Pandora (Skins episode)
Encyclopedia
"Pandora" is the fourth episode of the third series of the English teen drama
Skins
, which first aired on 12 February 2009 on E4 in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The episode was written by Bryan Elsley
and Georgia Lester, and was directed by Simon Massey. The episode focuses on the character of Pandora Moon
(Lisa Backwell
), who is miserable after her boyfriend, Thomas Tomone (Merveille Lukeba
), recently returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
. She holds a small pyjama party for her friends, but it descends into chaos when uninvited guests arrive and the food is spiked with drugs. Pandora and Effy get into an argument after both girls have sex with James Cook (Jack O'Connell
), but the argument is interrupted when Thomas unexpectedly returns.
"Pandora" was filmed in September 2008. It featured guest appearances by Sally Phillips
and Harry Enfield
, as well as real-life partners Morwenna Banks
and David Baddiel
, who played on-screen lovers. The episode brought in 701,000 viewers and was E4's highest-rated programme of the week. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
(Kaya Scodelario
), Pandora tells Effy's mother, Anthea (Morwenna Banks), that she misses Thomas, who recently returned to his country of origin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Later, Effy's father, Jim (Harry Enfield), discovers his wife's infidelity when his boss, Steve (David Baddiel), arrives at the house, declaring his love for Anthea. Effy grows miserable after Jim leaves the family, and Pandora, desperate for some fun, throws a pyjama party. Effy and Katie Fitch (Megan Prescott
) arrive with Pandora at her house for the party and meet her neurotic mother, Angela (Sally Phillips). Disappointed by the lack of boys, drugs and alcohol because of Angela's strict supervision, Katie spikes the brownies that they make with MDMA. As Naomi Campbell (Lily Loveless
) and Katie's twin sister, Emily (Kathryn Prescott
), arrive together, Naomi urges Emily to admit that she is gay, but Emily denies it. All of the girls indulge in the brownies and Pandora is unhappy to see her mother's behaviour grow increasingly erratic. After Angela is carried into a bedroom to sleep, Pandora locks herself in the bathroom, upset about Thomas's departure and angry with Effy, who she believes spiked the brownies.
Outside, Cook and JJ Jones (Ollie Barbieri
) try to sneak into the girls' party. Cook enters the house through a window, but accidentally locks himself inside a wardrobe. After calling his friend, Freddie Mclair (Luke Pasqualino
), for help, JJ goes into the house by himself and sees Emily and Naomi kissing. Katie, too, witnesses the pair kissing, but is interrupted when her footballer boyfriend, Danny Guillermo (Henry Garrett
), and dozens of his friends arrive at the house to crash the party. Hiding from the rest of the party, Effy finds Cook, and they have sex in the wardrobe. They fall through the wall into the next room and find a DVD which shows Angela having sex with her older neighbour, Martin (James Fleet
). Freddie comes to take JJ home and confronts Effy about leaving Pandora for Cook. As he leaves, so does Effy.
By the time Pandora comes out of the bathroom, Cook is the only person left at the house. Together they play Twister
, which was all Pandora had wanted to do, along with learning from her friends about human sexuality
. Cook offers to have sex with her, and they spend the night together. Effy visits Pandora the next morning, and sees Cook share a kiss with her as he leaves. Feeling hurt, she confronts Pandora, but to no avail, as Pandora is slightly empowered after losing her virginity. Pandora defiantly tells Effy that Cook, due to his promiscuity and impulsive, carnal behavior, belongs to no one. Effy appears to understand, and makes no rebuttal. Suddenly, Thomas appears and runs up to Pandora, and she sobs in his arms as a thoughtful Effy looks on.
", and the series' opening title sequence. Lisa Backwell described filming Pandora's episode as "brilliant" and said that "spending 12 hours everyday in the loopy world of Pandora wearing wacky floral prints and bright yellow trainers is probably the most fun I've ever had". Comedian David Baddiel appeared in a brief cameo appearance as the lover of Anthea, who is played by Baddiel's real-life partner, Morwenna Banks. Kaya Scodelario said that working with Baddiel was "amazing" and that returning to work with her on-screen parents, Banks and Harry Enfield, after the show's second series was "brilliant". Pandora and her friends' rendition of the nursery rhyme
"London's Burning" using kitchen utensils while making brownies was arranged by Fat Segal
in homage to Matmos
's 1998 album, Quasi-Objects.
Published in an article for the Daily Mail
discussing a rise in bi-curiosity
amongst middle class teenage girls
, an E4 spokeswoman said of Emily and Naomi's kiss: "Skins is written by young people who don't see sexuality as defining who they are. They're a bit cooler about it than that, so they think of the characters they create as being in love with a person, rather than a boy or a girl."
