First off, mea culpa for the late update. O the times, they get a-way from me.
As an
episode of Skins, this is a bit of an
anomaly. Yes, Sid’s romantic drama gets some
screentime, and yes, there’s a short, chaotic party scene. However, almost all the important action happens
at Sid’s house; the episode is half over before most of the main cast
appears. Furthermore, an adult, Mark,
has nearly equal focus in the story. I
don’t think a parent or teacher character has ever received so much attention
in a single Skins episode, before or
since.
Sid and
Mark’s relationship has been slowly improving.
They still argue, and goodness knows they still get on each other’s
nerves, but they’ve come to a clumsy arrangement where they at least make an
effort to get along and help one another.
And I mean clumsy – Mark’s
attempts to console Sid over his girl troubles are positively ridiculous.
The
main plot involves a visit from Mark’s father, brother, and nephews. Mark’s dad, naturally, has never been
impressed with him, and generally makes the Mark of series 1 look like the
father of the year. He’s passive
aggressive, he’s a master backhanded-complimenter, and he constantly undermines
Mark in front of his family.
Undoubtedly, Sid has seen this dynamic before, but I think this is the
first time it really clicks with him, and he sees what exacerbated Mark’s
insecurities and made him the man he is today.
For PC,
this is definitely a performance to write home about. Mark goes through a myriad of emotions, all
of which are plainly written across his face:
humiliation, desperation, longing for approval, scowling resentment,
self-loathing. Sometimes he handles them
badly (Mark learned his passive aggression from the best, and there are times
when he just can’t stop himself,) and sometimes he handles them well (he gets a
great victory at last, and his contentment is palpable.) Great work all around.
Also,
Mark has one of the most entertaining battles with a vacuum that I’ve ever
seen. Just FYI.
Accent Watch
Scottish
– I’d noted before that his accent is different from Sid’s, but I hadn’t
thought about how it further highlights the difficulties Mark and Sid have
connecting.
Recommend?
In
General
– I’ll repeat; if you’re okay with explicit content and are interested in a
teen show with great characterization and some really genuine material, I think
you’d really like Skins.
PC-wise – Yeah. Great role excellently performed – nicely
shows off PC’s comedic and dramatic
range. If you’re mainly interested in
PC, the “Sid” episodes in both seasons are the must-watch offerings.
Warnings
A brief
scene of violence, and some dark thematic elements.
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