Skins: 1x06 Abbud.
Something really strange happened about halfway through this episode: I was really unhappy about it – the tone, the lack of substance, the way the over-the-top characters (I never thought I’d say this but this episode kind of made me miss Tom, horrible, inappropriate, unredeemable Tom) didn’t work – but then, suddenly, something resonated. The core of this episode worked. The strained friendship between Tea and Abbud that suffers from conflicting emotions works, even though it was one of the things I enjoyed least in previous episodes. The completely new episodes of this show have always been stronger than the remakes, and Tea, Cadie and now Abbud all have this essential Skins magic where, among all the ridiculousness (and there is plenty in this episode), there is an emotionally true centre.
I find Ron Mustafaa’s Abbud far more easily likeable than Anwar, and he has a genuinely sweet side too that makes up for his constant perving on Tea, which is a well-reversed routine between the two that Tea doesn’t exactly seem to mind (“You don’t need to make excuses to me […] You got responses”).
Abbud
Abbud is genuinely in love with his best friend, but he can’t tell anyone because he realizes that he won’t be taken seriously, both because he is never taken seriously and because everybody kind of loves Tea, just not the same way he does. When he tries to communicate to Chris that he isn’t just looking for someone to lose his virginity with, but something real and true, Chris doesn’t listen to him (“Find something that’s limpy and missing patches of fur. What you want is like an animal that’s be grazed by a car. Stunned and disoriented. Like a messed up rabbit.”) – love shouldn’t be a priority, losing his virginity is, even though Abbud seems to have different priorities (he also hasn’t packed a suitcase/backpack of condoms).
Abbud’s agenda is to tell Tea how he feels – and he does, by the water, when they are alone. This was probably my favourite scene of this episode because it starts out really sweet, with two characters that have previously mostly had scenes in which Abbud objectified his best friend, genuinely connecting as friends, frolicking by the water, feeling comfortable around each other.
Something really strange happened about halfway through this episode: I was really unhappy about it – the tone, the lack of substance, the way the over-the-top characters (I never thought I’d say this but this episode kind of made me miss Tom, horrible, inappropriate, unredeemable Tom) didn’t work – but then, suddenly, something resonated. The core of this episode worked. The strained friendship between Tea and Abbud that suffers from conflicting emotions works, even though it was one of the things I enjoyed least in previous episodes. The completely new episodes of this show have always been stronger than the remakes, and Tea, Cadie and now Abbud all have this essential Skins magic where, among all the ridiculousness (and there is plenty in this episode), there is an emotionally true centre.
I find Ron Mustafaa’s Abbud far more easily likeable than Anwar, and he has a genuinely sweet side too that makes up for his constant perving on Tea, which is a well-reversed routine between the two that Tea doesn’t exactly seem to mind (“You don’t need to make excuses to me […] You got responses”).
Abbud
Abbud is genuinely in love with his best friend, but he can’t tell anyone because he realizes that he won’t be taken seriously, both because he is never taken seriously and because everybody kind of loves Tea, just not the same way he does. When he tries to communicate to Chris that he isn’t just looking for someone to lose his virginity with, but something real and true, Chris doesn’t listen to him (“Find something that’s limpy and missing patches of fur. What you want is like an animal that’s be grazed by a car. Stunned and disoriented. Like a messed up rabbit.”) – love shouldn’t be a priority, losing his virginity is, even though Abbud seems to have different priorities (he also hasn’t packed a suitcase/backpack of condoms).
Abbud’s agenda is to tell Tea how he feels – and he does, by the water, when they are alone. This was probably my favourite scene of this episode because it starts out really sweet, with two characters that have previously mostly had scenes in which Abbud objectified his best friend, genuinely connecting as friends, frolicking by the water, feeling comfortable around each other.
Abbud: You wanna see what I was really looking forward to?
Tea: Yeah.
[he tries to kiss her]
Tea: Whoa whoa whoa.
Abbud: Shit.
Tea: Why did you do that?
Abbud: I thought we had had, I thought, we.
Tea: Look. What you want isn’t how I’m built. I’m sorry. Trust me, sometimes I wish things were different.
Abbud: I’m stupid, aren’t I.
Tea: Maybe a little. But I’m really stupid, so you’re in good company.
Abbud collects all his bravery but his timing is horrible, considering that Tea is trying to figure out how she feels about Tony and Betty and how all of this fits in with being gay. Her reaction is still lovely: she doesn’t pretend like it didn’t happen, and she still takes him seriously, and still doesn’t let it destroy their friendship. She doesn’t storm off, because he is important enough .
