justanotherskamstan

[justanotherskamstan]

My thoughts and ranking of on SKAM remakes so far

The special thing about the series SKAM as a whole was that it was authentic and a real reflection on teenage lives of Norwegians. The show creates extremely special moments with valuable lessons for everyone through a diverse, age-appropriate cast and shows that its creator, Julie Andem, did understand what the market was missing in terms of teen-drama shows. The show had a huge impact on the lives of its young actors and many viewers, creating a worldwide phenomenon, especially during its 3rd season run featuring the character Isak. The storytelling process of each season changes, because there is a different main character in each one, and the season tells their story and the stories of others through the main character’s perspective. Quite a unique thing to do, because most of the time teen shows feel like how the adult writers think teenagers would like/do, however, SKAM was very honest about the reality of teenagers and how it is not this perfect, pinky, beautiful world where everyone ends up happily ever after. The acting talent of the cast at such a young age was extraordinary, so kudos to Ms.Andem for creating this great melting pot of talented actors, amazing writers and a creative director to form this almost-perfect show. The show is not perfect, and with many pointing out the “problematic” aspects of certain characters, however, I feel like that adds to the realness of everything, since there are no perfect people in this world, especially at the age of making mistake and learning from them. The success of the show has spawned 7 international remakes so far, and I am going to rank them from my favorite to least favorite (most likely to rewatch willingly) with an accompanying analysis of the pros and cons of each. The order in which I watched them was SKAM Austin, OG SKAM, SKAM Italia, Druck, SKAM France, and then I live watched SKAM NL, SKAM Espana, WTFock and the current season of Druck along of SKAM Italia season 2. These are my thoughts and opinions, so please if you agree or disagree, don’t hate!

Druck (1 completed season, and 1 currently airing, future unsure)

Season 1 of Druck focuses on Hannah Jung (Eva) and her relationships with her boyfriend Jonas (Jonas) and her new group of friends, while season 2’s main character is Mia (Noora). There were many that ranks this remake as one of their least favorite, I think because it started airing during the same time frame as SKAM Italia (the most popular remake domestically and internationally) and SKAM Austin, so many did not give it a proper chance. The chemistry between Hannah and Jonas have got to be the best in all the remakes, particularly during the final episode of the season, when they eventually part ways to truly find out what they want before they could consider rekindling. The ways Jonas cried during that scene and the way they touched their noses together, weirdly enough made it very intimate without needing anything too risqué. The dynamic of Hannah’s girl squad was very well executed, as their respective personalities complimented each other’s well. Hannah’s father is probably the funniest SKAM parent character of all the remakes, since he is just slightly awkward enough and old-person enough to be funny without cringing. Druck is one of the remakes that stick pretty close to the original, but changes the characters, plot points, etc. just enough to make it their own without compromising on the SKAM framework. Besides Hannah, the standouts to me where Mia and girl Sam. Mia is an extremely beautiful, caring, but strong-minded character, but differs from the OG Noora in the fact that Mia is bisexual and her character’s actions in season 2 would not be something that Noora would be caught doing, even if it is in the name of protecting her friend. Girl Sam is completely different from OG Chris, as she is very sex-positive, funny, outgoing, and a character unique enough that I haven’t encountered anyone similar in all of the remakes. Mia and Sam are some of the best versions of their characters. Alex (William) is probably everyone’s least favorite William remake because he is so cold during the first season (and “looks like he’s married with kids”), which led to many complaints from viewers about how unrealistic it would be for Mia to fall for Alex in the second season, since she never really responded well to his advances in the first. However, so far into the second season their dynamic seems to have improved and the way the writers go about getting these two together have been very different from the OG. Let’s just wait and see where it takes us. But so far there have been noticeable improvements in the releasing of clips and the characters’ social media activity. During season 1, one of the weakest link of Druck was the real-time social media aspect, as there were irregular posts and the characters did not interact with one another very much. I think that the writers have listened to their audience and upped their social media game, and a noticeable example of this was a text between the girl squad about their respective careers after school which perfectly showcased the race, class dynamics of Germany. The first season was also extremely short compared to the other versions, and so far for season 2, every clip released has been a decent length, so good on them for improving on that. Also, the soundtrack of Druck is my favorite of all the remakes, as their spotify playlist have become my place to find new music. Also, the diversity of their casting is great, Amira, Sam, and Toilet-Sam are all POC, and Amira especially shows authentically how a hijab-wearing teenage girl in Germany is because she is one. 

