#Manfred is very giggly back there

[timethehobo]

Just needed something soft. Need post-romance companions to look at Rook all lovey.

[lightsandlostbells]

Druck season 2, episode 3 reaction

Manfred-Wolfgang is gonna haunt my dreams, I’ll never see a tractor the same way again.

Episode 3

Clip 1 - Road trip!

The girls are loading up the car for their trip, and of course Kiki rolls up with a large suitcase rather than the overnight bag or whatever that everyone else has.

We have this exchange where Kiki’s like, “Unlike Amira and Sam, I need all these hair supplies.” Kiki, what the hell? You can chalk it up to ignorance on her part (and I mean, it is ignorance) but she does come out with such racist remarks. I did say I liked Kiki a few episodes ago, and that it wasn’t because I thought she was a great person, but because she felt like a real person, and I want to stress that idea is solidly in effect here, lmao. Because I do think she feels like someone you could plausibly meet in real life, so as a realistic character she works - but when she says stuff like this, it’s whether you would want to meet her.

I think Kiki comes across a lot harsher or more mean-spirited than Vilde because the actress plays her as more assured, less naive in the crap she’s saying. Vilde could say some very ignorant things, but Ulrikke played her as more sheltered and unsure. Sometimes she did come off as more confused rather than judgmental about issues related to Islam. Which is not to let Vilde off the hook, or Kiki either, just why Kiki strikes a lot of people as worse. 

Amira asks Kiki whether she thinks she doesn’t groom her hair because she wears hijab. Sam chimes in talking about how expensive her hair care is. I’m glad that they had them respond to Kiki’s comment - her remark was probably there in the first place as an educational moment for the audience. I do think Druck could stand to let their messages affect Kiki more, show her reconsidering or taking it all in, so we see she’s actually learning. Like we don’t see Kiki really reacting to Amira and Sam’s responses, so for all we know they just flew right over her head.

Mia points out that they’re going to a cabin, no one’s going to see them. Kiki says Hanna and Mia don’t get a say in this - I guess because she thinks they have great hair? I get why Sam would say this about Hanna and Mia (which she does) because they have “acceptable” white girl hair and don’t face the same level of scrutiny and judgment, but I’m not sure why Kiki would say that since frankly she also has “acceptable” white girl hair. Although in her eyes, her hair is probably anything but acceptable, so that’s why she said that, I guess.

The girls talk in the car. Kiki starts talking about Alex again. Oh God, I forgot this is the part of the story where Vilde is just like … unbearably hung up on William. More than usual. Kiki starts talking wistfully about Alex’s party, She’s hoping girls from another school aren’t invited to the party, probably jealous and paranoid they’ll steal Alexander away. Oh, the irony, when the real threat to her relationship with Alexander is behind the wheel!

I get the feeling Mia said breast surgery was passé as another attempt to dissuade Kiki, since that seems like something Kiki would care about.

Sam says there’s nobody in the area on Tinder. Amira mentions the Muslim dating app, Minder. Lmao, how much does Amira know about Minder? 

Sam got a Tinder match with a 47-year-old farmer looking for love (but no one-night stands). LMAO. I assume Manfred-Wolfgang will be playing the role of Kasper this episode, although I hope that he will NOT show up to creep on the girls or make out with Sam in the season finale.

I wonder if the pic they used for Manfred-Wolfgang is some dude who works on the show or is related to someone, or else he’s some hapless stock image model who doesn’t know he’s been used as a thirsty farmer.

Hanna didn’t know ONS meant “one night stands” so it feels kinda like a departure from party girl Eva of S2 Skam. Though I guess it took a few episodes for her to get on Tinder, lol. In general, I have a hard time seeing that route for her. Unless this is meant to be foreshadowing of a sort, and Hanna is gonna go for those ONS to get over Jonas.

Mia is texting Axel about their deal, asking when he’s going to break up with Kiki. Kinda risky texting when Sam is right next to her in the passenger seat. Also, damn, this is gonna get messy if Alex breaks up with Kiki, and it’s gonna be messy if he doesn’t.

