**WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD**
Well, Cassie always gets herself in the strangest predicaments, doesn't she?
Sorry about being extremely late on these reviews, I kind of lost some interest after Effy's heartbreaking episodes.
In Skins: Pure Part 1, Cassie Ainsworth (Hannah Murray) is back in London after her stint in America had run out and is floating adrift in the city. Then, she starts noticing that someone is following her and taking pictures of her. She meets a man named Yaniv (Daniel Ben Zenou), who shows interest in her.
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| (c/o Digital Spy) |
This strange person taking pictures of her is later revealed as her coworker Jakob (Olly Alexander), a look-alike to former character JJ, who admires her in a beyond-creepy manor. Though Cassie's initial reaction to punch him in the face seemed to be the best fitting, she grows to admire him taking pictures of her and they form an odd relationship.
He was stalking her. How is that admirable? Get it together, Cass. But I can see where she's coming from (more on that later).
These episodes had a more Skins vibe, unlike Skins: Fire. For the most part, I feel like Cassie in Pure lacks the spark we're used to seeing from her first appearance in Season 1. She's not the same girl we once knew: less whimsical, no "wow"s to be found, and with a different set of problems due to her no longer being mentally ill.
Then, in Part 2, she and Jakob decide to confront her troubled father and sweet little brother who's suffering from their father's need for help. At this point, Jakob was growing on me. Especially because he tried to help Cassie by talking to her father. My opinion of him greatly diminished again when he clearly sold/had his pictures used at a club that Cassie happened to be at. Yet Cassie calls him up and tells him she loves him.
Jakob's character is really up and down, and comes from an interesting angle. He doesn't take pictures of Cassie for sexual gratification, but from a point of "purity." In his mind, Cassie is the embodiment of purity and it is his duty to photograph and share that. In this way he reminds me of literary character Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby. When Cassie is discovered by a modeling agency and is asked to do a photo shoot, she is completely dolled up and photographed, and paid handsomely for it. Once Jakob finds out about this, he is bitter and extremely angry.
The natural, free, yet creepy, photos Jakob took of Cassie were "pure", while the paid photo shoot pictures were clearly unnatural and "impure". The parallel between these two ideas is what caught my attention the most. Though she first wanted to be in with the "beautiful people" in the beginning, Cassie realizes that the model life, the one she longed for when we first met her, is superficial and not for her. This is probably why she's attracted to Jakob in the first place: he's able to capture her pure soul and natural beauty in a way she might not have realized was there.
Cassie, who is a messed-up individual, evident from her past and present, is considered pure and impure at the same time. But in the end, she's just a girl. No longer cute and quirky and mentally ill; but grown up, quieter, but still scarred.
Another factor is that she chose Jakob over Yaniv, her other coworker who clearly cared about her. She gravitated towards the creepy, slightly mental idolizer and steered away from the caring man who was trying to look out for her, in the end. He said that he "didn't want to make her do anything she didn't want to do," which is clearly the opposite of Jakob's stalker pictures, which she claimed she would not have consented to if he had asked. Too bad, Yaniv really grew on me.
As the episode progresses after the fight scene between Yaniv and Jakob, suddenly everyone drops out of Cassie's life at once. Yaniv, Jakob, even her sort-of friend Maddie up and leave without a moment's notice.
The ending was especially appropriate for the episode title: Cassie's sweet little brother goes to live with her while their father (Neil Morrisey) goes on a trip to get himself back together. Her brother, Rueben, represented the true innocence and purity. Cassie deciding to nurture and care for him for awhile could be taken symbolically of taking on true purity and to change her life for the better.
Another overall arching theme was not to wait for things to happen to you, and rather take the leap and go for it, whatever "it" is.
Her episodes were depressing, yes, but there was a slightly nicer ending than Effy's. The new Skins episodes have been much darker, but had a classic Skins scenario (unlike Effy's episodes). Despite this, it was still artistically and artfully executed with the only damper being the different direction.
As always, feel free to leave your comments about the episodes below.
Check out my review for Skins: Fire Part 2 here.
Till next time xx,
Sierra
He was stalking her. How is that admirable? Get it together, Cass. But I can see where she's coming from (more on that later).
These episodes had a more Skins vibe, unlike Skins: Fire. For the most part, I feel like Cassie in Pure lacks the spark we're used to seeing from her first appearance in Season 1. She's not the same girl we once knew: less whimsical, no "wow"s to be found, and with a different set of problems due to her no longer being mentally ill.
 |
| (c/o Whataculture) |
Jakob's character is really up and down, and comes from an interesting angle. He doesn't take pictures of Cassie for sexual gratification, but from a point of "purity." In his mind, Cassie is the embodiment of purity and it is his duty to photograph and share that. In this way he reminds me of literary character Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby. When Cassie is discovered by a modeling agency and is asked to do a photo shoot, she is completely dolled up and photographed, and paid handsomely for it. Once Jakob finds out about this, he is bitter and extremely angry.
 |
| (c/o Den of Geek) |
Cassie, who is a messed-up individual, evident from her past and present, is considered pure and impure at the same time. But in the end, she's just a girl. No longer cute and quirky and mentally ill; but grown up, quieter, but still scarred.
Another factor is that she chose Jakob over Yaniv, her other coworker who clearly cared about her. She gravitated towards the creepy, slightly mental idolizer and steered away from the caring man who was trying to look out for her, in the end. He said that he "didn't want to make her do anything she didn't want to do," which is clearly the opposite of Jakob's stalker pictures, which she claimed she would not have consented to if he had asked. Too bad, Yaniv really grew on me.
As the episode progresses after the fight scene between Yaniv and Jakob, suddenly everyone drops out of Cassie's life at once. Yaniv, Jakob, even her sort-of friend Maddie up and leave without a moment's notice.
The ending was especially appropriate for the episode title: Cassie's sweet little brother goes to live with her while their father (Neil Morrisey) goes on a trip to get himself back together. Her brother, Rueben, represented the true innocence and purity. Cassie deciding to nurture and care for him for awhile could be taken symbolically of taking on true purity and to change her life for the better.
Another overall arching theme was not to wait for things to happen to you, and rather take the leap and go for it, whatever "it" is.
Her episodes were depressing, yes, but there was a slightly nicer ending than Effy's. The new Skins episodes have been much darker, but had a classic Skins scenario (unlike Effy's episodes). Despite this, it was still artistically and artfully executed with the only damper being the different direction.
As always, feel free to leave your comments about the episodes below.
Check out my review for Skins: Fire Part 2 here.
Till next time xx,
Sierra
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