Skins (TV Series) Cook (2010) User Reviews

If you splash about, other people get wet

[greenylennon · 9/10 · 15 February 2010]

I've never been a fan of Cook, or, to be true, I pretty much hated him in the third series. So, I expected a lot from this episode because, seeing the sneak peeks, it showed great potential. I wasn't disappointed and I had the impression throughout to watch a movie meant for the silver screen and not a TV episode, because the character development went very deeply in Cook's soul and story, explaining to us why he behaves this way and who are his parents (we saw his father in the third series, but he was nothing compared to his unbelievable mother, a pretentious and loose conceptual artist), and maybe giving him a chance of redemption passing through a period of punishment. We already know it, but thanks to his episode Skins fits perfectly in the category of adult TV drama, because it has nothing to share with more popular American shows such as Gossip Girl.

The best scene is the dialogue between Cook and the beautiful, unattainable Effy at the parlour: a very realistic conversation with some sparkles of poetry here and there, which is the main feature of Skins.

"If you splash about, other people get wet" (Cook to Naomi).

pure skins. (this is quite lengthy)

[invisibleskidmark · 12 February 2010]

the best example of why skins is what it is.

this episode was Cook's episode of the fourth series and it was a remarkable insight into why cook behaves the way he behaves.

in the previous episode he "punched the f**k out of shanky Williamson" - as his jaded lawyer so elegantly put it- because of his jealousy of Freddie and effy and he is now facing the ramifications. the episode begins with him sitting in a prison cell when he is disturbed by a policewomen to take him to his lawyer; this is where we meet Duncan (paul Kaye) who doesn't seem to care much for anything, and at first thinks cook is a moron because he decides to plea not guilty despite 83 people witnessing the act. cook is given an electronic tag and sent to live with his mother where a strict curfew is in place.

we meet cooks mother (tanya franks); a wealthy conceptual artist with a massive libido and the means to satisfy it (if you get what i mean). we then meet his little brother, who seems quite happy as he plays rock band, and is delighted to find his older brother has returned back home.

cook wakes up and finds his mother in the kitchen with a journalist who is in awe of a picture of cook's mother's breasts. he then takes his brother to school and sorts out his little brother's bullies with the most ominous glance ever. he then goes to college to find that nobody wants to be around him; but then effy and Freddie offer him an olive branch, which he declines, then he notices a bruise across jj's brow, but before finding out who hurt his friend is reluctantly escorted from the premisses by the Dave blunt and his henchman. on his way out he stumbles upon a memorial for Sophia (the girl who overdosed and killed herself in episode 1).

we then find him at Naomi's house trying to get some closure on his feelings (although he doesn't admit this) and goes off shouting defiantly. he goes back to his lawyer's office to discuss his case but is told he doesn't have a case and goes off in a fit of swears and anger to see his mother's work, he also talks to her about his dad and why he was thrown out. he also finds out that his mother had a sexual experience of some kind with Freddie from one of his mother's artworks, who he still resents because of his relationship with effy. this causes him to storm off in sickened silence and accidentally destroys his mother's master piece; this sends her into a state.

he then goes back to his mother's house to discover Freddie waiting for him and then his mother passes out and a tense scene between cook and Freddie follows (about the sex with cook's mum), where cook finds out that he "smashed jj". he then huffs and puffs and cries after realising, yet again, that he is too out of control. he then goes down stairs to find his little brother being brought home by a policeman because he is feeling rebellious (spurred on by cook's return), his mother then brakes down and smashes the rock band drums (how dare she) whilst telling cook that he is like an infection; this prompts him to leave the house with his little brother to go on a drive and nihilistic rampage (violating his curfew in the process), where he realises that his brother is turning into him and this upsets him.

we then find him at Naomi's house once again where he, after leaving his brother on Naomi's sofa, talks about Sophia with Naomi, they share a kiss and Naomi realises cook's fragile and regretful inner core. he then goes back to Duncan to have a talk, and after an emotionally raw conversation he decides to plea guilty and also take the rap for selling drugs to Sophia. he is visited by effy and decides to stop chasing after her. he is then at his court trial where not only his friends show up for support but his little brother also comes to vie for his brother's freedom but that ends with cook walking away morosely. then in the courtroom he is sent down for two weeks and told that he is no longer wanted by his mother. he is then sent to the slammer and gives a look to effy in the last few seconds, to which she replies with a nod (what could this be about).