The biggest issue I have with Druck has got to be the character of Kiki (Vilde). She has expressed ideas of Islamophobia, racism, and has a general aggressiveness to her. In the OG, after Vilde learns her lesson near the end of the first season, her attitude improves for the better, but Kiki has gotten worse in season 2, even though she got what she wanted, which was to get together with Alex. In the first episode her remark about how both Sams are black and named Sam was micro-aggression at its finest, but in season 2 she shows her temper when she exploded on Mia for being concerned about her diet/workout/drug-use. Even though she later apologized to Mia with an expensive gift, I think it would be hard for her to truly redeem herself in the eyes of the audience. The actress’s performance is not bad, but I question the reasoning behind the writer’s decision to make this character act this way, which maybe answered later in the season. Another concern I have about Druck is how its future going to be like. As the girl squad is in their final year of high school, and when they graduate in spring there would probably go off into different universities/jobs. Season 2 ends in March of 2019, so the odds of fitting in a Matteo (Isak) and a Amira (Sana) season before they all graduate seem impossible. The long hiatus between season 1 and 2 contributed to that especially, since they had to fail Alex’s character for German class so he could stay behind for a year to complete Mia story arc. Another minor complaint I’ve heard from many German-speaking viewers is that the language they speak seem very weird to native speakers, this is not really an issue for me as I rely solely on English subtitles to comprehend their conversations, but it has been noted. I’m very excited to see where this takes us, but hopefully they can make it work and renew for other seasons since season 2 has brought in a huge spike in viewership. 

2. WTFock (1 completed season, and renewed for a second)

The newest baby of the SKAM remakes family, and a surprising favorite of mine. Season 1 focuses on Jana (Eva) and her boyfriend Jens (Jonas), and follow the storyline of OG season 1 pretty closely. Also another underdog remake in my personal opinion, airing at the same time as SKAM Italia season 2 and the OG SKAM’s bloopers. The most special thing about WTFock is that even though it sticks pretty closely to the OG, its original scenes that is added changes the storyline ever so slightly so that it avoids the errors of previous remakes, which I think is very smart. An example of this is in the OG and several remakes, the character of William apologizes to Vilde in exchange for a date with Noora, however, in WTFock, Zoe (Noora) prompts Senne (William) to apologize to Amber (Vilde) on his own by sort of teasing/mocking his intelligence in an original scene. Many viewers called the OG version “blackmailing” and “manipulation”, so by changing that ever so slightly it gives it a different feel. Another positive change made to the storyline of Robbe’s (Isak) character is that in the OG, he tells Eva that the reason behind his decision to ruin her relationship with his best-friend is that he has feelings for her. However, in WTFock, Robbe confesses to Jana that he feels left out and jealous of the amount of time Jens spends with her, which is much more truthful than Isak’s reasoning. Jana’s mom is my favorite mom character in SKAM, since she is very sweet and caring, even though her job may make her physically and sometimes emotionally distant from her only child. Their mother and daughter bond was strengthened, for me at least, in the scene where it was revealed that Jana’s dad is dead, with the scene itself being very quiet but emotionally captivating at the same time. The best character to come out of WTFock is Zoe in my opinion. Her version of Noora is much more sarcastic, has very quick wit, strong-minded but also very soft towards those that she cares about. The dynamics of this girl squad is great, despite the fact that certain crucial scenes like the party scene was missing Yasmina (Sana), their bond blossomed very nicely. Especially the close friendship between Yasmina and Zoe has its groundwork laid out well, which would help make Zoe’s season more understandable. Also, Zoe’s connection with Senne in this remake is one of the most obvious one early on, as the inclusion of some original scenes in the last two episodes make it abundantly clear, as oppose to other remakes which usually wait till season 2 to build on their relationship further. Out of all the remakes, I can see that this one is the most wholesome, and easiest to like due to changes to make it “less problematic”. Also, their social media posts, especially Zoe’s is very aesthetically pleasing, and they are very interactive with one another on there. 

