a new hope

Episodes so far:

3x01 | Everyone | It’s the first day of term at Roundview College and a new gang is forming: the class of 2009. Freddie, JJ and Cook meet Effy - has Cook met his match? Identical twins Katie and Emily prepare for their first day at college, and Katie walks over her sister, as usual. They also meet Effy and her friend Pandora, who says to Effy that she wants to lose her virginity. Cook tries to charm the girl next to him in class - winding her up instead. Naomi doesn’t suffer fools gladly and grasses Cook up. Effy issues smitten Freddie, JJ and Cook with a challenge to be completed by the end of the day. The winner will get to ‘know her’ better. And so the first day at college begins...

3x02 | Cook | On Cook's 17th birthday, his mates gather at his uncle's pub for a party that turns out to be boring. They are about to leave when Freddie's sister Karen (Klariza Clayton) calls and tells them about her best friend Kayleigh's engagement party. They then set off to crash the party.
Cook's antics get the attention of Kayleigh's father, gangster Johnny White. The night soon degenerates into a brawl. The gang manage to escape, but split up afterward after Cook tries to come onto the girls. Freddie tells him he is tired of looking after him and leaves Cook and JJ to go to a local stripclub/prostitute agency, where JJ refuses to go further than kissing and Cook overhears Johnny White in the next room. He plans to blackmail him, and the gangster antagonizes him until JJ has to forcibly restrain Cook from beating him. Cook realises what he's done when Johhny tells him: "The next time I see you...you're dead." He leaves and ends up outside Freddie's house at six in the morning, and the two share an intense heart-to-heart about their friendship, while Freddie agrees to look after him again.

3x03 | Thomas | In this episode, Thomas (Merveille Lukeba) arrives alone in the UK from the Congo. His family are due to join him in a few days, and he has to find somewhere for them to live. He finds an abandoned flat on an estate, but little does he know that local gangster Johnny White (Mackenzie Crook) is his new landlord, and there’s no way Johnny’s going to let him live there for free. Thomas has to fend for himself, but a chance encounter at a bus stop, and a mutual love of doughnuts brings him together with Pandora (Lisa Backwell) and Effy (Kaya Scodelario). They head to Effy’s house, where they find Effy’s mum, Anthea Stonem (Morwenna Banks), has a surprise visitor, her husband’s boss, Steve (David Baddiel). It’s fate for Pandora and Thomas, who hit it off immediately: she takes him to see her Aunt Elizabeth (Maureen Lipman), who has a greenhouse full of cannabis. To pay off Johnny, they sell some at a party, however the party is Johnny's 'turf' and they are caught by him. Johnny challenges Thomas to a chilli eating contest, and loses. Afterward, the gang have a party, and Pandora invites Thomas to have sex with her. However, as they are about to start, Thomas's family arrive unexpectedly, and upon seeing the raucous, drunken party, his mother makes him return to Congo. Before the party, when Naomi arrives, Katie makes comments about her sexuality, and Emily reveals that she kissed Naomi, not the other way round. She claims she was drunk and had taken MDMA, and just felt like kissing someone. At the rave however, she tells Naomi she hadn't taken MDMA, and wants to kiss her now. Naomi walks away, uninterested, but the conversation is overheard by Effy.
This episode was written by Daniel Kaluuya, the former Posh Kenneth in the two first series of Skins and Bryan Elsley.

