Skins - I’m gonna keep her, you know. She’s mine.

Skins: 3x10 Finale.

Effy, we start, at a rave, out of her mind, with the strobe light. There is no sleep to start us off, just being out of control, then the two of them being thrown out, landing on the trash bags, making out – a short moment of complete emotional honesty. Effy is the one thing Cook has, but he only has her as long as she’s as fucked up as he is. Cook is homeless and Effy is Cook’s as long as she’s homeless too. That’s as honest as he can be.
They wake up together outside, by some stream or the sea. The first thing she does is light a cigarette. There are no words spoken for the longest time.

Cook: “Where are we?”
Effy: “Thought you were the man with the plan?”
Cook: “I am. I am. I am.
Effy: “It’s been weeks, Cook, one shifty shitty town after another.”

When Cook finally admits that their ultimate goal is the shifty town his dad leaves, he is insecure about this: and Effy holds back at first because she clearly does not want to be involved in Cook’s life to an extent that goes beyond what we just saw in the first scene. She silently whispers “be careful” when he enters his dad’s boat because she understands how much family can fuck you up – and, watching Cook’s dad and how Cook sees him, as the small town hero who is running up a ridiculous tab at the only bar in town, who fancies himself rebellious but, from the outside, just seems very sad, she realizes that she needs to get out of there, for some of the reasons that Anthea shares with JJ, in a scene that is so unusual because we never expected Anthea to understand her daughter so well.

Anthea: “You know that Effy smile? You don’t know me at all, and you never will?
“She’s so good at concealing things, hiding, avoiding. But I do know her. And I k now that she has so much love in her heart. But the thought of letting it out, of showing her cards, it scares her to death. I never knew it would be possible to miss someone as much.”

I wonder whether Cook when he tells his dad that he intends to “keep” Effy, realizes that nobody can do that, own her. Between the creepy moments that Cook’s dad shares with her, there is also one tiny speck of truth: “Too pretty for your own good. That’s why you destroy everything you touch.”. This is the person that Effy is trying not be anymore, but she can’t let go, but she does understand the toxic influence Cook’s dad has been on him, by being absent for most of his life (“you’ve been doing it [breaking his heart] for every day of his life”).
She decides to call Freddie and ask for help, and finally tells him the one line she decided to withhold in Gobbler’s end (“Why can’t you help him?” / “Because I love you.”).

Finally, the whole thing ends in a ridiculous “steeple chase”, where Freddie, JJ, Cook and the son of the bar owner compete in carrying an elderly woman on their back around town. Everybody has something on the line: Cook has to win to redeem his father’s debt, and the three musketeers are fighting for Effy, entertaining the ridiculous notion that a contest could ever decide that particular situation. In the end, JJ wins, and his prize is forcing his friends and Effy to finally come together and talk.

“No more evasion. No more Oh I’m so fit and mysterious. Freddie, he’s in love with you. Aren’t you, Freddie? And Cook, he loves you. And just for the record, I love you too, plus, I won the race. So, three boys, one girl. It’s an unsolvable equation, unless you choose. Then we can finally get back to our lives.”

Effy chooses Freddie, and it’s only then that Freddie starts to realize what this means for Cook (“Nothing good ever stays with me”), and especially after witnessing how brutally his dad treats him (and knocking him out), he asks for his consent: Which Cook can’t give him (“I just fucking love her. I’m sorry. I fucking love her.”). Still, the season ends on a happy note: Cook might not get the girl, but he liberates himself from his dad (“I’m COOK”) by throwing him over board, as the three musketeers plus the girl take off into the sunset. “What do we do now?”.

Random things

JJ, sharing a small moment of honesty with Anthea: „ I used to do magic. Not anymore though” / “I used to be married. Not anymore though.”

Small-town boys. On fucking tuned mopeds. Who follow a straight-edge lifestyle.

“Sorry, it’s just. Facebook really needs to hear about this.” – when Karen and JJ walk in on Freddie.

“Fair. What you think this is? Edith Blyton Enid Blyton (reference fail)?” – an old lady after Freddie got bullied from the race.