Elizabeth "Effy" Stonem is a fictional character in the television series Skins, played by Kaya Scodelario. She appears in all of the first four series, as well as the seventh series, and appears in the most episodes (27). Kaya Scodelario was included in Entertainment Weeklys 2009 "Summer Must List", being named "Bad Girl" for her portrayal of Effy. She was included in AfterEllen.com's Top 50 Favorite Female TV Characters. Character history
Effy was born on June 20, 1992, to parents Anthea (Morwenna Banks) and Jim Stonem (Harry Enfield).
Series 1 In "Tony", Effy is seen walking home at the beginning of the episode, apparently from partying the night before. Her brother Tony distracts their father so that she can sneak back into the house.
In "Effy", she sneaks out of the house after pretending she is going to bed. She meets up with her friend Julie and a boy named Spencer (Tom Payne), who she shares an ecstasy tablet with. The group is caught by the police and arrested, but when Tony comes to bail Effy out of jail, he is told that someone pretending to be her brother already did so. Eventually, Spencer leads Effy to a party, where Josh Stock injects her with stolen clean pharmaceuticals. When Effy overdoses, Josh tells Tony that he will only let him take her to the hospital if Tony has sex with his unconscious sister, which Josh demands in revenge for Tony scheming against his relationship with Michelle. After Tony begs for forgiveness, Josh lets them go, and Tony rushes to the hospital with Effy and Sid Jenkins, where they are told Effy will be fine.
In the series finale, it is revealed that Effy's parents have moved her to the local private school after the overdose. She derides Tony verbally for his treatment of his ex-girlfriend Michelle Richardson, who had talked to Effy previously in an attempt to understand Tony. She witnesses Tony get hit by a bus, screams in horror, and begins crying silently.
Series 2 In the sixth episode "Tony", she comforts Tony from his nightmares by reading him Greek mythology.
In her central episode "Effy", Effy and Tony's father Jim is on a business trip in France while their mother Anthea stays at home each day, depressed and taking Tony's medication. Effy takes care of the family. At school, Effy's art teacher tasks her with helping the new girl Pandora, and explains that she must do well on her GCSE Art coursework or else she will be expelled. She eventually befriends Pandora, and rejects the advances of a boy named Jake. Effy and Sid agree that in exchange for him doing her GCSE Art coursework, she will help Sid mend his relationship with Cassie Ainsworth, as well as that of Tony and Michelle.
Effy and Pandora pick up weed from Cassie and takes them to a club, where she sells the drugs and, supposedly, Michelle's watch, which angers Tony. Effy reveals she did not sell it, but instead had it repaired and sent back to Michelle with the word "forever" engraved in it, which prompts Michelle to speak to Tony again. Effy sends Jake to Cassie, and takes pictures of them being intimate. She drops the pictures for Sid, prompting him to finally confront Cassie, and the two make up. Effy takes pity on Pandora and gives her the pictures Sid painted. At the end of the episode, Jim arrives home to a clean house, with Anthea in a relaxed state, presumably due to Effy.
Series 3
In the first episode of the series, Effy catches the eye of best friends Freddie, Cook and JJ on her first day at Roundview College. When Freddie attempts to romance Effy, she warns him that his friends also want to be with her. At his insistence, she dares the three boys to do activities such as sniffing glue, smoking weed, arson, porn, and sex in school, to compete for her affection. Cook completes most of Effy's challenge; Effy excuses herself from class, prompting Cook to follow, and the two have sex in the school nurse's office.
In "Cook", Effy gets to know her new classmates better while celebrating Cook's birthday. In "Thomas", her suspicion that her mother is having an affair is confirmed when she catches her with her father's boss. In "Pandora", her father leaves her and her mother. Effy becomes drunk and high at Pandora's girls-only pajama party, despite Pandora's earlier rules that drinking, drugs, and boys would not be tolerated. When Effy returns the next morning, presumably to apologise or comfort Pandora for her actions, she discovers that Pandora and Cook slept together. When Effy confronts her, Pandora resists and argues back.
In "Freddie", Effy rebuffs Freddie's flirtatious comments by claiming that she would break his heart. Later, Freddie expresses his feelings to her in greater depth and the two share a passionate kiss; however, Effy returns to Cook. In "Naomi", although there is tension between Effy and Freddie, she and Pandora are on better terms with one another. In "JJ", JJ, encouraged by Emily, angrily confronts Effy for her part in destroying the once-strong friendship he, Freddie and Cook shared. Effy is apologetic and, although she cannot guarantee that she will stop, she expresses sentiment that she would like to become his friend after he admits that he loves her too, and is somewhat hurt when he refuses. Naomi later points out that Effy is in love with Freddie, although Effy denies it.
