Liv Malone

Olivia "Liv" Malone is a fictional character from the third generation of the British teen drama Skins, portrayed by Laya Lewis.^[1][2][3]

According to Lewis, "On first impressions she is the cool one of the group, she is very much laid back. Liv doesn't really care about anything, she just wants to have fun. She's that funny comment in the awkward situation. Under all that she has a lot of substance to her and her coolness is just a face. The truth is that she is trying as much as the rest of the group to be something else. She's got balls but she really wants to be this strong person who doesn't allow herself to be hurt by others. I think Liv just wants to be loved.

"Liv is the hardest character to play in the group, she isn't the bitch, she isn't the vulnerable one or the funny one, she is normal."^[4][5]

Characterisation

Liv starts out the fifth series as a member of Mini McGuinness' original trio, and Mini's closest personal friend. Unlike Grace Blood, Liv has known Mini for a lot longer, and serves as a sidekick for most of the series. She is the most party-obsessed, sexually voracious and impulsive of the group, at one point twice drinking an entire bottle of vodka as a means of apology. Because of this, her single mother Agnes, a plain-speaking woman with bizarre hobbies, is concerned that she will end up like her tearaway older sister, Bella, who has been imprisoned and whom Liv regularly visits. Because of her mother's more bizarre hobbies, Liv finds herself acting as carer to her science fiction-obsessed and eccentric younger sister, Maude (Lola Mae Loughran).

Liv's impulsive behaviour often gets her into trouble, usually with her friends, and with her mother. However, she occasionally finds herself taking on the role of carer for her entire circle of friends, most often Mini, who often leaves her to pick up the pieces after particularly bad events. Her frustration with Mini begins to take its toll later in the series, and leads to her having an affair with Mini's boyfriend, Nick, who is equally frustrated with her. She and Mini both dump Nick later on, after his violent behaviour offends them both. However, her first love triangle leads directly into a second one, when she forms a relationship with Nick's brother, Matty, only for Franky to develop feelings for him herself. Liv has a difficult relationship with Franky over the course of the series – she partly resents her for having taken Matty from her, and holds her partly to blame for her role in Grace's death, but is one of the only members of the group who directly expresses concern for Franky's mental state, and does not hesitate to berate her when she endangers herself with her behaviour.

Prior to the sixth series, Lewis said of Liv, "She's literally just being herself. I think after all the stuff last year, all the drama and stuff, she's completely forgotten about it, and I think she's grown up. They've all grown up, and they're just having fun. I think it's not really a complicated episode – not the beginning of it, anyway. They're literally just a group of friends finally just having fun without the drama, really.

"I think last series she was all about chasing Matty and stuff, and for me, I thought that was such a shame because that shouldn't be the kind of girl she is – she comes across as being quite independent. I think she's grown up in that sense. And also, she's not a little Mini follower any more. She doesn't do that this series, which is nice.^[6]

Synopsis

Series 5

The first episode, "Franky", introduces Liv as a friend of Mini McGuinness. After Mini approaches Franky seemingly to make amends, Liv joins her along with Grace, and the three invite her to hang out later. Before going shopping, Liv provides the gang with miaow-miaow, and, while shopping for makeup, Liv persuades Franky to try some eyeliner, the first time she has ever used makeup. Later on, when Franky attempts to persuade Liv and Grace that they had fun with her around, Grace agrees, but Liv gives little more than a shrug.

In "Mini", Liv gets frustrated when Mini attempts to rearrange the entire charity fashion show they had planned, purely to show up Grace and Franky. After a double date with Nick, Mini and Nick's friend, Rider, Liv hooks up with Rider and the two begin to have sex. But when Mini throws up on Nick, he and Liv are forced to take her home. At Mini's house, Liv and Nick bond over their frustration with Mini's increasingly erratic behaviour, and begin to develop feelings for one another. This is intensified when it is discovered that Liv tried to call Nick while he was at practice, and later dances with him at the fashion show, after Mini's meltdown. Mini confronts her at the after-show rave, and she opens up to her, warning her that her behaviour is slowly costing her her friends. Nick then seduces Liv and the two go off to have sex. Mini sees them leaving a room after having sex, and realises at once what has happened.

