jenaya

Who's the person Cook killed? John Foster?

Gothic Musical

Watching series 7 has made me realise how much I miss seeing most of the characters from Gen 3 (okay, so I mean all but Franky). And I kind of wish that just one of these specials had had two Gen's mixing and suddenly realise how they could have done that.

At the end of series 6 it was obvious Matty was heading to jail. I think I would have prefered seeing Matty meet Cook in prison, with moments of other characters visiting. That way they could have gotten as many characters as possible to return, even if it was just for 2 scenes each. You just know that Naomi would have visited him a lot because they were good friends.

Urgh, to be honest anything would have been better than Fire. A whole episode of Chris, Freddie & Grace haunting people would have been better than that... thing. And I wish they hadn't bothered with Cassie because I would have rather seen how Rich from Gen 3 got on at University and meeting a new love. Cassie was just that boring.

But Cook's episode was on the right track. You had the now with hints of the then, which is all most of the fans wanted, right? Just hope Part 2 brings the good stuff.

DGSAFDMD

Ok so Timeout said something about a familiar face returning in Rise pt 2? maybe Cook's dreaming about Foster? could it be? or maybe they're just talking about someone from Pt 1 who knows.

Zefiro

Jack was amazing. I love that Cook's growth was really in character and Foster's story not forgotten .
Charlie is really annoying. I kind of liked Emma because she honestly cares about Cook although she doesn't know a lot of him and this is refreshing.

JamieValentine

Thank you jb!!!! Ty!!! Was the best ep by farrrrrr. Cook wasn't even overly cook as everyone is agreement about, but you still recognise him. The narration at the beginning was fkn awsome. Hope part 2 is more of the same.

Think now people are realising what I was saying earlier, that fire AND pure were both ****, this (rise) is good, watched it twice!!!

posterity

I think Jack O Connell is just a talented actor so I am not sure if it is the plot that is good or his acting that s outstanding, lol.

anagramatical

Wait so the consensus is that Cook's episode is the best of the season?
I hope I'm not the only one who remembers the threads of S7 speculation with the Cook hate on max. And here we are. If I didn't know better...

I haven't even watched it yet thanks to real life and lack of interest, but seriously. Good game, Brittains. You got us.

heimweh

Yeah, I remember we thought Pure was going to be amazing and Rise crap But Fire changed everything we thought we knew about S7

TheOx

Hey, I'm glad Rise turned out to be good, from what you guys are saying. I had misgivings a few months ago only because, well, it's Cook, and honestly he can go either way -- over-the-top parody or actual human being. Anyway: I'm guessing this is worth a watch, then?

starr_00

Def worth the watch. The character actually feels like it has a strong link the the end of his series and he was changed because of it.

I posted somewhere, before Fire aired, that I had a feeling Rise might be the strongest (even though I loved Cassie the most, and loved Eff too), just because holding down 2 hours of television as a lead is a tall order for any actor... no matter how good the script is. You have to basically, as a viewer, be riveted to watch someone is almost every scene for a good length of time. Jack sort of had the best ability to do that - at least in my opinion. He's fascinating to watch. I do actually think Rise had the best, most tense script (with the best link to past seasons - so props JB), but I do think a lot has to do with having a main player who can bear the weight of 2 hrs of story focus. So big ups to Jack.

TheOx

^ Very true. It's easy to forget Skins is based on an ensemble cast -- at least, for me. None of the characters really had to bounce off of randoms by themselves before. Sometimes it's a matter of chemistry.

It's why I'm surprised Pure wasn't (apparently) a bit better, because, IMO, Cassie carried lonely episodes very well. Maybe I should watch that one too and figure out what happened.

padfootsprincess02

It really was in the best order... Fire was horrible, Pure was good with a semi positive ending and Rise pt.1 was pretty awesome thanks to Jack the Lad and actual acknowledgement of the past season. His storyline actually makes sense for the character which is a greats relief. Kudos JB you got me.

anagramatical

Ahh, all you folks got my hopes up. I guess I'm just going to have to be the singular voice of dissent here but...I didn't like it. It felt like Pulp Fiction without the wit or decent characterization. Once again we have empty, one-dimensional side characters for the select SKINS person to interact with, or for the plot to use and dispatch at a whim. Once again we have a predictable storyline that pretty much never deviates from the most obvious trajectory. Yes, Jack gave a good performance and grounded the episode, but a lot of the dialogue was laughably awful ("cook is sexy...be sexy for me") and the only real "link" we get to Gen 2 and Cook's past is a maybe thirty second mostly implied scene that culminates in Obligatory Emotional Sex between (relatively speaking) complete strangers-- a thoroughly contrived sequence that's only there to set up the episode's (equally contrived) climax.

I have to wonder if this episode would be getting such positive reception if FIRE and PURE were as we expected them to be. I'm not saying it would come off as completely awful because I don't believe anyone here is being disingenuous in their appraisal of it. But if FIRE had been the kind of hopeful and redemptive story I think most of us wanted, if PURE had been the whimsical and introspective tale Cassie deserved...I do wonder if RISE might just seem a bit overwrought and needlessly bleak? And to be honest, that's my problem with it right now. We've had two mini movies of slow burning drama, of sad and "dark" things happening to SKINS characters. Season 7 has been almost utterly humorless; it has gone for the emotional punchline at every turn, always sacrificing the charm and likable presence of its characters in order to convey a "serious" and "adult" atmosphere. And that's my problem with RISE. once again, I don't feel like I'm enjoying the episode. At all. I don't feel like the characters are interesting or like they've earned any dramatic payoff because they are always at their lowest point, always dealing in the darkest elements of their little microcosm. And it gets tiring and it gets dull. I'm over the idea that adulthood is just bad things happening to everyone all the time. That's not what I wanted Season 7 to tell me. Ironically (and in spite of the contradiction), RISE might have seemed less annoying to me if PURE and FIRE had been what they should have been; I don't know if that's the case for anyone else, but that's how I feel.

Plus, the entire freaking episode took place inside Cook's car, I swear.

EDIT: I should say that I did very much like Em. I think she has a lot of potential as a character and the actress was really good. I understood her purpose in the story and I hope they don't just reduce her to "that other girl" in Part 2. Or kill her off. They'll probably kill her off.

heimweh

I can't believe Skins "officially" ends in a few hours

padfootsprincess02

I know! I hope Cookie Monster survives it!