I think the casting of WTFock in general is great, everyone looks age-appropriate, even Senne, who’s actor is actually 22 according to wikipedia. I loved that Jana has braces, and even though they are usually considered ugly, she is still very confident and beautiful with them on. However, there is only 2 POC in the entire cast, not necessary the most diverse cast out of the remakes. I also don’t really like the idea of the only black character, Keisha (original character), befriending Jana and inviting her to a party, only to offer her drugs. I know it is a scene used to help us see Jana’s aversion to drug-use, which affects her relationship with Jens greatly, but did they really have to have the only black character be that type of character. I personally don’t feel like reinforcing bad stereotypes about black people is the greatest thing to do in this inclusive teen series. Maybe her character would have more screen time in season 2 with better character development. Also, the Mexican-themed party where Jana and Luka (P-Chris) kiss is really cultural appropriation at its finest. The beautiful scene where these two characters, whom I greatly ship together, is kind of destroyed by the huge sombrero hanging off of Luka’s neck. Maybe next season the writers can think of better themes for parties that don’t really include taking another culture and not really giving it the respect it deserves. Another problem I have is with the character of Jens himself, and how popular of a character he is compared to the other characters on social media, even though some of the things he says to Jana are very troubling. In the scene where Jana and Jens are talking on a bench by a lake/ocean, Jens mentions Jana’s drinking and comparing it to his choice to smoke weed. For his character to use his girlfriend’s choice to drink alcohol against her, and use it as leverage to justify his decision to skip out on the planned dinner with her mom to smoke weed and lying to her about who he was with seems much more questionable than the OG’s excuse. It was surprising to me how his character has the most Instagram followers out of everyone in the cast, most possibly because he is very good-looking, but still it is quite odd to see a character say very troubling things to be the most followed. Also, the decision for them to have a breakup sex scene I feel like was unnecessary for this remake, as unlike some other Eva and Jonas versions, their relationship seems less physical so it was kind of awkward for them to do that since they haven’t been doing that as much throughout the season. Another minor complaint is with the music choices. I have greatly enjoyed many songs from the WTFock spotify playlist, but the sheer number of them are so many that sometimes it detracts from the scenes that it is included with. Out of all the remakes, I think WTFock have used the most number of songs in just the first season, so maybe they can scale back on that a bit, quality over quantity. Despite not being the international fandom’s favorite remake, WTFock has achieved major success domestically, reaching 3 million views just from being an online series and got a spot to air on TV. The show runners have created the very good framework to expand into the next season, and with a few fixes here and there, I think this remake could get even better. I hope some of the casts’ interests could be incorporated into their characters next season, for example the actor who plays Luka does parkour, maybe we could get a scene where he showcases his skills to impress Jana. WTFock is the remake that has the very high chance of being renewed further. Also, this remake has got to be the show that says its name within the show the most out of any I’ve watch, maybe not say WTFock every episode, cause I’m pretty sure anytime I watch a movie or show where a character says the name of the film/show, my mind goes “Roll credits”, but that’s a personal thing. 

3. Tie- SKAM NL (1 completed season, and renewed for a second) and SKAM Italia (2 completed season, and completed filming for a third)

For me personally both SKAM NL and SKAM Italia have some great qualities to it, however, these remakes have some major issues that is harder for me to get passed. Had they been slightly different, these remakes would probably be at the top of my ranking. 

SKAM NL:

SKAM NL is one of the newer remakes to come out this year, and it did not disappoint. Season 1 is focused on Isa (Eva) and her storyline similar to that of the OG. The best thing going for SKAM NL is the casting choices. This cast is the most diverse out of all the remakes, Kes (Jonas), Imaan (Sana), Liv (Noora) etc. are all POC. This is the first remake to have a biracial Noorhelm, with the first biracial couple being Emma and Yann from SKAM France. There are so many great characters in SKAM NL, many which differ from the OG’s personalities. Even the pilot episode, which most remakes have copied exactly like the OG, was made very different in NL with Gijs (P-Chris) coming to introduce himself to Isa instead of her trying to find someone with a similar name, and for Isa to be entranced by Liv’s singing before they talk about Olivia (Ingrid) calling Isa a slut. The actress who plays Isa interpreted her role very different from any other version of Eva, which I think makes her the standout for NL. She’s fiercely herself in a way that the other Evas weren’t, and her confrontation scene with Olivia is one of the best, because instead of them both breaking down to tears, Isa makes the remark of something similar to “He (Kes) got both of us here, and look at us now.” which hit me as I came to greatly appreciate her version of the character. Another character which surprised me was Engel (Vilde). Her soft, sweet, and all thing pink personality was somewhat in line with the OG, but in the scene where the girls fought Gijs’ girlfriend, it was Engel who was one of the most proactive participants of the fight. She is one of the most naive Vildes, sometimes a little too naive, but her conversation with Isa on the street where she says something along the lines of “I admire you for who you are, but then you were not who I thought you were.” gave her character more depth than some other Vildes had. In general, all of the performances were great, and the soundtrack is excellent. The song accompanying Noah’s (William) first entrance was iconic and was stuck in my head for a few days. 

