| "Jal" | |
|---|---|
| Skins episode | |
 Jal playing at the Young Musician of the Year Competition | |
| Episode no. | Series 1 Episode 3 |
| Directed by | Adam Smith |
| Written by | Bryan Elsley |
| Original air date | 8 February 2007 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Jal" is the third episode of the first series of the British teen drama Skins . It was written by Bryan Elsley and directed by Adam Smith. [1] It premiered on E4 on 8 February 2007. [2] It is told from the point of view of main character Jal Fazer.
 | This section's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed.(November 2021) |
Jal is preparing for the final of the Young Musician of the Year Competition in London. She is called into the college director's office and is asked to tell the BBC how the college helped her due to her disadvantaged background. Jal feels this is racist to assume she has a disadvantaged background because she is black, owing to her family's wealth.
Jal goes to Tony's house as she plans to go shopping with Michelle for a dress to wear to the competition, but as Michelle is too busy having sex with Tony, Jal takes Sid with her instead, and tells him that she knows he has a crush on Michelle. At home, Jal attempts to practise the clarinet for the finals, but is unable on account of her brothers Ace and Lynton's loud grime music. She complains to her father that she needs to practise, but Ronny Fazer, a successful grime singer himself, is uninterested. He tells her that her brothers and their English friend, Donny, need to practise as well.
That night, Jal and Michelle watch Jal's interview and joke over Jal's lack of co-operation. As the group have plans to go to Ronny's club that night, Michelle helps Jal pick a new dress as she dislikes the one she bought at the shop, which impresses all of the boys in the group. Michelle tells Sid she loves him like a brother, which upsets Sid,so he goes to the couch to sulk. While Michelle is on the dancefloor, Tony snogs Abigail. Jal witnesses Tony cheating on Michelle, and distraught, sits and broods with Sid. The two agree to go out drinking with a man who had been chatting to Jal. However, he turns out to be an associate of Mad Twatter, and leads them to a narrow alleyway where Mad steals Sid's credit cards and wallet as revenge for Sid not paying him for the cannabis he bought, and smashes Jal's expensive clarinet.
Jal's brothers and Donny chase after Mad, but Mad gets the better of them and they end up hospitalised. Later that night, she argues with Ronny after she hears him rapping alone in his studio, in which it is implied their relationship is rocky due to Jal's resemblance to her mother, who divorced him. Ronny sends Jal to clean her room, in which it is revealed that he bought Jal a new clarinet. The final scene shows Jal at her competition in London, alongside Ronny and his bodyguard driving Mad away, who is never seen again.
