Skins US: 1x10 Eura/Everyone.
First things first: I have to confess that Stanley and Cadie singing “Shout” by Tears for Fears, which MTV released before the episode aired, has been stuck in my head for about three days now. I haven’t gone back to any other moment of the show as often as to this one. It’s not just that Daniel Flaherty and Britne Oldford sound good (which they do) or that the song is compelling (which it is) – but the scene actually accomplishes something that has been missing from Skins US. It smartly and efficiently shows rather than tells, how the characters feel about each other. Michelle, probably for the fist time, sees Stanley succeed at something, and falls in love with the person he can be when he actually tries. There is a heartbreaking scene earlier in the episode when Stanley watches old films of their childhood which shows how long Michelle, Tony and he have been trapped in the unfortunate triangle – Tony, dressed up as a knight, bests Stanley (already sharing a haircut with Michelle then) in their fight for the princess.
Stanley also finally really sees Cadie, but only when she’s already almost gone (she whispers “bye” before being carried away by the crowd). The show has relied on letting characters explain, sometimes in gruesome detail, what their motivations are and how they feel about each other – and strangely, this scene could have easily been ridiculous (and I generally don’t react well to unannounced breaking-into-song – “Wild World”, obviously, being an exception), but instead it was more subtle than some of the quieter emotional moments.
I do, however, have some issues with how Stanley ends up on that stage, and they are congruent with some of the problems with Skins US has in general. The good thing is: at this point in the story, the characters seem to have come into their own, for better or for worse. I don’t compare and contrast the characters with their British counterparts anymore in my head (only the storylines - and Eura, in the episode, because I needed a reference point). Chris Collins isn’t Chris Miles (which isn’t to his advantage), and Abbud isn’t Anwar (which, for me, is a good thing, even though there’s some vocal dissenting opinions on this).
One of my biggest issues with Glee is that there is no point in getting invested in the characters if there is no sense of coherency between episodes. There are honest and truthful moments between characters that are negated later, by writers who seem to have conflicting ideas about who these people are, what they want and how they feel about each other. To be perfectly honest, I would rather watch a show that was completely irredeemably terrible than one that makes me care and then ridicules me for getting invested afterwards.
There were points during the first season of Skins US when I quietly considered if the writers were doing exactly that with some of the characters – negating character development and giving contradictory information, giving someone an insight that seemed to have no consequence in a later episode. The back-and-forth on Cadie’s issues (the reason for her suicide attempt, her feelings for Stanley) is one of the weakest points of the show, especially since she is one of the strongest characters and Britne Oldford seemed to be in control of her from the beginning of the show. The complex relationship between Tea and Tony was supposed to be in the centre of the show, but I never had the feeling that the characters were developed enough to understand what was going on (instead, there was an awkward assembly of speeches and explanations). On the other hand, some of the characters have developed well in the course of the last few episodes and I am willing to blame some of the issues on the fact that the original version was still haunting the production in its earlier phase, and that a possible second season would improve on that (apparently the considerably less awkward webisodes were shot after the actual episodes).
First things first: I have to confess that Stanley and Cadie singing “Shout” by Tears for Fears, which MTV released before the episode aired, has been stuck in my head for about three days now. I haven’t gone back to any other moment of the show as often as to this one. It’s not just that Daniel Flaherty and Britne Oldford sound good (which they do) or that the song is compelling (which it is) – but the scene actually accomplishes something that has been missing from Skins US. It smartly and efficiently shows rather than tells, how the characters feel about each other. Michelle, probably for the fist time, sees Stanley succeed at something, and falls in love with the person he can be when he actually tries. There is a heartbreaking scene earlier in the episode when Stanley watches old films of their childhood which shows how long Michelle, Tony and he have been trapped in the unfortunate triangle – Tony, dressed up as a knight, bests Stanley (already sharing a haircut with Michelle then) in their fight for the princess.
Stanley also finally really sees Cadie, but only when she’s already almost gone (she whispers “bye” before being carried away by the crowd). The show has relied on letting characters explain, sometimes in gruesome detail, what their motivations are and how they feel about each other – and strangely, this scene could have easily been ridiculous (and I generally don’t react well to unannounced breaking-into-song – “Wild World”, obviously, being an exception), but instead it was more subtle than some of the quieter emotional moments.