Because SKAM NL airs on TV as well as is released online, the amount of time for each episode have been an issue for me. Especially during the necessarily longer clips like the one where Isa confronts Kes after the news leaked about her kiss with Gijs, the scene was too short and didn’t give the audience enough time to process what the two were saying to each other and the emotional impact it has on their relationship before Kes stormed off with his skateboard and Isa was left alone. If the show had been online series only, I think the show itself could afford to be a bit longer and would have more success since its air time on TV was making it compete directly with one of the most popular shows in the Netherlands. In general, SKAM NL has been a very good series for me up until the season 1 finale, which had some moments where I really questioned the decisions made by the writers. First, the Isa and Kes breakup scene, where all they did was have sex. I know that their relationship is quite physical, so the scene did not feel weird, but afterwards they did not speak to each other much about their relationship and the impact their choices had to its ultimate doom. The breakup conversation to me is more important than the sex scene because it shows the character’s maturity in that they realize both of them have done wrong and should fix themselves before they can reunite. The cinematography for all of the series are great, but like SKAM NL I need Kes and Isa to talk more about their relationship ending. I think this directly links with the whole TV time slot problem that I mentioned before. It was very disappointing for me to see that the character of Imaan was not very prevalent in the show, not showing up to the final party. I know what it was mentioned the actress had personal issues that made her unavailable for filming, but I hope that come next season her character is more incorporated in the show, since her entrance scene is one of the best Sana introduction in all of the remakes. Another character whom I questioned the choices his character made in the finale was Noah. His character is wildly different from OG William, he’s the cool, artsy, weed-smooking type, which I really liked since it is so unique. However, in the final party when he apologized to Engel about insulting her, he also slipped Liv a note (which we did not get to see what was in it) in front of her friends. I know that most of the William characters only apologized to get Noora to agree on a date, making them have an ulterior motive, but Noah’s apology seem the most sincere out of all of them. I’m not quite sure how the writers are going to take on this characters and his relationship with Liv next season, but I hope they somehow justify his poor apology somewhat. Because I like their relationship’s dynamics, especially after that banter about “If you can count, don’t count on it” and the book head tap thing, but now I’m questioning myself for liking his character a bit. I appreciate that after a text was released where Janna (Chris) made a rape joke, the show-runners saw that the viewers didn’t like it and pulled it from the show, as they are displaying that they listen to their audience. Despite not being a complete success domestically, I feel like many international viewers loved SKAM NL’s changes to the OG, making it their favorite remake, for good reasons. I hope they improve on some of the issues from the first season and I can’t wait to see where Liv and Noah take us. 

SKAM Italia:

The golden standard of remakes, also the most popular domestically and internationally, set the bar high for remakes after it. The beautiful cinematography from season 1, along with the best acting performances from all of the remakes from Eva (Eva) and Martino (Isak). SKAM Italia has no many things going for it, the dynamics of the relationships, the girl squad and performances make it the “best remake” in many viewers’ opinions, also its IMBD score is also the highest out of all of the remakes, just a bit lower than OG SKAM. I would say that this remake is the most mature/risqué remake of them all. The inclusion of nudity in Eva and Gio (Jonas) sex scene make it much more passionate and stands out from others. Their relationship as a whole is quite a bit different from others, in the fact that Gio is like Eva’ best friend and boyfriend, as he understands her very well, even knowing where she will be without her telling him. In general, the couples of SKAM Italia have very good chemistry with one another, even Eleonora (Noora) and Eduardo (William), who have only shared a few scenes together, yet have palpable chemistry on screen. As season  3 have been confirmed as Eleonora’s, it would be very interesting to see their dynamics for full episodes instead of a few clips. Season 1 of SKAM Italia many consider even better than OG, I really don’t like saying anything is better than the original, but I will say that certain aspects of it is better, but not as a whole season. Season 2 has garnered critical acclaim, as the performances of Martino and Nico (Even) are very good. They hit many of the same points the OG did, like the underwater pool kiss, Nico having his mental breakdown leading to him running naked around the city, Martino’s home problems. However, I loved that in this remake, Martino and his mom somewhat made up, despite the fact that she can be a somewhat absentee parent, she ultimately loves her son and accepts him for who he is.  This season also creates this great bond between the boys of the boy squad, especially Gio and Martino, with Gio being the supportive friend Martino needed during some of his lowest points.