The girls dance in the car to Drake’s “In My Feelings” which contains a direct shout-out to a Kiki. It’s extremely cute, though sometimes you gotta wonder why some of these girls deal with Kiki (like Sam and Amira). 

There’s a new scene during the credits. It’s of Mia walking through the halls of the school, texting, a small smile forming on her face. So that could be anything, really, but it’s probably from Alexander.

Clip 2 - Sweet potatoes

We’re at the cabin! Mia is peeling sweet potatoes. Kiki walks in, complaining that Alexander isn’t replying. GOD. If his method of breaking up with her is just to ghost again….

Kiki is excited about the raclette cheese, except, as Mia points out, it’s not vegan. Kiki seems disappointed. Seems like that vegan thing isn’t working so great in practice as it is in theory for Kiki.

Now we have Druck’s take on the famous potato scene. Kiki asks whether sweet potatoes have a lot of sugar, and Mia explains their nutritional benefits. I so approve of Druck’s continued endorsement of sweet potatoes. Maybe Big Sweet Potato is what’s funding the additional promo and production this season. 

Kiki gets especially excited about hearing that they help you have a good complexion and fewer wrinkles. That’s always seemed a smart inclusion of Noora/Mia, since Vilde/Kiki cares so much for appearances.

Kiki wants to know how Mia knows all this about sweet potatoes, but before she can reply, Hanna comes in and says the girls are contacting Manfred. DUDE. I kinda don’t approve of that. No good can come of that. You think he’s just a harmless lonely middle-aged farmer and then suddenly this cabin trip becomes a horror film because he’s actually a serial killer.

I think my favorite version of this scene is still the original, because Noora’s slow way of talking really helped, actually - it made it feel like every piece of information was sinking in for Vilde. But I’m really glad they kept in this scene, because clearly Kiki needs to hear this. 

Clip 3 - The future is full of dongs

The girls are doing this fortune telling activity where they drop lead into water and read the shapes for their futures. Mia gets some kind of penis looking object which sends the girls into giggles. Kiki says that it looks exactly like Alexander’s penis and OH NO, Mia gets a little less giggly, it seems. Kiki tells us a little too much about the shape of Alex’s dick for my liking. 

Amira says it means more sex, please. Mia is like, nah, it’s an eggplant, it means more vegetables, please. Eggplant is maybe not the counter argument to penis you think it is, Mia.

We get a shot of Mia twirling that eggplant/penis between her fingers and girl I hope you’re just really hungry for aubergines. But really, the lead has predicted the probable outcome of S2.

Amira reads the meaning for eggplant - you’re a sensitive person, the world is bad and everyone wants to do you harm. Hmmm. Well, that’s a little extreme, but does fit a little into Mia’s worldview. Or at least we’re supposed to think it fits into Mia’s worldview, and she’s inclined to think poorly of Alex or whatever, except he actually IS a creep and she is right sooooooo.

Kiki says it fits Mia, no doubt thinking about Mia being so unfair to poor Alexander and his eggplant penis.

It’s Kiki’s turn. She gets what she thinks are obviously breasts. Kiki is looking at Mia but Mia does not seem thrilled with Kiki’s prediction, either.

Mia says they’re supposed to be metaphors. Amira’s like, what deep metaphors, penis = sex. LMAO.

Mia reads off Kiki’s meaning: “It’s easier to implement one’s ideas if you really support it. You can make honest promises as well.” Kiki has a revelation: of fucking course this has to do with Alexander! She supports him but has never truly told him! Oh, Kiki, no. Amira shares my reaction.

Sam’s like, I think Alex got the picture by now. Personally I think everyone in the world has the picture by now.

You know, even apart from Alex being Alex, Kiki automatically relating the prediction to ANY dude instead of relating it to herself is pretty sad.

In other sad but expected news, Hanna shows the girls that Jonas has been posting pics with a girl. Okay, we knew this was coming, we gotta get through this separated phase, but damn, this is like the Eva/Jonas remake pairing I most want back together.

Time to break out the vodka! Side note, but I wonder what the idea was to have Mia drink alcohol in this remake? I don’t mind it at all, it’s just a notable difference from the source material, especially in this season when it’s a mild plot point. Are we going to find out later?

