"Katie and Emily" is the ninth and penultimate episode of the third series of the British teen drama Skins, which first aired on 19 March 2009 on E4 in both Ireland and the United Kingdom.
The episode focuses on the characters of twins Katie and Emily Fitch (Megan and Kathryn Prescott, respectively) as they prepare for their college's annual ball.
Katie is embarrassed about how her injuries look, and miserable over the loss of her boyfriend Freddie McClair (Luke Pasqualino), who only dated her to spite Effy, his real love interest.
At college, Naomi uncovers Emily's disguise (which had not fooled JJ or Freddie either) and tells her that she plans to spend the summer alone in Cyprus.
Emily leaves and at the bus stop meets Thomas Tomone (Merveille Lukeba), who offers her his shoes and jacket and is unconcerned when she tells him that she is gay.
Emily finally overpowers her sister and raises a fist to punch her, but, after a moment's hesitation, reconsiders and instead helps Katie to stand up, declaring that she is "not her."
[2] Clara Nicholls and Antonio Aakeel, the winners of a competition to win a speaking role in Skins, played the shop assistant and security guard respectively at the boutique where Katie and Emily shop for ball gowns, while another finalist from the competition, Allana Taylor, starred as a girl dancing with the students' Head of Form, Doug (Giles Thomas), at the ball.
[2] One of the series' runners, Laurence Wigfield, played a bystander at the ball and the crew's "jack of all trades", Tyrone Hyman, appeared on a poster in Katie and Emily's bedroom.
[4] Sarah Warn, editor-in-chief of lesbian-based website AfterEllen.com, thought that the portrayal of Emily and Naomi's relationship in the episode was "a good example of a well-plotted, well-executed, and well-acted storyline coming to a satisfying conclusion", which she regarded as "a noteworthy event given how few TV shows you can say that about".
They believed that Ronni Ancona was "fab" as the twins' mother, and regarded Pandora and Doug's dance at the ball as a "fantastic comic moment".
[8] The entertainment editor for eurOut.org, a website for European lesbians, wrote that she "almost [felt] like joining in" when Emily cried after breaking up with Naomi, and thought that the twins' secret language was "very cute and adorable".
[9] Dan French, in a review for Digital Spy, highlighted the episode's "dramas aplenty" and believed Katie and Emily's parents to be "slightly creepy".