3x04 | Pandora | Effy's dad finds out about his wife's affair, leaving Effy depressed. With the first and only boy Pandora’s ever fancied having been deported, Pandora is desperate for some fun and decides to throw a party. Unknown to Pandora, Katie adds a high level of hallucinogenic drugs to the cake mixture, which take the party to another level. Effy knows, but hasn’t warned Pandora or her mum Angela (Sally Phillips), who is munching happily on them. Pandora can only look on while her mum’s behaviour gets increasingly bizarre, barricades herself in the toilet, has an argument with Effy and cries about Thomas's return to The Congo. Cook sneaks into the 'girls only' party without JJ, and has sex with Effy in the wardrobe of Angela's bedroom. Whilst having vigorous sex, they fall through the wardrobe to the other side, into the neighbour's bedroom. There, they find a DVD which shows Angela having sex with the elderly negihbour. JJ enters the house in an attempt to get Cook out, and witnesses Emily and Naomi kissing in the hallway. Katie's footballer boyfriend and his team mates turn up to Pandora's house, and the party gets out of control quickly, leaving the house trashed. Katie also sees Emily and Naomi kissing, this time on the bouncy castle. Freddie arrives to get JJ out, and has a confrontation with Effy. At the end of the night, Cook plays "Twister" with Pandora, which was all she wanted to do. In the romantic climax, Cook and Pandora have sex. In the morning, Effy comes back to Pandora's, just in time to see Cook and Pandora sharing a kiss as he leaves. Feeling hurt, she confronts Pandora, who tells her she knows Cook isn't the one Effy wants. Thomas arrives back from The Congo, only adding to Pandora's problems and she sobs in his arms. Also guest starring David Baddiel as Steve, and Harry Enfield as Jim Stonem. Britney Spears upcoming single If U Seek Amy was played in a scene involving Cook and JJ.

3x05 | Freddie | Freddie's the black sheep of his family, and seen as a waste of space. His big sister Karen (Klariza Clayton) has ambitions - she’s reached the final of a TV talent show to find a new member of girl group Da Sexxbombz. Freddie despises her lust for celebrity but is emotionally blackmailed into sticking to the story she and their Dad, Leo (Simon Day), are spinning about their dead mother, all to look good in front of the cameras, and thereby increase her chances of success. He cringes at the whole thing. But his Dad is increasingly favouring Karen over Freddie, up to the point of clearing out Freddie's shed and turning it into Karen's studio. If this wasn't bad enough, living in the shadow of the increasingly reckless Cook is becoming too much to bear. When Effy turns up at his shed, Freddie doesn't know what to do with himself. There’s a connection between them, there always has been, but this is shattered when Cook and JJ arrive. Cook proceeds to tell Effy if she's not going to have sex with him she can leave the shed and all Freddie can do is stand by and watch. He feels torn between his family, his friends, and his heart, and the isolation is overwhelming. Featuring a special guest performance from DJ Scott Mills and cameos Javine and Rich Fulcher.

3x06 | Naomi | Naomi (Lily Loveless) thinks she has the world worked out, and puts people into pigeonholes: her hippy mum (Olivia Colman); adoring Emily (Kathryn Prescott); Cook’s (Jack O'Connell) insulting misogyny; and her politics teacher Kieron's (Ardal O'Hanlon) flattery. After encouragement, she reluctantly enters the presidential race against Cook. However, it takes a toll on Naomi.
After Kieron tries to kiss her, she flees to the countryside with Emily. At a lakeside they share an intimate moment and the two have sex. Directly the next morning Naomi abruptly leaves, leaving Emily devastated. The race comes to a close with Naomi exposing the teachers rigging and awarding it to Cook, who triggers a riot. In the ensuing chaos, Naomi succumbs to Cook's charms and the two share a brief encounter before Naomi stops, saying it doesn't feel right. She leaves, with her and Cook sharing a better understanding of each other and no hard feelings. Later that night, she arrives at Emily's door, but Emily refuses to open it, since she'd been crying. They sit on opposite sides of the door, sharing a serious and intimate conversation. Emily offers her hand to Naomi, who finally reciprocates her feelings.

3x07 | JJ | JJ's (Ollie Barbieri) visits his psychiatrist after feeling 'lost and confused' about his life and friends. He is given lots of medical drugs. He finds that Emily goes to the same clinic as him. The two spend some time together; Emily calms JJ down and admits to him that she is a lesbian. She offers advice to help him sort out his issues. JJ and Emily then visit Freddie and walk in on him having sex with Katie. During the confrontation, JJ accidentally outs Emily to her sister. Later, JJ visits Effy. He asks her to stop interfering in his relationship with Freddie and Cook. JJ then visits Cook and discovers that he is sleeping with Pandora. Later, the group goes to a You Love Her Coz She's Dead gig, where Cook is beaten up after getting into a fight with some ravers. Cook has taken JJ's pills; they calm him and also make him tell the truth. Cook reveals that Effy loves Freddie back, but she can't admit it. He also admits to having sex with Pandora, which Thomas overhears. JJ invites an upset Emily back to his house for the night, so she doesn't have to go home and face Katie. The next morning they sleep together; Emily tells JJ it is a "one-time charity event." It is revealed in this episode that JJ is mildly autistic, suffering from Asperger's Syndrome.