, E4+1.
The episode received mostly positive reviews. A critic for PopSugar.com
called "Pandora" a "fantastic episode" and was pleased that Pandora's character "graduated from being random light relief and we got a real insight into her life". They praised each of the "superb" guest actors, particularly Harry Enfield, David Baddiel and Sally Phillips, who she thought played Angela "brilliantly". Digital Spy
's Neil Wilkes gave the episode a positive review, describing it as "probably the most outrageous of the series to date". He wrote that the tension between Effy and Freddie "set things up nicely" for the following episode, which focused on Freddie. The entertainment editor for eurOut.org
, a website for European lesbians, thought that the episode included "a lot of confusing straight relationship drama" and felt like she was "stuck in high school hell". She wrote, however, that the brownie-making scene was "so ridiculous it's kind of funny" and likened Skins to "Gossip Girl
on crack". Jason Hughes of TV Squad felt that within the ensemble cast
"most of these kids were so unlikable", though he attributed this to the series "show[ing] us their weaknesses". He found Pandora to be more likable, however, believing that her innocence was "more representative of youth than most of the other characters". One reviewer for lesbian-based website AfterEllen.com called the episode "must-see TV", while another reviewer expressed disapproval of the use of Katy Perry
's song, "I Kissed a Girl", in promotional videos for the episode.
Teen drama
A teen drama is a dramatic television series with a major focus on teenage characters. The genre was relatively non-existent for the first 45 years of television; it came into prominence in the early 1990s...
Skins
Skins (TV series)
Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
, which first aired on 12 February 2009 on E4 in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The episode was written by Bryan Elsley
Bryan Elsley
Bryan Elsley is a Scottish television writer, known most notably for the co-creation of E4 teen drama Skins with his son, Jamie Brittain...
and Georgia Lester, and was directed by Simon Massey. The episode focuses on the character of Pandora Moon
Pandora Moon
Pandora "Panda" Moon is a fictional character in the E4 television series Skins, portrayed by Lisa Backwell. Along with Effy Stonem, Pandora is one of the only "Second generation" characters to appear in series two, and is prominent throughout the third and fourth series...
(Lisa Backwell
Lisa Backwell
Lisa Backwell is a British actress, best known for her role as Pandora Moon in the hit British TV drama Skins.-Career:...
), who is miserable after her boyfriend, Thomas Tomone (Merveille Lukeba
Merveille Lukeba
Merveille Lukeba is a Congo born, British actor, best known for his role as Thomas Tomone in double BAFTA-winning E4 teen drama Skins.Born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, he was raised in Woolwich, southeast London....
), recently returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
. She holds a small pyjama party for her friends, but it descends into chaos when uninvited guests arrive and the food is spiked with drugs. Pandora and Effy get into an argument after both girls have sex with James Cook (Jack O'Connell
Jack O'Connell (actor)
Jack O'Connell , is a British actor, from Alvaston, Derby, England. He went to St Benedict Catholic School and Performing Arts College...
), but the argument is interrupted when Thomas unexpectedly returns.
"Pandora" was filmed in September 2008. It featured guest appearances by Sally Phillips
Sally Phillips
-Career:Sally Phillips was the only woman in the 1990 Oxford Revue THRASH which also starred Ed Smith. She did nine consecutive Edinburgh Festivals, appearing in shows such as Ra-Ra-Rasputin, Arthur Smith's version of Hamlet and Cluub Zarathustra with Simon Munnery, Stewart Lee, Richard Thomas,...
and Harry Enfield
Harry Enfield
Henry Richard "Harry" Enfield is a BAFTA-winning English comedian, actor, writer and director.-Early life:...
, as well as real-life partners Morwenna Banks
Morwenna Banks
Morwenna Banks is a British comedy actress, writer and producer.Banks is perhaps best known in the UK as a cast member of the British Channel 4 comedy series Absolutely, where her best-known character was a schoolgirl who sat on the edge of a desk.She appeared as the Keeper of the Rules in the...
and David Baddiel
David Baddiel
David Lionel Baddiel is an English comedian, novelist and television presenter.-Early life:Baddiel was born in New York, and moved to England when he was four months old. His father, Colin Brian Baddiel, was a Welsh research chemist with Unilever before being made redundant in the 1980s, after...
