SKAM season 3 talkback series: episode 10, “Minutt for minutt”
The SKAM season 3 rewatch talkback series was done in conjunction with a first-time watch for a small group of newbies. I talked to a cross-section of fans about each episode so our newbies could get a varied taste of what the SKAM fandom was about.
Talk back with first wave fanwork enabler, @skamskada (aka imminentinertia on AO3)
SKAM 3.10: Minutt for minutt conducted on 22, December 2019
@skamskada: Hello!
@ghostcat3000: Hello, hello! Welcome to the chat for Minutt for minutt, the final episode of SKAM Season 3! Thank you, skamskada for joining us!
skamskada: My pleasure :smile:
Ghostcat: Just got back from last minute Christmas errands. I am still not ready. I will never be ready.
skamskada: Well, in that case...
Ghostcat: I mean for Christmas, not for this sit-down. Can you give us some background on how you started watching SKAM?
skamskada: As so many great things, it started with a nasty cold. And I needed something to watch while I wallowed in my snot and misery
Ghostcat: No Murder Channel on Norwegian cable?
skamskada: Don't really use linear TV… However, everybody was talking about Skam so I gave the first season a go. HOOKED.
Ghostcat: Was this after it had aired or while it was airing?
skamskada: From the first episode. It was just at the start of S3.
Ghostcat: What was it about that first episode that nabbed you?
skamskada: Binged all of S1 and S2 in a day and a half. Basically I'm Eva. I loved the acting, which is remarkably non-stilted, and I loved Eva.
Ghostcat: Yes, beautifully natural. Unusual for a teen show.
skamskada: And then I watched S3 live.
Ghostcat: Ha ha ha, welcome to the terrordome.
skamskada: We all LIVED AND BREATHED s3 and s4. But I'm sure the other Norwegians have talked about that. Oh hell. Cat incoming. Brb. Had to clear her off the laptop.
Ghostcat: Sure thing. They love warmth.
skamskada: I loved S1, wasn't so keen on the Noorhelm arc but liked Noora.
Ghostcat: Understandable. though I'm always surprised to hear that it was popular.
skamskada: SUPER popular.
Ghostcat: All that “William must answer!” business.
skamskada: I couldn't see the appeal but apparently dysfunctional relationships are the shit.
Ghostcat: Lol. So going into season three, were you excited to see Isak's season or just mildly curious?
skamskada: Excited! It was obvs a coming out story, or so we thought after seeing that gorgeous trailer.
Ghostcat: Right, fantastic trailer.
skamskada: And I'm queer. All queer kids on TV are my brothers and sisters.
Ghostcat: Yes, definitely something many of us can identify with.
skamskada: At this point I'm sure you all know that it was less of a coming out tale and more of a story of acceptance and understanding others and oneself.
Ghostcat: Did you go in with preconceived notions about how the story would be told?
skamskada: I trusted Julie to not do the obvious shit, since she's broken up Eva and Jonas, but I was a bit scared since she did Noorhelm. But at that point I don't think anybody took anything for granted. She kept throwing curveballs.
Ghostcat: One relationship has a great deal of subtlety and depth, the other I never quite believed.
skamskada: And that goes for E10 as well―watching live, we were scared shitless when the first clip of that episode aired, since she was unpredictable. Even though we'd had O Helga Natt.
Ghostcat: That first clip is unusually hushed and tender but interestingly, not mawkish. It's unsentimental, brisk but full of feeling. That is so difficult to pull off.
skamskada: It's so comforting, and so beautifully teenage-y still.
Ghostcat: And yet, there it is.
skamskada: Amazing acting and amazing instruction. Which was precisely Julie's goal, bless her.
Ghostcat: I'm constantly amazed watching this show how it manages to dole out messages, have teaching moments WITHOUT being condescending. All these messages feel earned. Lived-in and true.
skamskada: Isak has learned so much! And he applies it!
Ghostcat: Always. He's learning and applying. But also gaining strength. My favorite moment in that scene is how he shuts Even down with that decisive, hoarse little Nei.
skamskada: Enough is enough. He's obvs scared of losing Even (again) and he's not having it.
Ghostcat: Just one eye clearly visible and with a trembly voice.
skamskada: I have to give endless kudos to the cinematographer.
