Stanley needs some new friends.

His best friend, Tony, (if you can even call him that), is the ultimate manipulator. While he manages to skate out of every situation, he uses his “friends” for his own means. Even his own girlfriend is simply a pawn in his everyday life. The only person Tony seems to care about is Tea, but it’s more because he can’t have her, not because he truly wants to be with her.

On the latest episode of Skins, it was hard to watch Stanley jump at Tony’s every order. Did he do it because he wanted to fit in and be accepted, or because he thought that Tony would respect him as a loyal friend?

Either way, Stanley finally got the newsflash that Tony is a selfish person. Walking past Tony after his court hearing was a bravo moment for Stanley. Way to stand up for yourself, buddy.

Hopefully, Stanley can do the same to Michelle because she’s not really a friend to him, either. Her focus is all about Tony, even with his blatant disregard for her feelings. The fact that she knows that Stanley likes her and uses it for her own comfort, while throwing it in his face, shows an extreme lack of maturity. She needs to grow up, find a new boyfriend and stop stringing Stanley along.

I’m guessing none of those things will happen.

As for the adults in this show, it’s hard to see any that are capable of focusing on their children and helping them out. Maybe that’s the point. There are parents out there who are oblivious to their children’s actions or even lack the ability to attend to the needs of the kid.

As much as I recognize the need for a teenager to learn and grow from his or her own experiences, it would be nice to see an adult who isn’t completely stupid. Even the teacher who thinks he’s “cool” comes across as a joke.

Stanley’s mother might have come close to what could be considered a caring parent. She loves her son and wants him to succeed, but it’s hard to see why she would leave without saying anything. Sure, her husband made a stupid move by sending Stanley to court, but refusing to talk about it? Sometimes I think the parents on this show have a lot more to learn than the teenagers.

The simple scene of watching Stanley clean his room was enough for me to see that he wants to be different. Stanley doesn’t want to sit back and let things happen around him. Whether or not he reverts back to his slacker self in the following episodes will determine if the change was real or not.

This was a far better episode than last week. I even managed to like Cadie’s character, as she illustrated a person to whom Stanley could connect. She, too, is trying to find her place without manipulating everyone around her. Maybe those two will find a stronger bond with each other now.

There’s a lot more room for Stanley to grow, but like Chris, it was great to see him begin to develop as a person. He’s certainly more than a Michael Cera look alike.

Like I’ve said before, this show needs a lot of work, but there is definitely potential. The characters need to convince viewers that there is a reason to care. Maybe the series is missing a spark from its actors or maybe it needs to stray away from its UK counterpart. Something needs to change for this drama to survive. If the episodes continue to hits and and then miss, Skins will never find an audience.

Sean McKenna was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. He retired in May of 2017. Follow him on Twitter.