, who played on-screen lovers. The episode brought in 701,000 viewers and was E4's highest-rated programme of the week. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
Plot
At the house of her friend, Effy StonemEffy Stonem
Elizabeth "Effy" Stonem is a fictional character in the television series Skins, played by Kaya Scodelario. She is the only main character to appear in more than two series. She appears in all of the first four series...
(Kaya Scodelario
Kaya Scodelario
Kaya Rose Scodelario is a British actress and model. She is best known for her role as Effy Stonem in the E4 drama Skins.-Skins :...
), Pandora tells Effy's mother, Anthea (Morwenna Banks), that she misses Thomas, who recently returned to his country of origin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Later, Effy's father, Jim (Harry Enfield), discovers his wife's infidelity when his boss, Steve (David Baddiel), arrives at the house, declaring his love for Anthea. Effy grows miserable after Jim leaves the family, and Pandora, desperate for some fun, throws a pyjama party. Effy and Katie Fitch (Megan Prescott
Megan Prescott
Megan Elizabeth "Meg" Prescott is a British actress who is best known for her role as Katie Fitch in the double BAFTA-winning teen drama Skins.-Background:...
) arrive with Pandora at her house for the party and meet her neurotic mother, Angela (Sally Phillips). Disappointed by the lack of boys, drugs and alcohol because of Angela's strict supervision, Katie spikes the brownies that they make with MDMA. As Naomi Campbell (Lily Loveless
Lily Loveless
Lily May Loveless is an English actress, best known for her role as Naomi Campbell in the BAFTA award winning drama Skins.-Career:...
) and Katie's twin sister, Emily (Kathryn Prescott
Kathryn Prescott
Kathryn "Kat" Prescott is an English actress. Born in Southgate, London, Prescott is best known for her portrayal of teenager Emily Fitch on the teen drama television series Skins.-Career:...
), arrive together, Naomi urges Emily to admit that she is gay, but Emily denies it. All of the girls indulge in the brownies and Pandora is unhappy to see her mother's behaviour grow increasingly erratic. After Angela is carried into a bedroom to sleep, Pandora locks herself in the bathroom, upset about Thomas's departure and angry with Effy, who she believes spiked the brownies.
Outside, Cook and JJ Jones (Ollie Barbieri
Ollie Barbieri
Ollie Barbieri is a British actor, best known for his role as JJ Jones in the hit British TV drama Skins.- Career :In 2008, he was cast as JJ Jones in Skins.He was later cast as Enrique in Anuvahood....
) try to sneak into the girls' party. Cook enters the house through a window, but accidentally locks himself inside a wardrobe. After calling his friend, Freddie Mclair (Luke Pasqualino
Luke Pasqualino
Luke Pasqualino is an English actor, best known for his portrayal of Freddie Mclair in the television series Skins.-Early life:...
), for help, JJ goes into the house by himself and sees Emily and Naomi kissing. Katie, too, witnesses the pair kissing, but is interrupted when her footballer boyfriend, Danny Guillermo (Henry Garrett
Henry Garrett
Henry Edward Garrett was an American psychologist and segregationist. Garrett was President of the American Psychological Association in 1946 and Chair of Psychology at Columbia University from 1941 to 1955...
), and dozens of his friends arrive at the house to crash the party. Hiding from the rest of the party, Effy finds Cook, and they have sex in the wardrobe. They fall through the wall into the next room and find a DVD which shows Angela having sex with her older neighbour, Martin (James Fleet
James Fleet
James Edward Fleet is an English actor. He is most famous for his roles as the bumbling and well-meaning Tom in the 1994 British romantic comedy film Four Weddings and a Funeral, and the dim-witted Hugo Horton in the BBC situation comedy television series The Vicar of Dibley.-Personal life:Fleet...
). Freddie comes to take JJ home and confronts Effy about leaving Pandora for Cook. As he leaves, so does Effy.
By the time Pandora comes out of the bathroom, Cook is the only person left at the house. Together they play Twister
Twister (game)
Twister is a game of physical skill produced by Hasbro Games. It is played on a large plastic mat that is spread on the floor or ground. The mat has four rows of large colored circles on it with a different color in each row: red, yellow, blue, and green. A spinner is attached to a square board...
, which was all Pandora had wanted to do, along with learning from her friends about human sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
. Cook offers to have sex with her, and they spend the night together. Effy visits Pandora the next morning, and sees Cook share a kiss with her as he leaves. Feeling hurt, she confronts Pandora, but to no avail, as Pandora is slightly empowered after losing her virginity. Pandora defiantly tells Effy that Cook, due to his promiscuity and impulsive, carnal behavior, belongs to no one. Effy appears to understand, and makes no rebuttal. Suddenly, Thomas appears and runs up to Pandora, and she sobs in his arms as a thoughtful Effy looks on.