Ghostcat: Clear something up for me if you know it...is it the same D.P. (director of photography, @newyearsirresolution) as season one?
skamskada: Can't remember tbh. I'd have to check.
Ghostcat: I'd heard that there was a different one for season two but that it was the same one as season one… The cinematography and direction for season three was so specific. Precisely because of the Luhrmann nods and the various movie call-outs. It has a very tight visual look, deliberate but not labored.
skamskada: The great resemblance between the two seasons is that it's very sparse, tight as you say. Noora's season is wider, visually richer. And that reflects the characters.
Ghostcat: I love the switch too, from the the velvety darkness of that first clip to the brightness of Isak by his locker, with that big, fluffy hair. Everything about the clip is a big, clear inhalation/exhalation.
skamskada: He floofs up when he's happy.
Ghostcat: He's relaxed.
skamskada: So he puts on his big boy pants and even apologises to Emma.
Ghostcat: The way he laughs with Vilde, but then deals with her without being a dick and then closes the loop with Emma.
skamskada: He tidies up the messes he's left when he had a really shit time. Let's not forget that he lived in a basement for a while, even. I really dislike the grumpy Isak fanon since he DID have a shit time and anybody would be a little testy if their life was that down the drain.
Ghostcat: The episode has got a similar vibe to the end of A Christmas Carol only way more chill. Isak is no Scrooge but there he is, doing his best, spreading the love. A valuable member of Kosegruppa at last.
skamskada: He is, albeit a little reluctantly when it comes to running Vilde's errands. But he DOES. He goes and gets the damn tree.
Ghostcat: With Even.
skamskada: Very likely with Even. After Even has made the Great Reveal―looking like a sparkly Disney princess as he does.
Ghostcat: Gets a smoochy photo on insta, isn't that from that day and running that errand? Maybe I'm getting the social media mixed up…
skamskada: The #No filter photo is from that day.
Ghostcat:
#nofilter
The social media this season is superb. All of it looks so natural, not stagey
skamskada: Beautifully done.
Ghostcat: Were you surprised by the Great Reveal, as you call it, or had you suspected as much watching live?
skamskada: Watching live, the masses were divided on Even being interested at all or just playing Isak, but I took one look at Even at the Kosegruppa meeting and went "oh, he's thirsty af." So I was pretty sure he'd at the very least noticed Isak when their eyes met in the cafeteria.
Ghostcat: Ha ha ha.
skamskada: It wasn't a huge surprise that he'd crushed on Isak for two months at that time.
Ghostcat: Yes, Even is AMPED at the Kosegruppa meeting. When is the first day of school roughly? Late August?
skamskada: He's scanning the crowd and he stops when he sees Isak! Mid-August.
Ghostcat: MID-August. As Isak says, Wow.
skamskada: Summer is pretty much over in Norway by then so.
Ghostcat: Plenty time to really build someone up in your head.
skamskada: Definitely.
Ghostcat: HOW ON EARTH DID ISAK NOT NOTICE HIM? A mystery for the ages.
skamskada: Even must have been so elated when Isak finally did!
Ghostcat: Yes, that first look in the cafeteria.
skamskada: And that's where Even decides to give it a go, I think.
Ghostcat: NOW'S MY CHANCE TO SHINE.
skamskada: ASSUME THE PAPER TOWEL USAGE POSITION.
Ghostcat: Ha ha ha.
skamskada: But Isak's face when Even tells him, omg omg omg. That little "oh."
Ghostcat: It is the cutest thing. You can feel it! That warmth is our warmth.
skamskada: It's HUGE for Isak so he just ohs and smiles but that smile comes from all of his body.
Ghostcat: It's funny that Isak thinks all of that was just him at the start.
skamskada: If I hadn't already fallen in love with them being in love that scene would have cinched it.
Ghostcat: They sell love really well this season.
skamskada: Right down to the pragmatism in the last clip.
Ghostcat: Just the window scene alone felt so real. Like actually falling hard for someone.
skamskada: SO HARD.
Ghostcat: (Refrains from making joke)
skamskada: Shush.
Ghostcat: The fandom was very divided on Sonja too, I'm sure.
skamskada: Er. The hatred was unmixed, I'm afraid.
Ghostcat: Did everyone loathe her?
skamskada: Definitely. But come on. Even cheats.