The biggest issue I have, and I think many would agree, is that SKAM Italia’s casting is very strange to say the least. A smaller aspect of it is that most of the cast is in their 20s, with Edoardo’s actor being 27, and most of them look their age, it is quite strange to see the actors looking like older college students playing high school roles. But since most of them are more experienced actors, I don’t think that the age makes a huge difference in the overall series. However, the casting choice for Sana (Sana) on the other hand is my biggest gripe. The actress who plays this character is not a Muslim person, nor is she a POC. The SKAM Italia cast is like all white people, which some may say “no one wants a POC character thrown in for no reason” but since SKAM is a reflection of teenagers in a diverse environment, especially set in Rome, one of the most popular cities in Europe, there is no excuse for not casting POC. The reason why OG Sana was authentic is because she playings parts of herself in the role, as a young Muslim hijab-wearing women in Oslo, and her experiences with discrimination/racism. As a white person who is not Muslim, I don’t really know how that Italian Sana is going to accurately portray the experiences of a young Muslim hijab-wearing women in Rome without having experienced it firsthand. I read somewhere that the actress is learning Arabic and reading the Quran to prepare for her season (don’t know if this is factual), but I hope that if (when) her season comes she can do the role some justice. It’s just kind of hard to get excited for the season where you know that its not going to be truly authentic. My biggest annoyance with season 2 is the cinematography. Compared to season 1, season 2 happens a lot at night, so many things happen in the dark or very dim lighting, making really hard to see what the hell is going on in certain scenes. I had to turn my screen brightness to the highest point to decipher what was happening sometimes. I know it is a metaphor for Martino’s turbulent situation and what not, but if I can’t even see that well what is happening in each scene, then Martino’s great performance has gone to waste. There were quite a few scandals over the run of season 2, like Nico saying the n-word during a scene. I agree that the viewers where justified in being mad at that, but for the director and the actors to try and justify their decision to include this scene was really troubling. The director of SKAM Italia is a very problematic person, in that he doesn’t admit that he’s wrong for casting Sana or the n-word scene, trying to justify his mistakes is just something I don’t want to see from someone who has the creative control of such a good series. Even some of the texts shared between the boy squad is really uncomfortable, as they sort of fat shame Federica (Chris), even though she invited them to her birthday party. The soundtrack is pretty good, but not my favorite, as I don’t really know much about some of the songs they have chosen. Overall, I can’t wait for season 3 to air, as I know it would be good. But for season 4, I’m not sure what to expect. There are some major issues for me with SKAM Italia, but I will continue to watch it until either I can’t stand the director’s decisions anymore or the dark scenes officially get too dark for me to see what’s going on. 

4. SKAM Espana (1 completed season, and renewed for a second)

The remake with the most changes to its name, SKAM Espana is surprising us viewers left and right with its twists and turns. My thing with this remake is that some of the changes I loved and some were did not agree with me. I was shocked that this remake was renewed for another season even before the first episode aired, as the first clip introducing Alejandro (William) garnered many international viewers’ interest.The main for season 1 is Eva (Eva), who is quite a unique Eva in her own right. She is the one Eva who cries the most often, and is more vulnerable compared to the OG. She doesn’t raise her opinion on things because she doesn’t want to lose her boyfriend, who she suspects has been lying to her. Her boyfriend Jorge (Jonas) is similar to other Jonas but instead of doing drugs behind her back, he was making her a really bad fake ID so that they can drink/club together. I don’t necessarily feel as much chemistry between them as compared to Druck’s or SKAM Italia’s version, so I am very grateful that they spared us the breakup sex scene and instead just had these two talk it out with one another. The scene was beautiful, starting with the barrier in between them and shooting at an angle where they look/feel separated, as opposed to the beginning of the season where they were stuck to the hip. Nora (Noora) and Eva’s friendship is very precious, as Nora stuck by Eva’s side when no one else would. She was the most supportive friend in the group and her interactions with Alejandro have been quite entertaining, with the last clip of them talking on a bench, her showing her jealousy really cute. The most beautiful change this version made was for Lucas (Isak) to come out to Eva that he is gay, instead of being exposed by his internet history by the Evas and Nooras of other remakes. The scene was touching, and the actors stepped up to the plate with his performance of a teen coming out of the closet. I loved that the finale scene was Eva spending her birthday with her girlfriends enjoying themselves, being the happy teenager that she deserves to be. 

