I have finally finished watching series three of Skins, one of the best shows on TV. I’m pleased to say that despite some of my initial misgivings, the show ended up being every bit as enjoyable and absorbing as the first two series.
Almost the entire cast of series one and two were written out at the end of series two. I was surprised by this move when I first heard about it, but the rationale for it seemed reasonable. It did leave me concerned about what the new cast might be like.
At first I wasn’t terribly impressed by the new cast, though on a visual level, yeah, I’d still hook up with all of them. 
They did grow on me, but it took longer than it did with the first cast, and I still don’t feel quite the same level of connection with them that I felt with the likes of Sid and Chris. On the other hand, I’ve had only one series with Freddy, JJ, Cook and the like, and two with the first cast, so possibly by the end of series four, they’ll gel better.
The writing was quite superb for series three. True, the Effy/Cook/Freddy love triangle was basically the Sid/Tony/Michelle triangle, but it was still interesting. Plus it says a lot for the show that even I can get caught up in a love story between two teenage girls.
The original cast really hit their stride with series two. I’m hoping this cast will do the same in series four. On the other hand, even what they have now is pretty good, so if nothing changes, I’ll still be pretty pleased.
