Okay, I admit I'm a little late to jump on the British bandwagon (you wanker), but with MTV promoting its new version of the UK classic SKINS I had to see what the bloody 'ell this teenage soap opera was all about.
I have to admit, other countries do teen dramas way better than America. Sure we have those winy but gorgeous SoCal brats on the O.C. and the silver-spoon fed, Upper East side Gossip Girl fashionistas... but where is the real dirt? The shows that reveal the true grit, expose the real unpleasant truths about growing up - you know, without all the glitter? Apparently we import the real drama, clean it up, put an American accent on it and call it our own. When in reality, the originals are much more scandalous and yummy.
Case in point: Degrassi (The Next Generation obvs). Our Northern neighbor's tv hit had more issues and baby mamma dramas than the number of people I thought lived in Canada. But besides introducing us to Jimmy aka the extremely sexy rapper Drake (he was crippled kid in a wheelchair - after being shot, naturally) Degrassi gave us a killer intro song and the best Canadian accents around. Sooooorry. Maybe more importantly, the show featured actors who were actually young enough to be in high school (I'm pointing a finger at you here, 30-year old Ryan Atwood.)It was real drugs, real sex, which lead to real abortions (Oh Manny!) - Basically real life, or what I thought was real high school life as a 15 year old with few mischievous experiences of her own addicted to The N.Six years later, Skins entered my life. Even though I'm 21 now, and I like to think I know a little more about the world now - Damn, this show, it still gives it to me! Yes, it follows the same formula of a group of misfit friends, from the overdosing anorexic to the popular smooth talking badass to the goody-good clarinet player. But more than that - this show is dirty. I'm talking like teenage boobs (are they even allowed to do that?) I think I even saw balls once. The sex scenes are cray-cray and they smoke, drink and pop more pills than... well, let's just say they put Marissa Cooper to shame.
But what this show really achieves is getting to know the characters on an extreme personal level. Each episode is dedicated to a specific individual storyline, with smaller subplots interweaved together to create a seriously engrossing story. Free on Netflix instant streaming, I finished Seasons 1 and 2 in the matter of about a week. And I felt like I really knew these people, even if I didn't always understand what they were saying. Which is why I am deeply, if not deathly concerned when it comes to Season 3.
In the end of Season Two the gang graduates and we're left with ALL NEW KIDS. Now I understand that this is how the real world works - but not in TV land. In fantasy TV teenage dramas you get at LEAST 4 seasons out of the high school years and then maybe even a couple more with the awkward college days. Sure its not real, but everyone does it - Saved By the Bell, Boy Meets World, Even the OC. A hit's a hit, no way you're going to mess that up with an entire new cast. So why is Skins ripping apart my new best friends after only spending two years with them? Well for starters, if you think about it - realistically, only so many crazy things can happen to a person before it just starts getting ridiculous (There's your cue again Marissa Cooper). And while Marissa's OC death was cheap and kinda cheesy, with Ryan carrying her dead body in his arms after her fatal crash on graduation night, seriously what else was there for this girl to do? Her boyfriend got it on with her mom, she was rapped on the beach, she shot a guy, became a lesbian there for a hot second, had a crazy stalker... all before her 18th birthday. So we said so long to Marissa Cooper (and Mischa Barton's acting career) while we struggled to watch the OC for two more very painful seasons all the while asking ourselves WHY?
So maybe SKINS has the right idea here. Keep the drama going, but spread it around a little bit. Although I'll miss Tony and Nips, Cassie and Sid, Jal and Chris ... some of them are bound to show up here and there next season, right? It's not like they all died - they just went to college. I am excited about Tony's little sister Effie though and if that crazy Pandora girl shows up soon I will not be mad at all. So maybe the UK has the right idea with this. The creator of GLEE sure seems to think so. He recently announced that he'll bring in new characters when it's time for those old balls to graduate (except possibly Rachel Berry, she seems to think she's staying forever.)
So watch SKINS. Tell me what you think. Are you excited for MTV's version of the hit? Scared? Emotionally unprepared? I'll let you know what I think when it premieres in January. Until then, try to remember the good days from your former teenage dramas. Christmas break is a great time to break out The OC Seasons 1 - 3 :)