Tea
Tea is battling her own demons. She caught between Betty and Tony – the nice girl who wants to eat marshmallows by the bonfire, and the guy who is always casting her forlorn looks and trying to have a conversation (and when they do, he doesn’t know what to say, so he relies on something he is better at – and I am guessing they didn’t exactly talk much before ending up in that shed naked, which is interesting since the connection they have isn’t sexual at all, but in order to figure it out they would HAVE to talk, which they can’t). She sits with Betty so she doesn’t have to be with Tony and then she has sex with Tony so she doesn’t have to be with Betty.
Tea
Tea is battling her own demons. She caught between Betty and Tony – the nice girl who wants to eat marshmallows by the bonfire, and the guy who is always casting her forlorn looks and trying to have a conversation (and when they do, he doesn’t know what to say, so he relies on something he is better at – and I am guessing they didn’t exactly talk much before ending up in that shed naked, which is interesting since the connection they have isn’t sexual at all, but in order to figure it out they would HAVE to talk, which they can’t). She sits with Betty so she doesn’t have to be with Tony and then she has sex with Tony so she doesn’t have to be with Betty.
Tea: Betty…
Betty: Come on.
Tea: We talked about this.
Betty: Why not?
Tea: Because you want something.
Betty: I… just wanna get to know you.
Tea: I don’t do relationships
Betty: Why not?
Tea: Because they suck.
Betty: You’re wrong.
Tea: Just wanna go to sleep, if that’s okay.
Betty: Whatever.
Tea: Relationships suck.
Tea is afraid of being in love with a girl (remind you of anyone?), so she goes to Tony, but the only way she knows to communicate (and Tony isn’t any different) is by having sex – and that doesn’t work either. She realizes that this isn’t right when Abbud walks in on them because she has just given him that speech about “not being built” for this, and sleeping with Tony hasn’t changed that (“Was it any better that time.” / “No, Tony. No.”).
And afterwards, the next morning, she goes to Abbud to explain. They are sitting high above the camp on a shaky platform, far removed from all the drama, overlooking the beautiful scenery.
And afterwards, the next morning, she goes to Abbud to explain. They are sitting high above the camp on a shaky platform, far removed from all the drama, overlooking the beautiful scenery.
Tea: I think I did it to feel bad, or something. To stop something else from happening. I’m scared of all this. Having a girl I could love. So I make it impossible.
Abbud: What don’t you get about being a lesbian? A key component is not hooking up with guys. Especially a guy like Tony. How could you do that to me?
Tea: I don’t know. We have some weird connection. Aren’t I allowed to not know what I’m doing?
Abbud: You’re a fake.
Tea: I’ll forgive that one, ‘bbud.
Abbud: This is bullshit. It’s not that you won’t sleep with guys, it’s just me, isn’t it.
Tea: Abbud, sit down.
Abbud: It’s just me, Tea.
Abbud is voicing some of the criticism Skins US has faced ever since the Tony-Tea thing started – but he is speaking out of personal frustration (and she used the “I’m not built for this” excuse before, to let him down easy), and Tea lets him even though he doesn’t have any right to tell her who she can or can’t sleep with, or to define her sexuality for her, or tell her that she is a “fake” because she doesn’t meet someone else’s standards. After Abbud survives his fall, their friendship is still intact.
Abbud: I’m sorry about what I said earlier.
Tea: I love you, ‘bbud.
Abbud: I love you too. A lot.
Tea: I think we can get through that.
There’s different kinds of love, and they are all complicated, and they are all worth holding on to. And hey, who would have thought that Abbud would teach us that lesson AND provide the best ending of any episode so far?
Random notes:
Worst / most incoherent review ever? POSSIBLY.
I’d seen Lily Loveless in Bedlam before watching this episode so some of the fluffy feelings might be due to that. SHE WAS REALLY GOOD IN IT, GUYS. Almost Carey Mulligan in Blink kinds of good (which will forever be my reference point for one-time guest stars).
“I’m allowed to slap yanks, too”
Daisy: Bears are actually really smart and fast. They can run 40 miles an hour and if you run, they think you’re food.
Abbud: I don’t want to be food.
Abbud: I wanted to bunk with Tea.
Chris: Abbud. We all want to bunk with Tea, but man parts ain’t on the menu. Sad and tragic as hell cause her body is built for the fast lane, but that ain’t the world we’re living in, son.
I think I’ve gotten over the fact that this isn’t, at all, Chris Miles. He is still wild and fun, but I really don’t see this spark in him that I loved so much about Joe Dempsie’s Chris. That’s okay though, it’s probably for the better that the characters have deviated enough now from the original that I can safely pick a different favourite.
Also, Tina and Chris? Er. Let’s see where this is going. Apparently Tina’s getting her very own episode.
