The worst episodes of Skins
Ranked by viewer rating, lows first. Lit marks on the season rail place this list across the run. Vote on a placement to back it or contest it.
- 01
There's a party at one of Thomas' club nights and all the gang are there; Cook is still up to no good, Freddie is learning increasingly more about love and the girls are busy dancing. An accident during the evening, however, leaves Thomas feeling guilty and alienated from the rest of the group. Will their friendship survive?
- 02
With A-level results in for most of the gang, thoughts about the past and the future are on their minds. Slowly the gang end up in the one place that makes sense. In their final moments, they are reunited once more and anything could happen. But one thing's for sure, it will be eventful, and for some, there's no going back.
- 03
Cassie, now aged 23 is adrift, alone and invisible in London, trying to make sense of her life. Slowly she realises that someone is following her. Cassie turns towards the unknown. A strange and poignant friendship is carved out of mutual loneliness, but can it survive exposure to the real world?
- 04
Cassie goes to Wales to see her family accompanied with Jacob. As things go along, Cassie is no longer Jacob's mysterious model.
- 05
When Freddie and JJ fall out over Cook, the confusion surrounding the gangs' love lives reaches a dramatic conclusion as the series' infamous love triangle is potentially brought to an end.
- 06
Alo still has no clue that Mini is pregnant with his baby. He attempts to get over her by going out with a new girl called Poppy Champion. Mini is soon a distant memory as things progress between the two of them. As Franky's efforts to convince him to see sense fall on deaf ears, Alo's days of refusing to grow up appear to be running out.
- 07
Effy has been in a psychiatric hospital recovering since she tried to take her own life. After lots of sessions with her counsellor John Foster, he tells her she is ready to go back home. Effy is worried she could slip back into her previous state, but John assures her that as long as she is disciplined she will be ok, and she will still visit him for sessions.
- 08
Nick is in love with Franky, but the feelings aren't returned. He attempts to deal with the fact that Franky is nothing more than a friend but his feelings towards her increase. Matty gets in touch with his brother, Nick who is also in love with Franky and needs Nick's help to get him out of Morocco and back to Bristol.
- 09
Naomi tries to recover from cancer without Emily knowing. Effy is sleeping with her boss and tries to get Dom's help to pull Jake's company out of a slump.
- 10
Nick is the star of the school but following Matty's reappearance he becomes unsettled and as he sees Matty slip effortlessly into new friendships, old wounds come back to the surface. After realising that everything he thought he wanted is crushing him, Nick leaves it all behind and puts his faith in Matty.
- 11
Cook, Charlie and Emma are on the run. They take refuge in Emma's parent's house in the middle of nowhere. Things start to get worse as Louie finds them.
- 12
Emily and Naomi return home but are called in for questioning by the police. Emily discovers that Naomi was dealing drugs and that Sophia was pretending to be friends with them. Cook and Freddie try to keep away from Effy but neither can resist for long resulting in a fight. Emily finds a Naomi shrine in Sophia's locker.
- 13
Alo is bored with his life on Creevey Farm and he ends up going to the city so that he can party and try and get laid. His parents decide to take him out of college in an attempt to force him to buckle down on the farm. Alo ends up throwing a party at the farm which ends up ruining the place. After his dad is hospitalised he finally realises that it's time for him to grow up.
- 14
The gang go for a holiday in Morroco together to break the ice from the summer but, by the time they arrive back to Bristol everything has changed forever. Friendships fall apart while complicated and toxic relationships begin. And there are strangers in the mix who could either save or destroy them.
- 15
Effy has a dead end job as a receptionist for a leading London Hedge Fund. But as she stumbles across crucial financial information relating to a troubled deal and embarks on an affair with her wealthy boss, she finds out that she has bitten off more than she can chew. Her flatmate Naomi tries to stop Effy from ruining her life, but Effy cannot be reached; until tragedy strikes, which causes Emily to fly back from her job in New York.
- 16
Sketch is a girl obsessed with Maxxie, despite him being gay. She ends up casing trouble for the gang and accusing a teacher of molesting her during auditions for Osama: The Musical. She drugs Michelle and takes her part in the play. She kisses Maxxie as part of the performance, but he remains uninterested in her. She is left in front of the audience in tears.