In "Liv", Liv is still continuing her affair with Nick, Mini's boyfriend, even though she'd promised it wouldn't happen again. She returns home to discover that her mother is going to an Eternal Circle retreat, one of her many bizarre hobbies, and is entrusted the house and her younger sister, Maude. After Mini makes amends with Franky's gang and they start to smoke weed in her house, Liv becomes nervous that Mini knows about her affair with Nick, and the effects the drug will have on Maude. So she takes Maude to a science fiction marathon, failing to notice that it's 24 hours long, and goes to visit her older sister, Bella in prison. She explains her troubles to Bella, but she is unhelpful, and Liv leaves in frustration. She chances upon a young man named Matty, who is preparing to leave Bristol, and shares some drugs they are able to suddenly obtain from a passing drug dealer fleeing the police with him, and the two go shoplifting at a garage. While high, they proceed to a fancy dress shop. There, the manager tricks Matty and attempts to rape Liv, only for Matty to knock him out. They steal some costumes and leave. Later on, at a nearby disco, they kiss and proceed to have sex on the roof.

The next day, Liv returns home with Matty and goes upstairs to her room, only to discover Nick and Mini having sex in her bed. Nick, upon emerging from the covers, recognises Matty at once as his older brother and immediately warns Liv that he is dangerous. Discovering the truth, she is enraged and orders everyone out, including Matty. While trying to tidy up the mess, she collapses on the couch, only to discover that Franky, who had passed out earlier, is still there. Worn out, she asks Franky to leave her, but Franky puts on a video of Liv and Mini when they were younger, which moves Liv to tears. At that moment, Maude returns, and Liv realises she forgot about her. Livid, Maude has a violent and foul-mouthed confrontation with her, and storms off, shattering some crockery in the process. Desperate, Liv returns to find Matty, who is about to leave. When he refuses to forgive her, she pulls out a bottle of vodka and drains it, to his horror. He takes the unconscious Liv to his house to recuperate. After she recovers, she attempts to make amends with Mini. Mini forces her to repeat her vodka-drinking stunt, but still does not forgive her. In a drunken state, she goes to visit her sister. After another frustrating meeting, she coldly informs her that she won't be returning, and goes home. She then takes the blame for Maude's broken crockery when her mother demands to know what happened.

In "Nick", Liv is continuing her relationship with Matty. However, this incites Nick's jealousy, as he still has feelings for Liv, and causes him to feud with his rugby teammates. Upon Matty's introduction to the gang, Franky immediately recognises him, as he had previously aided her after a meltdown, setting up later events in the series. Later, in a bar, Nick attempts to talk to Liv, but she refuses to talk about their relationship, as she is now in a relationship with Matty. After he has a violent fight with his friend, Rider, both Liv and Mini confront and then reject him. The next day, after a heated fight with Matty and his father, Leon, Nick attempts to speak to Liv, but she tells him to leave.

In "Alo", Liv and Matty are continuing their relationship. However, unbeknownst to them, Franky begins to develop feelings for Matty herself, and Mini recognises this, encouraging her to pursue him, saying "Liv'll do it to you in a heartbeat." Liv witnesses Franky being shoved by a stranger she rejected and, while Nick confronts him, Liv follows her out to console her. Outside, she gently asks Franky what her sexuality is, but fails to receive an answer. After this encounter, Liv begins to feel concerned that Franky is disturbed. Later, while having sex with Matty at a party at Nick's, Matty notices Franky watching them through the door, but does not tell Liv.

