This article contains spoilers.
From 2009, there was a definite air of trepidation about a new run of the E4 dramaSkins.
When series five debuted, things were looking up.
But then series six arrived, and it exactly followed the pattern established by series four.
Now thatSkinsis no more, heres a look-back at some of the mis-steps of its uneven final season.
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Killing a character in the second series of each generation has become something of aSkinstradition.
Freddies death was purely for shock value and was never revealed to the other characters except Cook.
It seems that Graces death was also for shock value.
Grace seemed to be the characters anchor to the real world.
In short, shes pretty much normal.
In short: she was this generations bright spot.
Then that bright spot went out and the storm clouds gathered over her friends.
Skinsalways has been and always will be an ensemble piece.
The characters interaction makes the programme as strong as it is.
Yet this series frequently pushed characters into the background.
Other than Graces death, this was manyof the showsfans least favourite development of series 6.
Sid and Cassies troubled series one relationship was an expertly crafted romance.
It was an unconvincing pairing at best, and one that left many of the shows fans baffled.
Making a character from every generation get into trouble with a gangster is just silly.
Not only that, it makes the series derivative of itself.
Alex is completely and utterly superfluous.
Ostensibly, hes there as catalyst to help the gang deal with the loss of Grace.
Not only would this have been possible without Alex, it would have been a stronger story.
And its because hes dropped right into the middle of a story that massively affects the other characters.
If Alex had been a character right from the start of Generation Three, his story would have worked.
And the same thing goes for Alex as a character.
Also, Alex is gay but, to be honest, hes no poster boy for the gay community.
And then in Generation Two, we had Emily and Naomi.
In Generation Three, Alex is our token gay character.
And one of his main traits is that hes incredibly promiscuous.
Two of his episodes have featured him using a Smartphone app to find and have sex with total strangers.
Liv and Nick definitely fall into this category.
But Alexs first sex scene seems to be there purely to say This character is gay.
And then of course, there is his other gimmick.
For those who arent familiar with the series, this is Franky: Shes an outsider.
Shes androgynous, artistic, and pansexual.
And the same thing happens in Bristol.
Mini spearheads the bullying against her to the point where Franky is ready to literally shoot her.
But eventually Grace defects from Minis clique and forms a new gang with Franky, Rich, and Alo.
By episode 5.4, Mini attempts to build bridges and the hostility between them seems to end.
Franky becomes more normal (for lack of a better word) but retains most of her personality.
Flashforward to series six and she is rapidly turning into a clone of former main character Effy Stonem.
Shes mysterious and seems to be issuing some kind of siren song to her male friends.
Dont get me wrong,Skinscan be excellent television when its not trying to be too light.
This isnt the case for series six.
Grace is dead, Mattys stranded in Morocco, Alexs Grandmother committed suicide, and Frankys been effectively raped.
All of that happens within the first four episodes.
Theres nothing light-hearted to cheer the viewer up this time.
Its nothing but an endless cycle of depression and violence that makesEastenderslook upbeat.
This would have been an acceptable element if it was kept to one character.
It worked reasonably well in episode 6.2 when it was just Rich seeing and hearing her.
But when it extended to Franky and Liv, it just got silly.
By the end of the series, my disbelief was no longer suspended.
It had crashed to the ground like a malfunctioning satellite.