Sandcastles and now marshmallows? Does Betty have a room decorated with unicorns and rainbows? She needs way more background and context.
Let’s just not talk about the horrific things done to and with animals in this episode. Or David’s “juices of puberty”. Or the puking (which, by the way, Glee did equally ridiculously in its episode this week, which was surprisingly entertaining).
“You finally got a sexual response from something that’s actually living, how cool is that.”
No.
No.
Shudders.
Hides.
The woods looked suspiciously like Mr Campbell’s favourite hunting place. Funny how the “unidentified East Coast City” looks exactly like Canada, ISN’T IT.
“Nobody leaves until they mount my pole.”
Chris says, very quietly, after Dave’s on the ground: “did I do that?” – which, you know, was kind of lacking the ball breakers and the “nearly half eleven” swaying, but I take what I get.
I really love that Tea draws the people she cares about. She has such a hard time communicating how she feels about people (or figuring it out herself), but the way she draws them kind of talks for her. I ALSO WANT MORE MICHELLE AND TEA SCENES.
Tony. I hope Eura’s episode is coming up soon and gives him ANYTHING, really, to do that isn’t connected to Stanley’s virginity, Michelle or Tea.
I am assuming and HOPING that Skins US is going in a different direction with the relationships. There is no “you made her look beautiful” moment in this episode, and I really can’t see Stanley and Cadie (but there is surprisingly solid groundwork for Michelle and Stanley actually working, especially since Tony and Michelle are just a terrible train wreck that isn’t going anywhere). The scene where Stan is trying to get to the weed and Michelle is trying to talk to him really seemed like she’d rather be spending time with him than desperately trying to figure out what is wrong with Tony.
Random notes:
Worst / most incoherent review ever? POSSIBLY.
I’d seen Lily Loveless in Bedlam before watching this episode so some of the fluffy feelings might be due to that. SHE WAS REALLY GOOD IN IT, GUYS. Almost Carey Mulligan in Blink kinds of good (which will forever be my reference point for one-time guest stars).
“I’m allowed to slap yanks, too”
Daisy: Bears are actually really smart and fast. They can run 40 miles an hour and if you run, they think you’re food.
Abbud: I don’t want to be food.
Abbud: I wanted to bunk with Tea.
Chris: Abbud. We all want to bunk with Tea, but man parts ain’t on the menu. Sad and tragic as hell cause her body is built for the fast lane, but that ain’t the world we’re living in, son.
I think I’ve gotten over the fact that this isn’t, at all, Chris Miles. He is still wild and fun, but I really don’t see this spark in him that I loved so much about Joe Dempsie’s Chris. That’s okay though, it’s probably for the better that the characters have deviated enough now from the original that I can safely pick a different favourite.
Also, Tina and Chris? Er. Let’s see where this is going. Apparently Tina’s getting her very own episode.
Sandcastles and now marshmallows? Does Betty have a room decorated with unicorns and rainbows? She needs way more background and context.
Let’s just not talk about the horrific things done to and with animals in this episode. Or David’s “juices of puberty”. Or the puking (which, by the way, Glee did equally ridiculously in its episode this week, which was surprisingly entertaining).
“You finally got a sexual response from something that’s actually living, how cool is that.”
No.
No.
Shudders.
Hides.
The woods looked suspiciously like Mr Campbell’s favourite hunting place. Funny how the “unidentified East Coast City” looks exactly like Canada, ISN’T IT.
“Nobody leaves until they mount my pole.”
Chris says, very quietly, after Dave’s on the ground: “did I do that?” – which, you know, was kind of lacking the ball breakers and the “nearly half eleven” swaying, but I take what I get.
I really love that Tea draws the people she cares about. She has such a hard time communicating how she feels about people (or figuring it out herself), but the way she draws them kind of talks for her. I ALSO WANT MORE MICHELLE AND TEA SCENES.
Tony. I hope Eura’s episode is coming up soon and gives him ANYTHING, really, to do that isn’t connected to Stanley’s virginity, Michelle or Tea.
I am assuming and HOPING that Skins US is going in a different direction with the relationships. There is no “you made her look beautiful” moment in this episode, and I really can’t see Stanley and Cadie (but there is surprisingly solid groundwork for Michelle and Stanley actually working, especially since Tony and Michelle are just a terrible train wreck that isn’t going anywhere). The scene where Stan is trying to get to the weed and Michelle is trying to talk to him really seemed like she’d rather be spending time with him than desperately trying to figure out what is wrong with Tony.
In this week's diary, Abbud passionately argues against pointless remakes with inexperienced actors of material that he, as an avid fan, kind of owns. One thing Skins US does well: meta.
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