Oh My Heart, It's In Pieces on the Floor
I had been fully prepared to write a gushing review of this week’s episode all week long, figuring we would probably get a lot of adorable Naomily moments and some angst as well. But that ok because I would love it anyways; I heart angst.
I WAS WRONG.
I’ve waited a few hours to write this so that I could calm down and attempt to really process everything that happened. I’m still so scarred, though. The most hurtful part is, I totally understand every single reason why Naomi would cheat, I just don’t understand how she could do it. I could have easily pictured Naomi running again, but cheating? Not so much.
My initial reaction was anger and I still have so much of that. The ONE THING I begged for before this series began was for Naomi not to be the one to fuck up all the time. I was about as big of a fan of South of Nowhere as you can be; loved the show to death. I loved Ashley Davies to death. But even then, I always had one major gripe about SON besides the fact that there was such disparity between the way the gay and straight relationships were portrayed on the show. With Ashley and Spencer, Ashley was always the one to fuck up and Spencer was always the moral compass who never did anything wrong. She was level headed about everything and didn’t make mistakes. She was too perfect ,if you will, and Ashley was overly destructive. There was no parity there.
Having seen that play out for three years on television already, I prayed that Naomi and Emily would not fall victim to that this series. They did. The Skins writers have just made Naomi become Ashley Davies and I hate it. I hate it. Once again, there is no parity in their relationship. If anyone needed to fuck up this series, it was Emily. That way, Naomi could experience the pitfalls of what it meant to be in love with someone and to fully devote yourself to them while Emily could finally step off the pedestal. It’s great that Emily is the moral compass of Skins, but she needs to have flaws outside of her relationship with her sister. She needs to have shortcomings in her relationship with Naomi.
It’s funny, after the description of episode two was released, I said that it sounded like lazy writing but that I would reserve judgment until I had actually seen the episode. Well, I’ve seen it and I stand by my original statement but not for the reasons I thought I would. When I originally made that claim, it was in reference to Sophia’s stalkerish behavior of Naomi and how it just conjured up drama instead of building to it. The Sophia thing makes a bit more sense now and is not in the same vein as Sketch which I am really glad about. No, the lazy writing came in with Naomi cheating. Was there really no other way you could have gotten to that level of drama and jeopardy in Naomily’s relationship? It actually wouldn’t be as bad if you didn’t have cheating storylines in BACK TO BACK episodes. Seriously, how unoriginal can you get? You have Thomas cheat and then ONE EPISODE LATER, Naomi cheats. Is there seriously no other way to explore drama in a relationship Skins writers? It’s not like creativity is your job or anything.
I really wish they had just stuck to the family angle with Emily. There’s so much there, so many ways it could have caused strife between Naomily. This whole Sophia thing is just unnecessary. I was really glad to see the Emily/Rob and Emily/Jenna relationships fleshed out a bit more. Emily and Rob’s scene where she tells him that Naomi cheated on her just broke my heart. I’m so glad that Emily has one parent she can lean on since she doesn’t see eye to eye with Jenna at all. That being said though, I liked Jenna a lot more in this episode and actually agreed with her on quite a few points. She was still a complete bitch in terms of not telling her gay associate that Emily was a lesbian and in the scene at the dinner table, but I got much more of that wanting the best for your daughter sentiment in this episode. First of all, Jenna was so right in saying that Emily shouldn’t run off to Mexico with Naomi. Jesus Christ girls, get your education first and then travel the world together. Uni is important. I also couldn’t quite believe that Emily would just all of a sudden not care about school. That seemed a bit out of character. The other time I really felt for Jenna was when she asked Emily to stay at home. Emily’s reaction was priceless but I did get the sense that Jenna really loved her daughter, even if her actions were not the most endearing.
On the flip side of the family coin however, how in the hell did Katie only get one small scene with Emily in this episode? So much was accomplished in that scene and you could feel how dependent Katie still was on her sister, but that’s kind of the point. Even if they are supposed to be individuals this series, you can’t erase the fact that they’re twins and will always be huge figures in each other’s lives. They needed to have more interaction and we needed to see more of how Katie was dealing with the implosion of her family. Granted, I’m sure we will see that two episodes from now when it’s finally Katie’s turn to grab the spotlight, but what’s happening in Emily’s episode effects Katie now - not just two episodes from now.
I think that might be my biggest criticism of Skins so far this series. The cast have all said that the episodes get more individualized with less interaction between all the characters and we’ve definitely seen that. I don’t like it, though. I really don’t. This is supposed to be an ensemble show. Even if they dynamics between the characters shift, I think they still need to be shown in the context of their relationships with one another. The group bond is always what has made Skins Skins and is what’s made my love for the show so strong. I miss it.
I’ve bitched a lot already so it may seem out of place for me to say this, but I did actually enjoy the episode. Naomi and Emily had a lot of extremely cute moments. I just didn’t love that last ten minutes. What’s truly awful is that re-watching the episode made me question all of Naomi’s actions and her motivations for her actions. It also made me question her “Don’t tell Emily”. Um, DO NOT WANT. I love that scene so hard and don’t want it to be tainted by the atrocity of Naomi cheating.