I do, however, have some issues with how Stanley ends up on that stage, and they are congruent with some of the problems with Skins US has in general. The good thing is: at this point in the story, the characters seem to have come into their own, for better or for worse. I don’t compare and contrast the characters with their British counterparts anymore in my head (only the storylines - and Eura, in the episode, because I needed a reference point). Chris Collins isn’t Chris Miles (which isn’t to his advantage), and Abbud isn’t Anwar (which, for me, is a good thing, even though there’s some vocal dissenting opinions on this).
One of my biggest issues with Glee is that there is no point in getting invested in the characters if there is no sense of coherency between episodes. There are honest and truthful moments between characters that are negated later, by writers who seem to have conflicting ideas about who these people are, what they want and how they feel about each other. To be perfectly honest, I would rather watch a show that was completely irredeemably terrible than one that makes me care and then ridicules me for getting invested afterwards.
There were points during the first season of Skins US when I quietly considered if the writers were doing exactly that with some of the characters – negating character development and giving contradictory information, giving someone an insight that seemed to have no consequence in a later episode. The back-and-forth on Cadie’s issues (the reason for her suicide attempt, her feelings for Stanley) is one of the weakest points of the show, especially since she is one of the strongest characters and Britne Oldford seemed to be in control of her from the beginning of the show. The complex relationship between Tea and Tony was supposed to be in the centre of the show, but I never had the feeling that the characters were developed enough to understand what was going on (instead, there was an awkward assembly of speeches and explanations). On the other hand, some of the characters have developed well in the course of the last few episodes and I am willing to blame some of the issues on the fact that the original version was still haunting the production in its earlier phase, and that a possible second season would improve on that (apparently the considerably less awkward webisodes were shot after the actual episodes).
Eura and Tony
A more fundamental flaw of this episode is the premise, because it is impossible not to think of Effy’s first (and second) episode. The moment when Josh confronts Tony is one of the most intense scenes on Skins, and I’ve always felt like this was the decisive point that proved to the audience that Skins wouldn’t hold back, and that nobody was safe (Madison Twatter never felt like a real threat). Effy’s episode redeemed Tony to an extent because it showed how desperately he cared about his sister, and made him realize how much he needed Sid, which balanced out their terribly asymmetric relationship.
There is no genuine threat in Eura’s episode, there’s nothing at stake. It’s too safe – and the entire episode felt sanitized somehow, which is much worse than just having to accept an occasional bleeped expletive.
Eura decides that she must help her brother who hasn’t left his cave due to being terminally and unhappily in love with… Tea. Tony Schneider has no interest in winning back Michelle, he has fallen in ‘painting pictures and writing ridiculous love letters that still sound smug’ love with Tea. Eura’s plan is a combination of both of Effy’s first generation episodes: She pretends to have been kidnapped (s1) to fix the relationships of all the characters (s2). The elaborate plan would make much more sense if Eura had a more tangible goal than just getting Tony out of his room, or even a better idea of why Tony isn’t leaving it in the first place (the scene where she hands Michelle Tony’s love letter for Tea is outright ridiculous).
Eura herself remains elusive as well, but not because she’s a mysterious character – she is both perceptive and blind to the obvious, childish and precocious, but the contradictions don’t add up to form a complex character. Her silence seems to be a reaction to being ignored by her parents – which makes Eura more of a normal teenager instead of the mysterious enigma Effy was during the first two years, but also makes her entire storyline in this episode pointless.
Why is she being ignored? Is Tony the overpowering older brother who gets all the intention? Are the parents too self-involved to notice any of their children, until Tony makes that call from the concert and finally gets a rational parental response from their father – and is that the reason why Eura decides to talk again, after being displayed on stage and seen by everybody in the audience? There isn’t a great moment before she speaks, and it seems like not speaking really was just a fad, something to keep her entertained for a bit (the “born backwards” speech in mirror writing is repeated over and over on her walls, but her first words are “is he here?”).
