TV: SKINS SERIES 4.6 JJ

Oh yes, thankfully a lighter episode in which, like his episode in Series 3, he has sex. But this time a lot of it.

When he's not in his room playing with his ukele (not a euphemism) or adding Captain's Log entries to his audio diary, he's working part-time, along with Thomas, in a warehouse-style supermarket where do just about everything -work on the tills (where he flirts with elderly ladies), stack the shelves, clean the toilets, and, in JJ's case, fixate on Lara an attractive girl who also works there. This is a source of amusement to Thomas who gently teases him about it. In order to get JJ to finally act he threatens to ask her out himself and hares off to do so. JJ grabs hold of a microphone and asks her out over the tannoy. Her reply, "Yes. Sure."

Back home with Celia his fussy protective kindly mother (who cheerfully sings along with him the rude lyrics to songs as she drives him home from work -I wanna fuck your pussy/Fuck your pussy, etc) and his uncommunicative father whose face, hidden behind a newspaper, we don't actually see until over halfway through, Freddie arrrives with a large bundle that contains Cook who intends to hide in JJ's bedroom. Cook also gives him advice on women which of course causes disaster for JJ.

He arrives two hours early but Lara lets him in anyway and introduces him to Albert -her nine month old baby- and leaves them together while she gets ready. JJ entertains the bairn with magic tricks, attempts to change his nappy, and gets wee in his mouth. At this point he's interrupted by the babysitter, Gary who happens to be Albert's father and an unpleasant chav. They finally get to the pub where JJ attempts to be sophisticated and follow Cook's rules. This results in him spraying Lara's drink all over her and trying to escape through the toilet window -the ladies' toilet window. Before all this, he sees and talks brief to an uncomfortable Emily who has arrived with a young Asian woman who clearly has desings on Em.

JJ finds Lara sitting on a bench not far away from the pub and she tells him she just wants him to be himself -the  person who flirts with old ladies and makes them smile. She kisses him. He kisses her back. Then they are suddenly in her house ripping each others clothes off and there's no sign of Gary. Wonder where he went to?

He gets home two days later to find an extremely uncomfortable and annoyed Cook whose prescence is still unknown to JJ's parents.

JJ and his mother go to see the psychiatrist, the same bland old fart with simplistic platititudes we met in the previous series. JJ loses his temper and stalks out to kick things. Unfortunately his exit from the centre is gleefully seen by Gary who informs JJ he'll waste no time in telling Lara. Surprisingly though, he hasn't by the time JJ takes Lara and Albert to meet Emily and Naomi whom he describes as being fun. If you've been watching the series or reading these posts you'll know that fun is not the word to describe them these days as they are a good advertisement for the joys of being single. Naomi absent-mindedly starts to light a spliff in the prescence of Albert the baby until Lara sharply asks her not to.  JJ mentions meeting Emily and... He can't even get the words out before Emily interrupts and gets him into another room on a pretext so flimsy not even Albert would believe it. Emily doesn't want Naomi to know about the girl even though she isn't interested in her and she starts moaning about the horrors of being in a relationship and accuses Lara of using JJ. JJ points out that relationships aren't the problem it's what you do with them and leaves Emily crying.

Now, do we think that a visit to JJ's parents will be any more successful? No, neither did I, especially as, once again, Lara brings Albert and Celia accidentally calls her a slut. Lara goes to the toilet where she can't get in, JJ and his mother arrives, lots of shouting, Lara leaves, and JJ tells Cook to come out. Celia tells Cook to leave before she remembers he's been there and tells the authorities.

Back at work, Gary is around and taunts JJ who, despite being restrained by Thomas, loses his temper and nuts him in full view of Lara who is upstairs in the office and dumps him over the tannoy.

At home JJ is in his room when his father arrives. He tells JJ that while he indulges Celia's overprotectiveness and her and JJ's visits to the psychiatrist, he remembers picking JJ up from infant school and while the other kids would be running around shouting and fighting, there would be JJ making an imitation telescope out of toilet rolls and he knew then that JJ would be okay. In other words, he accepts JJ totally for what he is, quirks and all, and he sees nothing wrong with it, he has faith in his son.

JJ searches out Gary to apologise, to even let Gary hit him if that's what it takes and there we learn that Gary isn't the moron we assumed. He loves Albert and desperately wants to be part of his life and he understands that Lara doesn't love him as he loves her. He's frightened that another man would replace him as Albert's father but nevertheless gives a tacit approval to JJ being with her.

That evening, along with a ukelele orchestra (of which we have to assume he's a member and not hired for the occasion), he throws a boot at Lara's bedroom window. When she opens it, he sings Spandau Ballet's True accompanied by said ukele orchestra. At the end, Lara slams the window shut only to reappear at the front door moments later. She embraces JJ and it ends with them on bed together, facing each other with legs around their backs, as the theme from Star Trek swells up and the background becomes a starscape.

While it's open as to whether JJ can really mature in the accepted sense, it is clear that he can cope as he is because is a decent human being, albeit one prone to self and outwardly-directed rages when frustrated. but these rages have an external cause and aren't innate. JJ can manage and his caring nature is found attractive by those, like Lara, with eyes to see it.

Next week it's Effy. Oh god.