Flow of Madness

This is my review of Alo’s episode. This is all me. That crazy Awkward Alex kid has been put in a closet for now in order to prevent accidental self-harm. Just kidding. Though this is me though. 

Hope you enjoy! 

Arbitrary Rating: 7/10

Alo’s episode is all about the question of whether you should grow up or not. It starts with an epic party scene. This is by far one of my favorite Skins party scenes ever. The theme of “Neverland” is absolutely delicious. We have the gang for the most part dressed as Lost Boys. Then of course we have Pirate Rich. Peter Pan Alo. Wendy Mini. Then you have this new mysterious character Poppy who is Tinkerbell. The story is pretty much set up before the episode really began. Alo was going to deal with issues of growing up or running away. Mini who needs to grow up just like Wendy will give Peter Pan a choice. Tinkerbell will try to lure Peter Pan and trick him into things. It is a brilliant theme choice and perfect for this episode. 

I thought that Poppy was a great character and personally I enjoyed this one episode story line. I think that it goes without saying really that this episode was an injection of humor. It was also an episode that attempt to develop Mini and Alo’s relationship a little more. However if we took this episode away from the series…not many vital details would be missed. It was an episode that introduced a story line and also concluded it with the main overarching story line being Mini/Alo. 

Poppy was absolutely gorgeous and everything Alo needed her to be. She was chasing him and showed open affection for Alo. Something that is hard to get when you date Mini McGuinness. The story line of Alo having sex with a young girl of 13 was done humorously. I will not lie I laughed hysterically through most of it. Even if I felt bad for Alo I still could not suppress my giggles. Because it is such an Alo problem to have to be honest. This would ONLY happen to him. 

One of the best things in this episode was the Rich and Alo interaction. Rich finally got some much needed screen time. Though his inner emotions and his psyche is still a mystery to the audience there is one thing for sure. He is trying to be mature, he is trying to face his problems, and he is still madly in love. I also love Alex in the way he acts in subtle ways. I am not sure if this is intentional or not, but Rich no matter what scene he is in…his eyes seem glossy and lost. Even if he smiles and laughs. His eyes still hold a hint of sadness in every scene. I love how much Rich steps up in this episode for Alo. He bails Alo out of jail, he gives Alo the best advice “you can’t run from this,” and he consistently shows that he wants what is best for Alo. He really has Alo’s best interests at heart. 

I also love Franky in this episode as well. Telling Mini that she needs to tell Alo about the baby and trying to get Alo to give Mini a chance. It feels like Franky is the Mom and Rich is the Dad. Dad is trying to keep his son out of trouble and trying to teach him to be a man. Mom is trying to make her daughter see reason and that even if she is scared the truth needs to come out whether she is ready for it or not. Both Mini and Alo have some growing up to do. 

Let’s talk about Alo’s maturity and how he matures in this episode. I feel like Alo needs an honest talking to about how he thinks about himself and others. Alo is one of the biggest hearted characters ever. However he does have an issue with not dealing with the emotional and seeing that other people may need things from him. Like for instance Rich bailed him out of jail that is a huge favor Rich did without Alo even asking him. However he never said “Thank you” and instead sat in the bar complaining about his situation. With Rich telling him that it will be okay with Alo saying “no it won’t.” Rich lost Grace. Now I know Rich knows Alo and may not get angry, but if I was Rich I would be like “Come on, Alo. Perspective.” I am not saying this out of bashing Alo, because I adore Alo. This is me talking to a friend who can do so much better than that. This is where he did grow though. He took Rich’s and Dewey’s advice and he fought to fix his problems instead of running away. He also went after what he wanted by going to Mini’s house to tell her how he felt one more time. However the episode ends with the feeling that Alo may have grown up a bit, but he may not be where he needs to be to handle the news that Mini has for him. 

The last scene in particular points out many things. Mini went to see Alo in the hopes of telling him her secret. She begins with asking Alo if he would be there to help her through a big problem. He responds by asking what is wrong instead of insuring her that he would. Then he answers his phone. Alo may not have thought anything of the action; however, to Mini who is scared sees Alo’s choice to answer his phone as a sign. A sign that he is not mature enough to handle the news and in the end she will be disappointed. So she walks away and Alo doesn’t chase her.

I absolutely adored this episode. It was honestly what I needed which was some Rich and a laugh. It was also a sweet story about what it means to grow up and taking responsibility for your actions.