Many people have an issue with SKAM Espana’s casting, and I kind of agree but for a different aspect of it. A lot of people say that the cast look really young, but since Nora’s actress is 16 and Alejandro’s actor is 18, I don’t really see a huge problem as long as their acting skills are good. However, the cast is really white, not as bad as SKAM Italia, but besides Amira (Sana), there are no other POC. Spain is a very diverse country, so to be so not diverse in casting is very disappointing. Also, the character of Cris (Chris) in this version is a very pretty, popular, skinny bisexual girl, very unlike the OG. My favorite remakes of this character have brought their own unique twists to the character, along with the funny aspects of the OG, like Druck’s Sam or SKAM Austin’s Jo, so for SKAM Espana’s Chris to be a regular pretty girl who kisses both boys and girls and is not interested in a relationship, I expected more out of her character, and hopefully I will see more in season 2. I kind of liked the twist of Lara (original character) being Chris’s girlfriend instead of some random girl Eva didn’t know. But the way the show handle the news being leaked by Viri (Vilde) and how the girl squad, besides Nora, kind of abandoned Eva afterwards is not what I wanted out of the situation and kind of ruined their group dynamics for me. Especially the way Amira, who was suspicious of something between Eva and Ines (Ingrid), tried goading Eva into telling her the story in a game of truth and dare. Also, how she treated Eva when the news hit and left her after saying “I asked you and you didn’t tell me”, even though Amira herself should know best how horrible it is to be ostracized by your peers. The cyberbullying instagram account spread across the school is a very different approach, but to suddenly one day after weeks of harassment, just by Viri posting a photo of Christian kissing another girl, everyone in school started to feel bad for Eva. I don’t really believe that is how it would have happened in real life, and also, Viri never truly redeemed herself after the leakage for me, as she was judging and seeing Eva in pain and still did nothing until things got way out of hand. After that happened everyone’s friends again, like if I was Eva I wouldn’t be so quick to accept these people back into my life after what they have done. Also, Eva accusing Lucas of being the leak and liking Jorge, especially after he came out to only her was a very low blow. Her apology wasn’t really adequate, but hey, if Lucas is okay with it then I guess we’re good. The ending didn’t feel right as it left a few questions unanswered and probably won’t answer it ever, like who was behind that instagram account that posted photos of Eva accusing her of being a prostitute and nasty stuff. The two more minor things that I really don’t get is the herpes/STDs and the cats. Alejandro giving Viri herpes is an important lesson for girls about protection and safe sex, but every time I see Alejandro on screen I see him with this blob of herpes thing on his lip, so does Viri. I know the actor who plays Alejandro is a model in real life, and he’s very handsome, but once you see someone with herpes, you really can’t unsee the herpes. Also, the crown for most confusing/weirdest SKAM scene I’ve ever seen is for SKAM Espana’s cat scene with Eva and Jorge. I was sat there thinking what the hell is this, what does any of this mean, like what am I watching. The soundtrack is ok, not great but not bad, I somewhat appreciate sentiment of including of a slower Spanish song during the fight scene, but it kind of killed the vibe of the scene for me. I am going to watch season 2, as there is potential for this remake to be better, but I’m not sure how they are going to go about it, since they have not announced who is going to be the main character for season 2 yet. The performances so far have been good for such young/inexperienced actors. 

5. SKAM France (2 completed seasons, completed filming for the third and fourth seasons)

Everyone says this remake is like the copy and paste version of OG SKAM, and I have to largely agree. Season 1 and 2 have been very cut and dry, not interesting to say the least. The main thing going for this remake is its potential for improvement for the next seasons. As there is a new director for seasons 3 and 4, and I have read somewhere that since France was the first remake, they were forced to follow the OG very closely so they could get the rights to it (cannot confirm if this is factual). What I appreciate most about SKAM France is the chemistry between Manon (Noora) and Charles (William), as they are a couple in real life, their performances show much passion and love for one another. The breakout star to me is Daphne (Vilde), as she is the classiest Vilde, the perfect combination of sweet, kind and also naivety. She is the one character out of the OG 4 that I hope gets her own season to explore her story further. Also, Emma’s (Eva) performance did improve between seasons 1 and 2, which is kind of ironic cause she’s funnier to me in the season that she’s not the main character. Also, the casting for SKAM France I think had diversity in mind, since Yann (Jonas), Imane (Sana) and Alex (P-Chris) are all POC. Besides the fact that the actors for Charles and Alex are really hot, I’m running out of positive things to say about SKAM France. 

