"Michelle" is the seventh episode of the first series of the British

teen drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

Skins. It was written by

Bryan Elsley Bryan Elsley (born 17 May 1961 in Dalkeith, Midlothian) is a Scottish television writer, best known for the co-creation of E4 teen drama '' Skins'' with his son, Jamie Brittain. Other television dramas include ''Rose and Maloney'', '' The You ...

and directed by Minkie Spiro. It premiered on E4 on 8 March 2007. It is told from the point of view of one of the main character

Michelle Richardson Michelle Richardson is a fictional character in both the teen drama British series and U.S. remake of ''Skins''. She is played by April Pearson in the British version and by Rachel Thevenard in the American version. Characterisation Michelle ...

Plot

Michelle breaks up with Tony for not confessing to

cheating Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate cr ...

on her with Maxxie. Despite their argument, Tony is confident that she will eventually forgive him. Later, Angie attempts to avoid

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...

by hiding in a broom cupboard where she finds Michelle, drunk on vodka. The two have coffee and Michelle confides in her about her woes. Chris finds them and Angie agrees to give them both a ride home. After dropping off Michelle, Angie attempts to end her affair with Chris but they end up having sex in her car. At Michelle's home, her mother, Anna, dismisses her problems while her stepfather, Malcolm, criticizes Michelle. At school, Tony reads aloud an essay about the role of sex in relationships, embarrassing Michelle. Angie berates him for his cruelty and Maxxie confesses to the group that Tony performed

fellatio Fellatio (also known as fellation, and in slang as blowjob, BJ, giving head, or sucking off) is an oral sex act involving a person stimulating the penis of another person by using the mouth, throat, or both. Oral stimulation of the scrotum may ...

on him on the Russia trip. Jal informs Michelle about Tony's various filings with other girls during their relationship, including with Abigail Stock. Michelle picks a fight with Abigail in front of her friends, but Abigail's brother, Josh, breaks up the fight. He takes an interest in Michelle, but she attempts to use Sid as a rebound instead. However, Sid realizes he cannot have sex with Michelle because he is in love with

Cassie Cassie is a feminine given name and a short form of various other given names mostly used in English-speaking countries. It is more rarely a surname. People and fictional characters named Cassie include: People with the name Given name or nickna ...

. Sid's father walks in on them hugging on the bed together and is pleased to see that Sid is not

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. He and Michelle go to visit Cassie at the

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

, but he is dismayed to find out that Cassie has a new boyfriend and is now celibate. At the hospital, Michelle runs into Josh, and he asks her out. Michelle happily accepts, but her happiness is short-lived when she gets into another argument at home with her stepfather. On her date with Josh, Michelle learns that he is mentally unstable and is on

mood stabilizers A mood stabilizer is a psychiatric medication used to treat mood disorders characterized by intense and sustained mood shifts, such as bipolar disorder and the bipolar type of schizoaffective disorder. Uses Mood stabilizers are best known for th ...

. However, she has sex with him and excitedly makes plans to see him again. Back at home, Michelle finds Malcolm preparing to leave her mother and cynically notes that it is her mother's shortest marriage yet. Meanwhile, Tony finally realizes Michelle is moving on from him and devises a plan to win her back. He meets up with Abigail and convinces her to let him take nude photos of her. He then has a friend steal Josh's

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

. Tony then uploads the nude photos onto it and sends the photos to Josh's contact list, including Michelle. Michelle is horrified and dumps Josh because she believes he is too crazy to date. Back at home, she finds her mother sobbing over Malcolm's desertion and comforts her. To cheer herself up over Josh, Michelle and Jal head to the bars together where they bump into Malcolm. He admits that he is contemplating returning, and Michelle encourages him to do so and offers him some advice. At her house, Michelle bumps into Tony, who tells her he is sorry and that he loves her. He begs her to take him back and promises to change. Though she forgives him, she firmly refuses to take him back, saying she'll 'see him around'.

Main cast

April Pearson April Janet Pearson (born 23 January 1989) is an English actress. Born and brought up in Bristol, Pearson was drawn to acting from a young age and appeared in local theatre productions as a child. She made her acting debut in 1998 at the age of ...

Nicholas Hoult Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (born 7 December 1989) is an English actor. His List of roles and awards of Nicholas Hoult, body of work includes supporting work in big-budget mainstream productions and starring roles in Independent film, independent p ...

Tony Stonem Anthony "Tony" Stonem is a fictional character from the British television series '' Skins''. He is the protagonist of the first seasons. Portrayed by Nicholas Hoult, the character was created by Bryan Elsley; Tony was the series' central charac ...

Larissa Wilson Larissa Hope Wilson (born 5 May 1989) is an English actress best known for her role as Jal Fazer in the first two series of the UK television series '' Skins''. Career In February 2008, Wilson guested at the Shockwaves NME Awards alongside fel ...

Jal Fazer Jalander "Jal" Fazer is a fictional character in the television series '' Skins'' portrayed by Larissa Wilson. Characterisation Jal is described by the official ''Skins'' website as "super bright and the most talented young clarinet player in the ...