We also don’t see much of the chase for her from Tony’s perspective to really get a glimpse of his desperation, except that it drives him to ask Stanley for help and overwrites some of the other conflicts within the group.
Eura’s intention is to get a reaction, any reaction out of Tony (“He’s going crazy” / “Good. Got out of bed then”), but the only revelation from her part of the two-folded plan is an insight into Tony’s relationship with Stanley.
Stanley: You know you’re the only person in this world that he really, really loves? How could you do that to him?
Eura: You never understand anything, Stan, do you?
Stanley: No. I don’t.
Eura: You stupid dildo. He looks up to you. It’s you he loves.
Stanley: Don’t be stupid, okay.
Eura: He came around, right? He asked you to help find me.
Stanley: So. Who else would he…
Eura: And the boygirl of course. He loves her as well.
Eura’s argument is a little bit substantiated by the awe in Tony’s eyes when he sees Stanley sing on stage, but nothing we’ve seen him do previously hinted at how much he cares about Stanley, and “you’re the only person not ignoring him” doesn’t really add up to love (a word that was used A LOT in this episode).
Cadie and Stanley
Cadie and Stanley
Therapist: Tell me Cadie, why do you tell me these stories?
Cadie: Huh? […] Isn’t that why I’m here? To tell stories?
Therapist: I guess. I guess that’s true. Listen: Why don’t you tell me a story, that’s, I don’t know, say 75 percent true.
Cadie: I can do 30.
Therapist: 60
Cadie: 40
Therapist: 50. Deal? Fifty percent true.
Cadie: Yeah. I could do that.
Therapist: Go ahead.
Cadie: I like a boy and he likes me back.
Therapist: All we gotta work out is which fifty percent of that is true.
Cadie: Thing is: I’m crazy, so I don’t know. You like me, don’t you?
Therapist: What’s not to like?
Cadie: Oh. Hm.
Cadie’s issues with being able tell apart reality and fiction; especially in the context of her very realistic and grounded parents (“this is real” and the “fixing” of dead animal) are one of the most interesting aspects of her character. She isn’t sure if her own feelings for Stanley are part of her personal fictional story, and she doesn’t know how he feels about her – so she dares him to express himself.
Cadie: Somebody wanted to know about you and me.
Stanley: What did you say?
Cadie: I said that I didn’t know if it was real. Why is that, Stanley?
Stanley: Oh. No reason, really. Apart from every time we get together you try to kill yourself.
Cadie: Maybe we are just a story we like to tell each other.
Stanley: I don’t understand.
[They kiss]
Stanley: Wow. So what happens now?
Cadie: You have to figure out how it ends. Go figure.
Stanley: What?
Cadie: The truth.
The story they tell each other: about how Cadie tried to commit suicide because of him (a story that has changed over time). Cadie later confesses to the therapist that she isn’t sure if she wants to know the answer to the question (“I’m not ready. I don’t wanna know it’s true. Don’t know if I can take it.”), but tells the truth when he asks for Stanley’s name – and then compels her to intervene and not to wait for Stanley to make up his mind.
Therapist: What’s the worst way it can turn out?
Cadie: It’s like… It’s only a story.
Therapist: How does it go?
Cadie: Huh?
Therapist: What happens?
What happens is a dare: Cadie dares Stanley to express himself. Stanley drags Eura on stage so Tony doesn’t have to worry anymore, and then he starts to sing – and, to the surprise of everybody, it’s something he CAN do. He has the attention and approval of the audience.
Shout, shout, let it all out
These are the things I can do without
Come on, I'm talking to you, come on
In violent times, you shouldn't have to sell your soul
In black and white, they really really ought to know
Those one track minds, they took you for a working boy
Kiss them goodbye, you shouldn't have to jump for joy
You shouldn't have to jump for joy
The “I’m talking to you” – ambiguous because Stanley notices both Michelle and the changed look on her face and Cadie, at the same time – they both disappear, but in the end, it’s Michelle who is waiting on his door step, asking him if he would do anything for a friend, no matter what he’s done – and then they kiss.
