phoemster

Beached, is that Michael Socha is your icon? Sorry for the OT, y'all.

Beached

Lol it is, nice catch

soldier on

what an absolutely fabulous episode. this gen continues to impress me. the acting was so, so spot on - alex is flawless as rich. flawless.

this episode also made me laugh more than any in recent memory. i absolutely love alo, and the rich/alo banter was priceless, as were the scenes with toxic bob. reading heat = not a single fck was given.

my favourite part was definitely at the gig when rich was 'deaf', and grace was crowdsurfing. such a gorgeous moment - one of those true skins moments.

mini's episode next week. shaking and crying, brb.

smoothaise

What a GREAT episode. I loved it. I enjoyed how they told Rich's story. I'm glad his Dad wasn't this awful guy, and it was just teen angst that made him turn away from him. I can heavily relate to that as that was mostly my relationship with my Dad. I liked how Alo saw behind everything and knew the problems Rich was facing. I loved the evolution of Grace. I love she committed. And I love that Toxic Bob was nice and was not making fun of her for being in his store, but embraced and wanted to help her be introduced to the genre. So many great moments. I loved Rich losing his hearing, what a perfect time for Rich to lose music, his security blanket, what he hides behind, and see things differently. Also, Grace's transformation, and her crowd surfing in her ballet costume. Ah man, that ending of course she wasn't going to be like, yeah let's go study or whatever, The show had me, because I was totally rooting for them. Well done, Skins, this is the show I remember and it was a great episode - overall.

How true.

Inesal

I think you may have missed the point.

While I am not a metal fan, there are plenty of persons who love that music and would beg to differ about that genre of music being bad. That said, the music could have been any type. The importance here is that Rich used it as much as a protective shield as anything. He allows it to prevent him from taking chances and to hide the reality which is that his superiority complex is a facade that hides a much stronger inferiority complex. He doesn't believe in himself so to reduce the chances of being confronted with rejection, he does the rejection first (as he does with the two women at the beginning of the episode). His nightmare scenario is played out with the angel of death. This is the type of rejection he fears but the angel of death's behavior to him parallels his behavior to others. The angel of death takes it to a bigger extreme.

Alo and Toxic Bob recognize this inferiority complex in Rich. They know a great deal of his behavior is an act and an offputting one designed to keep himself in a cocoon, one that disallows the emotional connection he actually wishes he had. His hiding in his music - notice he is shown repeatedly wearing headphones - is something many of us do (however as Toxic Bob says, concerning music, it is only a record). Rich is not stupid. He knows this young woman Grace is sweet and friendly. Yet he is so afraid of rejection, he ridicules her and questions her behavior. He tries to drive her away. It is easier than being in a situation where he might get his heart broken (which, with his lack of self confidence, he assumes would happen if he made his real feelings clear to Grace). He ridicules the possibility of Grace getting his music because it is easier than taking a chance that she will ridicule it first (and therefore in his low self esteem mind ridicule him). So he gives her the roughest, most OTT music he can find. Toxic Bob gives Grace a chance. He plays something more accessible and then he scolds Rich because he knows Rich is acting out and that this is weakness (not strength). When Rich's music (due to his deafness) is taken away, the protective shield comes down. He is forced out of his safety zone and comes to a comprehension of what an ass he has been and that this woman is quite something special.

I love that because it is so common, that we use our knowledge or appeciation of something in so many ways but that one of those ways can be as a weapon - to make us feel like we are superior. Rich does but the only thing he proves is just how inferior and worthless he feels.

I know we are only two episodes in but I am saw something very positive in the handling of Rich her and Alo for that matter. Generation 2 had phenomenal female characters but their male characters were a disaster. In one episode, Rich made a bigger impression on me than any of those men from generation 2. His insecurities hiding behind a facade of arrogance was perfectly conveyed. At the end, when he is vulnerable and can't overcome his fear it felt too real. Superb episode.

mosquitoseason

Hi Inesal, I agree with you about Rich and this episode.

dstar

Great episode ..
I was happy and sad at the same time.
Grace ... She is divine
Rich is really a good guy. He will succeed ..
The last scene was very sweet and sentimental

lotemx

I LOVED the episode, it was so sweet!