Sam’s turn has her getting a mansion. Hanna reads the definition for house: Even though life is exciting the way it is, there’s a wish for more reliability and stability. Your wish will be fulfilled soon. Clearly that means Manfred is coming to sweep Sam off her feet!

OK, seriously though, I kinda do want to see Sam hook up with a Kasper-like figure. I think it’d be fun. Maybe behind her party girl ways, Sam wants something a little more stable. I mean, that would kind of fit! In the first season, she said she’s never slept with the same dude twice.

Clip 4 - Alex ruins everything

It’s almost midnight! The girls head outside, light some sparklers. Mia gives a speech about the year is almost over, the year that they all met each other, and the year they might depart already after they graduate. Awww. 

You know, even outside of us as viewers maybe not getting more Druck (FINGERS CROSSED) it’s sad in-universe that these girls didn’t get more time together! I mean, the Norwegian girl squad met toward the beginning of their first year. They had three years, almost their whole high school experience to hang as a squad. German girl squad met last March, basically, so they’re just having a little more than a year together.

Mia’s speech on their different paths: Amira might become federal chancellor, Sam studies fashion design, Kiki will become an influencer? (said with some uncertainty, and the girls kinda laugh about it, so it’s not that serious), Hanna … Mia doesn’t know what to say for Hanna, and Hanna chimes in that she’ll be unemployed. Which fits with her character, and tbh I don’t think it’s terrible for her not to have a game plan for the rest of her life right now. A lot of people don’t have it all figured out at 17 or 18.

When asked about herself, Mia hands off the “mic” to the crew boss. Kiki says all the girls are so important to her and she can count on all of them (lmao, the irony is potent). Group hug time!

With only a few seconds left, the girls count down to midnight and pop open the champagne. They hug and kiss and it’s a beautiful, triumphant moment for the girl squad - not that they really did anything, but that they’re all together and happy. They were losers and alone and they found each other. They light sparklers and celebrate, it’s lovely and joyful. Nothing can ruin this moment!

Hey, you know what could ruin this moment? Alex. He messages Kiki, who goes off to read it. Mia looks after her, concerned.

As the girls head back to the cabin, they hear Kiki crying. Not just crying - outright sobbing and wailing as if in immense pain. They run to her. Kiki gets out, red-faced, that Alex broke up with her. That’s right. On New Year’s Eve, at midnight, he sent her a message saying he was interested in another girl. The girls are appalled and take Kiki inside to get her a drink. Mia stays behind, looking distraught and muttering, “Shit.”

All right. Dudes.

First of all … Mia knew this was going to happen. I’m not letting her off the hook because this was the end game of her actions. BUT I doubt she expected Alex to break up with Kiki in such a bad way. I mean, via a voice message, on New Year’s Eve, at midnight? I’m sure she thought he would at least talk to her in person, and not with such poor timing. Like frankly she expected too much of him.

Second, how the FUCK is Mia supposed to fall for Alex after this? How the fuck are we supposed to like Alex? What the fresh hell is wrong with him? This is cruel. Look, people celebrate on New Year’s Eve, they cheer and drink and party at midnight. It’s meant to be a feel-good time, a moment of hope for the coming year, and Alex knew Kiki would be celebrating with her friends, I’m sure. It was wrong and insensitive of him to send that message when he knew she would be in a celebratory, happy mood. Either he’s dumb as fuck and didn’t realize she’d be upset, or he didn’t care about ruining her fun evening. He should’ve broken up with her BEFORE the trip, when he knew he was supposed to, to give her time to recover with her friends, OR saved it until after she’d come back and the high of the party had faded a little. 

Also, what is that mention of the other girl doing for Mia? That’s clearly a nod to her, but does she think Alex just said that as an excuse or is there meant to be more behind it?

Clip 5 - Kiki goes swimming

It’s the morning after and we see the remnants of the party, lots of empty bottles. It’s raining, I’m sure no doubt reflecting the mood of the party - symbolic of the celebration getting rained on by Alexander’s breakup message.

