UK TV review: In My Skin Season 2
Helen Archer | On 12, Dec 2021
The balance between comedy and drama can be a tricky one to navigate. The first season of In My Skin, which introduced us to 16-year-old Bethan (Gabrielle Creevy), managed the line expertly, from the humour of school to the tragedy of home – indeed, much of the first season was about that very contrast, and the public face we put on to hide what’s going on behind closed doors. It was the definition of “bittersweet”.
Bethan, along with her friends and her family, were wonderfully drawn by writer Kayleigh Llewellyn, and combined with excellent performances across the board, resulted in the series winning numerous, well-deserved Welsh BAFTA awards.
Coping with a mother who is bipolar and a father who is an abusive alcoholic, the laughs were to be found among the absurdities of student life, as Bethan came to terms with her burgeoning sexuality against a backdrop of recognisably offbeat teachers and fellow pupils, and the simple though dubious teenage pleasures of getting smashed on alcopops and snogging on the playing fields.
The second season catches up with these complex characters towards the last days of high school, and finds Bethan already mentally checked-out as exams approach. With a new love interest, Cam (Rebekah Murrell), she’s looking forward to what should be a heady summer. But she’s still living a lie – and lying, most of all, to herself. Over the course of the six episodes, we see her gradually mature, and yet that maturity coincides with an inability to hold on to the two separate aspects of her life. Home merges with school until the truth of her existence becomes impossible to conceal – and to ignore.
At the beginning of the season, Bethan’s mum, played by Jo Hartley, seems to not only have levelled out, but is, finally, happy. Working at the same bingo hall as her mother-in-law – a warm and understated Di Botcher – she has some semblance of independence and is making new friends. But such is the nature of her illness that the viewer, like Bethan, can never truly relax, for fear a relapse is imminent. While Rhodri Meilir, as Bethan’s dad, has a much less sympathetic character to play, his terrifying mood swings and sudden lurches into violence have a similarly unbalancing effect.
Other characters are somewhat sidelined in favour of the ongoing family drama. Laura Checkley as Mrs Blocker, Bethan’s PE teacher, so impressive as a comedy character in the first season, has a lot less to do here, and Bethan’s best friends Lydia (Poppy Lee Friar) and Travis (James Wilbraham) seem to disappear for much of the time, although the latter, particularly, comes into his own as a character towards the end of the season.
It’s a much darker run than the first, upping the ante with some shocking violence and a very real depiction of depression. By the third episode, most hints at comedy are unavoidably left to the wayside. And yet, with the kind of performances and themes evidenced here, it’s difficult to be churlish about that. Creevy is spectacular, but the supporting cast are no less impressive.
While Bethan’s life is a very specific scenario – albeit one that many viewers will sadly relate to – it also holds many universal truths. The programme captures the boredom and the resentment of being trapped in a house you have no escape from, and the powerlessness of being a teenager, but it also manifests the excitement of small moments, and the transformations that occur at the cusp of adulthood.
The series could be described as a succession of long, tender goodbyes, to people, places, and most of all, to the complexities and heartaches of adolescence. There is no word yet on whether there will be another season. While it would be wonderful to see these characters again, it seems somewhat superfluous. As it stands, this is one of the most special televisual calling cards in recent memory.
In My Skin is available on BBC iPlayer until October 2022