'Skins': Episode four 'Franky' recap

It's just as well last week's episode of Skins included some light relief, because 'Franky' was a pretty intense instalment. It felt like old-school Skins - all inner turmoil (and outer turmoil as well, to be fair).

But it was also a gripping hour of television - well put together, well written, well acted. Even the music, which is always chosen well on Skins, seemed particularly good this week.

Of course, Franky's story was always going to have added impact, since she was the catalyst for the crash which caused Grace's death. To say she's coping badly would be an understatement. Her wonderful dads mean well, but to Franky they're just annoying. With Mini too busy having sex with Alo to talk to her, and her continued fury with Matty for running after the accident, she has no-one to turn to. So she goes to the awful, awful Luke.



Joe Cole's done wonders with the role - Luke's clearly horrendous, and yet he has that smile and that charisma and you understand why Franky can't tear herself away from him. That was one of the other things I admired about the episode - Franky doesn't just fall for Luke head over heels. In fact, she tries to avoid him repeatedly. But he keeps pulling her back in.

Haunted by Grace, she can't cope with her mock exams. And when her fathers try to talk about her grief, she can't take that, either. This time when she turns to Luke, he lets her talk and flirts with her. And when he takes her to a pub car park and ends up in a massive fight, and she defends herself by punching someone in the face, the adrenaline visibly shocks and excites her and makes her feel alive.

This aggression gives Franky a new lease of life, even if it's misguided. So she hangs up on Matty and has a public row with Mini and stalks out on her next mock exam (being a wee bit rude in the process) and spends a lot of time in bed with Luke, who advises her to move on from Grace's death (this sounds nicer than Luke is - "none of that s**t matters anymore" isn't that empathetic).



A turning point almost comes when Franky has an argument with her dad and ends up accidentally pushing him against the kitchen counter, injuring him pretty badly. Horrified at herself, she runs to the park and spends the night, still haunted by Grace. When she wakes up in the morning - and after a visit from Nick, who's dealing with the fact that he's fallen in love with her - she returns home and agrees to go to counselling, and begins ignoring Luke's calls.

Unfortunately, if anything the counselling makes things worse. It's a devastating scene, as she can barely say the name "Grace" and then repeats: "I'm sorry" over and over again. Eventually, she throws a chair across the room and heads straight back into Luke's arms, for more disturbingly aggressive sex and a big fight in the pool hall.

Franky's actually holding her own (headbutt and all), but Nick arrives like a knight in shining armour, and drags her out, kicking and screaming. She laughs right in his face when she realises that he's in love with her, and he's clearly heartbroken - especially when Luke shows up, beats him up, and leaves with Franky. What's horrifying is how exhilarated Franky seems when Luke's kicking Nick, who's curled up on the ground.



But this is when it really turns nasty - when Matty desperately calls Franky again, Luke rips the phone from her hand and throws it out of the car. And after snorting cocaine, he holds her head down and has sex with her - it's all really seedy and horrible, especially when we see Franky the next morning, curled up on the sofa looking oh so vulnerable.

It seems like this is the last straw for Franky, though - she escapes and runs to the park, where she asks Grace for help. Grace obviously can't answer, but her dad turns up to comfort her. And when Luke shows up and tries to force her to leave with him, her dad's there to protect her and send him on his way. It's a lovely paternal moment, and what could have been cheesy ("It might not be biology, Franky, but Jesus, you try telling that to my heart") somehow remains warm.



And we end on an adorable note, too - Franky goes to apologise to Nick, and there's an awkward-cute-bumbling moment as it's unclear if they're leaning in for a kiss or hug or what. But Franky extends her hand and offers friendship. Will they stay just friends? We're unconvinced... especially after Nick's heartfelt: "What are you doing to me, Franky?"

So we had another sparkling episode of Skins - dark, sure, but full of momentum and action and emotion. I've been really intrigued as to how Skins has handled grief so far, and next week we're finding out more about Mini. I'm excited... are you?

What's The Skinny?

• It was lovely to see Giles Thomas and John Sessions as Franky's dads again.
  
• "I brought you here because you make my brain calm, my heart jump, and my pr*ck hard." EWW.
  
• Franky's little shrug in her argument with Mini was amazing.
  
• Luke has a SpongeBob SquarePants toy in his car. Bizarre.
  
• "How do you do it?" "Don't follow." "Not feel bad about things." The episode in a nutshell, ladies and gentlemen. Franky wants to escape her guilt, so she spends time with someone who doesn't understand the concept of guilt. Just a shame he's such a jerk.
  
• This episode of Skins had such a sense of energy - sure, it was pretty negative, but there was such momentum. It fizzed.
  
• Why is Nick in love with Franky? This almost seems like it came out of the blue a little bit - whereas I could see the Alo-Mini chemistry, I'm not sure about Nick-Franky. But I'm willing to go with it, because that happens with teenagers sometimes.
  
• Nick's lunges. Oh my.
  
• "Do me a favour - flash your ball sack at someone else."
  
• Franky laughing in Nick's face when she realises he likes her was awful, but that she adds: "Why would you even bother about me?" tells us why she really laughed. She doesn't believe it. Poor Franky.
  
• Although: not poor Franky. That slight smile when Luke was kicking Nick? Awful.
  
• What did you think of Grace showing up in this episode? I think it worked - Skins kept it restrained, and it made sense in the context of the episode. It wasn't like she was a ghost or anything.
  
• "Don't f**king walk away from me." In a way, I almost hope we haven't seen the last of Luke (Joe Cole's ace), but if we have - wow, what a way to say goodbye.

What did you think of the episode? Leave your comments below!