Franky Fitzgerald
Franky Fitzgerald | |
---|---|
6 | |
Centric episode(s) | "Franky" (episode 5.01) "Franky" (episode 6.04) "Mini and Franky" (episode 6.09) |
In-universe information | |
Nickname | Franky |
Occupation | Student |
Family | Geoff and Jeff Fitzgerald (adoptive fathers) Maria Townsend (biological mother) Clara (sister) |
Francesca "Franky" Fitzgerald is a
Characterisation
Before the start of the series, Franky had been living in Oxford with her new adoptive fathers, where she was regularly bullied by gang of local girls, led by a girl named Riga. In one particularly nasty incident, Riga's gang had stripped her down to her underwear, thrown eggs and flour at her, snapped pictures of her in this condition, and posted them on the Internet, leaving her tied up in a bathroom. They then vandalised her home and her father's car. In retaliation, her only friend, Dean, ambushed Riga outside her home and threatened to burn her alive unless she stayed away from Franky. As a result, Dean was arrested and Franky's fathers decided to move somewhere else and get a new start.[2]
Franky is a complicated character, having been described in series 5 as an "androgynous and super-intelligent" girl who acts "strange".[3] She dresses in gender neutral clothing, wears her hair close-cropped and, although quite aloof, tends to be quite timid and low key. In series 6, she loses her androgynous and passive nature in favour of a more feminine, headstrong and blunt personality. Nevertheless, a defining feature of her character is her troubled past, something that plagues her throughout the series and occasionally causes concern from her friends. Very little of Franky's past is explained until towards the end of the series. It is known that her mother, Maria, had put her up for adoption when she was six years old, after a comment she made suggested that she was mentally ill (although it is later suggested that her mother was mentally ill herself). Although Franky's mental state has caused concern for her friends, particularly Liv, it is never addressed in detail.
Series 5
In "
In "Rich", Franky is approached by Rich Hardbeck to help him understand girls. She is unable to help, as she claims she does not know much about girls, but does recommend Rich talks to Grace instead.
In "Mini", Franky is recruited by Grace to help with Mini's fashion show. But Mini rejects her and decides to overhaul the show herself. However, when Mini suffers a meltdown, Franky's ideas are used instead, to a standing ovation. Franky approaches Mini outside the rave she is at later on, and explains the real reason she is friends with Liv and Grace. Empowered by this, Mini returns to the rave with Franky. In the crowd, Franky sees Matty again.
In "Liv", Franky, is the first of the gang to agree to be Mini's friend after she implores them to forgive her, and spends most of the episode smoking weed. Eventually, she passes out from it, and wakes up when Liv has kicked them out. Liv asks her to leave as well, but before leaving, she shows Liv a video of when she and Mini were children, to show her the fun times she used to have with Mini. This moves her to tears.
In "Nick", she is reunited with Matty for the first time since their earlier encounter. When it is suggested that she become Alo's girlfriend, and Matty agrees, she shoots him an angry look. She comes across Nick after he has a fight with his father, and informs him that he is not "a complete dick." This encounter inspires him to quit his rugby team and confront his father.
In "Alo", Franky is approached by Mini on a couch at Alo's party. Mini suggests that Franky is in love with Matty, though Franky vehemently denies it, and encourages her to pursue him ("Liv'd do it to you in a heartbeat"). Franky coldly leaves, and gets into a fight with a stranger at the party. While Nick, because of his previous encounter with Franky, angrily stands up for her and confronts the stranger, Liv goes outside and consoles her. For the first time in the series, Franky's sexuality is brought up, though Franky refuses to talk about it, leading Liv to believe Franky is unsure. Later, at Nick's and Matty's party, she wanders upstairs, to discover Liv and Matty having sex in his bedroom, and leaves in a flood of tears. Matty sees this, but doesn't tell Liv.
