Effy Stonem (2024)

Elizabeth "Effy" Stonem is the main protagonist from the E4 TV series Skins. Appearing as a major character in the first two seasons and the main protagonist of series three, series four,andSkins: Fire.

She is the younger sister of Tony Stonem and appears as a charismatic and manipulative hedonist. She later ends up redeeming herself however and stops her ways eventually falling in love with Freddie McClaire, before eventually regressing into villainy once again thanks to her new lover and boss Jake Abbasi.

She was portrayed by Kaya Scodelario, who also portrayed Teresa Agnes in The Maze Runner trilogy.

History[]

Early life[]

Effy was born in 1992to Anthea and David Stonem and from a young age expressed a mind of exceptional cognitive abilities, with her being able to successfully beat her mother at hide and seek and remain hidden for four hours before eventually being found. She had a very close relationship with her equally intellectual and cunning older brother Tony and although the two didn't engage in many social activities together they truly loved each other and thought the world of one another. During her childhood she had the comfort object of a stuffed giraffe doll named Patto.

Season 1[]

Throughout the first season, Effy showcases her exceptional intelligence and charisma by leading the double life of masquerading as a quiet,shy and innocent school girl to fool her parents while simultaneously being a wild and seductive party animal constantly sneaking out of home every single night for the sake of her own enjoyment. She manages to succeed in this with the help of Tony who knows of her constant endeavors and even helps her with them by distracting their father every morning in order to allow Effy to sneak in undetected.

This guise ultimately winds up failing however after Effy falls victim to Josh Stock and suffers an overdose. To add insult to injury Josh forces Tony to rape Effy in a petty act of revenge against Tony for sabotaging his relationship with Michelle Richardson in exchange for him calling an ambulance. Unfortunately for Tony he and Effy's parents blame him for the overdose an accuse him of selling Effy the drugs in the first place only to be rebuffed by Sid. After waking up Effy is forced to tell her parents everything and the two lose their trust in Effy, to the point of even forcing her to attend Saturday School on top of having her constantly watched and under supervision.

While being watched by Tony in the car belonging to Sid's father Effy belittles him for his treatment of Michelle to the point of forcing him to call her and apologize, this decision however ultimately led to Tony being struck by a bus much to Effy's horror.

Season 2[]

Throughout the second season, Effy stood by Tony and supported him during his recovery from his accident although was put under severe mental strain from the frequent outbursts and frustration from Tony over his current situation yet nonetheless nurtured and helped him recover to much greater benefits to any of Tony's friends.

During this time she also met Pandora Moon an eccentric and friendly girl of whom Effy takes a fondness of after being forced to introduce her and help her around on her first few weeks of school, while also having to finish her art coursework at the same time. As a way to remedy this she strikes a deal with Sid Jenkins in order for him to amend his relationship with Cassie Ainsworth in exchange for him to do her coursework for her. Ultimately however Effy decides to use Sid's piece for Pandora's coursework and instead chooses to have herself kicked off the course but also having a closer relationship with her teacher as a result out of mutual respect.

In the final moments of series two Effy is seen sleeping in the bed once belonging to Tony and stares towards the camera with a seductive smirk.

Season 3[]

Effy and Pandora both decide to enroll in Roundview college and at the year's start things are going rather well for Effy and she even gains the admiration from three fellow students; best friends Freddie McLaire, James Cook and JJ Jones. While being genuinely attracted to Freddie Effy chooses to ignore her feelings for him and instead looks to Cook as a source for sexual endeavors and enjoyment, while this keeps Effy content for a while her life quickly begins suffering from a multitude of problems. Effy's mother began cheating on her father with the latter's boss and consequently, David left her and abandoned Effy much to her heartbreak while being in this state Effy only had one source of comfort within Pandora who tried to nurture and humor her through her pain. Effy's agony however ultimately winds up pushing her further away from Pandora.

Over the course of the following months, Effy pursues hedonism and simple pleasures, inadvertentlyso causing great pain to Freddie consequently through emotional manipulation. Upon finally accepting her love for him however, Freddie moves onto to falling in love with Katie Fitch. This makes Effy feel immensely uncomfortable when the entire gang decide to go on a camping trip, in which Effy decides to eat hallucinogenic mushrooms, over the course of the night Effy finds the truth behind Pandora and Cook's affairs and engages in a fight with Katie who decides to take advantage of Effy's current state of agony, climaxing with Effy hitting her over the head with a rock leaving her unconscious laying in the woods. When this action is discovered nearly everyone turns away from Effy and she is left with nobody but Cook as a friend and the two cause chaos and mayhem throughout Bristol, however after she meets Cook's father, she is disgusted by the man and breaks down with all of her repressed emotions returning to haunt her. In response, Effy calls Freddie and confesses both her love for him and tells him of Cook's father's true intentions.

The following day JJ ends up confronting her for ruining the friendship between Cook and Freddie and ultimately winds up getting her to settle it and reconcile with all three of them.

