(Chris, Vilde, Eva, Noora, and Sana doing the 10,000th slow-mo walk in this show)
When I started watching the series I realized that it wasn't all BL and it was one of those typical high school dramas about a couple of kids coming of age and realizing how hard life is and blah blah blah. The show even laughs at itself and acknowledges its resemblance to popular American shows like Gossip Girl in the fact that girls backstabbing each other is a universal thing. However, this show did something different in that these girls have a better friendship than Serena and Blair ever could have conceived and do a good job of bonding and *gasp* communicating. Something that Gossip Girl never seemed to portray well ... or ever.
The series consists of four seasons with about twelve episodes each. Each season is from the view of the four major characters of the series. These characters are Eva, Noora, Isak, and Sana. Below I'll break down the summary for each season and my thoughts on each one.
Season 1
The first season introduces Eva and her boyfriend Jonas and how she becomes friends with the other girls who are also part of the main cast. The season starts with Eva always staring after Ingrid and gives us a little bit of a mystery as we're left wondering why our seemingly kind lead is being pointedly ignored and hated by her ex-best friend. We see Eva suspect Jonas of cheating on her with Ingrid and we learn her insecurities are justified as she kissed and began a relationship with Jonas while he was still in a relationship with her best friend. Stealing her best friend's boyfriend has drowned her in feelings of paranoia and guilt as she struggles with trusting a guy who cheated on her friend to be with her. How does she know he won't cheat with anyone else? The answer is she doesn't and as it's typical fashion she engages in self-destructive behavior by cheating on him first with a horn dog named Christoffer at a random party and Jonas ends up finding out through his best friend Isak. This is the best part: throughout the show Isak has been acting as Eva's confidant in dealing with Jonas but betrays her and spreads the rumor of her mistake. Eva mistakenly assumes he did so because he liked her and Isak is in the closet so he encourages her line of thought.
(Eva and Jonas and a smirky Isak in the background)
The reveal that Isak is gay was not much of a reveal because I had come from watching a lot of FMVs of him and his beau. However, it was a shock to the characters in the show and made a grand finale for fans of SKAM.
Similar to Gossip Girl, the show includes a lot of intrigue and mystery and backstabbing. However, unlike Gossip Girl, there is some character development and noticeable change as characters reach out and admit that they're wrong and resolve their problems and end up with friendships and relationships that are stronger than ever. This is one of the reasons the show is addictive and satisfying.
Overall, the first season did a good job in getting me invested in the characters. The story of Eva and Jonas is very relatable. You are with someone who cheated on someone else to be with you and if you are a good person, like Eva is, that will haunt you. It was interesting to see how she handled it and how she was mature enough to admit that she couldn't continue the relationship because she could never trust him. That being said, Eva completely regressed in the second season and below I will talk about why.
Season 2
The second season focuses on Noora and William, but we see glimpses of Eva and she is basically drunk and making out with the guy she cheated on Jonas with from the first season. Her character regressed into a complete mess and thank God they mostly focus on Eva's friend, Noora. A self-professed feminist and virgin, Noora abhors the school's good looking bad boy, William.
(Bad boy William)
In the first season, William took Vilde's virginity, made her wear a sweatshirt that told everyone she slept with him, and shitted on her by pretending not to know her after he slept with her. Noora shitted on him in return by insulting him and basically telling him his parents must not love him and then William started to pursue her.
I honestly thought William just wanted her for the conquest, but he started getting really persistent by blackmailing Noora into dates. Noora just wants to keep him away from Vilde and acquiesces, but totally falls in love with him after getting to know how warm and fluffy he is on the inside. Not really. He's a violent guy with some family drama and she's a feminist with some family drama. They are perfect for each other! But seriously, this is a wonderful couple who has to deal with the fact that William's brother is a psycho and his parents could care less that their teenage son is living alone with occasional visits from the psycho brother who accidentally killed their youngest daughter.
The second season was probably my second favorite season after the third season. I really liked William and Noora's relationship simply because I like the we-used-to-hate-each-other-but-now-we-love-each-other trope.
(Norwegian Twilight, anyone?)
Noora's insult in the first season of William being a product of negligent parents was just a typical insult anyone would use on a bully, but it really struck home because it was true. In the second season they developed his character a bit more and gave us a glimpse of his dark past and the despair he feels till this day because of the death of his sister. This despair has manifested itself in his violent fights with gangs and self-destructive behavior when it comes to relationships. Noora is the first one to stand up to him and say "show me the real you" and it completely breaks him down and I love it.
Finally, I would just like to say that this season made a good job in repairing friendships. Vilde is obviously still crushing on William after he apologized at Noora's request. The whole season she waits for Noora to tell her about dating William secretly and though it takes her a while after much scheming from Vilde, she finally does sit Vilde down and tells her about it. Vilde appreciates her honesty and is sad about William, but relieved that Noora cares about her enough to tell her the truth. I was amazed again by their maturity and willingness to communicate with each other because pride and fear shouldn't get in the way of open communication or it shouldn't if you want to maintain a relationship. Skam does this really well. But on to my favorite season: season 3!
