewhere, they run into the carnival of fools parade and Effy's mental health had deteriorated to the point where drunken humans in foolish masks began to look like the demons and monsters that were coming after her.]]
** Pandora's song to Effy in the S4 finale - although it seems somewhat in-character, the accompanying techno-ish beat along with all three of them (Pandora, Kate and Effy) producing instruments from nowhere to play along with the song makes the scene look jarringly weird (as well as having MoodWhiplash from the rest of the episode, although that seems to be the scene's point).
*** Actually, they don't produce instruments from nowhere. Pandora hands them out right at the beginning when she sets up the synthesizer thing. It takes a bit for Katie and Effy to join in, but they have them the whole time.

** There have been some pretty intense debates about whether Tony (Stonem) is truly bisexual or was just messing with [[spoiler: Maxxie]]. Cassie, however, doesn't get this so much; it seems to be fan consensus that [[spoiler: her period of promiscuity with both boys and girls in S2 was just a ploy to make Sid jealous]]. There were also some debates as to whether Naomi was bisexual or gay, but the S4 finale put this to rest when [[spoiler: her AnguishedDeclarationOfLove made it clear that she was really just [[SingleTargetSexuality Emilysexual]]]].

** Effy, who is a BaseBreakingCharacter amongst fans but gets ''six'' centric episodes over the course of the series (most protagonists got one or two, and some, such as Anwar, didn't even get one to themselves).

* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Nobody predicted Emily as the most popular character in the second generation.
*** Though in hindsight it [[GirlOnGirlIsHot shouldn't]] [[SchoolgirlLesbians be]] [[TheWoobie that surprising]].
** Naomily as a couple almost certainly qualify for this. The ship is so popular that there's [[http://www.afterellen.com/People/2011/01/interview-with-ann-marie-cook?page=0,0 a whole book being written about it.]]
** JJ is also popular to some extent due to his lovable {{Adorkable}} nature and [[NiceGuy kindness]].
** And from the first generation, Cassie and Maxxie, with the latter's absence from the US remake sending raging shockwaves throughout the fandom.
** After he was RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap in S4, Cook became this for a lot of people.
** Michelle was this in the American version, with many fans preferring her to the ''original'' Michelle.
** Despite not being well liked to start with, Mini has become one of the most popular characters from Gen 3.
** Josh also gets this in some corners, in spite (or perhaps [[EvilIsSexy because]]) of his dark streak.

** Lily Loveless (Naomi) is now starring on ''Series/TheFades''.
*** She's not the only one. The aforementioned Joe Dempsie also came in later on in the series in the Fades, as another main character.

** Kathryn Prescott (Emily) on the MTV series "Finding Carter"

* RomanticPlotTumor / MalignantPlotTumor: How many people saw the Freddie/Effy storyline in S4.

** Chris and Angie's relationship, for American viewers. As [[PaedoHunt the relevant trope]] illustrates, American media tends to take a particularly strong stance against TeacherStudentRomance, even compared to other modern Western nations. It's probably why Chris and Tina's relationship in the U.S. remake ended with [[spoiler: Tina being fired and charged as a sex offender, and prohibited from contacting Chris again]], instead of the more neutral UK ending, where [[spoiler: Angie never gets found out and never loses her job - Chris simply chooses Jal in the end and Angie skips town]]. This is partly due to a difference in laws regarding TeacherStudentRomance in the two countries: U.K.'s age of consent is solidly and universally 16. In the U.S., however, teacher-student sex at the high-school level on down is ''always'' illegal, even when the student could ordinarily consent (the age of which varies by state, but tends to be 18 in media thanks to HollywoodProvincialism). Therefore, Angie's actions were perhaps unethical but not illegal, whereas Tina was actually committing a serious crime.
*** This is not true. The age of consent is 16 in the UK unless you are in a position of trust/power (a teacher or doctor etc) over the younger person, where it rises to 18. Angie committed just as much of a crime as her American counterpart.
** A decade ago, "lesbian" characters who slept with men were a dime a dozen, often the only way to get homophobic viewers to accept them. However, the US remake of ''Skins'' ignited quite a controversy over Tea, a character touted as a "confident lesbian," spending so much time mooning over and sleeping with Tony, with even a lot of straight reviewers attacking it for relying on a tired and offensive cliche. Along with a similar firestorm over ''Film/TheKidsAreAllRight'', it showed just how much SocietyMarchesOn.
* {{Wangst}}: Effy was treated - by the show, other characters and herself - like a tragic heroine for her family situation in season 3 (her mother having an affair and then parents divorcing), which could be completely justified... but maybe not in the show where ''the majority'' of characters had it worse and didn't receive nearly as much attention for it.
** Pandora actually calls Effy out on this and the treatment of Effy and the tragedy surrounding her had more to do with her unstable mental health.