Ghostcat: Did that first clip restore her reputation a little?
skamskada: Not a nice thing. It did, yes.
Ghostcat: There's an interesting dynamic there for sure.
skamskada: They seem afraid to let each other go while at the same time they're evidently tired of each other.
Ghostcat: It's all they've known since they were 14, which...makes sense.
skamskada: Possibly all through Even's diagnosis.
Ghostcat: Young people sometimes think I'll never have this again
skamskada: And no doubt it was good once.
Ghostcat: Yes, though it is interesting that Even stresses that his feelings for Isak are different. It's not that Isak is a way out, but that it is much more than that―he is something real. Which is one of the themes of the season. What is real and what is not. What we believe and what is true.
skamskada: I suspect Even has forgotten what falling in love with Sonja was like, so falling in love again must be intense.
Ghostcat: Sure, but then again, falling in love at 14 is not falling in love at 18 or 19.
skamskada: It's not.
Ghostcat: You have a better sense of yourself. It's more than a pretty face, a kind voice, shared likes.
skamskada: And Even may have been pretty shook when he could fall for someone, hard (no jokes!), even though Sonja is a permanent fixture in his life. It must have made him question a lot of things.
Ghostcat: (HARD)
skamskada: Shush.
Ghostcat: Definitely. Though I wonder how much of a part of his life Sonja continues to be after this. That's also a big life lesson.
skamskada: Could go either way, good friends or ripping out those pages of one's book.
Ghostcat: The end of that first relationship that used to mean so much but when it is, there's this vast relief you never expected.
skamskada: Sonja is SO GENEROUS in the first clip of E10 though.
Ghostcat: Definitely. I'm thinking of her relief mostly.
skamskada: She seems like a very good person at heart, so I hope they stay friends. But now we're into fic territory.
Ghostcat: I don't think I've seen too much exploration of that in fic? Which brings me around to a detour… When and how did you get involved in fan work for this show?
skamskada: Oh God. Cracks knuckles. I've lurked in fandoms for over a decade and was quite active in one back in the day, so I kept an eye on AO3 for Skam fics―the first one is from October 2016 and it's Isak/Eskild, btw.
Ghostcat: Really?
skamskada: And then @towonderland72 started posting a chaptered fic, and she asked for help with some Oslo stuff in her AN, so I commented. It's all her fault.
Ghostcat: Isak... x Eskild??
skamskada: Indeed, Isak/Eskild. This was before we knew Evak was endgame.
Ghostcat: Huh.
skamskada: The next one was Evak though.
Ghostcat: You volunteered to be a point person for Norwegian facts. That's BIG.
skamskada: Um. The Americanisms were killing me.
Ghostcat: Like what?
skamskada: Hahaha. Blankets in bed, not duvets. Bottled water at home. Trojan condoms.
Ghostcat: Ha ha ha
skamskada: etc etc etc etc. So with towonderland72 as an enabler, I wrote the guide and posted it, and answered a fuckton of pms.
Ghostcat: I've been thinking about how English language writers in non-English language fandoms struggle with specificity with language.
skamskada: Oh yes.
Ghostcat: It's difficult to do.
skamskada: I was actually a Brit-picker in the HP fandom, so I figured I can Norway-pick.
Ghostcat: This is the first fandom where I've seen fics in the show's actual language and have desperately wanted to read them.
skamskada: With good reason, some of them are AMAZING. Also Swedish ones.
Ghostcat: I'mma hit you up for recs at some point.
skamskada: Aye aye. I've translated a couple of my own. But only the short and easy ones.
Ghostcat: Nice. You’ve certainly done a lot to generate fanwork and deserve a big shoutout for that.
skamskada: Thank you!
Ghostcat: :clap:
skamskada: I'm very pleased with the @evakteket challenges. People have enjoyed them and they've generated nice fics. Oh and that's how I started writing fics again, after I quit many years ago...
Ghostcat: Can you translate that for the uninitiated? -teket?
skamskada: The Evakteque, basically. The Evak library.
Ghostcat: Lovely.
skamskada: Where towonderland72 and I recced fics for two years. With the aid of @fille-lioncelle the last half year or so. We wanted fandom to have a good rec blog, and so we ended up making one...The first challenge we made, we were terrified nobody would want to write for it, so we wrote ourselves to get at least two participants. Cough. And that's how I ended up writing fic again.
