Skins: Will they? Won't they? THEY WILL.

Skins, the 3rd generation, is up and raving (kids still do that, right?). The 1st generation was awesome; I am still, to this day, trying to get over Chris' death - HOW COULD YOU, SKINS?! HOW COULD YOU?!!! Anyways, then came the 2nd generation which, quite frankly, went through the looking glass so out I tuned (for reasons why, check out Adam and Joe's chat about Skins on YouTube. LOLZ). I wasn't sure how these new young hipsters would fair; drugs and sex or Haribo and studying? It turns out this lot are somewhere in between.

As per, we're introduced to the characters one at a time through an episode focused solely on their 'story'. First up was Franky, an androgynous new girl who's escaped bullying at her old school only to encounter queen bitch Mini on her first day at her new school. Unlucky, eh? Frankie seems interesting enough, although this first episode felt a wee bit tentative but here, the trailer for the next week looks good. And it bloody was as well.

Finally! A character not totally divorced from my high school reality. Metal-Head, Rich, is an amalgamation of ACTUAL lads I ACTUALLY hung out with at school. I myself wasn't a metal head, although the boys tried: 'Have a len of my Pantera CD, Suzanne.' My ears! I put it off and stuck on some Joni Mitchell instead: 'Fucking Hippy.' If Rich had gone to my school I probably would have fancied him, I probably fancy him now (actors playing teenagers are usually 30, so it's probs not creepy). Encouraged by his pal, Vivian-from-the-Young-Ones Lite, Alo, Rich sets about trying to get himself a girl with the help of girly ballet dancer, Grace. The hour that ensues is AWESOME.

Scenes are punctuated by metal yowling, a brilliant touch, Huey off the Fun Loving Criminals pops up as sage-like record store owner Toxic Bob ('Don't be an ass hat and people will like you more.'), and there is an excellent Rage Against the Machine scream along (I have taken part in a fair few myself). During her efforts to help Rich ask out 'the Angel of Death', who, it turns out, is a total bitch, Grace falls for Rich and Rich falls for Grace. Aw. But things are not that simple, obvs. A rare extreme metal track renders Rich temporarily deaf and, with his eyes as his only tool, he stumbles into Grace's ballet recital, where he finally appreciates the beauty of what she does. This scene is so beautifully shot that I can barely put it into words. If you haven't already, you NEED to see it. Serious though.

ACTUAL NAPALM DEATH turn up playing a gig that Rich can't hear, therefore neither can we, brilliant sports, but it doesn't matter because he's all about Grace by now. By the time he gets his hearing back and resolves to tell Grace how he feels (he gets her flowers and everything), Grace has decided that the two shouldn't be together because queen bitch Mini wouldn't like it. BOO! But now the stage is set for a 'will they, won't they?' story-line. And they will. They WILL, right? They better or I am finished with Skins FOREVER. But they will so it's okay (God I hope they will).

So I'm back aboard the Skins Express. Just to clarify, it wasn't the writing or directing that put me off the 2nd generation, it was the characters I just couldn't relate to. This time, however, along with excellent writing, brilliant and at times breath-taking direction, some characters are standing out as tangibly recognisable. So Skins, it is SO ON.

p.s. Please don't kill Rich.