In her central episode it is apparent that Effy has "gone off the rails". Though she is prepared to break up with Cook, which she does without informing him, and confront Freddie with her feelings, she is discouraged by Freddie's new relationship with Katie. When the group goes camping in an area of the woods known as Gobblers End, the uninvited Cook shows up and bitterly reveals secrets, including that he and Pandora have apparently been sleeping together behind Effy's back. Under the influence of shrooms, Effy flees from the clearing where they are camping and into the woods where she is attacked by a jealous and insecure Katie, who pins her down and spits on her before attempting to choke her, prompting Effy to pick up a rock and strike Katie in self-defense. Afterwards, Effy is comforted when she and Freddie have sex for the first time. The next morning, Katie is still missing, and Effy becomes anxious. Katie is eventually found and is taken to the hospital, where Freddie and others learn what happened and turn against Effy for abandoning Katie in the woods and assaulting her. Effy blacks out and awakens in a car driven by Cook.
It is learned in the finale that Cook has been bringing Effy to "one small, shitty town after another" for weeks, and Effy is becoming gradually more dissatisfied with this seemingly aimless wandering. Cook, however, tells her that this is the town where his father lives. While Cook is content to end their journey here, Effy grows worried for Cook when she sees how his father manipulates him, prompting her to call Freddie for help — and telling him that she loves him shortly before hanging up. When Freddie and JJ arrive, they decide that the fate of the boys' relationships with Effy should be decided by the small town's race. JJ, who wins the race, takes charge and demands that they solve their problems once and for all, forcing both boys to admit that they each love Effy and telling her that she must choose between them. Although Effy doesn't say anything, her "look says it all" when her gaze lingers over Freddie, prompting Cook to leave in a fury. When Freddie and Effy are alone, they make up and have sex. The following morning Effy, Freddie, Cook, and JJ begin their journey home.
Series 4 Over the summer, Effy goes with her mother to Italy, breaking up with Freddie due to the guilt she feels from the pain she caused Katie and Cook and does not contact anyone. In "Thomas", Effy does not come to the first day of school and the others assume she is still in Italy. It is revealed at the end of the first episode that she is actually back in England, and that she is with Pandora at her house comforting her after Thomas shows up, who tried to get back with her after having cheated on her.
In "Emily", Effy returns to college, sits next to Freddie and reveals that it's him she was thinking about all summer. She then hugs Cook while Freddie watches. Later at a party, Effy is dancing with Freddie and kisses him. Cook sees this and lashes out at fellow party-goer Shankey and headbutts JJ without realizing who he has hurt. Effy and Freddie see him fighting and leave.
In the following episode "Cook", Effy and Freddie kiss again and are overseen by Cook, who has become expelled and eventually arrested when admitting to selling drugs that led to a suicide. Effy comes to see Cook in prison and tells him she loves Freddie. She admits that love is a "headfuck", but that she is enjoying it nevertheless, which Cook seems to understand.
In Freddie's episode, Effy's mother has gone on an extended vacation, leaving Effy all alone. Thus Freddie and Effy stay there, doing drugs, heavy partying and having sex. Eventually, Effy begins acting erratically, cutting out pictures of death and pasting them to her mother's bedroom wall while mentioning "creatures" coming for her. She decides to throw a "goodbye party", thus freaking much of the gang out. Freddie knocks on Effy's door three times and shakes the doorknob before she finally lets him in. When Freddie enters, he sees her hiding under the bed, visibly shaken. She tells him that he is the only one she can trust.
After Freddie clears the party out, Cook remains. However, when seeing him, Effy begins to freak out, yelling at him to leave and at Freddie to make him. Freddie starts to think that Effy is developing psychosis as well as manic episodes; something his mother also dealt with. He asks his grandfather for advice and attempts to help her. When he takes Effy to a calm field, she says that the creatures are coming for her and that she used to be stronger (thus able to fight them off) but being with Freddie had made her susceptible and "weak" to them. She sees a group of people walking toward them and freaks out, believing them to be the monsters she spoke to Freddie about. Freddie scares them off. At her insistence, Freddie drives Effy home where he sees her mother talking to a police officer. Not wanting to give up on Effy yet, Freddie turns around and begins to take Effy somewhere else.
On the way, they run into the Judgment Day parade. The number of people in demonic looking costumes begins to freak Effy out. She blames Freddie and runs away. Freddie tries to follow with the help of Cook, but loses sight of her. Katie, who is dancing on a float, sees a distraught Effy and rescues her, and calls Freddie over to take care of her. Freddie and Katie take her to visit his grandfather.
While Freddie talks to his grandfather, Katie and Effy wait in the hall. Shortly, Katie enters the room, anxious because Effy won't come out of the bathroom. Freddie, distraught once he realises Effy's been left alone, runs the bathroom she went to. Kicking the door open, he sees Effy lying on the floor unconscious with her wrists slashed. She is taken to hospital to be treated. In the hospital, Effy tells Freddie to go away. Later, Freddie talks to Effy's mother Anthea. She says that Effy needs both of them now. Freddie replies that she is going to have to take care of Effy alone, and runs off. He then goes back to Effy's home, rips all of her "death" pictures off the wall, and burns them in a bonfire outside. Cook shows up and tells Freddie not to give up on Effy.