** Chris and Angie's relationship, for American viewers. As [[PaedoHunt the relevant trope]] illustrates, American media tends to take a particularly strong stance against TeacherStudentRomance, even compared to other modern Western nations. It's probably why Chris and Tina's relationship in the U.S. remake ended with [[spoiler: Tina being fired and charged as a sex offender, and prohibited from contacting Chris again]], instead of the more neutral UK ending, where [[spoiler: Angie never gets found out and never loses her job - Chris simply chooses Jal in the end and Angie skips town]]. This is partly due to a difference in laws regarding TeacherStudentRomance in the two countries: U.K.'s age of consent is solidly and universally 16. In the U.S., however, teacher-student sex at the high-school level on down is ''always'' illegal, even when the student could ordinarily consent (the age of which varies by state, but tends to be 18 in media thanks to SoCalization). Therefore, Angie's actions were perhaps unethical but not illegal, whereas Tina was actually committing a serious crime.

** There have been some pretty intense debates about whether Tony (Stonem) is truly bisexual or was just messing with [[spoiler: Maxxie]]. Cassie, however, doesn't get this so much; it seems to be fan consensus that [[spoiler: her period of promiscuity with both boys and girls in S2 was just a ploy to make Sid jealous]]. There were also some debates as to whether Naomi was [[BiTheWay bisexual]] or gay, but the S4 finale put this to rest when [[spoiler: her AnguishedDeclarationOfLove made it clear that she was really just [[SingleTargetSexuality Emilysexual]]]].

** For two straight days I have been unable to get [[EarWorm With You by Crystal Fighters]] out of my head.

* InternetBackdraft: Effy's S4 episode caused a ruckus.
** Things only got worse with the S4 finale, due to it being so open-ended.
** Previous Internet Backdrafts included [[spoiler: Tony getting hit by a bus]] at the end of S1 (and people didn't find out what happened to him after that until the S2 premiere) and [[spoiler: Chris's death]] in the penultimate episode of S2. And some of the Naomily fans probably weren't too happy about Emily sleeping with JJ, considering what a lesbian cliche that plot point was.
** The third generation had two with the beginning of series 6: first, the announcement before the series started that [[spoiler: Mini was officially straight and Mini/Franky wasn't happening]] and then after the second episode, [[spoiler: Grace's death]]. The changes to Franky's character in S6, particularly [[spoiler: her GirlinessUpgrade and her sudden promiscuity]] also caused a lot of this over the course of the series.
** The US version is its own Internet Backdraft, though within that version's fandom, Tea/Tony is a big one, for the same reasons as Emily/JJ but even more so since the ship is actually one of the more popular ones among the U.S. cast and because her relationship with Tony was Tea's main storyline. At least with Emily/JJ it was clearly a pity-screw from the outset.
** "Skins Fire," to the extent of inspiring FanonDiscontinuity.

** While, indeed, most human beings would look like a Plain-Jane sidekick standing next to Effy, it becomes more than a bit extreme to see men's dismissive-to-nearly-disgusted reaction to Pandora, despite being played by the quite attractive Lisa Blackwell- she largely seems to be given funny haircuts, less makeup and little-girl clothes that are supposed to indicate an unattractive HollywoodNerd type.

** Series 3 initially [[BrokenBase (and for a number, still has)]] divided fans very sharply, for those who were upset at the complete re-casting of the show's cast to the show's more frequent use of broad, at times sophomoric CringeComedy and rather silly over-the-top sublots (the one with gangsters immediately comes to mind) that felt like a rather extreme MoodWhiplash to it's more grounded moments, plus some were [[SpotlightStealingSquad put off by Cook boorishly grabbing most of the attention even in episodes that were supposed to focus on other characters]]. And some just thought the much more gussied-up, conventionally beautiful cast and prominent focus of the nice-guy/bad-boy/mysterious-beauty love triangle (Freddie/Effy/Cook) was making it too akin to an American style high school soap.

* TrappedByMountainLions: Some think Sketch as a character was this in season 2, since her story had so little to do with the overall story arc of the season (and was it's own brand of BizzaroEpisode). She mostly disappeared in and out of the season as the AbhorrentAdmirer and StalkerWithACrush to [[IncompatibleOrientation the openly gay Maxxie]] and a sort of FriendsWithBenefits with his best friend Anwar when she couldn't get her way, but she had so little to do with the character devolopment of either nor did her brief terrorizing of Michelle play much into the rest of the season at all, questioning why this was necessary to get such a prominent place in the S2 cast and her own entire episode (even over other main characters) when her story seem so disjointed from all the other drama that was going on.

** Also, Jack O'Connell and Kaya Scodelario, who were actually together for quite a while. The shipping started up again after Kaya's boyfriend [[{{Shameless}} Elliot Tittensor]] (dubbed "Etit" by the fandom) was accused of attempted murder.

** Certain fans' reaction to Emily in S4. As a result of Naomi's cheating, Emily tried to find love elsewhere, hooking up with a total of ''two'' other girls during the season (only ''one'' of those "hook-ups" being sexual). And yet, the way you hear the FanDumb going on about Emily "turning slutty," you'd think she'd shagged every lesbian in Bristol.

