Skins (series 6)

Professor David Blood has banned Rich from visiting Grace in hospital and Rich is suffering. Alo tries to keep him out of trouble with a band practice, but Rich is committed to his love and he stands outside the hospital waiting for Grace's call. Eventually the call comes and Rich finds a way past security and breaks into Grace's room. The lovers are reunited, but they have a problem as Blood is moving Grace to another hospital in Switzerland. Rich goes to Grace's house to appeal to Professor Blood, but finds they've already gone. Rich moves into the house, sleeping in Grace's room until Alo tracks him down and pledges to help his best mate, but Alo has other things on his mind and cracks begin to develop in the boys' friendship. It falls to Liv to bring the fractured group back together again.^[6][7]

It's Alex Henley's first day at college, but he's not worried about fitting in or making new friends. Alex lives his life by the roll of a dice, which corresponds to lists of things to do. Alex is living with his elderly grandmother, who is suffering from dementia. Alex's father has left him with the job of preparing her to be moved to a nursing home. His grandmother rejects the idea and shows great disdain and even dislike for her son, while she is clearly very fond of Alex. When Alex arrives at school, he quickly catches the eye of Liv. Alex punches Alo in the face, due to rolling his die and Alo's unfortunate timing. Liv and Nick witness this and are confused by Alex's behaviour, as he immediately is very apologetic to Alo before rushing off. Liv appears both fascinated and amused by the situation. Liv confronts Mini about her distant behaviour and the two argue as Mini once again pushes Liv away. Alex watches the argument but then Liv spots him, she confronts him about his "problem." Alex replies that he doesn't have a problem and if you live by the roll of a dice "everything's random." Liv asks him what his die is telling him to do then and after rolling it, he proceeds to kiss her. She slaps him for the kiss, and the two finally introduce themselves. Liv goes back to Alex's house where she meets his grandmother and finds herself touched by the relationship Alex shares with her and the stories of Alex's grandfather who was a sailor who also lived on random luck. Liv leaves and Alex reads to his grandmother until she falls asleep and then goes to meet Liv at pub with the rest of the group. The gang is wary and somewhat hostile towards Alex, particularly Alo who is still irritable over the punch. Alex asks Nick about Grace, who tells him to leave the subject alone. An upset Mini downs several shots, calls the others boring, and begins to dance with a boy in the pub. She's watched by an uncomfortable Alo which Alex comments about Mini and Alo being a couple, but is "corrected" by Liv. Alex rushes out of the pub to answer a phone call that turns out to be his father. Alex is followed out by Liv and the two ditch the pub and Alex takes Liv to go and play poker at an underground casino. Alex wins a large amount of money, but clearly had cheated and the two grab the money and run. Alex's phone rings and he tells Liv he needs to get home. After Liv leaves, Alex proceeds to use what is revealed to be an app on his phone for finding nearby people for random sex and he has sex with a man and it is revealed that his character is gay. Later Alex performs various tasks for his grandmother, being constantly bothered by his father. It is implied that he has a fascination with the sea (possibly that his grandfather was lost at sea). He and Liv continue to do as the die says and break and enter a house which turns out to be terribly messy. The two decide to prank the owner and clean the flat from top to bottom. Liv comes on to Alex and he starts to tell her something, only to be interrupted by the owner of the house and the two flee the scene. Alex and Liv return to Alex's house where they find his father has arrived and is angrily packing Alex's grandmother's things. His father tells Alex to finish and leaves. Alex is upset, but his grandmother convinces him to dance with her and Alex, Liv and his grandmother dance. At the college it is announced that there will be a memorial service for Grace. Liv is disgusted that people who didn't know Grace are mourning her and is adamant that the friends not attend the service. Mini and Liv argue and Liv rushes off crying. She is followed by Alex, but when he tries to comfort her, she kisses him. Alex stops her and tells her he's gay. Liv becomes angry at him for leading her on and Alex tries to explain that he's never had friends before. Liv yells at him that they're not friends and Mini arrives to add that "we don't need you." A hurt Alex runs home and discovers that his grandmother has committed suicide by an overdose of pills. Liv, Mini, and Franky end up attending Grace's memorial service, but are disgusted by the shallow and over-the-top display and end up smashing things up and screaming at the other students. Liv then runs out of the college crying. She receives a call from Alex, who apologizes and asks to make it up to her. He then takes the whole group out on a sail boat for a party. While on the boat, he encourages Liv to talk to Mini, which she attempts to do, but Mini once again pushes Liv away. Mini then discovers a large sailors travelling trunk with Alex's dead grandmother inside. The gang question Alex about the body and he explains that she didn't want to go where others wanted her and pleads the others to help bury her at sea. Alex reads a letter from his grandfather to his grandmother and the boys slide the coffin into the ocean and the gang becomes very emotional, their feelings about Grace welling up. Franky leaves a message on Matty's phone telling him never to come back. Alex and Liv share another kiss, but it is platonic and they agree to be friends. They then roll his die and it lands on six, "run away." Laughing, Alex and Liv jump off the boat. The episode ends with the two of them swimming together and the die sinking to the bottom of the Bristol channel.^[8][9]

Franky is in a bad place - it's the week of her mock exams and she's unable to concentrate on her studies. Her friends are avoiding her, parental support makes her feel smothered and in her isolation she feels propelled towards Luke. He's bad news, but she feels as if he's the only person who understands her and she's intoxicated by him. Drawn into Luke's dangerous world, she finds an outlet for her anger and frustration. Burning bridges with family and friends, Franky is in more trouble than ever before. But help comes in unlikely forms, and out of the darkness a new friendship is born.^[10][11]

Mini hates her mum's pervy new live-in boyfriend, and to make matters worse, Alo has broken the rules of their 'no strings attached' secret relationship and declared his love for her. Mini feels trapped; she's lost control of her life and needs to get away. Ignoring advice from her mum and Liv, she seeks refuge with her dad. Gregory's never been around that much, but promises it'll be different this time. He sweeps Mini into his glamorous and grown-up world where she feels a million miles away from her problems, but Mini has a bigger problem that she can't run away from and will ultimately have to face on her own. ^[12][13]

Nick is desperately in love with Franky, but it's a one-way street. He has no choice but to accept Franky as his friend and nothing more, while his love for her grows with each passing day. Then Matty gets in touch - he's still in love with Franky and needs Nick's help to get him out of Morocco and back to Bristol. Ever loyal, Nick tries to put his feelings for Franky aside and agrees to help his brother. Torn between his love for Franky, his loyalty to Matty and his fear of confrontation, Nick's life begins to spin wildly out of control until he has no choice but to step up and discover what he's truly capable of.^[14][15]

Alo still has no idea that Mini is carrying his baby. Fed up of trying to get back to the fun times they used to have, he attempts to get over Mini by hooking up with a new girl, Poppy Champion. She's perfect for Alo and Mini is soon a distant memory. Franky's attempts to make him see sense fall on deaf ears, but Alo's childish choices come back to haunt him and he's soon out of his depth. In a lot of trouble and with nobody to turn to, the boy who stubbornly refused to grow up may have finally run out of time...^[17][18]

Mini and Franky are still holed up in Mini's bedroom, but with Matty back in Bristol and Mini's ever-growing baby bump, time is quickly running out for the girls. Things come to a head when Mini's health takes a turn for the worse, leaving them isolated and under pressure from family and friends.^[21][22]

It's the end of an era. The exam results are in and Alex is throwing the mother of all leaving parties. Everyone's future hangs in the balance as Franky struggles to confront her past. The group is still in pieces following Grace's death... and time is running out for them to make things right.^[23][24]