In "Grace", Liv notices Franky and Matty's tense interaction while rehearsing for Grace's production of Twelfth Night, and puts two and two together. She then forces him to pull out of Grace's play, both for fear that he is in love with Franky, and out of concern that he may hurt her emotionally. Grace attempts to tempt her back into it by inviting her to a girls' night. Liv hesitantly agrees, but is shocked when she turns up to discover that Grace's father is Professor Blood, the school headmaster. They attempt to rehearse, but eventually give in to Liv's offer of cocaine. While high, Mini persuades Franky to admit to her sexuality – that she is Pansexual (i.e. she is "into people" generally). Liv takes the opportunity to determine Franky's feelings for Matty by asking who she is "into" at the moment, and fails to receive and answer. The tension between Liv, Matty and Franky gets worse when Matty, seeing an unattractive man being to forward with Franky, marches over and scares him off, to Liv's dismay. Failing to get Liv back on the team, Grace decides to simply order her to, persuading her that things will be okay. Liv and Franky, despite limited practice together, manage to perform their scene very well. However, Liv notices the shocked expression on Matty's face upon seeing her kiss Franky (which Grace had added in for effect) and confronts him backstage. When he fails to respond, she tearfully tells him to enjoy a relationship with Franky and makes to leave. Grace, however, persuades her to stay. Liv reluctantly agrees, but makes it clear to Matty that it's her or Franky, and he cannot have feelings for both.

In "Everyone", Liv and Matty make plans to go to Grace and Rich's wedding. Mini, who has developed a crush on Franky, tries to take control of the love triangle by ordering Matty to stay away from Franky, saying he has "made her ill." After losing confidence in Alo's navigational skills, Matty and Liv decide to go off on their own, and suggest Franky come with them. As their love triangle comes to a head, they take MDMA and go to a nearby town. There, they break into a church and Liv, in an effort to salvage her relationship with Matty, starts to seduce Franky right in front of him. Her actions do not have the desired effect, as he merely shakes his head at her, and they are chased off by the gun-wielding church owner. In the forest, Liv admits that her actions had been out of fear of losing Matty, and Franky wanders off. Matty, finding himself having to choose between staying with Liv or going after Franky, decides upon the latter. Liv is both distraught and concerned that he will only hurt Franky emotionally. Liv, while trying to find her own way to the church, runs into Mini, who is afraid for Franky's safety. Liv, who has held similar fears herself and realises that Mini's crush on Franky may help break up the love-triangle, reconciles with her, and they set off to find Matty and Franky. Franky and Matty begin to have sex in the forest, when Franky has a panic attack, throws Matty off, and charges off through the forest in blind rage and panic, with an aghast Matty in hot pursuit. She runs past Liv and Mini, who stop Matty and, seeing him button up his trousers, realise what they have been doing. Realising that Franky may hurt herself in her current state of mind, Liv and Mini join in on the chase, just as Franky trips and falls over the side of a cliff. Horrified, Liv manages to drag Franky to safety. Later, she and Matty break up on amicable terms.

Series 6

In "Everyone", the gang are on holiday in Morocco and Franky falls for a boy name Luke, whom Liv is warned is very dangerous. When she sees Franky getting into Luke's car, she gets into a van with Matty. Grace joins him, wanting to talk, but Liv rushes up and demands they follow Franky and Luke. The chase becomes dangerously fast, and an oncoming truck forces Matty to swerve over the edge of the road. The car lands on its top and rolls over, nearly destroyed. Matty runs away to avoid being arrested for the possession of the marijuana which Luke placed inside his vehicle and Liv emerges from the rubble with minor injusries, but Grace lies motionless and bloody on the hood, in a coma.

In "Rich", Rich receives a phone call from Grace, meaning that she has come out of her coma, but Grace's father reveals that he is taking Grace to Zurich for treatment, and to keep her away from Rich. Rich contacts Liv and tells her about Grace. She in turn informs Franky, and the three resolve to go to Paris, en route to Switzerland, to find Grace. However, it turns out that Rich was imagining everything – Grace had never even woken up and has died.

