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bluedalahorseAll right, we’re back! Hello, comrades. we are going to watch Young Royals season one episode two this morning. I’m getting a little ahead because it’s the weekend and I know my weeks get a little chaotic.
I decided last night that when I do this, my goal is not to sound intellectual or put together. I spent a lot of my time doing that on previous social media and it was just putting a lot of pressure on myself. Now I’m just gonna kind of lean into my first impressions and where my emotions are taking me and all my weird little rambling tangents. I think there’s value in me seeing that and reading it and recognizing it as part of my experience of watching the show. Who knows, maybe they’ll be some fanfic ideas in there? Or, I don’t know maybe I’ll just be funny. (Maybe I’m not funny.) But you will get more of a sense of what it’s like for me in the moment as I’m watching. Though, obviously this transcript is still edited for clarity.
Also, we’re in episode two now. Horror movie night happens in this episode. The first kiss between Wilhelm and Simon happens in this episode. Sara and August also talk for the first time. Yes I will have thoughts. I am the weird girl who has plushies of sargust, alright?
So I am just going to hit play and we’ll see where this takes us.
People are banging on the table because… they have been banging. I think people in fandom noticed Simon banging too. Like oh man, he does not know what he’s getting into.
Oh, there’s the girls. One or two have queer-coded haircuts. I feel like there’s so many more queer-coded girls in the background in first season and we should unpack that.
I like to think that this is an elaborate like beard relationship between Maddie and Nils. I don’t necessarily read Maddie as super straight, but I also wonder if part of their chaotic beard thing could just be like they did stuff without attraction behind it. That’s funny to me I don’t know why. Like if they just made out to make out because, as Maddie says, she was bored.
August’s sweater is great in the scene. Please put Malte in green and blue more.
Stop talking about dicks, you guys! I just want to focus on your sweaters. Wille’s blue sweater is also really good. I would wear both of their sweaters.
Oh my god, all of this banging on the table. It is sensory hell.
It’s Stella and Frederika‘s debut soon! And they’re gonna chat with Felice. Felice is looking at Wilhelm. Wilhelm’s wearing red and sunglasses, and the red is questionable. I think I’m commenting on everybody’s outfits in this episode quite a bit. I’m trying to figure out what I think about Felice’s outfit—like it almost has a little bit of a Sailor Moon fan vibe? I don’t know what I mean by that.
Oh August, go away. You’re wearing red too, well OK then. So he’s like asking Felice out to dinner but we also know that he like has issues around food and so does Felice. It kind of highlights right away how their relationship is troubled/a performance that isn’t good for either of them. Stella is already done with him, good for her. Fredrika is actually kind of defending August. We don’t unpack that one enough, as a fandom.
Sara repping the plaid and she wants to be friends with Felice. Felice is sitting with Maddie. Sara ends up sitting with Simon. Sara really does want to make friends and it’s really sweet that Simon sits with her, but you can also kind of see Sara being like okay, and now my brother is sitting with me in class, that’s like when your cousin goes to prom with you. Not in a royal way. I’m sure many royals went to prom with their cousins unironically, back in the day. (I will refrain from a Kristina/Carl Johan crack headcanon tangent but be aware it exists.)
Oh, the corrupt math teacher, we hate it. Hillerska needs to get on top of standards-based grading.
The way Wille pushes his hair back behind his ear when looking at Simon… ew, I sound like a body language expert on YouTube. I don’t mean to, but like I think I’m really noticing a lot of flirting mannerisms in that Edvin puts into place when he plays Wille.
Sarah doesn’t care if she gets a B in math and I think that’s great.
The math teacher is like, geometry and algebra. Like that’s freaking vague, sir. What actual unit are you on?
Simon is going to arrange for private tutoring. I feel like a lot of US private schools of Hillerska’s level will offer financial assistance to get a student tutoring if they don’t have the means, and it’s wild to me that Hillerska just doesn’t even care. Of course, Simon’s doing fine, but the math teacher is corrupt.
Rousseau! Our baby, baby horse! The way Nikita plays Felice’s anxiety is not talked about enough. She just does well with the little sighs, and trying to catch her breath and such. Sara looks great in blue, and her little face is so cute and sweet when she says she would like to have friends.
Simon is rowing the boat and just kind of looking a little bit timid about it. I can kind of vibe with that. Every time I’m in a canoe for some field trip, I’m like oh no this is going to capsize. The lake is beautiful, though. Wilhelm’s like babe, I’ll tell you how to row things.
I love that August’s athletic wear is just so very black. I guess it’s so he’s antagonist-coded, but I’m just like, you picked out that outfit.
Simon and Rose and Ayub, our friendship trip! Rosh and Ayub are already in Simon’s room and I think that’s true friendship. Rosh is like, rowing is not a sport and she is so valid and correct. I love her like Star Wars hair in the scene. Ayub talks about rowing being a summer camp thing, and I want to imagine him and Simon at camp as little kids. That’s cute.