The thing I think is the thing going against it the most is the filming schedule of this remake. Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed within about a month, and so did seasons 3 and 4. I think that is not enough time to film all of the necessary scenes and make them good. It is hard to take in audience feedback after you have already wrapped up filming months ago. Also, since the show is aired on TV, it runs into the same issue for me as SKAM NL, which is that due to the strict TV time slots, it cuts out important moments from the OG that builds the feel of authenticity and cuts things very short, especially the scene where in the OG Noora played the guitar and sang for William, which I wished the French version did, because the actress who plays Manon can sing. For me, in season 1, when Yann threw his skateboard to the floor I sort of bursted out laughing, which now thinking about it, it really wasn’t funny, but to me at the time the scene made no sense. Why are you throwing your skateboard on the ground, there are more ways to show anger/frustration, physical violence is not really necessary. Also, I am slightly concerned about season 3, as the actor who plays Lucas (Isak) hasn’t really done much of anything throughout the series. I hope that he is capable of taking on such an emotionally damaged character who has gone through and is going to be put through a lot in his season. I will watch SKAM France, but not likely to rewatch it in full. I like certain scenes, but those I can catch the clips of without having to watch an entire episode. I think this remake has a great potential to be renewed for more seasons outside of the OG 4, so here’s to hopping they put all of their creative juices together and make something original for Daphne’s journey. 

6. SKAM Austin (1 completed season, and renewed for a second)

The first SKAM series I watched and did not hold up over a second rewatch. It is not a bad show by any means, compared to other US teen shows this is probably one of the most realistic ones (compared to stuff like Riverdale), but as someone who lived in Austin and went through a Texas high school this show falls very short of reality. The thing I liked most about the show was the confrontation scene where Grace (Noora) says “Move!” to Daniel (William), that was iconic and I rewatched that scene several times. The best thing to come out of SKAM Austin is Jo (Chris), she’s a funny, unique, charismatic Latina and I honestly have met people just like her, so I loved seeing a character that resembles real people. A YouTuber that I watched said something along the lines of SKAM Austin guys aren’t that hot, and compared to their European counterparts, they aren’t really. But as someone who’s been through high school here, let’s just say the pickings are slim, and you got the best ones out of it. Also, Shay (Isak) is a very interesting character and I hope to see where her season goes, if they get renewed. Don’t know too much about her, but I liked how Grace discovered that she was already out as a lesbian to Tyler (original character), it is more believable than checking the person’s browser history. Another nice touch was Jo (P-Chris) and Megan having hooked up before, giving it more of a backstory, but that really wasn’t explained further than their discussion on the bowling date, which pretty much went no where. 