On a more positive final note, Lily totally made the note that was on Naomi’s front door irl. It had the same drawings as the ones she did for Company Magazine. ♥ Beautiful little touch props people. Well done.
I WAS WRONG.
I’ve waited a few hours to write this so that I could calm down and attempt to really process everything that happened. I’m still so scarred, though. The most hurtful part is, I totally understand every single reason why Naomi would cheat, I just don’t understand how she could do it. I could have easily pictured Naomi running again, but cheating? Not so much.
My initial reaction was anger and I still have so much of that. The ONE THING I begged for before this series began was for Naomi not to be the one to fuck up all the time. I was about as big of a fan of South of Nowhere as you can be; loved the show to death. I loved Ashley Davies to death. But even then, I always had one major gripe about SON besides the fact that there was such disparity between the way the gay and straight relationships were portrayed on the show. With Ashley and Spencer, Ashley was always the one to fuck up and Spencer was always the moral compass who never did anything wrong. She was level headed about everything and didn’t make mistakes. She was too perfect ,if you will, and Ashley was overly destructive. There was no parity there.
Having seen that play out for three years on television already, I prayed that Naomi and Emily would not fall victim to that this series. They did. The Skins writers have just made Naomi become Ashley Davies and I hate it. I hate it. Once again, there is no parity in their relationship. If anyone needed to fuck up this series, it was Emily. That way, Naomi could experience the pitfalls of what it meant to be in love with someone and to fully devote yourself to them while Emily could finally step off the pedestal. It’s great that Emily is the moral compass of Skins, but she needs to have flaws outside of her relationship with her sister. She needs to have shortcomings in her relationship with Naomi.
It’s funny, after the description of episode two was released, I said that it sounded like lazy writing but that I would reserve judgment until I had actually seen the episode. Well, I’ve seen it and I stand by my original statement but not for the reasons I thought I would. When I originally made that claim, it was in reference to Sophia’s stalkerish behavior of Naomi and how it just conjured up drama instead of building to it. The Sophia thing makes a bit more sense now and is not in the same vein as Sketch which I am really glad about. No, the lazy writing came in with Naomi cheating. Was there really no other way you could have gotten to that level of drama and jeopardy in Naomily’s relationship? It actually wouldn’t be as bad if you didn’t have cheating storylines in BACK TO BACK episodes. Seriously, how unoriginal can you get? You have Thomas cheat and then ONE EPISODE LATER, Naomi cheats. Is there seriously no other way to explore drama in a relationship Skins writers? It’s not like creativity is your job or anything.
I really wish they had just stuck to the family angle with Emily. There’s so much there, so many ways it could have caused strife between Naomily. This whole Sophia thing is just unnecessary. I was really glad to see the Emily/Rob and Emily/Jenna relationships fleshed out a bit more. Emily and Rob’s scene where she tells him that Naomi cheated on her just broke my heart. I’m so glad that Emily has one parent she can lean on since she doesn’t see eye to eye with Jenna at all. That being said though, I liked Jenna a lot more in this episode and actually agreed with her on quite a few points. She was still a complete bitch in terms of not telling her gay associate that Emily was a lesbian and in the scene at the dinner table, but I got much more of that wanting the best for your daughter sentiment in this episode. First of all, Jenna was so right in saying that Emily shouldn’t run off to Mexico with Naomi. Jesus Christ girls, get your education first and then travel the world together. Uni is important. I also couldn’t quite believe that Emily would just all of a sudden not care about school. That seemed a bit out of character. The other time I really felt for Jenna was when she asked Emily to stay at home. Emily’s reaction was priceless but I did get the sense that Jenna really loved her daughter, even if her actions were not the most endearing.
On the flip side of the family coin however, how in the hell did Katie only get one small scene with Emily in this episode? So much was accomplished in that scene and you could feel how dependent Katie still was on her sister, but that’s kind of the point. Even if they are supposed to be individuals this series, you can’t erase the fact that they’re twins and will always be huge figures in each other’s lives. They needed to have more interaction and we needed to see more of how Katie was dealing with the implosion of her family. Granted, I’m sure we will see that two episodes from now when it’s finally Katie’s turn to grab the spotlight, but what’s happening in Emily’s episode effects Katie now - not just two episodes from now.
I think that might be my biggest criticism of Skins so far this series. The cast have all said that the episodes get more individualized with less interaction between all the characters and we’ve definitely seen that. I don’t like it, though. I really don’t. This is supposed to be an ensemble show. Even if they dynamics between the characters shift, I think they still need to be shown in the context of their relationships with one another. The group bond is always what has made Skins Skins and is what’s made my love for the show so strong. I miss it.
I’ve bitched a lot already so it may seem out of place for me to say this, but I did actually enjoy the episode. Naomi and Emily had a lot of extremely cute moments. I just didn’t love that last ten minutes. What’s truly awful is that re-watching the episode made me question all of Naomi’s actions and her motivations for her actions. It also made me question her “Don’t tell Emily”. Um, DO NOT WANT. I love that scene so hard and don’t want it to be tainted by the atrocity of Naomi cheating.
On a more positive final note, Lily totally made the note that was on Naomi’s front door irl. It had the same drawings as the ones she did for Company Magazine. ♥ Beautiful little touch props people. Well done.