The scene is so interesting because there’s the underlying tension of Simon wanting to get out of town, and Rosh and Ayub are like, we feel kind of insulted by that bro. I hope season three leans into this moment of tension a little bit more. Simon’s star is on the rise for being the prince’s boyfriend, and would he be put in a position where Rosh and Ayub feel like he’s leaving them behind? I mean, it would break my heart, but I think it would be a really good place to take their relationship next. Also, now I want pizza.
Simon is like, I’ll try when Rosh asked him to come to her soccer game. I’m sorry, Simon. If I was a teenager and Rosh was like come to my soccer game I’d be like do you want me to bring your water bottle? I could pick up Gatorade? Do you want me to braid your hair before the game? Should I wash your uniform afterward?
Oh, August. We are exercising. Son, I am worried about you. And then we cut to the horse, who is also exercising. I wonder if these things could be related. Is August the horse yes? In short, yes.
I love it when Wilhelm’s lying down and he cannot get still, and his leg is in the air. Like way to pose like a bisexual, sir.
August and Erik are on FaceTime on Wilhelm’s phone. It’s just a little awkward, like when your parents talk to the cousin they like better than you when you’re they’re visiting you. (That’s happened to me.)
OK, people like read this scene as August being annoying, and he is, but I do think August is trying to be like a functional substitute big brother here. He’s not doing amazing but I think he’s trying. I also wonder what it’s like for Erik‘s actor to have to do so much acting via FaceTime.
Oh, the part where they talk about how August’s dad died because he took his life. The way these families don’t really talk about suicide and mental health issues is just tough on me for personal reasons.
The way, Wille and Simon are just staring at each other at rowing practice. Literally everybody can see you, y’all. Now Simon is wearing green and that’s valid of him.
We’re in August teeny little room now it is super organized. He got his little jacket hanging up. There is a lot of hair product in those cabinets and we are out of ADHD meds. Son. I’m worried about you. Stop stop get therapy get therapy!!! I hope my phone is picking this up. Oh my god you’re going to Vincent when you have a problem. Don’t go to Vincent when you have a problem!
Oh my God no one’s helping him! Where are the adults in this building?!? I haven’t got ADHD, says August. I sometimes have my doubts that he doesn’t. I would really like to write fic where he is a missed diagnosis and it turns out he was self-medicating—not in a healthy way obviously—but also fic takes me forever to write.
We’re in Boris‘s office. Knowing he becomes important and season two, it’s like oh it’s Boris (affectionate). I mean I do feel for Boris. I said where are the adults? and I think Boris definitely knows that August needs support and August needs to talk about his grief and trauma and such so he can stop being the worst. Boris is trying his best, but, he also knows that August the kind of person who’s gonna have to come of his own free will to therapy. Boris knows about like all the stuff August is doing and how he’s overextending himself he’s aware. But Boris is one person, and the rest of this teachers at the school, at least the ones that like August is interacting with and especially the headmistress, are not giving him this encouragement. It makes me mad as a youth professional.
Although Boris, isn’t quite knowledgeable enough to like remember that August‘s dad is dead and that’s something. Boris realizes midway through conversation like oh shit his dad is dead I forgot and said “your parents” and then at the end he’s like come talk anytime. He really does try to salvage it. Yay, Boris is doing his job!
Alphabitch song is iconic. I’m not somebody who listens to the soundtrack again and again, but this is one that I remember. I wonder if the ring being pushed in Felice’s face, I think by Maddie, is meant to be like oh Felice‘s mom sent her here to like get married. Okay, Sara is glancing over at the table with Wilhelm and August and Simon. Interesting. August is attempting some kind of meritocracy speech about Simon’s rowing and he is so not practiced with it. Simon is going to go see Rosh, yay! Wille is like friends outside of school, that’s so impressive.
Felice just invited Sarah and Simon to her movie night, and this makes me want more fic about Felice and Simon. I guess she’s also like impressing Wille in this scene.
Maddie says her infamous fuck you August but in episode one she was also like use him for sex with no strings attached in her advice to Felice in episode one and I think that’s nuance.
Don’t use August for sex, though. He is decidedly an unripe avocado in this season. My phone took that dictation perfectly because it validates my dumbass metaphors.
THE AVOCADO SCALE OF AUGUST’S CHARACTER ARC (aka nonsense added in post)
1.1-1.4: that avocado is too ripe, unfit for consumption
1.5-1.6: girl I know you think that avocado is ready, but that is your hubris talking
2.1-2.2: good for slicing and adding to a salad
2.3: perfect for guacamole ;)
2.4: dubious, but salvageable with a little lemon juice
2.5-2.6: oh no girl your avocado went bad :(
Wille’s little lights! I like to think of Wille buying his lights on Amazon or whatever the royal family uses for quick delivery. He is like I’m gonna give myself a personality because my mom would never have let me have these at home. Simon is like daring Wille to come to the football match. Flippa is such a great Swedish verb. Wille faking his little headache, aw. As a millennial I’m obligated to do the lines from Mean Girls. “I can’t go out, I’m sick!” “Boo you whore.”