Ghostcat: you HAD to. FOR FANDOM.
skamskada: Hahaha.
Ghostcat: nO oThEr REasoNNN.
skamskada: In total, there were four rec blogs in fandom, but one posted for a month or two. Now there are none, really.
Ghostcat: I still see recs here and there.
skamskada: Yeah, but sporadic. Personal faves, mostly
Ghostcat: Back to Minutt for minutt.
skamskada: Yes, ma'am.
Ghostcat: Kosegruppa has a party and we don't really expect to see Even there.
skamskada: No, because he has practically begged off, but THERE HE IS. And Isak is delighted.
Ghostcat: But there he is looking a little messy but smiling and Isak is all dressed up in a nice shirt, holding his beer like he's having tea with the queen.
skamskada: Tarjei holds everything soooo gently.
Ghostcat: Such a poised young man. (And probable handless alien as per @newyearsirresolution theory)
skamskada: Isak is in a great mood, everything is in place and he's even seen his mum and dad again, although briefly―I miss some texts with them in that episode tbh.
Ghostcat: Like, ummm where'd you go, son? Missed the Nils Bech concert. poor form.
skamskada: I so love the final scene with Eva, where Isak isn't at all "oh this will be great for ever and ever", he's learned so much and he's not taking it for granted.
Ghostcat: That brings me round to @heihallohadet's question for you.
skamskada: I also love the girls making questionable decorations. Yes!
Ghostcat: What did you think of Isak’s answer to Eva’s question “is he the man of your life?” Were you surprised or disappointed that he was saying he wasn’t sure Even was the man of his life, or did you interpret it positively?
skamskada: I interpreted it as "We'll see how this works out" which I ADORED, but which surprised me a bit. So positively, yes. I'm not a fan of believing a relationship is for life when you're 17 and 19.
Ghostcat: Surprised you because of how strong this love story was, that hearing that answer was not your typically TV thing?
skamskada: Yes, exactly. No riding into the sunset, pragmatism all the way. Like how the best solution for Eva is to be single for a while, happiness isn't necessarily the Significant Other.
Ghostcat: I love how fucking smart it is. It's absolutely focusing on the here and now and brings about the final surprise of the season. More than a coming out story, more than a love story but an almost philosophical season.
skamskada: S3 encompasses coming out and a love story but it's so much more.
Ghostcat: How to best go about being an authentic and kind person.
skamskada: It's about forgiving others and yourself, it's about making the best out of what you have.
Ghostcat: Living life with realness and depth.
skamskada: Life can change quickly but the important thing is that you try not to be fake, yourself.
Ghostcat: Isak's best subject in school is biology―the study of life―and we end the season with a potent message: Life is now.
skamskada: That ending. I tear up just thinking about it. So powerful.
Ghostcat: He's not just book smart-
skamskada: He's life smart
Ghostcat: He's life smart. JINX.
skamskada: Hahaha.
Ghostcat: And the thing that is necessary to go from one to another―the person that reads stories, experiences other people's stories, watches other lives but doesn't take part―is to take a chance and participate, get hurt, learn, pick up, keep going. Here we have all of that, in ten, tidy little episodes. What a miraculous season this was.
skamskada: A masterpiece.
Ghostcat: Truly. Thank you so much, immy, for joining us for the last of these glorious episode guest chats.
skamskada: It was fun! And it's been fun watching the newbies watch. Takes me right back, it does.
Ghostcat: Thank you, guys, for joining our chat! Please continue the discussion below!
skamskada: I looooove how quietly confident Isak is in the last clip. How comfortably out and happy with his friends and boyfriend.
@etal-late: Thank you both, I could only get here now but this was a great chat to read through. Ghostcat, I love what you said about Isak the biologist’s mastering of the study of life through the series.
@whatwillthegirlbecome: I don't think I will ever ever tire of hearing what other people think of this season! Thank you, skamskada and Ghostcat for sharing your thoughts!
*
Next week we have a two-parter! First, then-first time watcher @bryrosea and I will hash out the experience that was watching this season outside of the real-time furor. Then noted SKAM scholar @lightsandlostbells talks with us about the glory of season three’s structure.