History YMMV / Skins

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The series ran on GreyAndGreyMorality for most of its conflicts, but the Gen 3 gang accorded Franky ''far'' too much grace in her spat with Matty for how much of its resultant tragedy was due to her inexplicable hostility and selfishness. It's not until the eighth episode that another character was given leave to point out how deeply unsympathetic she'd become.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The series ran on GreyOnGreyMorality for most of its conflicts, but the Gen 3 gang accorded Franky ''far'' too much grace in her spat with Matty for how much of its resultant tragedy was due to her inexplicable hostility and selfishness. It's not until the eighth episode that another character was given leave to point out how deeply unsympathetic she'd become.

** JJ's romancing of single mom Lara had some accusations of this, mainly again in how little it had to do with the rest of the group's overall arc of the season and the fact that she seemed to disappear completely from the show afterwards, with only JJ breifly babysitting her child in the series finale providing the only indication that she even still existed at all.

** The Triangle of Doom - referring to the second generation's [[TriangRelations love triangle]] of Freddie/Effy/Cook.

* MisaimedFandom: Cassie was one of the chief [[WeightWoe pro-ana]] icons of the late 00s; her good looks, endearing quirks, and Creator/Hannah Murray's compelling performance ensured the character became as much an inspiration as a deconstruction of the struggle's glamour. For many who used Website/{{Tumblr}} during the show's run, Cassie is best known as "that girl the ED crowd crowned their goddess."

* MoralEventHorizon: John Foster, of the second generation, crosses this with the brutal murder of [[spoiler: Freddie]].
** Josh Stock polevaults over the line when he tries to force Tony to have sex with his sister. Although given how he's satisfied just by Tony's begging in crying, he might have been shooting only at this from the beginning.
** Tony himself, taking Josh sister's Abigail pornographic photos and ''sending it to all on Josh's contact list from his phone''. [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse Somehow it doesn't seem to have any legal repercussions after]].

%%* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: It's easier to list the characters who ''aren't'' subjected to this.

* FridgeHorror: Two drive-thru windows for a liquor store. The current laws have established that drinking and driving is illegal. That said it is still not uncommon for people to get pulled over for drinking and driving. How the company that insures the liquor store did not see the huge liability of having TWO drive-thru windows is beyond comprehension.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** This one:
-->'''Chris''': "[[spoiler: Yeah, you'll move in with him and I could be, like, dying, yeah, and you wouldn't even know about it.]]"
*** The next episode... (sob)
** In Freddie's episode in Series 3, [[spoiler: Naomi answers a question in English class about Hamlet, comparing Hamlet to a teenage boy and very obviously drawing parallels between him and Freddie. She finishes by saying (paraphrasing here) "... he ends up ''so'' boring somebody has to kill him." Until Effy's episode in Series 4, that was a harmless joke.]]
*** It's interesting because [[spoiler: the few fans who defend the decision to kill Freddie off say exactly that - that he had become too boring and there was nothing left for the show to do with him.]]
** In Katie's episode in Series 4, Katie initially refuses a cigarette from Effy, and when the latter asks her what's she's so afraid of, Katie answers "Uh, cancer?" to which Effy just raises her eyebrows looking unimpressed and shrugs. Comes Skins: Fire, [[spoiler: and Naomi admits that ''she'' has cancer by shouting ''"CANCER, okay!? I've got fucking cancer! You win!"'', leaving Effy completely horrified]].

** Kaya Scodelario (Effy) and Creator/NicholasHoult (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''.

** [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] by the Naomily fandom with their reactions to Mandy/Mandeh; she was an obvious RomanticFalseLead from the start, but that didn't mean the fans weren't going to have their fun with unflattering [[FanNickname Fan Nicknames]] and memes while it lasted.

* 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.
** Franky and Matty's relationship has shades of this. Apparently, their [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight thirty seconds of screentime]] together in the first episode created a powerful enough connection between them to beat out and destroy Matty's vastly more fleshed out relationship with Liv.
* IncestSubtext: A TON between Tony and Effy (who seem like genderbent {{Expy}}s of each other), even {{Lampshaded}} during Tony's episode in season two when discussing why he may screw up so many of his relationships in life is because he just always wanted to [[NoYay have sex with his sister]].