Season 3
Finally, what I came here to see! This season focuses on Isak, Jonas' secretly gay best friend who ruined Jonas' relationship with Eva because of his feelings for him. Throughout the season we see Isak trying to date a lot of girls and desperately trying to hide his need of butt sex. In between make-out sessions with girls he researches gay porn and tries (and fails!) not to stare too hard at Even. Even is a new student in the school and he has a girlfriend. Isak is the first who tries to go all in and with the help of Noora's gay roommate, finally admits that he's gay and wants to be with Even. Even is a bipolar dreamy type who is always talking about death and alternate realities in between manic episodes where he runs outside naked in the freezing cold. His girlfriend takes Isak's shock as an opportunity to sabotage their relationship by insinuating that Even being gay is just a big manic episode. Luckily, Isak's friend happens to have a mother who is bipolar and he dryly educates him on manic episodes and how they could not last for so long. This common sense shocks Isak and he finally pulls his head out of his ass and goes after Even.
While this is my shortest summary, it's still my favorite season. I liked how Isak's struggle was portrayed and how he came to terms with his sexuality. The show and Isak's friends make it pretty clear that being gay is not a big deal in the atheist Norwegian society that the show is set in, but it's not always about society. This was an inner struggle for Isak who is finally discovering who he really is and how it may not fit into what others and he expects of himself. He starts off as a closeted guy who outwardly insults gay or flamboyant men and then he becomes the guy who accepts he may like guys but he's not like "those other gay guys who act feminine" and finally he becomes the guy we wanted him to become. He becomes a guy who understands that people are just being who they are and loving themselves and the people around them while ignoring the ones who don't appreciate them for who they are. He hit the "fuck-it" stage of being gay and it was glorious to see.
Season 4
This season focuses on Sana, a Norwegian Muslim girl who knows she will never fit in and never tries to. She is snarky and sarcastic and puts people in their place by bringing to light their secret prejudices and calling them out on it.
I loved her from the first episode. Her make-up is on point, her attitude is on point, her quips are on point and she's everything. Unfortunately, I never watched this season simply because it deals with her liking a guy and struggling with that because she's not allowed to date or have sex outside of marriage and all these other things. I'm sure I should just give it a chance, but the synopsis kind of sounds like they turned her from the sarcastic Sana that I loved in the previous seasons to the typical whiny teenager. I'm sure I'll give it a try and I will come back to edit this review when I do, but until such a time I will just say that if you're a fan of the first three seasons then there is no reason to stop there.
Edit
So I finally watched this season recently and I love it! Sana is crushing on a guy who she assumes is a Muslim, but finds out he is just as atheistic as all the blonde people around them. The guy she's crushing on, Yousef, is a friend of her brother's who constantly comes around her house to set off her hormones.
To be honest, I didn't expect to like this season, but as a person who believes in God, it really hit home. This season is not only about Sana's crush and her fighting her feelings even while a broken-hearted Noora tongues her crush, it's about many other important things. We see her defensive attitude against girls who she feels are attacking her because she's a Muslim who doesn't drink. We deal with her struggling between being a good Muslim girl, but still being able to keep her identity of being a typical Norwegian party girl. This last one was the biggest identity crisis dealt with on the show. Sana wants people to see her as a cool Norwegian girl so bad while still keeping and protecting her beliefs and it's simply not possible.
The bible says that if you are with others who are in sin you will begin to resent God and this is what happens with Sana. She begins to feel resentment when she's in the middle of a party where everyone is drinking and having sex, but she has to find a private room to pray in. She begins to feel torn when her mother tells her to marry a Muslim man and she's crushing on an atheist. She begins to feel torn when she throws a party in her house and has to hurry to hid the alcohol from her parents.
I can totally relate to her struggle and I can see objectively that eventually she would have to distance herself from those people or leave her faith behind. Every day, she had an attitude with people and Isak tried to make her see how she had an inferiority complex and they end up having one of the best dialogues on the show.
Sana: Maybe that's for the best (not asking questions). I've received so many dumb, racist questions throughout my life.
Isak: No, Sana. The dumb questions are so fucking important! People can't stop asking dumb questions because if they stop asking dumb questions, they'll make up the answers. And that's dangerous.
This was so impactful and so true. We are living in sensitive times where people get angry even when you ask them where they're from. If you don't let people ask you questions about your culture, your religion and your ancestors, they will make up the answer and if they're people in power then you will be very screwed. I really love this season for bringing this to light and I thought it was the perfect message with which to end the series.
Final Thoughts
I loved this show so much. It kept me interested and on the edge of my seat. It was addictive and engaging. The soundtrack features many amazing Norwegian and American artists and nostalgic tracks that we all still love to listen to. The cast is full of blonde haired and blue eyed people, but that's to be expected. It's freaking Norway!
Still, watch it because it portrays all the teen angst that you could ever want without any of the parents that you didn't (seriously, where are the parents in this show?). Watch it because this show preaches love. The love of a friend, of a lover or even of an enemy.
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Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any of the companies who own the rights to the media or products I review in any way. This blog is used to voice my own opinion and does not reflect the opinion of anyone else.