3. It Resolves The Cliffhangers To Series 2 And 4
Series 2 and 4 of Skins both ended on cliffhangers that were initially kind of annoying in how open ended they were but also felt stronger in some ways than a clichéd but conclusive ending would have been if Sid had managed to find Cassie in New York at the end of the Series 2 finale, or if Cook had been killed or beaten psychopathic therapist John Foster to death. We grew to accept if not like these unresolved endings. But now Cook and Cassie are two thirds of Series 7s main cast, their cliffhangers are resolved before their Series 7 episodes are even broadcast. Cassies episode will see her back in the UK and (unless its being kept very skilfully under wraps) will not feature Sid. Meaning that either he never found her or that they found each other again but ultimately broke up. And the Series 4 cliffhanger was very much a life or death situation. Either Cook dies, he escapes, or he severely injures/kills John Foster. Those are the only three viable options. And unless Freddie isnt the only one who can apparently communicate from beyond the grave, I think we can now eliminate the first one. But other than that, it just feels like its been too long to satisfactorily conclude the cliffhangers. We said our goodbyes to the Generation 1 characters five years ago and made our peace with the uncertainty of whether or not Sid would find Cassie. And despite how poorly written the Series 4 finale was thanks in part to Channel 4 reducing the series' episode count, we watched the Generation 2 cast bow out and eventually accepted the (at the time) irritatingly ambiguous cliffhanger. But its been three years since Cook faced down John Foster. Which, at least in my opinion, is also too long a gap to provide a satisfactory resolution. As well as these cliffhanger resolutions being too long after the fact to be pulled off effectively, the time gap presumably means that their resolutions will only be mentioned briefly in dialogue and almost definitely wont be shown onscreen. Then again, part of Cooks story relates to his past so we can at least hope for a follow-up to the end of Series 4.