3x08 | Effy | Effy (Kaya Scodelario) is at a low ebb; she’s lost her mojo and life at home isn’t much fun. To cap it all, Cook is no longer the draw he was and she’s unsure of her feelings for him. Katie (Megan Prescott) makes the most of every opportunity to rub in the fact that she's replaced Effy as Queen Bee, and that Freddie (Luke Pasqualino) is her man, and Effy is to keep her hands off. She invites Effy to a party in the woods, but with stipulations: Effy has to drive, and Cook is not welcome. As they head to the party, the car strains with tension, the gang divided by secrets and rivalries. Their paranoid state increases when poachers they meet at a petrol station deliberately scare them. Freddie manages to lighten the mood, and by the time they arrive at the party site they’ve recovered their va va voom. Effy finds some magic mushrooms, and they experiment. Katie’s jealousy of Effy returns, as Effy becomes the centre of attention. Amidst the chaos of the gang being high from the drugs, Cook appears, and tells the gang he had been tampering with their stuff, but wanted to join in with the party. The gang unanimously tell him to leave, and he does so. Katie heads off to the woods for a walk after becoming increasingly aggravated with the group. Effy follows her, and the two have a confrontation, which results in Effy bludgeoning Katie with a rock in self-defence, and leaves her unconscious. The next morning, the group go out searching for Katie, but decide to head back to Bristol after their search is fruitless. The next day, a search party finds Katie alive, but she needs nine stitches. Most of the group shun Effy, saying she is crazy for attacking Katie.

3x09 | Katie & Emily | Katie refuses to leave the house, so Emily disguises herself as her sister and sits her exam. Emptying out Katie's locker, Emily finds Naomi standing beside her, as Naomi had recognized her. Naomi informs Emily that she'll be spending the summer alone in Cyprus. When Emily tells Naomi that she'll miss her, Naomi gives in and kisses Emily in the middle of the school hall. The two then hastily leave, winding up at Naomi's house where they have sex. Afterward, Emily asks Naomi to the school ball, but Naomi, still crippled by insecurity over her sexuality, refuses, leaving Emily heartbroken. Arriving home, Emily comes out to her family. Her father laughs it off while her mother remains speechless, and Katie doesn't back Emily up. The sisters have a heated argument, which leaves Katie in tears. The next morning they reconcile and Emily reluctantly agrees to go to the ball with Katie. Meanwhile the twin's mother runs into Naomi, who came to the house to speak to Emily. She warns Naomi off Emily, denying her daughter's sexuality.
Out shopping for dresses, the twins run into Freddie and JJ. JJ immediately reveals he told Freddie about sleeping with Emily, and Freddie accidentally tells Katie, who was unaware. She guilts Freddie into accompanying her to the ball and volunteers Emily to go with JJ. Katie also accepts Freddie's inability to love her more than Effy. Katie, still shocked about Emily and JJ, argues fiercely with Emily about it. She then intercepts a call meant for Emily and meets with Naomi under the pretense of being Emily, where she happily reveals all about Emily and JJ, leaving Naomi crushed.
All goes to plan until Naomi arrives at the ball unexpectedly. Katie, furious, starts a fight with Naomi in a classroom, where she reveals her deceit against her sister. Emily overhears everything and a chaotic brawl occurs between the sisters, and for the first time, Emily overpowers her sister. However, just as she's about to punch Katie, she instead backs off and helps her sister up. In front of the whole school, she tells Katie that they'll always be sisters, but being gay is something she can't fix, and tells Katie that she's in love with Naomi. Katie finally accepts Emily's individuality and sexuality and Naomi, touched and no longer ashamed of their relationship, extends her hand to Emily. The couple finally have their sunset ending as they leave the ball holding hands, and Naomi tells Emily that she loves her too.
Meanwhile, after a conversation with Emily, Thomas finally accepts Pandora's apology and they start afresh.