* UnfortunateImplications:
** A lot of the statements from the show about Franky's GirlinessUpgrade in S6 were that her new, girly style was about her gaining confidence, suggesting that her previous style was because of a lack of confidence. Which would make sense if in S5 she had been covering up with baggy sweatshirts or something, but her outfits were full of tailored suits and otherwise quite well-coordinated and thought-out - or, [[http://www.autostraddle.com/skins-finale-episode-death-will-be-itself-134621/ as Autostraddle put it]], she "clearly had a passion for a certain kind of fashion." In that light, it seems as though the show was suggesting that ''any'' masculinity in women is due to a lack of confidence.
** 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 don't notice ''extremely common'' tricks that anorexics use to hide their weight loss...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 is to shy away from drawing light to the issues that really ''do'' exist in favour of fuelling paranoia with sensationalist melodrama.

** Let's face it, everyone from the first generation took turns at being the Woobie. Cassie and Chris, for many reasons; Michelle, due to Tony's cheating; Sid, due to the twists and turns with his relationship with Cassie as well as [[spoiler: his dad's death]]; Maxxie, first because of Anwar's homophobia and then Sketch's stalking; and in the latter half of Series 2, Jal more than anyone (as Michelle helpfully points out). Even ''Tony'' had his turn thanks to [[spoiler: his accident.]] And Anwar finally gets his moment in the generation finale when he [[spoiler: flunks ALL his A-levels, thinking he's stuck in Bristol forever with just Sketch]].

* RelationshipWritingFumble:
** Effy's first major piece of dialogue was a short on the Season 1 DVD; arguably, an elaborate metaphor detailing her desire to leave everyone and everything else behind just to be with Tony. ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STr9SPVH_Rg ''And they went and found a nice little house to live in together. Her and her brother.'']]) Katie's attachment to Emily in their Series 3 episode also seems a bit strong to be sisterly (getting jealous of ''Naomi'', Emily's ''love interest''). Overall, one gets the impression that the ''Skins'' writers have a bit of trouble writing sibling relationships that don't include IncestSubtext, and it's not like the fans haven't picked up on it (Stonemcest is surprisingly popular in the fanbase for [[BrotherSisterIncest what it is]]).
** Tea and Tony in the US remake. [[WordOfGod Bryan Elsley and Sofia Black D'elia]] have indicated in interviews (see below under "Ship Sinking") that Tea is supposed to be clearly uncomfortable whenever she's with Tony, that there's no sexual/romantic attraction and she's mistaking a friendship-type chemistry for that. However, many fans see Tea as having more chemistry with Tony than with Betty or any other girl on the show, and it continues to be one of the most popular ships among Skins US fans (it's currently second in the MTV poll after Michelle/Stanley). The reaction is unsurprising when you realize how much time the show has developed the Tony/Tea relationship compared to others, including Tea/Betty. Even with the series finale, where [[spoiler: Tea apologies for leading Tony on and chooses Betty]] as a way of finally sinking the Tony/Tea ship, we still see [[spoiler: Tony write Tea a love letter, and the two characters holding hands after they find Eura]]. With even ''Michelle'' interpreting the latter as a sign that the two are still together, how can you expect the viewers to react differently?

*** Though it hasn't been sunk in-story yet, [[WordOfGod Bryan Elsley]] effectively made it clear in [[http://www.afterellen.com/2011/02/skins-boss-bryan-elsley-talks-tea-tony-and-naomily this interview]] that Tea is indeed a lesbian and she is not going to end up with Tony. [[spoiler: The series finale was supposed to sink it in canon - see RelationshipWritingFumble above.]]

** While most human beings would look plain-jane 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.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: It's easier to list the characters who ''aren't'' subjected to this.

** There have been some debates about whether Tony (Stonem) and Cassie were truly bisexual or were just messing around considering after their brief one-episode "flings" it was never brought up again. There were much stronger debates about Frankie and Mini's sexual orientation (and the former's gender idnentity) in the third generation, but season 6 seemed to RetCon nearly everybody's previously established character arcs that nothing was ever confirmed.

** For Gen 3, [[LesYay Franky/Mini]], or Minky if you like, is probably the most popular ship except maybe [[OfficialCouple Rich/Grace]]. It's infinitely more popular than [[MasochismTango Mini/Nick]] [[spoiler: considering it's effectively been [[ShipSinking sunk]]]] and ahead of [[OddFriendship Alo/Mini]], which is a popular pairing following Alo's season 5 episode. (And it's obviously way more popular than [[OfficialCouple Franky/Matty]], one of the least popular canon couples in the history of ''Skins''.)

** 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]]. Angie did commit just as much of a crime as her American counterpart (even with the UK's age of consent being 16 -- similar to many US states -- teachers and students are an exception), but it was treated as less taboo. Compare only a few years previously, Brit group {{Music/Busted}}'s "What I Go To School For" was about a student who crushes on his teacher and ends up starting a relationship with her; a cover by the American Jonas Brothers changed it to a crush on a fellow student.