Mia wakes up. The other girls are still in bed - I think that’s Amira with her hoodie pulled over her hair, which is a nice way to respect the actress being a hijabi while showing her asleep with the other girls. However, Kiki’s the only one missing, so Mia gets up to look for her.

She goes outside calling for her, and has a moment of panic when she sees Kiki in the lake. Yeouch? That must be cold as hell? Kiki’s awake and conscious, though. She calls out gleefully to Mia.

Mia’s like, are you crazy? But it’s Kiki’s New Year’s resolution to go ice swimming/swimming in cold water, because the balance of the temperature burns more fat. Mia’s like, what fat, because (as we see Kiki in her swimsuit) Kiki is clearly very thin. Kiki says it’s not about weight, but fitness and strength. New year, new me!

Mia says, here’s your cape, Superwoman, handing Kiki her robe. There is a shot of them that would be perfect if they were gonna kiss, just saying. She tries to warm Kiki up as they go inside. Again. Just saying.

I liked that they used the cover of “Where Is My Mind?” at the start of the scene - besides any deeper meaning, the song was inspired by the writer’s experience with scuba diving, and the lyrics refer to swimming.

Yeah, right now? I feel like the best outcome of this season is that Mia essentially chooses Kiki in the end, not Alexander. I don’t even mean that in a romantic way (although I wouldn’t say no to that). But Alexander has been a major ass to Kiki so far this season in a way that William wasn’t to Vilde in S2. They’re going to have to do such major work to get Mia and Alexander to a place where Mia can be with this dude. I mean, admittedly, I’m not a fan of this pairing in any incarnation, so it’s already an uphill struggle for me. I think we’ll get Mia/Alex endgame but right now it feels like such a jarring outcome. But I’m also aware that we haven’t gotten most of the major scenes with them, such as the More Than This clip, or ... hm, that’s kind of the biggest one until they’re supposed to kiss for the first time, lol.  And the one where William decided to give some money to refugees in exchange for Noora’s attendance at his fundraiser, which was supposed to be him showing that he’s a decent person, I guess.

I think we see here too that Kiki’s body issues didn’t go away once Alex broke up with her, although it’s the morning after and he did it in such a hurtful way that I don’t think you can say it didn’t contribute to her doing this. Like it’s too recent, too raw. But I’m aware that Kiki’s going to keep this up with or without Alexander in the picture.

Clip 6 - The party fizzles out

It’s later in the afternoon and the girls are huddled outside. Turns out Jonas didn’t get back to Hanna, either. Disappointing, not surprising. They are broken up so he can do what he wants, I’m just rooting for these kids in the long run. He still has her nose.

Sam says, I’m never drinking again. The girls smirk, but Sam is serious. She sexted with Manfred yesterday. YIKES. She did it while drunk and has now deleted Tinder. Good idea.

Amira gets a text as Mia suggests a hiking trip tomorrow. Amira says she has to leave tomorrow morning, as she forgot about an appointment with her family. When Hanna asks what kind of appointment, Amira doesn’t really answer. Hmmm! So is this like Isak’s “family dinner”? It’s not really a family issue, but something else?

They were supposed to stay the whole week so there’s some disappointment. Kiki says she’s going to exercise one way or another, either it’ll be here hiking or she’ll be at the gym tomorrow. Hanna says they don’t ALL have to leave, clearly bummed. Sam says if they leave, they can go to Carlos’ party. Kiki has a special invite! I bet Hanna didn’t want to go back so she didn’t have to go to Carlos’ party and see Jonas there.

Sam’s like, uhhhh, I have another reason for leaving. She sent Manfred their location and he may be showing up any moment. Tbh if I were those girls my ass would be flying up off the chair and throwing my shit in the van so I didn’t have to deal with the awkwardness of Manfred, or you know, not wanting to find out if he was a murderer, but they’re just like, OK, we’re leaving, and keep chilling and drinking their coffee/tea/whatever. You guys are going to stay in this cabin when Manfred’s on the loose? None of you are surviving that horror movie.

Clip 7 - Amira has a secret

It’s the drive back the next day. The mood is considerably less upbeat than the way there. Hanna looks at the picture of Jonas and his girl on IG again. Sam blocks Manfred. Kiki looks at the message notification from Alex.

