SKAM 2015

TLDR: As someone who normally cringes away when the words 'teen drama' describe a show, I can heartily recommend SKAM. You should absolutely watch it. However, it does take about three episodes before things kick up, so if you're on the fence watch up until that point. In the event that you're not familiar with the Norwegian tradition of Russefeiring look it up before you start as it helps to explain a key part of the plot.

This comment is going to be long because despite SKAM being simple, it's so different from your average show.

No show really has a following like SKAM. The internet has near endless Tumblr pages and fan-made art. I'm also pretty sure that it was the most tweeted thing in the world while it was airing (over shows like Game of Thrones). This sort of thing never really has happened for any foreign media before. SKAM became the most streamed TV show in the Scandinavian countries of all time by far (being more than half of all video streams in Norway during its airing), and became the biggest success of pretty much everyone involved. As of last year, pirated copies (especially of the third season) were downloaded hundreds of millions of times in China, where the show's depiction of homosexuality is certainly illegal. Even now, over three year after the show ended, the internet still bubbles with new people encountering this remarkable show.

As I understand it, the show's creator Julie Andem and her team took data and interviewed hundreds of Norwegian teenagers in order to develop an idea of how they live their lives and what they struggle with and wove that into 9 distinct characters before scriptwriting began. Writing then began; the first few seasons were sketched out and the first season began being written scene by scene.

SKAM is unique as it occurs in real-time. Not only did episodes air during the week of when everything was 'really' happening, but each scene of the episode aired online before the whole episode at the exact time that they were happening in the plot, this is why each clip starts with the day of the week and time. Not only that, but the incredibly small team also actively maintained real-time social media accounts (usually Facebook and Instagram) for nearly all of the extended cast. On top of all that, text-exchanges between characters were also posted between episode clips on the SKAM website.

I was, unfortunately, like everyone else who is just now happening on SKAM, too late to experience the anxiety of waiting between clips and posts about the characters in real-time, as the show is now long finished. The great thing about SKAM, though, is that it is so good that it doesn't matter how you watch it, only that you do. The unique format isn't a niche and doesn't constrain the actual storytelling at all.

SKAM is set in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, and follows new a teenager each season as they live their life as high-schoolers (yes, the high school they attend actually exists). These teenagers all attend the same school at the same time, so it isn't an anthology series, but each character is significantly disconnected from the last so each season brings completely new conflicts, even if some of the characters remain the same.

While I've never been in a Norwegian school or lived in Norway for any extended period of time, authenticity oozes from every scene. Often the show runners asked the cast (who are not played by 30-year-olds like American shows) to wear their own clothes or bring their own backpacks to shoot; they had many cast members who were attending or had attended the actual school that SKAM is centered around and, of course, they used the extensive background information to write scenes from real people's experiences.

SKAM is also very quiet. The performances aren't overacted, the pacing is akin to a mystery novel, and the show holds enough respect for the viewer that not everything has to be explicitly stated. You can see that characters are attracted to each other without a character needing to reveal an inner monologue or be asked by someone else. That's not to say that SKAM is slow: it gets more across in its irregularly timed 15-25 minute blocks then most shows get across in 45 minute action-packed episodes. I never really felt bored while watching any part of this show because every scene (especially so in the 3rd season) is so expertly packed full of significance I'm left wanting more.

While the show isn't officially available outside of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, the internet is crawling with English (and any every other big language) subtitled episodes of the whole show because of the massive fanbase. I highly recommend starting from the beginning, however if you only have the time for one, the best season in my opinion (and most the internet's) is the third. It's the shortest season and because of the nature of the show you can watch any season on its own if you really care to.

To really understand how good this show is you have to watch it, but if you don't mind a minor spoiler, I have a few words about relatability to the storytelling. The third season addresses male homosexuality in the most realistic way I have EVER seen in media. As someone who has experienced something similar to the main protagonist, it is so refreshing to see gay people who are people first and gay second. The struggle between what is seen as gay and what is gay in reality is something so relatable especially as someone who also was dealing with very similar issues at the same time in my life as the main character. To someone desperately browsing forums and taking gay quizzes while in an effort to deny a truth that they knew is so deeply incredibly moving to see depicted on a TV show, as it's exactly what I did.

As a final cultural note for those non-Norwegians looking to watch the show, make sure you look up Russefeiring as it play a significant role in three of the four seasons. Also know that the show's name skam translates to shame in English. As with all foreign shows, you will definitely understand the show better if you have a grasp of Norwegian (as I'm blessed to have), and Norwegian culture but that is certainly NOT a requirement to enjoy the show.

Also, lesser quality (although usually not bad) spinoffs have been created for different countries. Watch this first before considering a spinoff. It's like reading the book before watching the movie.

I simply can’t sing enough praises for the incredible acting, cinematography, editing, and music either. The combination of all of these things done so expertly is something that should be studied in film classes all around the world. SKAM is firmly in my Must-Watch category.