I’m glad that Julie is getting her SKAM on, but to be honest with you, I would have rather had a different person at the creative control for this show. Because there are a lot of plot holes/things that don’t make sense, which shows that whoever wrote it doesn’t really know much about Texas high schools or American teenagers in general. Football season ends in December-ish, depending on whether your team makes it to the playoffs and advances further to state or not. So football practice in May is not believable, cause summer camp for football players start during the summer holidays. I know we all kind of enjoy the cliche of Americans playing football, but honestly, if you do it, please do it right. The dance team, which also makes no sense to me. The girls’ parents make monthly payments to pay for trips to competitions, uniforms, training camps, etc. Once you quit, your parents would know pretty soon that you’re not on the team, so I’m quite surprised that Megan’s (Eva) parents kept paying hundreds of dollars for something she wasn’t doing anymore. And creating a new dance team takes more than just 5 students, there is the coach, the assistant coach, all of the costume, performance training, etc. And so for Zoya (Sana) to want to join a dance team, aka the girls who perform at football games, is very odd to me because their uniforms are not conservative. The premise them getting together with football guys so they get to perform at the games and be more popular is ludicrous, because the people putting football game performances together are the band director, cheer director and the dance team director, not the football players themselves. Maybe if you wanted to be more popular, then yes, getting with football guys will get you there, but they can’t really help your dance team recruit people. In my high school with over 2 thousand students, there was only 1 hijab-wearing girl, and we had a few classes together. Let’s just say I went to high school in a more conservative part of Texas and I have never seen the girl been treated badly or been ostracized for her religion, and Austin is a much more liberal and diverse city. Since in the school here you go from elementary to high school with pretty much the same people, most of these kids have known each other for years if they hadn’t moved from the school district, so it is hard for me to believe that these girls (beside Grace) have never met each other before. I wish that had picked something else to kind of get the girls together, since anyone who’s been through high school knows this is unrealistic. I also wish they had done something else to show Zoya being discriminated against, cause I am really tired of the dumb blond cliche. I also never got the idea for a regional/city SKAM, cause usually the remakes are SKAM (country name), and so had it been SKAM USA, I won’t have griped on so much, but since it has Austin in the name, I am disappointed it did not capture the authentic feel of a Texas public high school. Some of the actors are not from Texas, so you can kind of pick up their West/East Coast accents, not the biggest problem, but noticeable if you are from here. The use of slang words were kind of all over the place, just because teens say “Lit” a lot doesn’t mean you should incorporate it into every scene, this feels like how an adult would use teen slang, very awkward placement. Also, I am not sure why there weren’t many more trendy things if they were going for the authenticity. No whip and nae nae, no the floor is lava, no flipping a half full water bottle to make it stand straight, and no dabbing. I mean, the best American high school has to offer is not incorporated. Since the show is on Facebook, I know they have to use Facebook products, but seriously, no teen uses Facebook to connect with friends, they do it for the older family members to message them, and maybe see a few racist/homophobic posts made by them. The actors are young and inexperienced, so I can kind of get not having their performances be the best of the best, but Megan is not good at all. I’m sorry, but her performance was the weak link in this whole thing, and her and Marlon are the most annoying couple of all SKAM, and that’s including Vilde and Magnus from the OG, who were sucking faces 24/7. Their relationship was pretty shitty and I was not rooting for either of them, especially after I found out that Marlon was a drug dealer and Megan still stayed with him. All they did was smush and argue, with not good chemistry or emotions from Megan. Marlon is pretty delusional in that he thinks his music is 1) good, 2) something he can live off of. Also, the car wash breakup sex scene is so overdone at this point. Has anyone ever been to a car wash, it doesn’t last that long, so all that passionate smushing probably lasted for a maximum of 3 minutes in real life. The bowling date was weird in that there was no one else there besides them, so did 4 teenagers rent out an entire bowling alley for a double date? The actors are teenagers from Texas for the most part, so I am kind of shocked that they didn’t tell Julie and the writers about how they would act in school to add to the realism. I am very thankful that watching this series led me to discovering SKAM universe, but I am sort of not the most excited for season 2, since having watched how great all of the remakes are, it’s very hard to compete. I don’t know how the show is going to go on after season 2, since Daniel is graduating in May/June, so after that is Grace going to London with him? Because of the long hiatus, the show has 2 more seasons after season 2 to do if they want to do it the OG way, and there’s like one year left on the clock to do so, but like the show only produces one season a year, so I’m not sure how it’s going to work out. Wishing them the best, hope they get renewed so they can improve. When season 2 comes, I may watch it just to see if anything’s improved.

Notes and observations about the way different remakes handle the actors social media: 

It was really interesting to see SKAM NL and SKAM Espana come out at the same time, yet have such different approach to the actors’ social media usage. SKAM Espana actors all have their social media on private and they don’t really post anything, according to what I’ve heard. But SKAM NL cast have public social media, and they comment and like stuff if they are tagged on it. SKAM Austin, SKAM Italia, and SKAM France cast also have public social media. Some of the SKAM Italia cast will also answer questions about the show if you DM them, which is pretty cool. On the flip side, Druck and WTFock’s cast is have private Instagrams. But weirdly enough I have seen some of the WTFock cast like stuff on Twitter, along with their director, which is cool since they know what their audience is responding to. The actor who plays Alex on Druck, Chris Veres, posts Instagram lives where he answered questions about the show, but for the rest of the cast they are pretty irregular with social media usage. 

Please let me know if you agree or disagree with me, and what things you thought I overlooked in my evaluation of each remake. I’m open to hear your thoughts as well, but please don’t diss one remake/version for another. We all love different things. Sorry for the long essay length, I got so into it and spent 5 hours typing my thoughts it, it may not be very cohesive, but it pretty summarizes my thoughts on each remake and the reasoning behind it.