Skins (series 4)

Cook is in prison, charged with GBH for beating up Shanky Jenkinson at the house party. Duncan, Cook’s legal aid, tells him to plead guilty, but Cook pleads not guilty instead. He is released with an electronic tag and sent to live with his mother Ruth, an amateur artist. At home, Cook bonds with his younger brother Paddy who adores him, but clashes with his perpetually drunken mother. When Cook swaggers in to college he is expelled on the spot for his brush with the law. He visits Naomi who tells him they must deal with their guilt over Sophia. Duncan tells Cook there is no case and that he should grow up. Cook reacts saying he is a useless lawyer trashing his office. Cook visits his mother’s art exhibit and learns that she had slept with Freddie, but Freddie tells him otherwise that she had only performed oral sex. Cook argues with his mother, leaves the house with Paddy and steals Ruth’s car, trashing it. Cook has a moment of insight when he sees his brother acting like him. He finds Naomi and they talk, bonding over how they both love someone. He tells the police he sold Sophia the MDMA, taking the flak for Naomi, Cook pleads guilty at trial and is imprisoned.

Katie has a job as a wedding planner. Their client is Brandy, a stereotypical WAG. Katie visits the doctor, thinking she is pregnant, only to discover she is experiencing a premature menopause and is infertile. Her family is bankrupt after her father Rob’s ill-spending. Katie goes to Brandy’s hen party, but gets into a fight, is barred, and gets her and her mother sacked. The Fitch’s house is repossessed and they are forced to move in with Naomi and Emily, whose relationship is strained, even though Emily, remembering Jenna's rudeness to her, would like nothing to do with them. At a BBQ party, Emily gets drunk and high and makes out with another girl, leading Naomi to admit to the group she slept with Sophia and sold her drugs. Katie has a bath and Thomas accidentally locks them inside. They start to kiss, about to have sex, but Katie breaks down, telling Thomas about her condition. They agree to be friends. Katie consoles Emily and the Fitches move back into their now empty house, the family beginning to re-unite.

Freddie and Effy live a hedonistic lifestyle in the Stonem house with Anthea gone. Freddie’s education suffers and when he tells Effy this, they argue and he leaves. Freddie returns to see Effy sticking newspaper cuttings about death onto the wall. Freddie becomes worried about Effy’s psychotic behaviour. He talks to his grandfather, Norman, and becomes determined not to make the mistakes with Effy that he perceived his father made with his deceased mother. Freddie takes Effy outside in an effort to cheer her up, but she becomes frightened. On their way home, Freddie mistakenly rides their rented rickshaw into a street festival where Effy panics. Katie finds her and they take her to Norman’s nursing home. He convinces Freddie that Effy needs clinical help. However, Katie then reveals that Effy has locked herself in the bathroom. Realising she is at risk of attempting suicide, Freddie breaks in to discover that Effy has slashed her wrists. When Freddie goes to see Effy in hospital, she tells him to go away. He burns the cuttings in the Stonem house, Cook suddenly appears,worried about Freddie. He puts aside his own feelings for Effy and convinces Freddie not to give up on her.

JJ is in love with Lara Lloyd, a fellow employee at a confectionery shop, but lacks the courage to ask her out. Thomas gets JJ to ask her out and she accepts. He visits Lara’s flat and discovers that she is a single mother with a young child. Lara’s ex-boyfriend, Liam, walks in and threatens JJ, telling him to leave Lara and his child alone. The date goes disastrously as a result, and Lara leaves. JJ finds her and they have sex at Lara’s. JJ returns home but his mother takes him to the clinic for more medication. JJ lets Lara meet Naomi and Emily. Upstairs, Emily tells JJ that Lara is using him to get back at her ex. JJ snaps at Emily and makes remarks on her own relationship, reducing her to tears. JJ’s family also think Lara is a slut and she leaves, offended. JJ becomes angry and beats up Liam when he sees him talking to Lara, who then calls off their relationship. JJ apologises to Liam who tells JJ he loves his child and for JJ to look after Lara. JJ serenades Lara with a ukelele version of 'True' by Spandau Ballet, and she takes him back.

Effy has been in a psychiatric hospital, but with the help of Anthea and her counsellor John Foster, she finds the will to get stronger and return home. Her life is now dictated by routine and self-control. Anthea has completely cleared out her room so that there’s no evidence of the old Effy remaining. She appears happy, clear and hopeful for the future. However, Anthea and Freddie become worried about her counsellor's methods when she begins to reject her identity, her friends and her bad memories. She relapses when she and Cook walk past the scene of Tony’s accident and returns to hospital. Effy is upset when Foster arrives and Freddie threatens him, telling him to stay away. Foster then invites Freddie to his home where he admits to using unusual methods in Effy's case and to having feelings for her. However, as Freddie is about to leave, he finds the door is locked. Foster then lifts a baseball bat and brutally beats Freddie to death.

Karen and Cook are worried about Freddie's whereabouts. Karen gives Cook Freddie's notebook, which hints that John Foster wants to hurt Effy. The police raid Naomi's house after Cook's one night stand tells them where he is. Cook escapes and flees to Freddie's shed where he meets Effy. The rest of the gang meet there and throw a birthday party for Freddie in his absence. Naomi admits her love for Emily, who in turn takes her back. Cook heads outside briefly where he spots a figure observing Freddie's house and follows it, assuming it to be John Foster. Thomas and Pandora also make up. Cook breaks in to John's basement where he finds Freddie's blood-stained clothes. Foster soon arrives with the baseball bat and knocks him to the ground, telling him that he is “nothing." Cook rises, laughing and admits he is a criminal and has no sense. He then tells John that he knows he killed Freddie. He suddenly attacks and swings at Foster screaming "I'm Cook!" as the episode ends, leaving the outcome unknown. (The seventh and final series of Skins revealed that Cook defeated and beat Foster to death).