Random notes:
Tony: What do you want, Tea? Cause I’m kinda busy.
Tea: Right. Right. I just wanted to say… I’m sorry.
Tony: For what?
Tea: For making you want me. I liked it. I liked that you wanted me.
Tony: I love you, Tea.
Tea: I know. I’m sorry for doing that.
Tony loves Tea. Tea, the girl that everybody wants, liked that she was wanted by the one guy who doesn’t seem to really care about anything but himself – and she still feels drawn to him (later, in the club, she instinctively holds his hand after the fight). There is no real explanation why Tea is chasing Betty now, except that maybe she is trying to prove that she can have a meaningful and serious relationship and be a better person if she tries (she tells Betty that she does care about people in the hospital room, she does try), but it would help to know Betty better (beyond the drug-fuelled honesty of “Screw it. Screw everything. I want you in here. I always want you in here.”), or to see Tea do more than just follow her around. She is conflicted about her feelings, but in the end, she does strip down (which worked better as a metaphor than it actually made sense in the context of “hospital room”, and “winter”) and spends the night in Betty’s hospital bed.
I really don’t know how the paragraph about Glee ended up in here. Apparently I have too many ~feelings. It can’t be that bad because I am rooting for a renewal!
Jim: What’s with these kids? They just get crazy. What did I do? […] Now it’s like we don’t exist for them.
Mrs Schneider: They’re just a bit self-absorbed. They’ll grow out of it.
(while Eura undresses and pours yogurt over her head in the background, invisible to her parents).
Cadie is playing with a figurine on a string.
LIKE WHEN WE SOUL DANCED IN YOUR CLUB LAST NIGHT AND YOU WANTED ME RIGHT THERE. I think I might know five-year-olds who could compose a more compelling love letter (to, like, dinosaurs or something). That’s what happens if you read a book about rats instead of L’Ennui, Tony Schneider.
Chris, hand over the “did I do that” right now. You lost your privileges to that phrase.
Tea: My time’s never wasted, Bets.
Betty: That’s wrong. You sure put a lot of time in this boy. And he put a lot of his penis into you.
BOOM. Betty is actually quite entertaining when she’s the one being chased (“Oh look who it is. It’s Miss clitoris.”). And on drugs.
My first reaction to Stanley’s “She smells like flowers and tastes like butter”-song was “you’re not Conor Oberst”, but then they played it over the final scene with Stanley and Michelle and it was actually sweet. Daniel Flaherty is a good musician.
Daisy’s The Signal was missing the extremely effective serial killer eyes which, as Skins UK taught us, is the sign of true love (no, I like Matty. Just sometimes his eyes scare me).
Warren went.
Where?
Wyoming
Why Wyoming?
Warm.
When?
Wednesday.
One way?
Whatever.
Daisy and Abbud confess their love for each other and are presumably heading in the same direction the effortlessly adorable background couples in the past have gone to: PAIN, MISERY AND BETRAYAL.
Abbud: It’s not fair, Dais.
Daisy: What?
Abbud: You just can’t walk around looking like that.
Daisy: I don’t follow you, boy.
Abbud: I’m only saying, you can’t expect people to be totally mindless about you. I’m just telling you, okay.
Daisy: Okay. Why?
Abbud: Because it’s you. And it just is impossible because it’s you. And I’d rather get it over with now, okay. So dump me, go on. Dump me.
Daisy: Hey ‘bbud. I showed Stanley the look.
Abbud: What look?
Daisy: This one. You getting it?
Abbud: Yeah.
“Shout” also works as a meta commentary on Skins US: Stanley fulfils his “creativity”-assignment by covering someone else’s song and making it his own (whether he achieved this lies in the eye of the beholder).
Eura breaks the fourth wall. I would have preferred her not to. It would have also been nice if there wasn’t the possibility that the entire run of Skins US ends with Chris stumbling towards the camera.
Webisode
Diary (Tony's)
Random notes:
Tony: What do you want, Tea? Cause I’m kinda busy.
Tea: Right. Right. I just wanted to say… I’m sorry.
Tony: For what?
Tea: For making you want me. I liked it. I liked that you wanted me.
