In its penultimate episode last week (3.9 “Katie and Emily”), British teen drama Skins brought a satisfying conclusion to its lesbian storyline – a noteworthy event given how few TV shows you can say that about (including The L Word).
The show’s development of a romantic relationship between lesbian teenager Emily (Kathryn Prescott) and probably bisexual teenager Naomi (Lily Loveless) was messy, full of missteps and misunderstandings, but it was honest, realistic (for TV), and organic (unlike, say, the finale webisode for South of Nowhere, which felt contrived and tacked on).
If you missed the episode, you can watch a preview of it here:
The story of Emily is also remarkable for what it isn’t: a coming-out story. At least, not primarily.
Emily struggles briefly in the beginning with accepting her sexuality. But everyone besides Emily’s parents and her twin sister Katie (Megan Prescott) react with not much more than a shrug to the fact that she’s gay. When she comes out to classmate Thomas (Merveille Lukeba) in this episode while they’re waiting for the bus, he’s mostly concerned with getting out of the cold, telling her, “That’s fine. Shall we get a taxi? I don’t think the bus is going to come anytime soon.”
Emily falls in love with classmate Naomi early on in the season and embraces it, but it takes Naomi much longer to accept her feelings for Emily. When Naomi freaks out after they sleep together for the first time after a day at the lake, Emily begs her to “be brave and want me back.” But their relationship vacillates between friendship and romance all season, causing Emily’s emotions to alternate between delight and despair.
This episode starts off with Naomi telling Emily at school that she’s leaving for the summer, then giving in and kissing her in the hall. They end up in bed together at Naomi’s, and for a few hours, everything is good again.
But when Naomi balks at going public with their relationship, Emily realizes, “we’re still holding hands through a cat flap, aren’t we?” and leaves, telling Naomi, “I’m not your f—ing experiment.”
A tearful Emily later asks Thomas, “What do you do if someone you love lets you down?” and he tells her “you must try to stop loving them,” which they both agree is really not possible.
But Emily’s relationship with Naomi is set against the backdrop of the larger story of Emily’s quest for independence from her sister. Coming out becomes a catalyst for Emily to stand up to Katie, as Katie’s refusal to accept Emily’s sexuality, and her attempts to ruin Emily’s relationship with Naomi, finally spur Emily to make a long-overdue break from her sister.
Emily comes out to her family in this episode, telling them bluntly over dinner, “I’ve been making love to a girl … Her name’s Naomi, she’s rather beautiful, so I was nailing her.” Katie tries to stop her, but her parents don’t believe her, anyway – Dad pretends it’s a joke, Mom pretends not to believe it.
Katie follows Emily upstairs to their room and tells her, “you’re not gay, you’re just stupid.” She accuses Emily of making up this affair with Naomi because “I get more boys than you, I look better in clothes than you, and I’m more popular than you.”
But Emily fights back this time, pointing out how dysfunctional Katie’s relationships are, and – referring to Katie’s physical altercation with another girl over a boy in the last episode – says harshly, “Nobody hits me over the head with a rock.”
But when Katie turns without a word and climbs into bed after this fight, Emily tries again to win her sister’s approval, saying “I’m still Emily,” as Katie ignores her and cries in bed.
Even Katie and Emily’s mother sees the uneven power structure, telling Naomi later in the episode, “[Emily’s] the younger twin, and that means somehow she’s always in her sister’s shadow … Katie’s always in charge.”
When Naomi goes to Emily’s house to apologize after their night together ended in Emily leaving upset at being “an experiment,” Emily’s mother asks her inside for a chat that quickly turns ugly.
Mom: I want you to stop putting ideas into her head, OK? She’s not gay.
Naomi: I’m not gay.
Mom: Right, so there’s nothing to worry about then, is there? Because they’re the apple of their dad’s eye, he loves them like fierce, you know? Just the way they are – normal, happy twins. And they’re more alike than you’ll ever know.
Naomi: you sure of that?
Mom: I want you to disappear now, Naomi. Don’t screw her up, OK? Goodbye, Naomi.
Naomi leaves, and Emily never finds out about Naomi’s visit.
When Katie later learns that Emily had once slept with JJ, she calls Emily a “secretive little cow” and tries to assert her authority over Emily again.
Emily: Well, if I felt like having sex with him, I don’t have to ask you.
Katie: Yes you do.
Emily: What?!
Katie: You have to ask me! [Repeats these words in twin language]. (pause) Not gay, stupid!
Katie clearly senses that Emily is breaking away from her and is desperate to stop it, even reverting twice to using the secret twin language the girls haven’t used for years.
Finally, Katie decides to take matters into her own hands, and when Naomi calls Emily and begs her to meet for coffee, she finds Katie there waiting for her, instead of Emily.
Katie: Leave her alone, she’s mine.
Naomi: She can’t help what she is, Katie. Neither can I.