Amira gets a call. It’s “Pavel.” Who is that? Pavel wants to talk about something. Amira quickly hangs up. The girls look at each other but don’t say anything or ask Amira who was that. Amira doesn’t seem like she wants to talk about it. Soooo … place your bets. Does Pavel have to do with the Jamilla storyline?  What about German Even - it’s around the time he’d be going through heavy stuff, would Amira be aware of that through her brothers? Or is he connected to the German balloon squad somehow? Is it some dude she met on “Minder” (doubtful, but just throwing it out there because who knows)? Something completely different?

Cool that Amira has a subplot this season, though! Hopefully not a replacement for an actual Amira season. Druck is doing well enough that they’d be foolish not to renew the show. Case in point, this scene was trending on YouTube and non-viewers were deeply, deeply confused as to why, since not much happens in this clip, lmao.

I love Hanna and Sam blatantly and immediately texting each other about Amira’s mysterious call when they’re sitting right next to each other.

Clip 8 - Laser tag party

Disappointingly short Friday clip, though I can’t complain too much since Druck has been feeding us so well during the week. I just want more of these squads!

Mia and Hanna suit up for laser tag. More tension with Hanna about Jonas. Hanna mentions that she heard Carlos has a crush on Kiki - which seems obvious to anyone paying attention - and Mia says it’s a good match. She’s probably like THANK GOD, ANYONE BUT ALEXANDER.

Kiki fixes herself up, checking her teeth and hair in the mirror, so you know she probably had seduction in mind.

Where’s Matteo? I realize it probably came down to actor availability, but in-universe what if Matteo is going through some shit now? What if this is when he leaves home?

We see Kiki drinking out of a flask - I hope that doesn’t mean she had to get a little drunk in order to make a move on Carlos, like she wasn’t comfortable doing this otherwise. (Liquid courage was probably a factor.)

Laser tag! Hanna and Jonas knock into each other AND SHE TAGS HIM OUT. She was pretty merciless.

Kiki tags Carlos out and he puts a hand over his heart, lmao. Then Mia tells him where Kiki is and Kiki pulls him into a kiss. She wishes him a happy birthday and then tags him out. Cold! But OK, not the worst thing in itself. It’s in the spirit of competition? IDK.

After the game ends, Carlos calls Kiki over and says they could hang out, and she says no, we couldn’t. She just wanted to make out. Did he think they were a couple now? Oh, Kiki, no.

Look, she’s not obligated to get into a relationship with anyone - she is free to make out with whoever she wants and keep it at that, but it’s a thoughtless move to do that to Carlos on his birthday. She’s doing what Alex did to her, dragging someone down when they’re supposed to be celebrating. I get why she’s doing it. She’s acting out, trying to regain some power over the hurt and helplessness that she feels. She probably feels desirable getting Carlos’ attention like this, after Alex snubbed her. 

I think Mia looks at this and thinks, YES, Kiki’s strong, she’s moving on! She doesn’t realize that it’s a symptom of the hurt she’s feeling.

Social Media/General Comments

We got lots of happy, cute NYE pics and videos. Matteo posts something that’s tagged #burn2018totheground which might be a joke and might be an indication that his year sucked. Not much fun considering the latter option, which we all know is accurate.

We do get to hear Alex’s breakup message to Kiki. He said he wanted to tell her so she can start her new year right. Ummm, more like she can start it depressed and miserable, but OK. He said if there was a misunderstanding, they were never together, it was always casual. He likes another girl, it’s something serious. He doesn’t want to see her for a while, but wishes her a happy new year.

HE GAVE HER A MAJORLY EXPENSIVE VOUCHER FOR BREAST SURGERY. DOES THAT NOT INDICATE SERIOUSNESS IN A RELATIONSHIP. WHO GIVES A VOUCHER LIKE THAT TO A FLING. I’m sorry but talk about mixed signals.

And the other girl he’s talking about is obviously Mia, and I mean, if he has real feelings for Mia and not for Kiki, it’s fair of him to break up with Kiki, although that doesn’t mean he should expect anything from Mia.