In "Grace", Franky is playing the part of Viola/Cesario in Grace's production of Twelfth Night. While rehearsing a particularly emotional scene with Matty, Liv sees the tension between them and puts two and two together, and promptly forces him to quit, partly out of fear of losing Matty, and partly out of concern that he might hurt Franky emotionally. When Grace tries to get Liv back by inviting her to a girls' night, they bring up Franky's sexuality again. This time, however, Franky gives an answer, that she is “into people”. Still suspicious, Liv asks her who she is in love with, causing her to falter. This tension gets worse when Matty, seeing that an unattractive man Franky was flirting with is being too forward, approaches and scares him off, right in front of Liv. The next day, Grace persuades Mini (who is standing in for Liv) and Franky to kiss as part of the play, shocking Alo and Rich. The already tense atmosphere between Liv, Franky and Matty is made worse when Liv, while kissing Franky in their scene, sees Matty with a shocked look on his face. In their ensuing confrontation, Liv asks Matty if he loves Franky, and he fails to give an answer. Angry, she makes it clear to him that he must choose between her or Franky, and Franky, witnessing the confrontation, is left in tears.
In "
Series 6
While on holiday in Morocco with the group, Franky and Matty's relationship faces problems. After an argument she parties with a drug dealer named Luke. She meets up with him at a beach party and she goes for a drive with him. Luke's friend tells Matty that he has to smuggle drugs if he wants to see Franky again. Matty decides to chase after Luke's car with Grace and Liv as passengers, but he crashes. Grace is killed and Matty goes on the run. She later tells him to never return.
Franky is still struggling to deal with Grace's death and has visions of her. Her adoptive fathers try to help her but she rebels. She skips her first exam to see Luke, he takes her to see a fight where she joins in to rid of her anger. They start to have rough sex which she enjoys. She then cheats in an exam and is suspended. She then visits Luke for more aggressive sex. During an argument with Jeff, he falls down the stairs and fractures his skull. Nick later admits that he is in love with Franky and tries to get her to stop her downward spiral. She then visits a counselor and reveals that she feels responsible for Grace's death. She goes to see Luke again, who slaps her to turn her on. Later at the pool hall a fight breaks out. Nick arrives thinking he is helping. Luke then beats up Nick, which she initially gets off on, but when it turns more violent she gets Luke to stop. After more sex with Luke that turns into rape, Franky realises that he is a bad influence and leaves him. She then sorts out her problems with Jeff.
Franky goes to see Nick, they hug which confuses Nick. Frankie discovers that Mini is pregnant and attempts to get her to tell Alo the truth. Franky and Nick spend an evening together, but when they give each other a meaningful look, she orders him to leave. Franky is not happy when she arrives at Nick's house to find him with a one night stand named Carly. Nick tells Franky that Matty wants to return to England and he needs to raise the cash to smuggle him in undetected. After an argument with Nick, he tells Franky the true extent of his feelings, but she cannot handle the situation. Franky goes to see Nick and they have sex. Franky answers a call for help from Matty, but hangs up. Franky convinces Mini to run away because she does not want the baby to be adopted. Mini realises she has to return home, with a desperate Franky clinging to her. Franky goes to Birmingham and finds her older sister, Clara, who tells her that their mother is dead. Franky returns to Bristol and, after Liv confronts her over the state she is in and her melodramatic behaviour, Mini tells her that she will have to face Nick and Matty. So Franky admits that she loves both of them, and that she can't have a relationship with them. Clara reveals that Franky's mother is still alive, and the two are reunited.
Reception
Lucy Doyle of TV Listings website On the Box compared her initial role in the series to that of Lindsay Lohan's character, Cady, in Mean Girls.[4]
References
- ^ "Skins". Channel 4.
- ^ Brittain, Jess (2011). Skins: v. 2: Summer Holiday. Hodder & Stoughton.
- ^ "Skins series 5: the new cast revealed". The Guardian. London, England. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ^ Doyle, Lucy (27 January 2011). "Skins Review: On Yer (Mobility) Bike". On the Box. Retrieved 31 August 2011.