Thomas Tomone

Thomas Tomone was a fictional character in the television series Skins, and he was portrayed by Merveille Lukeba.

Characterization
Thomas is an immigrant from the Congo and is thus fluent in French. He is very friendly, honest, dedicated and musical- although at times slightly naive. Despite having an honourable soul, he's as shrewd a criminal as any of the others, and frequently sells weed on the black market. Due to his African upbringing, he doesn't understand British culture very well- but like his girlfriend, the similarly-naive Pandora, he is always willing to try new things. He is characterized by his love of doughnuts and his running skills; whenever describing himself, the first thing he usually says is 'I run like a dog'.

Series 3
Thomas make his first appearance in "Thomas". Thomas arrives alone in Bristol from the Congo. His family is due to join him in a few days, and he has to find somewhere for them to live. He finds an abandoned flat which turns out to be owned by gangster Johnny White, who demands £300 rent. Thomas befriends the gang, forming a close bond with Pandora, but has to deal with the fact that he has only a few days to gather enough money to pay Johnny. After winnig the bet from Johnny, the gang celebrate in Thomas' new flat. However, his family sees them engaging in "devious" behavior and his mother forces Thomas to accompany them back home.

Thomas is only seen briefly in "Pandora", where he is seen running to Pandora's house the day after her birthday party, as he convinced his family to let him come back to Bristol. Unknown to him, Pandora had lost her virginity to Cook the night before, something she and Thomas had planned to lose together.

During "JJ", JJ and Cook arrive at a club and Thomas Tomone lets them in, announcing that Emily is already inside. Cook gets into a fight on the dancefloor and Freddie moves in to help when he discovers that JJ gave Cook his prescription drugs. Cook, under the influence of JJ's drugs, is compelled to tell the truth and confesses that Effy loves Freddie. Cook says that he loves Effy, but knows his feelings are not reciprocated and that is why he is having an affair with Pandora. Thomas, overhears this and is furious.

In "Effy", Thomas pretends that he doesn't know about Pandora's affair and accompanies the gang on a camping trip. However, throughout the night, Thomas begins acting distant from Pandora. When and uninvited Cook shows up, he spills secrets about the gang in anger, namely telling everyone that Pandora had still been sleeping with him. She tries to tell Thomas that Cook is lying, but Thomas tells her that he already knew, and break up with her.

In "Katie and Emily", Thomas comforts a crying Emily, who offers her his shoes and jacket and is unconcerned when she tells him that she is gay. He tries to comfort her but admits that he believes it impossible to stop loving somebody, referring to Pandora. At the school dance, Pandora apologies again to Thomas about her affair and he forgives her, re-introducing himself, thus getting back together.

Series 4
In "Thomas", Thomas, who is working at a club, witnesses the suicide of a teenage girl, Sophia, after she had taken drugs. The police launch an investigation into the death. Thomas feels guilty about Sophia’s death and suspects Cook sold her the drugs before her death; when Cook attempts to have an amiable conversation, Thomas angrily shoves him away, still deeply hostile due to the events of Series 3. When his mother berates him for not constantly attending his family, denounces his relationship with Pandora, and doing "what he is meant to do", Thomas reluctantly turns to religion, finding it (initially) a more dependable source of comfort than even his relationship with Pandora. In actuality, he is becomng attracted to the daughter of his church’s pastor, Andrea, and eventually sleeps with her. He later realizes that his attraction was more due to their familiar heritage than anything else and calls it off. At school Thomas is expelled and admits to cheating on Pandora, who storms off.

Depressed, Thomas gets drunk and beats up Cook. Naomi tells Thomas she sold Sophia the MDMA and begs him not to tell Emily. Thomas goes to see Pandora to beg for reconciliation, but he is rejected on the instruction of Effy, who is secretly staying at Pandora’s. Dejected, Thomas shows his mother the bribe money and uses it to buy them a better house.

In "Katie", Thomas is present at Emily and Naomi's BBQ. Thomas later enters the bathroom, not knowing Katie is taking a bath at the same time, and in his haste to leave when he sees her, he accidentally locks them inside. They start to kiss, but Katie breaks down, telling Thomas about her condition, something she has not told anyone else. She also asks him to tell her if people really think she is a bitch, feeling that no one really likes her at all.

Thomas qualms her fears by telling her that she is honest and "just Katie", something that everyone likes. She then hesitantly asks Thomas if he thinks she is beautiful. Thomas then deduces that Katie is afraid that because she cannot bear children, no man would want her. He tells her that she is beautiful and that any man would be lucky to have her. They agree to be friends and end the night with a strong friendship in place.

He is seen briefly in "Freddie", talking with Freddie and JJ about Freddie's relationship with Effy. In "JJ", Thomas has a new job, working at the same place JJ works. He is the one that convinces JJ to ask the new girl (and JJ's crush) Lara out.

In '"Everyone", Thomas has decided to become a professional runner, and is now teaching Katie french and spending a lot of time with her (as it is Thomas' plan to make Pandora jealous so he and Pandora can get back together). Later at Naomi and Emily's house, Thomas "teaches" Katie french for an interview, which Pandora overhears.

However, unknown to them Pandora aced the rest of her A-Levels, including French thus could translate what Thomas was saying. Thomas, not knowing Pandora could understand him, was teaching Katie how to say dirty things in French, thus Pandora concluded that he didn't want her anymore and left in tears.

Katie meanwhile, thinking Thomas was flirting with her, finally understanding what Thomas was teaching her, tackles him and they wrestle a bit, until she impulsively kisses him. However, she soon stops, calling herself a "dozy bitch" and realizes that Thomas was only being friendly and she misinterpreted that for something romantic. Thomas apologizes, but tells her that he thinks she is beautiful, but she isn't Pandora. When Thomas is running around the track, a recruiter for Harvard saw him and convinced him to go to Harvard on a running scholarship, since he is one of the fastest runners the recruiter had seen in a long time. Later, Pandora, Emily, and Thomas meet up with the rest of the gang at Freddie's shed party to celebrate his birthday. There, Pandora and Thomas awkwardly talk. Before Pandora can say anything, he tells her that he is going to Harvard University on an athletic scholarship and that going will be a new start. Pandora grabs him hand and tells him that the news is exciting, as she decides not to tell Thomas and let it be a surprise. Their ending is left open and it's unknown whether they reconciled or remained friends.

Relationships

 * Romantic Relationships
 * Thomas Tomone and Pandora Moon - refers to the romantic pairing between Thomas Tomone and Pandora Moon, which spanned throughout Series 3 and Series 4.