- 17
It's Cook's (Jack O'Connell) 17th birthday, and half the college have been invited to his uncle's pub to witness a night Cook believes will go down in history. The girls get are about to leave when Freddie (Luke Pasqualino) gets a phone call from his sister Karen (Klariza Clayton). She's at her best friend Kayleigh's (Amy Burnett) engagement party and they want to get the party started. The gang head off uninvited. Cook attracts the attention of Kayleigh's dad, notorious local gangster Johnny White (Mackenzie Crook). The party is a timid affair, so - ignoring Freddie's warnings about Johnny White - Cook decides to do as the Cookie monster does and up the tempo, and the evening takes a turn for the worst. The gang manage to escape, but split up afterwards after Cook tries to come onto the girls. Freddie tells him he is tired of looking after him and leaves Cook and JJ to go to a local stripclub/prostitute agency, where JJ refuses to go further than kissing and Cook overhears Johnny White in the next room. He plans to blackmail him, and the gangster antagonises him until JJ has to forcibly restrain Cook from beating him. Cook realises what he's done when Johhny tells him: "The next time I see you...you're dead." He leaves and ends up outside Freddie's house at six in the morning, and the two share an intense heart-to-heart about their friendship, while Freddie agrees to look after him again.
- 18
Freddie and Effy use the Stonem house as a private place to drink, dance and fuck. Freddie is worried that he's failing his college work. Effy begins to act strangely, switching between depression and delusion and always drinking alcohol. After arguing with his dad and seeking advice from his grandfather, Freddie tries to fix things with Effy, to no avail. Cook becomes unusually compassionate and talks to Freddie about Effy, putting aside his own feelings for her.
- 19
Franky is in a bad place - it's the week of her mock exams and she's unable to concentrate on her studies. Her friends are avoiding her, parental support makes her feel smothered and in her isolation she feels propelled towards Luke. He's bad news, but she feels as if he's the only person who understands her and she's intoxicated by him. Drawn into Luke's dangerous world, she finds an outlet for her anger and frustration. Burning bridges with family and friends, Franky is in more trouble than ever before. But help comes in unlikely forms, and out of the darkness a new friendship is born.
- 20
The exam results are in and Alex is throwing a leaving party that he hopes nobody will ever forget. Everybody's future hangs in the balance as Franky finds it hard to confront her past. The group is still in shock following Grace's death and time is running out for them to make things right.
- 21
It's the first day of term at Roundview College and a new gang is forming. Best friends Freddie (Luke Pasqualino), JJ (Ollie Barbieri), and Cook (Jack O'Connell) are en-route to college. Their world collides with Effy's (Kaya Scodelario), and Cook is intrigued – this trouble maker has met his match. However, both Freddie and JJ are equally smitten. Identical twin sisters, Katie (Megan Prescott) and Emily (Kathryn Prescott), prepare for their first day; as per usual, Katie walks all over her sister Emily. Once at college, Effy and Katie clock one another immediately, whilst Effy's best mate Pandora (Lisa Backwell) tells Effy she wants to lose her virginity "asap". At college, Cook tries to charm the girl sitting next to him but instead winds her up. Naomi (Lily Loveless) doesn't suffer fools gladly and grasses Cook up. Effy issues smitten Freddie, JJ and Cook with a challenge to be completed by the end of the day. The winner will get to ‘know her' better. And so the first day at college begins...
- 22
JJ is in love. But he thinks that the lovely Lara Lloyd is out of his league and lacks the courage to ask her out. After finally plucking up the courage, JJ realises that he's got to do it all by himself. Almost by himself anyway. But it's JJ's friends and family who are really messing things up.
- 23
Mini is the Queen Bee at Roundview, right? But she's feeling under threat when Grace brings her new bf Franky to the charity fashion show meeting. What to do, hmmmm? She ends up sacking them both, she hasn't time for 'friends' like Grace.
- 24
Mini knows how to get revenge. She befriends Franky, Rich, Alo et al. so she can totally isolate Liv who's is still having a scene with Nick. Throw a free house, a load of weed and an impromptu house party into the mix and it all gets a bit much for our Liv.
- 25
Professor David Blood has banned Rich from visiting Grace in hospital and Rich is suffering. Alo tries to keep him out of trouble with a band practice, but Rich is committed to his love and he stands outside the hospital waiting for Grace's call. Eventually the call comes and Rich finds a way past security and breaks into Grace's room. The lovers are reunited, but they have a problem as Blood is moving Grace to another hospital in Zurich. Alo has other things on his mind and cracks begin to develop in the boys' friendship. It falls to Liv to bring the fractured group back together again.
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