It really depends on what you're looking for. Skins (UK, btw -- I haven't seen the US version) is tough. It's about teenagers who drink, swear, do drugs, and have lots of sex, and it's incredibly different from US teen dramas in tone and theme, and also that the actors are actually playing their age. So it can be really discomfiting for a lot of viewers. Another level of discomfort is the fact that the characters tend to be DEEPLY flawed, like, incredible assholes a lot of the time, and really bizarre & fucked up plots are common.
That said, when it's good it's wonderful at capturing the intensity of growing up, it has really diverse casts, it has an AMAZING soundtrack (NB: the US DVDs replace a lot of the music, so avoid), it's often gorgeous visually, and it's like nothing else on TV.
Every two seasons the cast is replaced, so you can actually start in any odd-numbered season. A lot of people love the first generation the best, and storytelling-wise I found it the most compelling, but I didn't like most of the characters and rarely want to revisit it. I liked the second generation cast more (and it has a canon f/f otp!!) but the storytelling is AWFUL, particularly in s4, for which I can direct you to a superedit of only the abovementioned otp & highlights. And we're now halfway into series 5, the first of generation three, and I LOVE IT. I love the season, I love the entire cast, everyone is adorable, and it's downright un-Skinslike in its loveliness. SOOO... IDK. YMMV.
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That said, when it's good it's wonderful at capturing the intensity of growing up, it has really diverse casts, it has an AMAZING soundtrack (NB: the US DVDs replace a lot of the music, so avoid), it's often gorgeous visually, and it's like nothing else on TV.
Every two seasons the cast is replaced, so you can actually start in any odd-numbered season. A lot of people love the first generation the best, and storytelling-wise I found it the most compelling, but I didn't like most of the characters and rarely want to revisit it. I liked the second generation cast more (and it has a canon f/f otp!!) but the storytelling is AWFUL, particularly in s4, for which I can direct you to a superedit of only the abovementioned otp & highlights. And we're now halfway into series 5, the first of generation three, and I LOVE IT. I love the season, I love the entire cast, everyone is adorable, and it's downright un-Skinslike in its loveliness. SOOO... IDK. YMMV.