TV Review: Skins 6.6, 'Nick'
There were also a couple really cute moments and one moment that will have the slash fiction writers running for their computers.
rating: 3
So this week E4 gives us the story of Nick (Sean Teale), a character about whom I have next to no thoughts. Him and his brother, Matty (Sebastian de Souza), have consistently managed to avoid leaving any real impression on me. I wish I could say that this weeks episode changed that, but, well We begin with Nick, Franky (Dakota Blue Fanning), Liv (Laya Lewis), and Alex (Sam Jackson), at a party. A man is doing a very bad job of hitting on Franky and then plays some horrible music while Franky and friends mix up some drugs. Eventually they leave and Franky steals a bike, which Nick uses to get her and him to her place. Once there it begins to rain, and Franky invites Nick inside. Her bedroom is covered with little bits of art, which is a nice reminder of her artistic side; something that seems to have vanished somewhere around episode two of the previous series. Anyhow, it seems like the two are getting quite chummy and like theyre about to enter a friends with benefits stage of the relationship, but then she kicks him to the curb and he goes home. The next morning, Nick wakes up to a Skype-type call from Matty who tells him hes got a way to get back home, but it involves a fake passport and he needs Nick to get two-thousand pounds to a man called the Doctor, who I imagine is hanging around Cardiff. Nick reluctantly agrees to this and rounds up seven hundred pounds. He goes to a strip-club called Hammer and Thongs where we finally get to see some topless women. A happy moment, if thats your thing. Anyhow, it turns out that the Doctor is less of a heroic Time Lord type and more like what youd get if the Master just sort of gave up and really let himself go. Hes also a Russian (possibly) mobster, and refuses to take any of Nicks money until the kid has the whole amount. Nick has no idea where hes going to get the rest of the money he needs. He goes to school and sits next to Franky during what is, to my belief, the only filmed lecture on magnesium thats weighted with any sort of portent. After class, Franky blows him off, but Alex says theres a club doing a big party and talks Nick into going. At the club, Nick sulks and acts.well, like a sullen teen. Alex eventually convinces him to relax and Nick relaxes to the point where he hooks up with some random tart and brings her back to his place for some meaningless sex. Things get complicated the next morning when she wants to spend the day together and get even more complicated when Franky drops by. Nick still needs to get the remaining money he needs and eventually hits on the idea of going to his fathers bank account and pulling out the cash. This he does and is somehow shocked to find out that Russian mobsters arent honest people when they take his money and then demand another thousand. Now hes in a real bind and has no idea who to turn to for help This wasnt a bad episode. It was decent, though not great, up until the final scenes, where it had a rather anti-climactic ending. Part of the problem here is that Nick just isnt a very interesting character, at least not to me, and Mattys bind confuses me. I dont think hes wanted for any crimes, at least not in the UK (and maybe not even in Morocco, except possibly he might be wanted for leaving the scene of an accident), so I dont understand why he doesnt just go to the nearest UK consulate and get a copy of his passport. It also doesnt help that Nicks relationship with Franky comes off as a little forced. Teales does do a good job with the material hes given, and it was nice to see Alex getting a decent role to play in this episode. There were also a couple really cute moments and one moment that will have the slash fiction writers running for their computers. But overall this episode was merely acceptable and not anything terribly great.