Katie: Yeah, seems like she could help it when she was f—ing JJ.
Naomi? What?
Katie: Apparently he’s quite keen actually, you know, after she saw to him good and proper.
Naomi [stunned]: It’s not true.
Katie: You hurt her, now she doesn’t want you. [gets up to leave]
Naomi: Why are you so horrible?
Katie: I love her more than you ever can. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have dresses to buy for the ball. You won’t be there, because if you are…” [glares menacingly before walking out]
She leaves Naomi wiping away tears.
At the house that night, Katie is trying to get Emily to go to the ball. She tells a despondent Emily, “[Naomi] doesn’t want to go with you, and I do,” and reluctantly, Emily puts on the dress Katie gives her to wear.
But Naomi unexpectedly shows up at the ball – and makes it clear to Emily that she now knows about her and JJ, before walking into the dance alone.
As a crushed Emily heads for the parking lot, Katie pounces on Naomi inside, slamming her against the wall and telling her, “She’s my sister, you’re just a slut.” (Ironic, coming from Katie, but nevermind.)
When Emily returns and overhears Katie admit to telling Naomi about JJ, it’s finally time for the long-overdue twin smackdown, as all of Emily’s pent-up rage boils over and she proceeds to beat Katie down in the middle of the dance floor.
But just as Emily is clearly winning – straddling Katie and about to punch her – Emily suddenly stops, thinks better of it, and helps the now-chastened Katie up. Emily wordlessly takes off the dress Katie gave her to wear (she’s wearing a black slip underneath) to make it clear that she is no longer under her sister’s thumb, before finally taking a verbal stand.
Emily: Katie, I can’t stand this. I’m a person. I’m not you.
Katie: (quietly) I know.
Emily: You have to understand Katie. I love you, and I’ll never really leave you, but I can’t fix this. I like girls. Well, I like a girl. No, I love her. I love…[pointing to Naomi] her. OK?
Katie: OK
Emily walks over to Naomi and grabs her hand, and they walk out of the ball together.
Emily, no longer in her sister’s shadow, is finally in charge of her own life. As they are leaving the ball holding hands at the end of the episode, Naomi remarks, “Some party,” then tells a smiling Emily, “I love you, too.”
What makes this ending work so well is how carefully Emily and Naomi’s individual storylines, and their relationship, were set up.
Naomi is consistently inconsistent throughout the season. A more conventional coming-out story than Emily’s, Naomi wrestles with how to reconcile her attraction to Emily with her attraction to boys, too, and viewers are given a window in her pain and confusion in the episode devoted to her (“Naomi”). In the “Katie and Emily” episode, she tells Emily, “I’m not like you. I’m not sure like you are,” and wonders aloud if “Maybe I only like boys, apart from you.”
This question is never resolved, but that’s realistic: you usually have more questions than answers when you’re a teenager.
Naomi is weak at times, but she is also braver than she gets credit for. Naomi pursues Emily even when she is terrified of her feelings for her, despite being verbally and physically attacked by members of Emily’s family who don’t want to see them together.
When Naomi finally chooses to go to the ball and to hold Emily’s hand in public, you know how difficult this is for her, and you’re proud of her.
The writers made us even more invested in Emily’s journey by establishing the uneven power dynamic between Emily and Katie is from the first episode, and reinforcing it throughout the season, until the showdown at the ball between the twins feels both inevitable and necessary.
You want Emily to put Katie in her place, and when she does, you’re cheering for her.
Making Emily’s changing relationship with her twin central to her character development also makes Emily sympathetic and relatable to those who might have otherwise have difficulty relating to a lesbian character. Even if you don’t know any lesbians, you probably have a sister (or brother) you have issues with, or know people who do.
By developing Emily and Naomi’s relationship slowly and carefully, and in the context of the girls’ individual struggles, the writers made the audience root for it, and that made the payoff sweeter. Throw in strong acting by Prescott and Loveless, and it makes sense that “Naomily” would be one of the more popular pairings on the show this season.
The show gave us a happy ending, but not a neat-and-tidy one – we still don’t know whether Emily’s parents are going to accept her sexuality, for example, or if Naomi will stay with Emily. But that’s part of what makes it work.
The show isn’t perfect, by any means – some of the characters (like Cook) are too one-dimensional; the characters’ frequent and casual use of sex is problematic to many viewers; and the decision to have Emily sleep with JJ as a charitable act didn’t sit well with a lot of lesbian viewers.
But Emily and Naomi’s relationship is a good example of a well-plotted, well-executed, and well-acted storyline coming to a satisfying conclusion – something that’s all too rare on TV these days, especially in the U.S. And more of that on TV is something viewers of all sexual orientations can get behind.
The final episode of Skins‘s third season airs in the U.K. on E4 this Thursday. BBC America is planning to debut the third season in the U.S. sometime this Spring. Find more Skins fans in our forum.
