So3 Eo7 - JJ

Episode Overview

JJ feels lost and confused. The upset within the gang has taken its toll on him, and his fine balancing act has come unstuck. When he visits his psychiatric clinic, he just gets given more drugs and he begins to get angry, hitting random objects and locking on. At home, his mother is worn out with it all, and away from the home, JJ can see his friends drifting apart. With Effy at such a low ebb, and the chance discovery of Cook, Freddie and Pandora’s secrets, causes the burden to be overwhelming. But an unlikely member of the gang - Emily proves to be the true friend at his time of need, giving him a night to remember. With a gradual boost of self esteem, JJ begins to stand up to the over-ego of Cook, and feeds him some strong doses of his "truth-telling" pills. Cook gets smashed at the party and his secret sexual relationship with Pandora is revealed to Thomas, as well as Effy's love for Freddy. Life becomes very confusing and interesting for the group of friends, with JJ guiltily responcible for making the mess worse.

Themes

The following are the main themes tackled by this episode of 'Skins', all which are relevant to the target audience of teenagers and young adults.

Love

JJ claims that he loves Effy in this episode, but this is clearly lust and desire as it is obvious Effy is out of JJ's league and they are totally different. It is dillusional love, often with which young people are faced with, making bigger deals out of "love" situations. It is young love but often not real love, and the sense of rejection is also present in JJ's pursuit of Effy. On the other hand, the episode reveals Effy's love for Freddy at the end, which is more "real" love as Effy is a character who has never fallen for anyone before. We can see this is a stronger emotion and Freddy is confused by the fact that he feels it back even though he has a girlfriend. Further relationship problems include Pandora cheating on Thomas for Cook's love and passionate sex, as well as Cook's love for Effy and emotional feelings about being scared of her falling in love with Freddy and not him. There are many love triangles and their love lives are very messed up. The problems they face are extremely relevant to young people's "love" problems.

Friendship

JJ has particular emotional need for friends and is scared about their 3-strong relationship (JJ, Freddy and Cook) being disturbed by the "Effy" situation. The episode tackles the issue of strong boyhood friendships that have started from a young age and how they can break up. It also shows how hard it is to break loyalties and turn your back on your friends even in love situations where friends will get in the way. There is a moral of how dependant some people are on their close friends, and the unrealised love friends can have for one another, such as Cook really caring for JJ when he realises just how upset JJ is about everything. This group friendship and loyalty is strong in this episode and has a strong impact on the target audience of teenagers who have their own friendship groups that they care for and depend upon.

Honesty

A huge part of this episode is taken up by lies and secrets e.g. Pandora cheating her boyfriend, Cook's secret from Effy that he is sleeping with Pandora, Effy's unsaid feeling of love for Freddy, JJ's unsaid feeling of love for Effy, Freddy and JJ talking behind Cook's back with Freddy trying to convice JJ to stay with him, Cook doing visa versa later on in the episode, Emily's secret about being a lesbian, Emily and JJ's secret night together... the list goes on and on. This is all comes out at the end in a huge truthful outburst by the drugged Cook, which shows how these lies and secrets have completely messed up the friendships and bonds of the group. However, this was surely the only way that the problems could be fixed in the end.

Autism

This is an unusual film to encounter for teenagers, which is a more "real" subject as it is a disease that exists in some young people. JJ battles autism with a large portion of tablets and drugs, and he visits a councillor for pysciatric help and pill doses. The issues he faces are stress caused by the problems stemming from the themes above, but as an autism born child, he is more affected by these issues and gets anrgy easily. He is issued with more pills but is sick of it and just wants to be cured. It is a mental and physical battle, one that many autism born children have to deal with in real life. It is an illness that seems to cause social dysfunction in JJ's brain and limit his friendships, love and social life - things that he struggles with in this episode. However, by learning how to stand up to people and tell the truth, he gradually changes for the better in this episode, showing it is possible for children with autism to be worth something in society and be like any other normal person.