** The U.S. version's big RelationshipWritingFumble got a lot of InternetBackdraft for falling into this: while WordOfGod said that Tea wasn't really into Tony and was just bored, they didn't communicate this well in the show and there was far more chemistry between Tea and Tony than with her DesignatedLoveInterest Betty. Tea/Tony were a popular FanPreferredCouple and the overall impression was that their "confident lesbian" character was anything but. This would be one thing if "lesbians sleeping with men" wasn't unfortunately common in fiction, and something ''Skins'' had already done multiple times in the British version -- and related to real-life stereotypes about lesbian sexuality being especially malleable or "a phase."
** The show's portrayal of psychiatrists as being either ineffective (Cassie's being easily fooled by common anorexia tricks, J.J. and Emily getting the same pills for wildly different "issues") or actively dangerous (Effy's shrink in her S4 episode) was apparently an intentional version of this; [[WordOfGod Jaime Brittain]] said in interviews that he had a bad history with them. Still, it's troubling that a show that seems specifically aimed at and portraying the lives of troubled teens would discourage them from getting professional help.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The entire soundtrack - this is a show that pays very careful attention to its soundtrack.
** Though not part of the show's actual storylines, it really doesn't get much better than the "Skins Theme" by Fat Segal.
** "Wild World". That is all.
** Adele's "Hometown Glory" playing in the scene where [[spoiler: an alienated, and now truly alone Cassie, who had ran off to New York after Chris's death takes a bite out of an apple and breaks down in tears]] is particularly poignant and upsetting considering the character.
** "True". On. Ukeleles.
*** Followed up with "Gold" at the end of the following scene, which somehow also manages to work with the credits and "Next Time" trailer perfectly.
** Für Elise over the climax of the Music/NapalmDeath concert.
** Alo's dubstepisode is made of this.
** For two straight days I have been unable to get [[EarWorm With You by Crystal Fighters]] out of my head.

* InternetBackdraft: Effy's S4 episode caused [[{{Understatement}} a bit of a ruckus]].

* JerkassWoobie:
** In S2, Tony after the accident, and definitely Cassie.
** Arguably some people's view of Cook, especially in S4.
** In S4, [[spoiler:Naomi TookALevelInJerkass by cheating on Emily with Sophia - and the show promptly started woobifying her for it.]]
** Katie in her S4 storyline, though she managed to be [[IronWoobie quite tough about it]].
** From Generation 3, Mini and sometimes Liv.
** David Blood after [[spoiler: His daughter Grace's death. Even Rich feels sorry for him.]]

* TheScrappy:
** Some people just can not stand Michelle.
** Cook and Katie initially, before being RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap in S4.
** Matty in Gen 3.
** Tony and Abbud in the US remake.
** In terms of minor characters, Jenna Fitch for her over-the-top homophobia (although she became more sympathetic in Katie's S4 episode), and Andrea for being a one-person ConflictBall in the S4 premiere.

** From Gen 3 there's Mini/Franky vs. Mini/Alo. Largely averted with Mini/Franky vs. Franky/Matty, due to Matty being TheScrappy.
** In the U.S. remake, there is Tea/Betty (or Tea/any girl) vs. Tea/Tony, and Michelle/Stanley vs. Cadie/Stanley.
* StrangledByTheRedString:
** Franky/Matty, for being canon ShipsThatPassInTheNight.
** Some would also say Sid/Michelle in S2, although in fairness it was also portrayed as a mistake from both sides in the show.
** It was among complaints from those who didn't like Freddie/Effy (other that [[FanPreferredCouple he wasn't Cook]]). In season 3 they basically a. meet b. continue to stare at each other, and it's treated as a great love.
** Freddie/Katie's out-of-nowhere relationship in season 3 def reeked of this, as there was no explanation of how they got together or even what they saw in each other as well as the [[PutOnABus un-explained abscence of her JerkJock boyfriend Danny]]. While there were indications Freddie was trying to get over Effy's [[spoiler: betrayal of the previous episode]] and it became rather blatant that Katie was a [[spoiler: RomanticFalseLead]], with Katie it wasn't clear if she was simply going after one of the most desirable men in their year or if she was totally aware of his feelings for Effy and was intentionally doing it to rile her and assert her place at the top of their social group.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic:
** Most of the Generation 3 characters started out this way, with the exception of Franky, Grace and Alo. Luckily, CharacterDevelopment came in to save the day for all of them - except Matty, who remains TheScrappy.
** The American remake with Tony, and arguably Tea as well.
** Definitely Cook at first. Even Katie was supposed to be RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap by the events of Effy's S3 episode, but it really took until Katie's own episode in S4 for that to happen.

** Alo [[spoiler: being seduced by and having sex with a Poppy Champion, 13 year old]] came completely out of the blue in his S6 episode.

* HeReallyCanAct: Chris Addison in Rich's series 6 episode.