Tony: I love you, Tea.
Tea: I know. I’m sorry for doing that.
Tony loves Tea. Tea, the girl that everybody wants, liked that she was wanted by the one guy who doesn’t seem to really care about anything but himself – and she still feels drawn to him (later, in the club, she instinctively holds his hand after the fight). There is no real explanation why Tea is chasing Betty now, except that maybe she is trying to prove that she can have a meaningful and serious relationship and be a better person if she tries (she tells Betty that she does care about people in the hospital room, she does try), but it would help to know Betty better (beyond the drug-fuelled honesty of “Screw it. Screw everything. I want you in here. I always want you in here.”), or to see Tea do more than just follow her around. She is conflicted about her feelings, but in the end, she does strip down (which worked better as a metaphor than it actually made sense in the context of “hospital room”, and “winter”) and spends the night in Betty’s hospital bed.
I really don’t know how the paragraph about Glee ended up in here. Apparently I have too many ~feelings. It can’t be that bad because I am rooting for a renewal!
Jim: What’s with these kids? They just get crazy. What did I do? […] Now it’s like we don’t exist for them.
Mrs Schneider: They’re just a bit self-absorbed. They’ll grow out of it.
(while Eura undresses and pours yogurt over her head in the background, invisible to her parents).
Cadie is playing with a figurine on a string.
LIKE WHEN WE SOUL DANCED IN YOUR CLUB LAST NIGHT AND YOU WANTED ME RIGHT THERE. I think I might know five-year-olds who could compose a more compelling love letter (to, like, dinosaurs or something). That’s what happens if you read a book about rats instead of L’Ennui, Tony Schneider.
Chris, hand over the “did I do that” right now. You lost your privileges to that phrase.
Tea: My time’s never wasted, Bets.
Betty: That’s wrong. You sure put a lot of time in this boy. And he put a lot of his penis into you.
BOOM. Betty is actually quite entertaining when she’s the one being chased (“Oh look who it is. It’s Miss clitoris.”). And on drugs.
My first reaction to Stanley’s “She smells like flowers and tastes like butter”-song was “you’re not Conor Oberst”, but then they played it over the final scene with Stanley and Michelle and it was actually sweet. Daniel Flaherty is a good musician.
Daisy’s The Signal was missing the extremely effective serial killer eyes which, as Skins UK taught us, is the sign of true love (no, I like Matty. Just sometimes his eyes scare me).
Warren went.
Where?
Wyoming
Why Wyoming?
Warm.
When?
Wednesday.
One way?
Whatever.
Daisy and Abbud confess their love for each other and are presumably heading in the same direction the effortlessly adorable background couples in the past have gone to: PAIN, MISERY AND BETRAYAL.
Abbud: It’s not fair, Dais.
Daisy: What?
Abbud: You just can’t walk around looking like that.
Daisy: I don’t follow you, boy.
Abbud: I’m only saying, you can’t expect people to be totally mindless about you. I’m just telling you, okay.
Daisy: Okay. Why?
Abbud: Because it’s you. And it just is impossible because it’s you. And I’d rather get it over with now, okay. So dump me, go on. Dump me.
Daisy: Hey ‘bbud. I showed Stanley the look.
Abbud: What look?
Daisy: This one. You getting it?
Abbud: Yeah.
“Shout” also works as a meta commentary on Skins US: Stanley fulfils his “creativity”-assignment by covering someone else’s song and making it his own (whether he achieved this lies in the eye of the beholder).
Eura breaks the fourth wall. I would have preferred her not to. It would have also been nice if there wasn’t the possibility that the entire run of Skins US ends with Chris stumbling towards the camera.
Webisode
Diary (Tony's)
2 comments:
Hey I want to know the name of the band, more precisely when
Eura looking to start, (It looks like Crystal Castles)
Hi! I'm not sure which scene you're referring to. The band playing on stage at the club is Starscream (the song that plays when Tony comes in is "Gravity in Terms of Space Time"). You can find a complete list of songs used in the episode at wetpaint, but I could help you out if you'd describe the scene (or just tell me how far into the episode it is).
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