Sid Jenkins
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| Sidney Jenkins | |
|---|---|
 Mike Bailey as Sid Jenkins |
|
| First appearance | "Tony" |
| Centric episodes | "Sid" |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 17 |
| Year of birth | June 13, 1990 |
| Occupation | Student |
| Family | Mark Jenkins (father, deceased) Liz Jenkins (mother) Rosie (maternal aunt) Alex Jenkins (paternal grandfather) Sandy Jenkins (paternal uncle) Lex & Allie Jenkins (first cousins) |
| Relationships | Cassie (girlfriend) Michelle (ex-girlfriend) |
| Portrayed by | Mike Bailey |
| Created by | Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain |
Sidney "Sid" Jenkins is a fictional character in the television series Skins portrayed by Mike Bailey.
[edit] Characterisation
Sid is initially portrayed as an unlucky virgin who has a crush on his best friend Tony's girlfriend, Michelle, although he later realises that his true feelings are for Cassie. Manipulated by Tony, he is frequently unlucky: losing expensive weed, getting beaten up by Jal's brothers, getting urinated on by a dog and a homeless person. He is also at first oblivious to the machinations of his best friend who, aware of Sid's undying adoration of Michelle, exploits it for his amusement. Despite this, he seems, at least in earlier episodes, to idolise Tony, replying to the question 'Is that all you do Sid, hang around with Tony?' with 'pretty much'.
Sid's character is generally supposed to be the nice guy, in contrast to Tony's self-serving egotism. He is extremely loyal towards his friends, including Tony and Anwar, who frequently abuse his loyalty and cause him a great deal of difficulty. Sid's nice guy attitude is quick to win the affections of Cassie, but Sid is oblivious, which leads to him hurting her feelings on occasion. Sid is also very intelligent but underachieves in school because he is easily distracted. When faced with failing his coursework however, Sid is able to write an entire history dissertation in one night. His characterisation is often completed by his choice of clothes, including a bright yellow 'Mega Dog' T-shirt, which includes a button which when pressed produces a 'Mega Dog' catchphrase from a sewn on speaker.[1]
It could be inferred from the meek manner in which Sid accepts the manipulation of Tony, and the anger of his father Mark, that Sid is weak, and his self-esteem is certainly low. But on the occasions when it is most needed, he shows remarkable strength of character, especially in the episode "Sid". When Sid's father fails to prevent his mother leaving, Sid explodes with anger, and although his mother never moves back in permanently, this demonstration of strength improves Sid's relationship with his father in the long run. Also, Sid goes on a 'mission of love' to profess his love to Cassie in the final episode of the first series.
[edit] Character history
In "Tony" he is promised by Tony that he will lose his virginity to Cassie before he turns 17. He also loses the spliff for Abigail Stock's party, putting drug dealer Madison Twatter out to find him. Sid pines for Michelle, unaware of Cassie's presence. In "Cassie", Cassie comes to think Sid loves her and is sending her messages saying to eat, but later realises it's all in her head. Madison Twatter becomes a substitute teacher at Sid's school, closing in. In "Jal", Madison corners Sid and Jal, about to beat up Sid, smashes Jal's clarinet as a warning. Jal's brothers, thinking he is the problem, beat up Sid before chasing after Madison and his associate.
In "Chris", Cassie asks him on a date, only for him to be grounded and cancel in "Sid". When later he is offered by Tony a chance to see Michelle, he takes it. After being beaten up by chav girls, he finds Cassie waiting at his house, upset he had stood her up. She tries to be positive, but is hurt and jealous that Michelle has his love without earning it. After Tony makes Sid believe he can have Michelle, he takes her back before his eyes, affirming his power over them both. Cassie, distraught by Sid's cancelling of their date takes an overdose of pills combined with vodka, and ends up in hospital, accompanied by Jal Fazer, who places the blame squarely with Sid.
In "Maxxie and Anwar", he helps Anwar liberate a girl from what they believe to be her abusive father, although he turns out to be her husband. In the episode's end, he shows strain keeping pills hidden in his anus. He also sees a picture of Cassie drawn by Maxxie, remarking on how beautiful he has made her look, to which Maxxie replies, "She [Cassie] is beautiful".
"Michelle" is the episode where Sid realises he really wants Cassie. After a rebounding Michelle attempts to have sex with him, he realises that his love for her is at a level where she can only be his friend. They then both go to find Cassie at her rehab clinic, to tell her. After Sid confesses he likes her, she reveals her new boyfriend, Simon, who is also a patient at the clinic.