3x10 | Finale | Cook (Jack O'Connell) and Effy (Kaya Scodelario) are in self-imposed exile from the gang; they've gone to stay with Cook's father (Matt King). Effy is running away from everything she's ever known. Unfortunately, Cook is slowly falling out of lust, and in love. Back in Bristol, JJ (Ollie Barbieri) tries to snap Freddie (Luke Pasqualino) out of his depressed stupour; he's down about the loss of both his best mate and the girl he loves. Cook's father wastes no time trying to profit from his son's arrival, and involves him in the village steeplechase, placing a wager that could clear his pub debts, or lose him everything. Cook is vulnerable in his desire to please his father, and accepts the bet, regardless of the potential consequences. Freddie and JJ arrive, forcing Effy to confront who she is and what she really wants.

chaos blues

ha thank you tar. don't you want to top it?

a new hope

Yeah I think I will, let me just check to see if I can because there's a limit for topped threads...

chaos blues

so i guess it didn't work then?

well, i'm looking forward to the next episode but on the other hand i'm totally terrified that FE are going to last longer than we expected. i don't want to think about that...

a new hope

I can do it but I'm not sure it's allowed It's up to the higher power people I asked on the mod board, if they say it's ok I'll top it.

I'm looking forward to next week because I think I'll like Freddie's character more. I also think it'll be the end of Freffy, even though I'm just guessing. And I really wanna see how Cook's gonna be in the middle of this mess, he looked really angry in the previews!

And I'm wondering if Katie's gonna talk about seeing Naomi and Emily kissing. I just wanna see more of Katie in general because after the last episode I fell in love with her

chaos blues

katie's awesome. i loved her last episode. but like i said i really don't like her boyfriend.he's just... freddie would be good for her. she could use a good guy and he could use someone who's not torn between him and his best friend, since his life seems anything but easy.

i'm still not so sure about what's going to happen in triangle land because the "now you know" freaks me out. i don't like him touching/holding/caressing her face/ cheek whatever. i think i could bear one kiss... but not more. i'm the jealous type.

a new hope

They're definitely kissing, get ready for it I think the "now you know" scene will be like their realization that they don't want to be together. Or at least that Effy doesn't want to be with him.

What I'm really looking forward to is JJ's episode I love him so much <3 I'm curious to see what it's gonna be about.

ETA: Ok here's the deal! One of the Moderator Managers gave a cool idea, I'll untop the episode discussion threads on Sundays (so it stays topped for 4 days) and top this one from Sundays till Thursdays until the new episode thread is up. It sounds confusing as I'm typing it but I think it'll work fine

chaos blues

i got it.

well, i could always fast-forward the kissing-scenes. ha... i'm a genius.

aww i love JJ too. i heard there will be a lot of magic in his epi.

a new hope

JJ + magic = pure love I wonder if he'll ever hook up with any of the girls.

chaos blues

hmm... all 5 girls are taken. at least in my mind.

a new hope

Yeah in my mind, too

What's your favorite episode so far?

chaos blues

poor JJ has to suffer because naomi & emily are gay.

i think i liked the last one best. so emotional. i loved effy and the fact that she got all jealous. katie was awesome and well there was enough freddie for my taste.

Alexa

lol, what?!

I think the now you know, will be him confessing his feelings.

I mean, the lake stuff has to be before Cook shows up. And after C shows up, E/F are eye sexin each other up. And then Cook hits on Effy and she turns him down again. LMAO.

Not to mention that Effy said she gets her heartbroken so if anyone is gonna end things, its gonna be Freddie, and it will probably be for Cook's friendship or something. I bet they wont even tell Cook what happened between them.

a new hope

But Effy knows Freddie likes her, she's known since day 1

Amberness

me too. i don't think so. too early on to break things up. but for everyone's happiness, yeah. luke did say it wont end too good. and kaya said she'll get heartbroken so all the chips fall right. but too early for now.

i made a complete review of what i think of the characters so far. i'll put it up later