Skins – Season 3

Archived review

E4 advertised the final episode of this 'season' as a 'season finale', so if they're going to encourage the growth of American terminology I don't feel too bad doing the same. The third 'season' of Skins saw the writers make a bold yet sensible decision of introducing an entirely new cast, with only the younger Effy still remaining (however, for all the ways they've changed her, she may as well be a new character too). This enabled us to go through the fun part of a character-based show again, which is learning what makes them tick. Finding out their interests, their flaws and how their family backgrounds have influenced the people they are. Just as with the first generation of Skins stars (who through rose-tinted spectacles all seem quite loveable now), everyone's going to have their favourites, and cleverly the characters aren't quite as easy to define as Tony, Sid and company. There's Emily, the younger twin trying to step out of her sister's shadow. There's Thomas, the African immigrant taking joy in the small things. And there's mildly autistic JJ, whose rational dialogue and love of magic cover up some serious rage issues.

However, I didn't find the 'core' characters quite as interesting this time around. Whereas Cook successfully manages to out-'Tony' Tony, and remain a character you love to hate, the eventual pairing of Effy and Freddie was something I never rooted for. It's all personal opinion, of course, but the writers seemed to want us to hope that Freddie would eventually win the battle for Effy because he wasn't as destructive as Cook. This backfired for me as Freddie, prettyboy looks aside, didn't have a nice-guy vibe going for him either.

As for storylines, well, the show went as extreme as possible. By the end of the season, it felt like almost everyone had slept with almost everyone else, one character almost killed another, and it doesn't feel like an episode of Skins anymore if someone doesn't get beaten to a bloody pulp. Perhaps next season, much like the second, will settle down slightly and get a better look at the characters' psyches. Perhaps the fringe players like Thomas and Pandora will get some more well-deserved screen time. And perhaps I'll enjoy it more. My opinion of the second season was quite harsh at the time, but upon rewatching it all made a lot more sense, both in terms of character actions and what the writers' overall objectives were with the show. I'm just glad that they've managed to establish another set of strong characters whose outcomes I want to see. For the most part.

Flight of the Conchords – Season 2

Archived review

The folk comedy duo's second and most probably final season was quite a contrast from the first. Exhausted of the best songs from their back catalogue, it was back to the musical drawing board to try to create lyrics to rival classics such as "If You're Into It" and "Albie the Racist Dragon". For the most part this wasn't successful, and among the many unfunny failings in this season, only a couple such as "Carol Brown" and "You Don't Have to be a Prostitute" measure up. Despite this, the guys clearly had more fun in simply writing a TV show this time around, and the general deadpan banter and understated lunacy which make up the rest of the episodes was much better done; only the last couple of episodes faltered. Other complaints could be made – too many failed romance storylines, not enough band storylines – but making them might be missing the point. Flight of the Conchords was a show that, even without the often hilarious songs, triumphed in making humour out of not very much at all. In fact, it was a particularly British kind of humour, and in that regard, it seems fitting that this entertaining show has already finished on its own terms, without people getting angered at cancellation or just plain bored of it. Well done!

Battlestar Galactica – Season 4

Archived review – This is what I wrote for the first half of the season, which aired in spring 2008:

Battlestar Galactica is heading slowly but surely towards its end and the first half of this final season has been a bit lacklustre when compared to the amazing New Caprica storyline from the year before. As if it were possible, things have gotten even more dark and murky but without the instant gratification of interesting plot developments. I guess that's always been the trouble with this show; When they have stories to tell, stories that permanently affect the continuity of the show, there's hardly anything on the box more compelling. Filler, however, is uninspiring and that's what we got for most of these first ten episodes. Don't get me wrong, writing and performances can be strong (how Mary McDonnell didn't get Emmy-nominated for her performance as the President coming to terms with her own mortality is beyond me), but sometimes the show seems to be unnecessarily dark because apparently dark is cool. Fortunately, things suddenly sped up in the final few episodes before the year-long break – and how I'm going to enjoy not having to go through yet another one of these ever again – leaving us with a phenomenal twist that Battlestar Galactica does so well, delivering on its long-established premise whilst completely pulling the rug under our feet. The final ten episodes should be very interesting indeed, particularly if the characters all suddenly remember that sometimes it's OK to crack a joke.

And my take on the final half of the season, and the end of the show:

And so the show that changed the very nature of science fiction television, from light-hearted adventurous romps with aliens to dark character-driven commentaries on our own society, has reached its end. No matter how it would all turn out, I was actually just glad that, in a climate of trigger-happy executives cancelling any show whose viewership will never make it the next CSI or House, this one got to actually reach its planned finale, just as Ron Moore had intended. Was it perfect? No. As with the majority of the last two seasons, there was a lot to like, but faults to tolerate as well. However, let's step back a little bit to the last cliffhanger, where the fleet had just reached the ruins of a post-apocalyptic Earth.

The repercussions of this discovery were more severe than I thought possible, as everyone lost all hope and sense of purpose in their lives, dramatically causing one beloved character to simply give up and die. The objection of many humans to the Cylon integration in the fleet led to a violent coup and the best story arc since the New Caprica occupation. It's testament to this show that the leader of the rebellion is a well-known character who (like everyone else) has been through so many hardships these last few years that it's almost impossible not to understand, even forgive, his extreme actions. That's what the show has always done so well; the characters are more complex than 6+2i (sorry). No human is truly good; no Cylon is truly evil. The following episodes were rather exposition-heavy, attempting to explain (and only half succeeding) the nature of the final five Cylons. These oft-confusing 'revelations' actually manage to showcase how flimsy the show's mythology is, and that its strength definitely lies in its characters and more human elements.

The finale was satisfying, if not perfect, an action-driven adventure that culminated in a surprise resting place with individual farewells to all the characters, some satisfying, some not. Strangely enough, it was Gaius Baltar's final line "You know, I know about farming" that proved to be the most powerful sendoff for the show, again pulling the rug out from under my feet by making me completely sympathise for a character whose narcissism and selfishness had led to the near total destruction of the human race.

Some people may not be happy with the way this show ended. Although there are some fairly cool references to many mysteries over the years, a few loose ends are not so much tied up with a pretty bow as left with an ellipsis, inviting the viewer to draw their own conclusions. Some might also not sit tight with the definite existence of higher spiritual forces at work, although happily their nature is never specifically explored. In the end though, I'm just going to miss a show that made every character count, even minor ones, and never fell into the lazy trappings of labelling any one person as 'good' or 'evil'. It's something not many TV shows can do, and something that makes the viewing a whole lot more fun, if difficult!

NB – Those final comments can actually be even more rightly directed towards The Wire, which I didn't watch until some time after this review.