Flow of Madness

There seems to be two powerful schools of thought in regards to Generation 3.

#1 – These are the people who loved Series 5.  They absolutely adored Series 5 and thinks that Series 6 is an absolute chaotic mess.

#2 – These are the people who love Series 6. They think it is filled with action and excitement. They absolutely dig it and thinks that Series 5 is absolutely boring and uneventful.

Now personally I think that both of these camps are missing the beauty that is being developed by the writers in regards to Generation 3. Out of every generation I feel like the story arc of Generation 3 has a beginning, story climax, and then the beginning of a conclusion. Only time will tell if we get a true conclusion. However the pattern makes total sense in my mind.

Series 5 is a series that was driven by the characters themselves. There was less drugs and less heightened experiences in this series. However I enjoyed that they acknowledged the lack of relationships the group had. In Generation 2 the group was not a cohesive unit yet the development of the friendships in my opinion felt rushed and random. This generation they allowed for the characters to go through their individual journeys and at the end of the series they found that all of their journeys lead to one another. Together they can fight the pressures of the external world, the opinions of the adults, and the judgments of society. This group of MisFits banded together to be friends with the knowledge that they were going to be themselves and that each of them would accept one another for who they are. It was a beautiful, light hearted, and fully character & relationship fueled series.

Part of the reason why many of those who loved Series 5 are so upset with Series 6 is based on two main line of arguments. The first being the timing and character choice of the notorious Skins death. Many people are fed up with Skins killing off characters and to be honest I would too. Only they used the notorious Skins death in such an unexpected and unique way. It happened early and in many ways Grace is the MAIN character of the series, because she is the catalyst for everything. She is the beginning of the end for Generation 3.

The second thing people point to are the huge character changes. People have been saying things like: Franky is crazy bitchy, Matty sounds so pathetic, Rich is not metal, Alo is so fucking immature, Mini is sex crazed now, and several other things. The thing is that people grow up and people make mistakes. I am willing to give room to my friends and to characters in general to make mistakes and to be human. I am also going to give the people I love and the fictional characters I love room to grow. Rich may not be dressing like a hardcore metal guy, but he is still the lovely cynical and snarky person he has always been. He’s just growing up. Alo is immature because he has always been that way except now he has been given something he wants a sexual relationship and a band at the worst time. Franky and Mini again has to do with age and also not seeing them through the summer we missed many things. I do not think any of the changes to the characters are so drastic they cannot be explained.

So with that it leads to my thoughts about Series 6 so far. Series 6 to me is a story about this group of newly formed friendships being tested by a tragedy. All of these characters dealt with some kind of identity issue in Series 5 that lead them to the tent at the end of the Series. Everyone was brought together by a happy stable couple and a love for fun. They spent the summer building on these newly formed friendships and getting closer. Only to find themselves in Morocco where Grace is hurt and eventually dies. Now the Series is about these characters re-defining themselves post-tragedy and trying to find their way back together as a group and growing up to face the next phase of their lives. So far the story has been treated beautifully with dark bold scenes with little droplets of hope in the mix. Only time will tell where exactly this series will take our favorite characters and I am willing to take that journey.

Out of all the generations the journey of the third generation seems the most cohesive. I know many people will be screaming in disagreement. The first generation was cohesive as well but it was more told in a linear line from start to finish. Whereas with Generation 3 we start off not knowing these characters as they slowly build clearer pictures of them and as friendships are formed then in the first Episode of Series 6 the Generations’s story climaxes with Grace’s death. Now we are watching the gradual end of the generation as they try to cope with the consequences of that climatic moment. It’s beautiful. It is absolutely beautiful story telling. I am a content Third Generation fan despite my heartbreak over my OTP of any fandom.

I think this story works. I think that Series 6 has been flawless so far. I’m content and I am ready for more. 

What do you think?