** 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 she’s bisexual. There are also some debates as to whether Naomi was bisexual or gay.

* SeasonalRot:
** 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 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]].
** Series 4. You'd be hard-pressed to find a fan who doesn't consider it the show's low point, the only debate is over ''how'' low of a point it is. (Some fans think it's irredeemable, while others think that the top-notch Cook and Katie episodes in the middle make up for the series's messy beginning and messier ending.)
** Series 6 is now starting to compete with S4 for this title, largely due to how little of a connection it had with the events of S5.
** The third generation as a whole got complaints for being less focused and engaging than previous generations, with a general ToughActToFollow feel that led to a somewhat unceremonious fade out for the original series.

%%StrangledByTheRedString:
%%** 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.

** [[StalkerWithACrush Sketch]], Maxxie's stalker, can be quite creepy at times.

** In season 4, [[spoiler:Freddie]]'s death. A grown man, jealous of his teenage patient's relationship with her boyfriend, [[spoiler: brutally beats said boyfriend, also a teenager, to death with a bat.]]

*** Dr. Foster’s depravity has even more terrifying implications with the events of the final episode of Generation 2: [[spoiler: he lures Cook to his home with the intention of killing him. Who’s to say that Foster would have just stopped at killing Freddie and Cook? It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that people like JJ, Pandora, Tony, Anthea, and others could have also been targeted in order to destroy all of Effy’s connections aside from him.]]

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: The show promoted as a YA series about teenagers and their trials and tribulations, filled with top-name actors and young teen performers, many of whom went on to stardom, plus boatloads of critical acclaim. At first, it might seem like a great show for kids and teens to watch, but then the sex scenes begin. And the drug taking. So much so that an extremely toned-down version produced for MTV in the US a few years later proved to be Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth and was yanked after 10 episodes. Skins is often cited as an example of people misunderstanding what YA (young adult) means; far from being synonymous with "family" viewing, the YA genre takes into account viewers/readers into their early 30s, so R-rated material is considered acceptable.

** 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.

** Chris and Jal were also near-universally adored by the fanbase when they became an OfficialCouple in S2, though never quite equaled the more vocal response of passionate Sid/Cassie shippers.

** As mentioned above, Merveille Lukeba's big ego made him very unpopular in the fandom - particularly during S4, when Merv ranted and raved on Website/{{Twitter}} about how fans were more interested in Naomily than in Thomas and Pandora, even insulting Kathryn Prescott and Lily Loveless's acting skills.

** From Gen 3 there's Mini/Franky vs. Mini/Alo. Largely averted with Mini/Franky vs. Franky/Matty, due to Matty being %%StrangledByTheRedString:
%%** 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.

%%** 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.

** 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]]. Angie did commit just as much of a crime as her American counterpart, but with the age of consent being 16 in the UK (except when in a position of power or authority like Angie was) it was less taboo. Compare only a few years previously, Brit group {{Music/Busted}}'s "What I Go To School For" was about a student who crushes on his teacher and ends up starting a relationship with her; a cover by the American Jonas Brothers changed it to a crush on a fellow student.
** 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 attitudes towards LGBT people have changed. 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.

*** With JJ being an EnsembleDarkhorse and all, fans of his were disappointed that [[spoiler:his fling with Emily was just a "pity-shag"]].

* AlasPoorScrappy: While never ''universally'' despised, [[spoiler: Freddie]] did have a large and vocal {{Hatedom}} (mostly because of DieForOurShip, though there were also some who just found him boring). Yet the fandom was outraged by his death.

** [[spoiler:Chris' 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.]]
** [[spoiler:Freddie's death. A grown man, jealous of his teenage patient's relationship with her boyfriend, brutally beats said boyfriend, also a teenager, to death with a bat.]]
*** [[spoiler:Dr. Foster’s depravity has even more terrifying implications with the events of the final episode of Generation 2: he lures Cook to his home with the intention of killing him. Who’s to say that Foster would have just stopped at killing Freddie and Cook? It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that people like JJ, Pandora, Tony, Anthea, and others could have also been targeted in order to destroy all of Effy’s connections aside from him.]]
* MoralEventHorizon: John Foster, of the second generation, crosses this with the brutal murder of Freddie.

** Franky and Matty's relationship has shades of this. Apparently, their [[ShipsThatPassTheNight thirty seconds of screentime]] together in the first episode created a powerful enough connection between them to beat out and destroy Matty's vastly more fleshed out relationship with Liv.

** 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 she’s bisexual. 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]]]].