In "Alex", new character Alex Henley is introduced. Alex, who lives life by the roll of a die, quickly catches the eye of Liv when he arrives at school. Liv is having a tough time after Grace's death. She is not talking to Mini, who is really struggling. So though Liv slaps Alex when he rolls the die and kisses her, she's really grateful for the distraction. Liv is disgusted when she finds out that people who didn't even know Grace are holding a memorial service for her and is adamant that the friends not attend the service. Mini and Liv argue and Liv rushes off crying. She is followed by Alex, but when he tries to comfort her, she kisses him. Alex stops her and tells her he's gay. Liv becomes even more distraught and Alex tries to explain that he's never had friends before. Liv yells at him that they're not friends and Mini arrives to add that "we don't need you." Liv, Mini, and Franky end up attending Grace's memorial service, but are disgusted by the shallow and over-the-top display and Liv ends up smashing things up and screaming at the other students, culminating in Liv yelling at everyone "wank over this!", flashing them and then storming off. Alex takes the gang out on a sailboat for a "party", when really he just wants to bury his dead grandmother at sea. While on the boat, Alex encourages Liv to talk to Mini, but Mini once again pushes Liv away. As the boys slide the coffin into the ocean, the gang becomes very emotional, their feelings about Grace welling up. Alex and Liv share another kiss, but it is platonic and they agree to be friends. They then roll his die and it lands on six, "run away." Laughing, Alex and Liv jump off the boat and the episode ends with the two of them swimming together and the die sinking to the bottom of the ocean.^[7]

In "Liv", Liv, since finding Alex, has been partying non-stop and suppressing her feelings about Grace's death, although she is plagued by occasional visions of her, similar to what Franky and Rich have suffered. That night, she suddenly begins to suffer a massive stabbing pain in her side, and finds a large lump there, which she is scared might be Uterine cancer or an Ovarian cyst. The pain does not clear up, but Liv resists the urge to go to the doctors to find out. With no one else to go to, she attempts to talk to Mini and Franky, but finds that Mini is reluctant to talk to her and her relationship with Franky is still very tense. After having a fight with her in the school corridor, Liv questions why Franky has never accepted her role in Grace's death, and Franky violently slaps her across the face, and Liv simply responds "Better out than in." Mini decides to tell Liv about the truth, but Liv interrupts her after she tells her about having had sex with Alo. She later attempts to talk to Rich, but he is too busy on her revision, which causes her to explode at him for his seeming indifferent to Grace's death. Alex returns the next day and runs into Matty for the first time. Liv reluctantly takes him to Mini's house to see Franky – who emphatically tells him that she doesn't want to see him. Liv once again attempts to speak to Mini, but Mini again responds with her usual coldness. However, something in Liv snaps, and she violently punches Mini twice in the face, before Matty drags her off. Mini subsequently confesses to being pregnant with Alo's baby and Liv, distraught, departs.

The next day, Liv goes straight to the doctor, but before he arrives, the sympathetic receptionist offers to take a look at the lump. Upon looking at Liv's side, the receptionist tells her that there is no lump there, and when Liv looks, she finds the same thing – the lump was in fact imagined by Liv due to her fear of death, and the stabbing pain was a physical manifestation of her grief at Grace's death. Realising this, Liv breaks down in tears and finally begins to mourn Grace as the receptionist consoles her. The episode ends with Liv, Maude, Doug and Rich visiting Grace's grave.^[8]

In "Mini and Franky", Liv and the rest of the gang all find out that Mini is pregnant with Alo's baby, apart from Franky and Matty, who already knew.

In "Finale", Liv is starting to feel isolated because Alex will soon be leaving for Thailand to start his gap year, and she has no guarantee of getting a place at University, but she is still likely to be separated from her friends. Alex reminds her that there is still his final send-off party to sort things out. When Franky visits Mini at the hospital, having thrown herself out of a moving truck to avoid returning to Bristol, Liv is shocked at what she has done to herself, and angrily berates her for her erratic behaviour, only for Mini to call her off. Liv ends up indulging in a giggle fit with Mini at Alex's party. The next day, at the hospital, Mini gives birth to her baby girl with Liv at her side.^[9]

References

External links

• Liv series 5 profile
• Liv series 6 profile
• Liv facebook
• Liv twitter
• Liv IMBd