Mitch Hewer Mitchell Scott Hewer (born 1 July 1989) is an English actor, best known for the role of Maxxie Oliver in the E4 teen drama '' Skins''. He has also starred in'' Britannia High'' as the all-round talent Danny Miller. Career In 2007, Hewer was ca ...

Maxxie Oliver Maxwell "Maxxie" Oliver is a fictional character in the British television series '' Skins.'' He is portrayed by actor Mitch Hewer. Characterisation Maxxie is portrayed as proficient at several styles of dance, including tap dance. He is also sh ...

Joe Dempsie Joseph Maxwell Dempsie (born 22 June 1987) is an English actor, best known for his roles as Chris Miles in the E4 teen comedy-drama '' Skins'' (2007–2008) and Gendry Baratheon in ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2013; 2017–2019). Dempsie's e ...

as Chris Miles * Mike Bailey as

Sid Jenkins Sidney "Sid" Jenkins is a fictional character in the television series '' Skins'' portrayed by Mike Bailey. In the first series, Sid is portrayed as a nice guy stereotype, an unlucky virgin who is nervous around girls, and has low self-esteem. T ...

Hannah Murray Tegan Lauren-Hannah Murray (born 1 July 1989) is an English actress. She played Cassie in '' Skins'' (2007–2008, 2013) and Gilly in the HBO fantasy series ''Game of Thrones'' (2012–2019), for which she has been nominated along with her ca ...

Cassie Ainsworth Cassandra "Cassie" Ainsworth is a fictional character in the television series '' Skins'', portrayed by Hannah Murray. Characterization and creation Cassie is depicted as being eccentric and suffering from several mental disorders — most notab ...

Dev Patel Dev Patel (; born 23 April 1990) is a British actor. His breakthrough came in 2008 with the leading role of Jamal Malik in Danny Boyle's drama ''Slumdog Millionaire'', for which Patel was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Lead ...

Anwar Kharral Anwar Kharral is a fictional character in the television series '' Skins'' portrayed by Dev Patel. Characterisation Anwar is portrayed as a boy of Pakistani origin. Raised in an Islamic household, Anwar claims to pray five times a day. However, ...

Arc significance and continuity

The episode reveals some facts about Michelle's home life. Michelle and Malcolm do not get on well. She is irritated by his childish mannerisms, such as slurping milk from his breakfast cereal. He and Anna bicker often and he criticises her about her "big arse". Michelle's mother, Anna is often too busy to listen to Michelle; their relationship seems relatively good, but they argue over Anna's choice in husbands. Michelle's series two feature will focus more significantly on her relationship with her father, who is unseen in this episode. Tony and Michelle break up in this episode, which leads to the group isolating Tony in favour of Michelle in

the next episode "The Next Episode" is a single by American rapper-producer Dr. Dre, released on June 26, 2000 as the third single from his second studio album, '' 2001'' (1999). The track features Snoop Dogg, Kurupt and Nate Dogg, but only Snoop Dogg is cred ...

. A number of revelations also change the series' dynamics to set up for the finale. * Sid realises he has fallen in love with Cassie, and out of love with Michelle. * Angie and Chris are now in a relationship, which Angie wishes to keep secret, but Chris wishes to be honest about it. * The group learn about Tony's attempt at seducing Maxxie in Russia. Tony recites Romeo and Juilet to Michelle's window. This is later portrayed in a series 5 episode of "Grace", episode 7 when Rich serenades to grace using the line "It is the east and Juliet is the sun." which Tony uses but this time Rich climbs up to Grace's room reciting different parts of the scene in the play.

Soundtrack

* Kapsburger by

Clogs Clogs are a type of footwear made in part or completely from wood. Used in many parts of the world, their forms can vary by culture, but often remained unchanged for centuries within a culture. Traditional clogs remain in use as protective fo ...

* Red Hot Mama by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

* Tender to the Blues by

James Yorkston James Yorkston (born James Patrick Yorkston Wright; 21 December 1971) is a Scottish folk musician, singer-songwriter and author from the village of Kingsbarns, Fife. He has been releasing music since 2001. As well as recording as a solo artist ...

* The One You Really Love by

The Magnetic Fields The Magnetic Fields (named after the André Breton/Philippe Soupault novel ''Les Champs Magnétiques'') are an American Band (rock and pop), band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocali ...

* Dart for my Sweetheart by

Archie Bronson Outfit Archie Bronson Outfit are an English rock band. They met at Kingswood School, Bath. After leaving their native Somerset, the band moved to London where they were discovered by Laurence Bell, boss of Domino Records. The band were playing i ...

* The First Day of my Life by Bright Eyes * Black Swan by

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been describe ...

* May You Never by

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums, and received frequent critical acclaim. ...

''Note:'' The music tracks listed above only refer to the music featured in the episode's initial airing. Many of the music tracks featured in this episode have been substituted for alternative tracks either for the BBC America airing or for both the US and UK home media release of ''Series 1''.

References

External links

Watch "Michelle" on 4od

Skins on Internet Movie DataBase
{{Skins 2007 British television episodes Skins (British TV series) episodes