In "Effy", Sid is dragged by Tony to help him find his missing sister, Effy. Eventually, Sid and Tony come to blows, deriding each other's perceived character flaws: Tony sees Sid as wishing to emulate him, whereas Sid sees Tony as something he would never want to become. Later, Sid sees Cassie, agrees to meet with her, and the two finally kiss. Their reunion is cut short by a call from Michelle, which prompts him to try and find Tony and Effy who may be in danger. After he takes Tony and Effy to the hospital, he is the one to defend Tony, who he refers to as his best friend, against his parents' accusations.
Sid spends the beginning of the first series finale wondering about Cassie and attempts to write a letter explaining how much he loves her. Not caring if he would show himself up or not, Sid hurriedly dresses in mismatching clothes and rushes to Cassie's rehab clinic, just after she leaves in a taxi. Sid waits in the reception to see Cassie where a nurse attends to him. Sid explains his dilemma to her, not mentioning Cassie's name and the nurse locks him in a padded room, deducing that Sid needs their help, based on his untidy appearance and the fact that he says he "needs to see someone". Tony eventually comes to his aid and Sid is released from the clinic and the two then look for Cassie, along with a reluctant Effy. Giving up hope, Sid eventually attends Anwar's party and he leaves soon after. At the end of the episode, it's revealed after he left Anwar's party he was meeting with Cassie, who is sitting on a bench overlooking Bristol. He sits besides her, where they then hold hands.
In the second series, Sid's relationship with Cassie deteriorates and he begins to distance himself from Tony, who has awakened from his coma and is slowly recovering from the brain damage inflicted by his accident. In "Tony and Maxxie", Sid refuses to visit Tony, who becomes frustrated by the lack of contact from his former best friend. In the "Lost Weeks" web episodes, it is revealed that Sid was the one who attended to Tony in hospital following the accident, reading entire novels out loud to a comatose Tony and even recording messages to help "wake" him up.
Sid also struggles with not being able to see Cassie. Sid reveals that he lost his virginity to Cassie before she moved to Scotland, but there is a lack of contact between them which Sid resents.
In "Sid", he misinterprets Cassie's closeness with her gay Scottish friend and angrily accuses her of cheating on him, later destroying the laptop he used to communicate with her. In the same episode, a family visit proves too much for Sid's dad to take and he dies, his body discovered by Sid the next morning. Still in shock, Sid goes to school as usual, but finally breaks down in front of Tony while at a concert. The two end up going back to Sid's house together to deal with the situation, which seems to patch up their damaged friendship. At the end of the episode, Sid is seen on a train, presumably headed to Scotland to see Cassie. At the same time, Cassie is seen taking a train in the opposite direction, presumably to visit Sid in Bristol.
In "Michelle", a grieving Sid ends up having sex with his longstanding crush Michelle - who has also given up on Tony - while on a camping trip. Sid and Michelle are soon caught kissing in Sid's bedroom by Cassie, who had returned from Scotland to see Sid.
In "Chris", Cassie angrily confront Sid and Michelle in front of their friends after running into the couple at a club. This also exposes Sid and Michelle's new relationship to Tony, who seems hurt by it. Sid attempts to explain things, but Cassie slaps him, telling him that he can't do whatever he wants even though his father is dead.
In "Tony", Sid goes with Michelle to try and make amends with Tony, but it proves difficult as Tony is hiding under his bed. After coming back from the university interview, Tony finds Sid and Michelle having sex in the toilets of a club, where he tells them he loves them both, and even kisses Sid, saying he loves him even though he's a "useless fucker". He also tells Sid that he neither loves or belongs with Michelle, he belongs with Cassie.
In "Effy", Sid has to do Effy's art coursework in exchange for her "Sorting Out his Fucking Soap Opera". When he finishes, after describing his emotion as "Hopeless" in her CW, sees pictures of Cassie kissing another boy. At the end of the episode, Sid finally confronts her and after exchanges where they forgive each other, Sid and Cassie reunite.
In the series two finale, Sid is told by Chris's dad that the gang can not attend the funeral so he and Tony steal Chris's coffin. They return it when Jal and Michelle demand that they do so. Sid is forgiven by Tony and given a ticket to New York to find Cassie. Tony hugs him and tells him to lose the hat as it "makes you look retarded" and that he always "loved him [Sid] best". He arrives in New York with a photograph of Cassie and eventually walks past the restaurant where she is working. It is unknown whether he sees her.