this episode is the epitome of skins and displays perfectly why it has lasted this long; beautiful cinematography and well composed editing accompanied by an excellent story and relatively strong supporting performances (all bar Luke pasquelino). special note has to be made for jack o'connel though, he delivers an utterly compelling performance and completely wins our sympathies. however his performance did have one down flaw, which was some badly written dialogue, which no matter how good his performance was is still a palpable flaw which does detract from the episode itself. the entire episode is great; the ensemble are the strongest they've been in a long while and the guest stars are so colossal it's unbelievable.

all in all an excellent episode and an insight into why cook is who he is and that he is capable of change.

Fantastic

[thereisnothingleft · 10/10 · 23 August 2013]

Simply put, this is one of the best if not the best episode of Skins ever. It may be hard to place it at first, but the subtleties of Jack O Connell's performance make you love Cook and add dimensions to his character that we did not even know were possible.

Let's not try to sugarcoat it, Cook was a dick all of series 3. There was no other side to his character at all besides his screwed up love story with Effy, and his featured episode was just to show how crazy he truly was. This episode however, does something I didn't see coming the first time and add layers to his character. They are so wonderfully done by Jack O' Connell and by whoever recommended these movements (writer, director, etc.).

I've mentioned this twice now, so I'll get to examples. We still see Cook being an asshole, such as his line to his little brother "never say sorry, you're not a pussy are ya?" There are others, like him wanting to plead not guilty, and then expecting his apology to the kid he kicked the crap out of to be enough (although an apology from Cook to a stranger could be considered something out of the ordinary for him as well). But then, Cook does these little things like that big breath before entering the common room at the school, as if to get himself back into character. There's the look he gives to his little brother after seeing him jump on the car, suggesting that he actually realizes the damage he's done and that this kid isn't as screwed up as he is just yet. The stuff at the end with Naomi also qualifies, and the actual innocence he showed with his mom at her art showing was so surreal. Did you ever think we would see Cook associated with innocence after seres 3?!?

The scene in the office trumps everything however, and might be my favorite scene in the show's history. Cook is finally admitting all his wrongs, and has finally reached his breaking point with his ways. It's not like he didn't deserve it, but everything Cook said about everyone "pissing: on him was 100% true and the way it was acted out and written made you feel heart broken for him. How is that possible when Cook probably deserved everyone to "piss" on him? He then gets yelled at to explain why he his the kid. In the best way Cook can, he explains that all he wanted to do after feeling heart break was hit someone, and the way O' Connell depicted it all this was nothing short of phenomenal.

After that, Cook sacrifices himself for nothing really besides Naomi's peace of mind and doing something right for once. The look in on Cook at the jail and his trial, plus the conversation with Effy and her head nod at the end suggest that Cook finally found closure in something he had done and was not going to get "pissed on" anymore.

Cook appeared to be a simple douche of a character with his wild style and his love thing with Effy, but we saw many different sides of Cook in this episode. With that in mind and the style of the episodes in this show, that's why I believe this was one of the best episodes of this show and an instant classic.

Cook's Downfall - Guilt With Naomi, Jailtime

[vivianla · 31 July 2020]

Cook has a tracker band around his ankle. He is not allowed to step out of the home or else the tracker will go off.

Cook goes to his mother's where he plays with his little brother named Paddy. He takes Paddy out on a walk in the harbour area. At home Cook hears his mother having sex with a man. His mom has a big photo of breasts on the wall.

Freddie comes over and admits he did some stuff with Cook's mom. Cook asks how was it and then realizes what he is saying and says no do not answer that. Lol. Freddie says he only got a blowjob.

Cook watches Effy at her locker wearing a top with slits at the sides showing off her bra. She walks to where Freddie is sitting on the black couch and they kiss.

Cook is with the police as court is going on so he sleeps in a cell. Effy goes to visit him during visiting hours with her hair done up in a curly ponytail.