Season 4[]

In season 4, she ends up reconciling with most of the group and grows closer to them particularly Cook, and the strained couple of Naomi Campbell and Emily Fitch. By this time she also began dating Freddie again seemingly having her life turning for the better.

However after all of her past endeavors she had became with guilt and rapidly begins losing her sanity and becomes much more vulnerable as a result. This soon climaxes as she attempts suicide by slitting her wrists leaving her to be hospitalized and under suicide watch. She was put in the care of the therapist Dr. John T. Foster who unbeknownst to her was madly smitten with her and wanted to have her for himself. Consequently he used his position of power to his advantage, manipulating and falsely treating her with improper medication which led her down an even darker path, making her become completely dependant on him and distant from everyone around her, this culminated in her having a flashback on a night out with Cook when she remembered Tony's accident and had a psychotic breakdown, in spite of his attempts at help and to make her remember Effy insisted that she had no idea who he was and grew more and more hysterical before eventually throwing herself in the middle of the road demanding to feel something again, thankfully however Cook tackled her out of the way before she could be hit by anything. She was then admitted back into the psychiatric hospital and put under the care for Foster again, this is when Freddie met the man and was horrified at how much Effy had worsened under his care. Foster invited Freddie to his home for a chat behind Effy's back and murdered him for the simple fact that Effy loved him before faking a letter saying he'd ran away. A heartbroken Effy found this difficult to accept and tried to enjoy a party in Freddie's owner organised by Cook and JJ. Cook on that night went to confront Foster and managed to kill him, Effy heard of Freddie's death a good period of time after it had actually occurred and of the man Foster truly was leaving her in an empty and miserable state for years to come.

Skins: Fire[]

Three years following Freddie's death leaves Effy living in a London flat with Naomi who by this time had become a shell of her former self and began acting wild and partying while Effy was trying to keep their home stable and running. To support herself and Naomi she begins work in an office job with her boss Jake Abbasi convincing her to help him in his fraud work as well as a few other crimes. After this Naomi is diagnosed with cancer and forces Effy to promise not to tell Emily as Naomi didn't want to upset her, although under further stress and pain Effy complies and supports Naomi through her treatment. Abbasi later throws Effy under the bus and frames her for all of the fraud and embezzlement crimes just as Naomi's cancer becomes terminal. Knowing she will likely be sent to prison Effy on the brink of Naomi's death calls Emily down to London and the latter is furious at them for keeping such as serious matter a secret but ultimately forgives Effy and goes to Naomi in her final moments. Effy is indeed arrested after being betrayed by Abbasi however she also told the authorities about his endeavors as well meaning he most likely meets the same fate. It is unknown what happens to Effy after her imprisonment or if she is released from prison after the series ends, however it is likely her sentence will be lessened due to many factors such as her own mental health and ability to manipulate.

Personality[]

Effy was characterized primarily by her vast and incredible intelligence which rivaled even that of her brother, although unlike him Effy was a more caring individual who cared for many more people; the most notable of her close relationships was with that of her best friend Pandora who in spite of being greatly different in terms of personality and actions clicked very well together and the two were able to bond with one another rather quickly in spite of Effy occasionally growing annoyed with her naivety and behavior. While initially being rather immature and fun loving Effy grew more responsible in adulthood although this was complimented by severe stress and annoyance.

Behind this exterior, however, Effy harbored a much darker element to her personality with severe repressed guilt, trauma, heartbreak and agony escaping and developing Effy's ultimate mental destruction, something which remained a constant invisibility throughout her life.

Appearance[]

Effy is a beautiful young woman with pale skin, striking blue eyes, thick long auburn hair and thin physique. She often had a seductive and charismatic smirk on her face usually exhibited on most pieces of promotional material for the show as well in his several scenes. Her clothing usually consisted of dark colours and was often flashy, revealing and flamboyant with items such as flowy dresses, fishnets, tight boots and dark jackets being the most prominent pieces in her wardrobe.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

• Effy is Kaya Scodelario's most well known and most well-praised performance in her career as well as her breakout role.
• Effy is the most frequently appearing character on the show, appearing in 5 out of 7 seasons, however David Blood still remains the big bad due to the fact that he was an antagonist in all of his appearances and posed as a major threat to the protagonists and only redeeming himself in his final appearance, and also the fact that Blood wasn't one of the series protagonists while Effy was.
• Effy is one of the most iconic characters from E4 television.

Navigation[]

Villains

Protagonists Effy Stonem |James Cook |Naomi Campbell |Katie Fitch |Franky Fitzgerald |Mini McGuinness Big Bads Tony Stonem |Lucy Sketch |Abigail Stock |James Cook. Sr |Dr. John T. Foster |David Blood |Luke |Jake Abbasi |Jakob |Louie Supporting Villains Mad Twatter |Josh Stock |Mark Jenkins |Johnny White |Jenna Fitch |Sophia Morton |Rob