TV Review: Skins 6.8 - 'Liv'

By Chris Swanson / March 15, 2012

rating: 4

So welcome to one of the last episodes of Skins and the first to air since the network announced the cancellation of the show last week. Well, sort-of cancellation, anyhow. They will be doing three hour long specials next year, which should let us catch up on each of the generations. That will be nice. Anyhow, this episode focuses on Liv (Laya Lewis) and her problems dealing with Grace€™s death. Yes, even all these episodes later, we€™re still dealing with fallout from that, which I suppose isn€™t unreasonable, but it€™s taken up a lot of time this season. We also get quite a lot more male nudity than usual, and, so€yeah. There€™s that. We begin at school with everyone learning about their final exams. Liv is there physically, but mentally she€™s a million miles away, and as soon as the exams notice is done, she and Alex (Sam Jackson) head off to party. The party is a typical party of the sort we see on the show (lots of drugs, drinking and semi-naked people). Alex (who later has a great scene trying to explain to a thirteen-year-old girl why he€™s wandering around naked in Liv€™s house), has found a guy to spend quality time with while Liv goes outside to throw up. Apparently she€™s been experiencing massive stomach problems, but hasn€™t been able to really talk with anyone about this. The next morning Alex and his new man head off on an adventure while Liv€™s sister turns up and drops off her daughter, Maude. Liv answers the door wearing one of Grace€™s old dresses, which I€™m sure is a psychologically healthy thing to do. That night Liv notices a large tumor right near where her pain is originating. She does some searches on the internet and learns that it might be cancer or an ovarian cyst, both of which make her panic a bit. She tries to call her friends, but Mini (Freya Mavor) doesn€™t answer, and Alex is MIA after ditching his new boyfriend. Instead she winds up having a conversation with her niece about death. The next morning, Liv goes in search of Mini, or really anyone to confide in. She finds Franky (Dakota Blue Fanning) hanging out at Mini€™s house. The two have an unpleasant conversation which mostly serves to remind me how truly unpleasant Franky has become this series (also, Franky later wears a dress that wouldn€™t have been out of place in a mid-80s episode of Doctor Who). Liv leaves and goes to school, where she has a brief heart-to-heart with Doug, the principal. He tells her he€™s leaving the school to go snowboarding and have a mid-life crisis. She tells him about her lump. He urges her to go to a clinic, and indeed we see her at one, but she can€™t bear to go inside, and eventually leaves. She finally is able to catch up with Mini and Franky, but the conversation goes south very quick, starting with Liv telling Franky that she blames Franky for the death of Grace. Franky slaps Liv and storms off. Meantime, Mini wants to tell Liv about her pregnancy, but starts by telling her about her sexual relationship with Alo. Liv basically blows that off and leaves before Mini can get to the important bit. Mini goes from there to the library where Rich (Alexander Arnold) is studying. She tries to talk with him, but he€™s busy, which results in her having a bit of a breakdown. She does reach Mini on the phone later and makes up with her, then wanders down to the Occupy Bristol camp (really? Occupy Britsol?), where she hallucinates Grace for a bit before getting a call from her niece saying that her friend has returned. She assumes it€™s Alex and runs home, excited, only to find out that it€™s someone else entirely€ During the previous series I find Liv€™s character to be rather €œmeh€. She wasn€™t great, and she wasn€™t horrible, she was just sort of there, which is a problem I find the series often has with female characters. But in this series, she€™s been quite a bit more interesting, and after some thought, I think I€™ve figured out why: it€™s because of Alex. It€™s because his personality paired with hers equals something very fascinating. The two play well off each other and the actors have great chemistry. That helped make this into a very good episode. I also think that Freya Mavor did a really excellent job in one particular scene in this episode, and that€™s when she finally tells Liv about her pregnancy. The scene is very intense, and Mavor plays it with just the right level of panic. I€™m still somewhat on the fence about the way the series has dealt with Grace dying. It€™s nice that it happened early enough in the series that we€™re able to see how different people deal with death, especially when they€™re teens. On the other hand, it€™s really cast a long shadow over the series and I€™m pleased we€™re moving on from it. Next week, Franky and Matty, together again! Be still my beating heart.