Lmao, wishing her a happy new year after that. I guess we know Alex thinks it’s best to hurt people to drive them away, and he wanted to make it as bad as possible for Kiki so she couldn’t forgive him or whatever. But … this is selfish as fuck. When he said that before about thinking it’s better if Kiki hates him, it’s about hurting her to make it easier for HIM, not for them. He’s okay with causing them extra pain FOR HIS SAKE. This is not some benevolent gesture on his part to get Kiki to move on, because if he had her best wishes in mind, he would not be going on a date with Mia behind her back. 

I mean we have to acknowledge Mia’s role in this but we can’t let Alex off the hook just because Mia was instigating a lot of this drama. He went along with it. He could’ve kept being like, “Fuck off, Mia,” when she told him to stay away. He never had to bring a date with Mia into it even as a suggestion. 

Carlos’s invite to Hanna for the laser tag party singles out the blonde with the ponytail aka Kiki. Hanna wanted to know if Jonas would be there. When Carlos asks if there would be a problem, Hanna’s like, nope. Lol. Bullshit.

The Druck team got drunk and gave us Sam’s sexts with Manfred.

Manfred complimented Sam’s “exotic looks” in his chat with her so lol, don’t feel sorry for him for getting ghosted. And he did flirt with an 18-year-old, which may be legal but is still creepy when you’re a middle-aged man. 

Sam’s sexting with Manfred consists a lot of her asking about his tractor and if she can drive it, what color it is. He says it’s a green John Deere. They are really into this tractor talk. I’m sorry but LMFAO. 

Sam drifts off for a while and OH GOD when she comes back she asks him what he’s wearing. Manfred: Pajamas, but I can change that real quick ;))) I hope he means change into some farmerly overalls.

Ugh, and Manfred talks about how he’s always wanted to hook up with someone dark-skinned, ewwwww. Even as the conversation moves away from the tractor talk, we still get a lot of metaphors as Sam compares her breasts to the humps of a camel (pretty sure she was cuddling up to Carmen as she wrote that) and Manfred compares his dick to a grain silo. I am both entertained and scarred.

Not a fan of how Carlos and Jonas talk about Kiki in their text but OK, as long as it’s all talk and not reflected in their actions, I am going to set that aside for the moment. For now.

There’s a text about the graduation magazine committee, which includes Jonas, Matteo, and Amira. Amira seems to be doing some organizing for the group. That wouldn’t be her big secret, would it? That seems pretty straightforward and not something she needs to hide from the girls. It might have something to do tangentially to that, but not the whole thing.

I continue to be on board with this season. I seriously don’t know where it’s going: I’m sure it’ll end up with Winterberg, but on a clip by clip basis, I don’t know what to expect, and that makes it so much more exciting! Feels like when OG Skam was airing and we had all our predictions on what would happen next; with Druck S2 we do have a general outline of what to expect, but we’re more actively engaged than if this season was more of a close remake. I think it especially helps for the section of the fandom that dislikes Noorhelm, because we’re still waiting to see what happens instead of being like, ugh, that scene again.

It was cool that they managed to center the cabin episode around another holiday. That’s a feature of S2 that kinda just doesn’t work if you’re redoing it, like Skam France did their version and it was cute, but also ... is it necessary in the remakes, really? Here they got in the cabin girl squad bonding while making it relevant in real time, as well as adding their own spin on the events. No Kasper, instead we got Manfred. No Ouija board and spooky happenings, but some plot-related development. 

Now I’m curious about how the remaining episodes will proceed. If we go off Noora’s season, we have some big Mia/Alex scenes where they get to know each other. What about the sexual assault aspect? Is that going to be featured or will that be a victim of only getting 10 episodes rather than 12? I think OG S2 is overly long, personally, and you can easily cut some elements for a neater, more focused story (like I think you can cut the whole thing with the Yakuza dudes, and that would reduce some of episodes 7, 8, and 12). I think the sexual assault storyline would be a shame to lose, but I also would want it to get the right amount of focus and not be shoehorned or rushed.

We did not get the slumber party scene this episode! When is that coming?

I’m not German so feel free to correct me or clarify stuff.

If you got this far, thank you for reading!