Skam season 4 theory - mega post
So for the past few hours all the lovely angels from the discord chat have been bouncing all our thoughts and theories around Until @newlevelofdesperate and I actually ended up with a pretty realistic theory as to how all this shit is really going to go down yoĀ
So get yourselves a nice cup of tea and settle in because this gets looooong
Mikael, Even and Yousef ā Ā
Itās pretty evident that whatever went down in Bakka involved all three of these guys. But I feel like one of the most reasonable explanations here is that Mikael, Yousef and Even were friends. Really good friends. Possibly they knew each other since middle school (like Jonas and Isak) but then Yousef and Mikael began to become distant to Even and instead began to hung out with the balloon squad. Boys who are also involved in Islam. This, we then feel may have prompted Even to learn the Quran, as a desperate attempt to cling onto the friends he could only fear of losing. Of not wanting to be alone.
We then feel like this led him to do something during his mania that ostracised him completely from his school and everyone he knew. We can see from the youtube video that the balloon squad reacted to Evenās name like it was nothing but a joke and an exciting story to tell, which is how we feel everyone around Even treated it. While Mikael and Yousef didnāt have anything to do with the incident or with how people treated Even afterwards, they also didnāt do anything to help Even during the times he needed them either. And we think that is what is eating them both up. The guilt that they werenāt the kind of friends Even needed and left him at a time where he needed them more than ever. Yousef also seems a hell of a lot more emotionally affected by whatever Even did at Bakka, which is why we believe that Evens Bakka story is a lot more directed at Yousef than Mikael who we originally focused on in association with Evenās history. And this is why Yousefās reaction to Evenās name in the youtube video was a lot more emotional than Mikaels and the boys (who werenāt really emotionally attached at all)
But then of courseā¦.what did he do?
Russ Buss
Russbuss has always been an important factor to Sana and is continuing to have an importance in her season and her need to prove that she can belong in both worlds, the one with her faith, and the one where she can participate in Norwegian culture and still be Sana. We feel like this could become a problem for her later on. Perhaps the girls eventually succumb to the russbuss previously known as Pepsi Maxās bus. And Sana is not allowed to join because of her faith.
This then made us think that maybe Evenās story connects with his russbuss too. Maybe russbuss is a much bigger theme than we ever thought. The thought came up that perhaps Even wanted to join the russ with his friends Mikael and Yousef, but wasnāt allowed because he isnāt muslim. Maybe that prompted him to learn the quaran? And maybe that is what led him to do something during his mania. Something to the buss perhaps? Just like Sana who is having trouble being a part of a russ because sheās muslimā¦.maybe Even couldnāt join because he wasnāt? Maybe Even wanted so desperately to understand his friends and their religion but no one ever let him? And in doing so, they also failed to understand Even. It was also brought up in the discord chat that Even doesnāt seem like the russbuss type which we agree with, but it makes a lot of sense that Even would do anything to hang onto his friends and the people who he could always rely on (we have seen him do this with Sonja in s3) and when those things didnāt work, the concept of him saying, writing or doing things connected to this struggle during his mania makes even more sense. And to connect the current russbuss drama with the old would be an interesting reflection on both characters and stories.
Even and Sana Mirror
@heltchill brought up this idea that Even may actually be Sanaās mirror, which prompted another discussion on this theory.
We already talked about Even who could have experienced the same challenges that Sana might face this season with the russbus. While Even may have been left out for not being a Muslim , people keep reminding Sana that she doesnāt fit into the concept of the russbus. Mariās reaction to Sana being a part of the russbuss was very surprised and a little offputting, while Sara made a point of referring herself and her group as superior because they are ānormal Norwegian party girlsā a comment that fuelled Sana to truly make this russbuss work. And then of course there is Elias, who warned Sana that she shouldnāt be on a russbus because she is a muslim girl. Yousefs reaction here is interesting as he seems annoyed by Eliasās words and he sends Sana a message later on where he encourages her to go for the russbus. This could also be a hint, that Yousef still feels guilty about Even and doesnāt want Sana (or anyone) else to face the kind of exclusion that Even may have faced. We also had a thought that maybe the reason this season parallels evak so much is because Even is actually Sanaās mirror? Julie wants us to feel all of the Even emotions again because his story actually mirrors Sanaās so much, we just need to pay attention to the signs. Maybe.
In regards to the trailer: The trailer made us all assume that the series of events happens in an order, because it was in slow motion each piece of the puzzle fell one at a time. But in reality they all happened extremely fast all at once like a domino effect. So instead of waiting for each story to fall, we should be expecting them all to fall at once. The last episode proves this, by each clip being the start of a separate storyline. Yousana, Noorhell mystery + Vilde and Magnus, Evak and Bakka story, and then the russbuss. So many storylines are beginning at once because when they all begin to turn into chaos that will happen at once too, with Sana standing in the middle trying to fix the chaos she instigated. The trailer we feel like could also be an indication of Even as Sanaās mirror as the chaos starts with her and ends with Even, but when reversed (which is how it was released) it starts with Even and ends with Sana. Which essentially means that Sana is on one side of the chain with Even on the otherā¦.just like a mirror. And thus he is probably the actual beginning of all the drama and not Noora, even though that is who we all have our eyes on at the moment, as she is brewing to a boil before our eyes. But then again it is all going to fallout simultaneously anyway.
MikaelĀ
I also wonder if Mikaelās part in this is maybe that he struggled to hold onto both worlds just like Sana may find difficult this season. Perhaps he wanted to connect deeper with people who share his faith while still being friends with Even? But when doing so he just ended up hurting Even and himself and maybe that will be his part in Sanaās story? Maybe Mikael will help her understand the balance she needs to have and the mistakes she could make.
Understood/misunderstood theme
As the theme misunderstood fits to pretty much everyone, this theme seems particularly fitting to not just Sana but also Even. We actually saw how much he was misunderstood back in S3 when he became manic. Its not unrealistic that he was misunderstood back at Bakka when he had an episode and those misunderstandings are coming back to him in this season probably at the same time as Sana is facing her challenges. We feel like the biggest theme here is that Sana continuously feels misunderstood, not just by people who donāt know her, but also by those who are meant to. And maybe the point is that we all want to be understood but how can anyone understand us if we donāt give them the chance and they arenāt willing to? Maybe the answer to find balance between two worlds is if one world can become keen to learn the other, while the other world reaches out and gives them the material to. Even was repeatedly misunderstood last season and possibly also at Bakka because he never gave anyone the chance to know him. To learn, he already had decided that no one could or would. And we think this mirrors exactly what Sana is doing here. We are all upset because the girls continue to say and do things that donāt exactly take her faith in consideration, but not once does Sana correct them. She never encourages them to know her and understand her, she has just assumed that itās a lost course. So maybe this season will teach her and us that understanding is a two way street, and to find it you have to first let yourself to finally be open to becoming truly understood.
