We move from from Autumn into Winter. If things started to fall apart for Effy (and Naomi! and Dominic), now they flake apart and come tumbling down.
Effy is leading Naomi into a penthouse flat that's all open spaces, brushed shell, ultra-modern, and ultra-expensive. She must have made a tidy profit on those trades. And, see? It was never really about the rent money. Naomi is bundled up in a heavy winter coat, sweatshirt, and a hat with a pompom and ear flaps that trail their own pompoms on strings. It's a very Canadian ski bunny look, but the message is clear: Naomi can't keep herself warm. Effy is surprising Naomi with the new apartment, and Naomi wonders if Patrick Bateman lives there. Ha! The reference is spot-on, but aren't they too young to have seen American Psycho? Naomi is confused by their need for a new flat, and Effy assures her that they'll pay both leases for a while … and doesn't say why. Okay, either Effy is on the run from someone, or she wants a little privacy for herself. Except that Jake has his own place, so they can always just go there. Effy is doing her usual mysterious act, and for once it's baffling even the viewers. Seriously, folks, let me know if you can explain the new flat besides "We need some way to show off that Effy's got money:" Let's chalk this up to one more baffling writing decision…
Effy was trying to be nice, she says, and she's given Naomi the big bedroom. And she's going out. Naomi sighs, and sits down on the couch: "Great." Effy, I'm pretty sure Naomi doesn't want new, shiny things, I think she just wants to spend time with you. You know, like friends do? She's obviously weak - she can't even walk, she's shuffling - and, with her girlfriend in another country, she's all alone. She did know some people in London, as we saw from the party in the flat, but by moving she's isolated from even them.
Effy is at work, and she gets a phone call from the FSA - the Financial Services Authority. Effy has to ask for the acronym to be spelled out, and that's a little alarming - working in financial services, everything she does is under their regulation. To draw a rough parallel, it's like a veterinarian asking who the RSPCA is; if you're in that field, you know. So, ether Effy's stalling for time, it's a poor bit of exposition - if it's exposition, just skip the acronym and give us the full name, that would actually be faster, or Effy is as clueless and ignorant as Mark has said she is. The FSA wants to set up a meeting to ask Effy a few questions, and Effy is rendered speechless.
Effy is walking on a bridge, towards Jake. In a moment, when the camera turns around, we'll be able to see that she's been crying. Effy tells Jake that the FSA has requested a meeting on the morrow. Why are these two meeting outside the office, when they work together? And why are they approaching from opposite directions? It may not be important, but i's odd. Effy wants reassurance that things aren't as bad as she thinks. It would probably be a cheap shot to point out the irony of Effy needing reassurance, so let's just say we hope she learns something from this. Jake tells her that everything is fine, unconvincingly, since it's not, and tells Effy to admit to nothing. And then it gets weird: he tells Effy that she needs to do exactly as he says, if she values him or their relationship. Pardon, what? Effy's in trouble with the authorities, and you're worried about yourself? First of all, the guilt trip about their relationship is not impressive. Second of all, if you're worried about yourself, it means that something bigger is going on. Oh, and also that you know you've done wrong, but we already knew that… Effy accepts what he says, and agrees to deny everything.
That night, in the flat. Effy returns home, and has to go looking for Naomi. She finds her in bed, curled up, miserable. Naomi has been throwing up all day, she says. Effy notices she had a fever, and wants to get her in the shower, whereupon Naomi throws up in Effy's lap. Ah, karma… Effy is momentarily upset, but, to give her credit, she doesn't let on. She eases Naomi back to the bed … and then calls Dominic. Naomi doesn't want to go to the hospital, but Dominic knows just what to do and takes charge of the situation. He reassures Naomi and then carries her to the shower, trading jokes with her: "Want me to get naked too, for solidarity?" Dominic's wit continues as he asks Emily if she's "got any drugs - legal ones". He sends her out for some.
Dominic is really good with Naomi and her cancer. He brought her flowers after her appointment and stayed and visited with her for a while; he takes care of her now, when she's so ill she can barely move, and he'll be with her in the hospital later on, too. Dominic is either trying to seem like the perfect friend - and thus, boyfriend or more - to Effy, or he's had experience with this before. It'd be easy to brush this off as Dom trying to get closer to Effy, but there seems to be some interesting backstory here. Really, it's a shame we got so much of Jake and so little of Dom. And so little of some other characters, but I digress.
That night, Naomi is asleep in Effy's bed. (We know it's Effy's bed from the charts and figures hanging on the wall.) Effy is with her, and Dominic is sitting beside them. Dominic offers to sleep on the sofa and then stay with Naomi tomorrow if Effy's working. Effy says she just has a meeting in the morning, and thanks him.
And, for some reason, Effy doesn't want to tell him about the FSA? Doesn't that seem like something Dominic would want to know about, and should? Effy is unwilling to extend that courtesy, it seems.
Naomi, it turns out, is not asleep. Eyes still closed, she tells Effy that she hopes she knows what she's doing with him. She turns to face Effy, and we get a little of the old Naomi grin. Effy tells Naomi to call Emily, but Naomi says it's not time yet.
