SKAMverse of Noora Amalie Sætre: Ranked

Josefine Pettersen & Thomas Hayes are MEANT to be Noora & William. Although their relationship started on a rather toxic basis, the progress of their blossoming relationship is alluring and interesting as it explores the subtext of "prejudice". Compared to the first season which mainly focuses on things related to internal struggle, this season definitely more intense as many external factors weighs in on Noorhelm's development, especially Noora's journey in navigating her personal life. Each episode of this season gave birth to so many iconic scenes of SKAM, that's why nothing beat the original.

"Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always."

Veerle Dejaeger & Nathan Naenen's chemistry really shines through. I like how they crafted some scenes that differ from the original Skam to elevate Zoe & Senne's evolving relationship while still maintaining the main premise. Their intimate scenes felt genuine and Zoe's remorse toward Amber was displayed in a more heightened and heartfelt manner. However, they don't really balance the comedic side of story and the dramatic side of the story, therefore the friendship dynamic kinda fell flat.

The exact replica of the original, with more dramatic cinematography compared to Skam. This was actually the first Noora season that I watch, before watching the original one. The fact that Marilyn Lima and Michel Biel were in a relationship during the course of this season probably highly affected Manon & Charles's chemistry because they're beaming in love whenever they shared an intimate scene and fight like a married couple when there were conflict. Skam France also has the most bastard version of Nikolai, I'm glad Manon did not go easy on him.

Incantava's dynamic is my favorite in Skam Italia's first season. Benedetta Gargari & Giancarlo Commare delivered the perfect passive-aggressive string between Eleonora and Edoardo, their confrontation scene and "you're beautiful" scene are my favorite out of all the remakes. The sparks were so apparent as both of them displayed to be such strong characters and I was so excited for their season to come. However, it's unfortunate that Tim Vision decided to switch the order of the season between Martino and Eleonora, as it directly affects the plot. Eleonora's personality drastically changed in the third season, contrasting with her strong personality in the first season. The build-up in her relationship with Edoardo was sacrificed to give more screentime to her family issues, which was eventually abandoned mid-season. Incantava's season could've been more fiercely done yet they went overboard in attempting to show Eleonora's softer side. Nevertheless, Gargari & Commare's solid chemistry saved this rather disappointing season.

While the storyline was more fitting, Grace & Daniel's chemistry wasn't really apparent in the first place and a bit forced. However, Kennedy Hermansen delivered a solid performance on the crippling anxiety in the second half of the season.

Shoutout to the Druck writer for bringing the sub-theme of men's vulnerability.

I was bummed that Nora and Alejandro weren't the main couple considering that they've planted such seeds in the second season, the pre-release promotion of the third season is also so good. I don't know whether it was related to Fernando Lindez's schedule as a model that doesn't compatible with the shooting or the writers purely want a different direction with Nora to have an even common issue among teenagers with toxic relationships, but I hate seeing Alejandro being benched and even being given Nikolai nuances this season. Nicole Wallace did an amazing job of portraying someone with the internal struggle intricated by such issue and I think she was really underappreciated and overshadowed by the general public's disappointment over the decision of her love interest this season. Nevertheless, Alejandro and Nora continued to be overflowing with chemistry.

Continuing the tradition of making the main characters have certain distinctions from their original counterpart, Liv is the most different completely given that now Noora is coming from a different race and is not as performative as the other Nooras. Her bravery remains the same and her friendship with Isa is arguably the closest to what NoorEva had. However, I don't really get the chemistry between Liv and Noah this season, which is a shame, because I was expecting more from this remake. I don't even remember most of the episodes because somehow the crew created this season rather bland compare to Isa's season.