Production
"Pandora" was filmed in September 2008 in the same production block as the series' sixth episode, "NaomiNaomi (Skins episode)
"Naomi" is the sixth episode of the third series of the English teen drama Skins, which first aired on 26 February 2009 on E4 in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The episode was written by Atiha Sen Gupta and Jack Thorne, and was directed by Simon Massey...
", and the series' opening title sequence. Lisa Backwell described filming Pandora's episode as "brilliant" and said that "spending 12 hours everyday in the loopy world of Pandora wearing wacky floral prints and bright yellow trainers is probably the most fun I've ever had". Comedian David Baddiel appeared in a brief cameo appearance as the lover of Anthea, who is played by Baddiel's real-life partner, Morwenna Banks. Kaya Scodelario said that working with Baddiel was "amazing" and that returning to work with her on-screen parents, Banks and Harry Enfield, after the show's second series was "brilliant". Pandora and her friends' rendition of the nursery rhyme
Nursery rhyme
The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...
"London's Burning" using kitchen utensils while making brownies was arranged by Fat Segal
Fat Segal
Segal is an electronic musician best known for his work on the British television series Skins....
in homage to Matmos
Matmos
Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore signed to the Matador Records label. M. C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their performances, including...
's 1998 album, Quasi-Objects.
Published in an article for the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
discussing a rise in bi-curiosity
Bi-curious
Bi-curious is a term used to refer to people of a heterosexual or homosexual identity who, while showing some curiosity for a relationship or sexual activity with a person of the sex they do not favor, distinguish themselves from the bisexual label. The term is sometimes used to describe a broad...
amongst middle class teenage girls
Lesbian until graduation
The LGBT slang terms lesbian until graduation , gay until graduation , and bisexual until graduation are used to describe women primarily of high-school or college age who are assumed to be experimenting with or adopting a temporary lesbian or bisexual identity...
, an E4 spokeswoman said of Emily and Naomi's kiss: "Skins is written by young people who don't see sexuality as defining who they are. They're a bit cooler about it than that, so they think of the characters they create as being in love with a person, rather than a boy or a girl."
Reception
"Pandora" brought in 701,000 viewers and was E4's highest-rated programme of the week with an audience share of 4.5 percent. Another 165,000 viewers watched the episode an hour after its initial broadcast on E4's timeshift channelTimeshift channel
A timeshift channel is a television channel carrying a time-delayed rebroadcast of its "parent" channel's output. This channel runs alongside their parent: the term "timeshift" does not refer to a network broadcasting at a later time to reflect a local timezone unless the parent is also available...
, E4+1.
The episode received mostly positive reviews. A critic for PopSugar.com
Popsugar
PopSugar.com is Sugar Publishing's celebrity news and gossip site. Founded in March 2005, the site is based in San Francisco, California.PopSugar is the flagship site for the Sugar Network, which now includes nine additional sites.-Editors:...
called "Pandora" a "fantastic episode" and was pleased that Pandora's character "graduated from being random light relief and we got a real insight into her life". They praised each of the "superb" guest actors, particularly Harry Enfield, David Baddiel and Sally Phillips, who she thought played Angela "brilliantly". Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
's Neil Wilkes gave the episode a positive review, describing it as "probably the most outrageous of the series to date". He wrote that the tension between Effy and Freddie "set things up nicely" for the following episode, which focused on Freddie. The entertainment editor for eurOut.org
EurOut.org
eurOut.org, founded in September 2008, is a European website dedicated to bringing their readers the latest news about lesbian and bisexual women in entertainment and politics in the English language. The website was founded by Sandra Showtime who also functioned as its editor-in-chief until...
, a website for European lesbians, thought that the episode included "a lot of confusing straight relationship drama" and felt like she was "stuck in high school hell". She wrote, however, that the brownie-making scene was "so ridiculous it's kind of funny" and likened Skins to "Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl (TV series)
Gossip Girl is an American teen drama television series based on the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series was created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, and premiered on The CW on September 19, 2007...
on crack". Jason Hughes of TV Squad felt that within the ensemble cast
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
"most of these kids were so unlikable", though he attributed this to the series "show[ing] us their weaknesses". He found Pandora to be more likable, however, believing that her innocence was "more representative of youth than most of the other characters". One reviewer for lesbian-based website AfterEllen.com called the episode "must-see TV", while another reviewer expressed disapproval of the use of Katy Perry
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
's song, "I Kissed a Girl", in promotional videos for the episode.