When Rich walked away after the "**** you i won't do what you told me" I was almost in tears or Grace, because it seemed ike she actually like his ****ty attitude.

At the end I was like "Kiss her! Kiss her!!!" but no, he didn't. which was sad

and lol at the Angel Of Death

I love this gen so much! And I most definetly think it might become my favotire.

Charmqn

The episode was really raw and honest. That ballet scene was so gorgeous. Skins really excels when they have those subtle, yet powerful and emotional.

Rich did treat Grace badly in the beginning, but you can tell that he does not like change or difference. But, I like how they build towards Rich accepting Grace and eventually building towards attraction.

What I loved the most is that Rich/Grace and this gen actually feels like true teenagers. The episode shown that you don't have to rely on drugs or sex to have a great episode.

youjustburnkid

I've always been least interested in Rich, and I thought this ep would change it but it kinda had the opposite effect I did like the episode though, mainly because of Grace. Now I'm just counting down the minutes till next week...

JohannafromIHJ

Surprisingly good episode. Beautifully shot, and Alo/Rich are the perfect bromance. Jessica Sula kept going from brilliant to bad, which was weird. One moment her delivery was perfect, and the next she was shrieking her lines like an eleven-year-old in a school play. It was kind of distracting, but Rich/Grace won me over in the end, even though I was prepared to be kind of meh about them.

And I really like how happy Franky looked, even though she wasn't in it nearly enough.

NinjaPenguinOnSkis

There are times one has a lot to say but little comes to the fore. All that can be done is struggle with what comes out. Hope it makes some sense. Two episodes in and stories of life and that human struggle have been rather powerful. No car crashes and overdoses. No 'ethereal goddesses' standing around waiting for mankind to fall at their feet. Just young people navigating their way through days that will be sometimes great and sometimes terrible. I loved this episode for all the steel walls and the ones with courage to keep battering at them. They are both required you see. The walls as well as those with the courage to push beyond them. Jamie Brittain could have done what he tends to do and that's cram his favorited male character so far up our noses we can no longer breathe. Somewhere,SOMEHOW he found a balance with this one. Despite a choking pretentiousness we saw in him the character's own need to breathe different oxygen. To see beyond his stifling borders and experience something that may eventually be called growth. Now he didn't get there yet. We see hope that he may though. Hope is important because it was lacking in the male characters creators seemed to care about most in gen 2. I don't expect too many characters to walk away angels from this series. All teenagers,even good ones end up with some dirt on their hands. I'm liking where this is heading though. Skins gen 3 is proving thus far that the drama of life itself can be fully entertaining,even without all the 'forced additives of gen 2.'

Zefiro

The episode was A+ for me.I loved how they've portrayed Rich.I didn't think they were going to write about him in such a good way.He's rude,but not mean.
I also loved how they've put the music in the scenes,it was amazing.
Inesal your perfect post summed up the real meaning of the episode also for me
This was the first thing I've noticed too.For me,it was one of the most funny episode in Skins ever.I was laughing so much,lmao.Alo is just funny in a very cool way.Gone fishing lmfao,I was laughing so much when I saw that note.
I'm glad I'm not the only one to see it in this way.
Same here.Rich is just full of teen angst.A thing I can relate a lot to.I also used to call my dad by name just to piss him off when I was younger,lol. I don't know, I was just so angry all the time.
This. And I'm so glad he cried.The beauty of the scene hit him too.And with this scene,Grace/Rich are totally legit.He liked watching her with the metalhead dresses but he also loved watching her doing the things she really likes.
I'm glad they've written it.

Incest:a frank discussion.

lisztomania

and for some odd reason, i want to look for that incest book now.

bebrave

I liked it too. I also liked that they didn't kiss at the end of the episode. I feel like it'd be too soon. I think Grace needs to learn how to be herself first.

I noticed this too. :/ But it was okay, nothing that made me cringe.

You would.


I don't know if it has been said yet but omg Will has such a good comic timing. He made me lol irl in some scenes.