Lily Loveless must hate the producers of Skins, and no, I don't mean for the obvious reasons. I saw an interview where she was talking about how they made her dye her hair for the role in S3/S4 and how they wanted it even shorter than it ended up. And now? We don't know that they wanted her to go bald (which might have been easier to accomplish, with a skin cap), but they've definitely done a job on her hair now. And she's still gorgeous…
The next day, Effy arrives at the FSA offices. She's swiped through the security gates by a guard, just as Mark approaches and swipes his own way out. He turns to look at her, but doesn't say anything. Effy is confused, as are we.
Now why would Mark have a pass for the FSA building? The clear implication is that he works for them - and that's either a conflict of interest with his job at the investment firm, or he's somehow working undercover there. And an incompetent employee wouldn't have much access to information, so you'd expect the undercover agent to be a little more skilled… anyway, it's decidedly odd. We having a whole different episode, or a plot arc through several, while Effy tries to figure this out. It's never even explained here.
Effy is brought to her meeting, where Victoria is waiting for her. Okay, does everyone from Effy's company also work for the FSA? Victoria's explanation is plausible for why she's at the FSA, but not for why she's interviewing Effy - again, there's a definite conflict of interest there. Either the FSA has no other employees - it can't take many people to monitor the trading activities in all of the UK, right? - or someone's made a bad call. Effy notes that Victoria's "gone all gamekeeper", which is an apt metaphor for someone who keeps an eye on the lions, and Victoria agrees, suggesting that they wanted her "experience with poachers. Like you." Oh, nice way to twist the metaphor. We go from poaching funds to poaching boyfriends. And I thought we only poached eggs… Effy is antagonistic from the beginning, which might be a sensible reaction to Victoria but is hardly a sensible reaction to someone who suspects you of criminal activity. But then again, Effy's never been one for the sensible course, has she? The best defense is a good offense, perhaps, but that would only work if Effy could prove - or imply that she could prove - criminal activity on Victoria's part, and that's not the path she's taking. This isn't a zero-sum game, with a prize up for grabs - though perhaps, in Effy's mind, it is, with Jake being the prize (gag) - this is very one-sided, and Effy doesn't get that. Victoria starts talking about what Effy's been doing to get ahead - which could nicely be construed as referring to Jake - but then accuses her of using inside information. Effy denies it, and then does throw Jake in Victoria's face. It's a little disturbing that Effy really does seem to think this is about Jake. It would be understandable for Effy to think Victoria is pursuing a vendetta, if Effy had truly done nothing wrong. But Effy knows she has - Dominic told her, several times, Jake told her, several times, and we've even seen that she had her own doubts. This is more of a willful disassociation from reality, and that brings back disturbing memories of Season 4, although there are no hallucinations yet. Victoria stays on topic, but it goes right over Effy's head as she leaves the interview. Victoria tells Effy that Jake is screwing her over, and encourages her to give him up -meaning, legally, of course, not emotionally, and that's perhaps a bad choice of words on Victoria's part - but Effy's having none of it. Effy is gone, and Victoria turns her attention to a file with Dominic's picture and information on an investigation into him. We also see that Dominic's last name is Winters.
As Effy's leaving the building, she retrieves a voicemail. Naomi is still sick, and Dominic's taking her into hospital. Effy sighs, and the expression on her face is more frustrated than worried. We'll be charitable and assume her frustration is with the FSA and the morning she's had, not with Naomi's illness.
Effy gets to the hospital, where Naomi's been admitted, and Dominic tells us the bad news: the treatment's nor working. "You're supposed to make me comfortable," Naomi says. Naomi's wearing a hospital gown, and we can see now that he pattern on the gown is tiny letters spelling out the words "Hospital Property". In case we needed it spelled out to us, that's what Naomi is now. It's snowing.
Effy and Dominic are sitting outside the hospital room. Effy admits to Dominic that she's met with the FSA and that they might be looking to Dominic. Dominic asks what's wrong with her. Effy continues to explain, and Dominic points out that Naomi has been left alone. He departs angrily. Effy goes back to the hospital room, to find Naomi gone. Effy searches the halls, calling out for her, and finally finds Naomi on the roof, smoking. It's ironic, the number of fan fics I've read, where Emily gets Naomi to give up smoking for fear of cancer…
Naomi is sad. She promised Emily that she would never hurt her again. She didn't mind her going to New York, because they knew they loved each other. She's upset now, because she knows that she has to hurt Emily. Effy tries to reassure her, and stop Naomi's defeatism. It's cold, she says, they should get inside. They end up with Naomi leaning on the railing, sobbing, and Effy trying to hug her.
When Naomi first told Effy about her cancer, and was leaning on the railing, sobbing, Effy could only hug herself and then go running to Jake. Effy has made some progress, finally, at this eleventh hour.
Note: Okay, Skins fans. If the last few paragraphs haven't reminded you of what happened and set you to sobbing, hang in here - we still have one last chapter to go. No one's happy about it, so let's talk about it.