Lisa says that August actually does care about the possibility that Wille might be sick in this scene, but is still super annoying in how he expresses his care, which changed my whole perspective on it.
The way Edvin throws his head back before he types that he’ll come to the match—another great mannerism. Oh no, he’s gonna try and take the bus. <3
I’m gonna figure out public transit like a real person, says Wille. He doesn’t know there’s an app! That’s OK, I don’t think I knew how to pay for the bus when I went to Sweden and Finland. I only had to take the bus in Finland. I used tokens, because it was 2010. It was embarrassing because I had no idea what I was doing.
I love the way the scene is lit when Wille and Simon are at the gas station. I love the way they make the town look beautiful. It reminds me of wandering around town with my friends at night—not that we could walk much of anywhere. I think we went to Blockbuster, once? But just that feeling of freedom when you’re a teenager and you have a little bit of a later curfew and you’re seeing things in a new light for the first time. Lovely.
Soccer girls, soccer, soccer girls! Lisa Ambjörn has my number, because she’s like, Simon and Wille are going to have this flirty experience, and a key part of it is Wilhelm getting along with Simon‘s best friend. Simon and Ayub are the best.
How many of like Rosh’s ex-girlfriends are on her team? How many are on the other team? Part of me is like, she has so many ex-girlfriends I’m sure. But then I’m like, no, she’s 16 or 17, and she probably has one or two or three. I like to think of her channeling that level of lesbian chaos someday, though. Break some hearts, Rosh!
The way the boys do their little synchronized chant is absolutely precious.
The scene on the motorcycles is another one that I just adore. Again that teenage freedom feeling, and the way they pass the apartment complexes and the lights in the windows look so warm. There’s something just cozy about this scene.
We’re back at Forest Ridge. Nils and Vincent are always playing chess. Are they playing chess in the scene? No, it’s cards. I can see them being competitive Gen Z chess trenders, though.
August, are you seriously trying to be a dom in plaid pants right now? Nils just gave him a look like not a good look bro. Nils is right.
Sara‘s drawing and I think that’s super cute. This is an untapped aspect of her personality in fanworks, in my opinion.
Sara is like, you think I’m being literal when I say to check your watch and you think I’m being autistic and that’s true but actually I’m roasting you just a little bit too because I contain multitudes. Sarah’s little necklaces in this scene are cute. I guess she wears them often throughout the show.
Wille and his lights!!!
Maddie and Felice are doing waxing in their dorm room. I feel like that’s part of the show’s realism, because when you’re in like a boarding school or a college situation you might not have your regular salon people around. So it’s just like you and your friends doing DIY things.
Oh shit, the headmistress is asking August about his tuition. The fact that like it just comes down to his mom not being around, and the headmistress has to go to him. I guess he’s like 18, so legally she can. But I just think about like the people in this world keep treating him an adult in the wrong places, and how that is not actually good for him when he has unprocessed grief and trauma. (Meanwhile they treat him like a child when he needs accountability.) I really am capable of talking about other characters I promise. This also may be a lie.
I never know what the hell Nils and Vincent are doing in this scene. Also there were two girls and I’m pretty sure they were gay because one of them had short queer-coded hair and one of them had pink queer-coded hair. You can probably be like, Blue, are you stereotyping? Maybe I am, but I’m also saying the statistics mean there are gays at Hillerska other than Simon and Wilhelm.
Oh no, we’re down to August’s last ADHD pill. Oh my god oh no oh no, somebody put this boy in like inpatient or outpatient or some kind of -patient.
We are in the library. Sara is looking at books, including Det går an. Okay, this is the scene where she and August talk for the first time. It is interesting in light of the fact that we know they become a thing later. It’s not explicitly written as a meet cute, it’s more of a meet creep.
I think the camerawork calls attention to like, how close Sara and August’s bodies are to one another, and how they maneuver around one another and exist in space together. Then they’re focusing Simon now, and his reaction and he’s kind of picking up on things. I don’t think either of Sara or August knows that attraction is going to develop but like, could they be noticing something different? Like an elevated heart rate or sweaty palms they’re just chalking up to nervousness of a conversation about drugs? I don’t actually think whatever happens between them starts in episode four, I think it actually starts now. Physiologically speaking.
Yeah, the first thing that Micke says when Simon goes to see him again is about Sara. I actually do wonder if that’s coming back in season three, in some way.
Simon and his dad can bond over music and I don’t get the impression that that’s a connection Simon had with his mom or sister. I think that’s part of maybe what makes him want to come back to his dad, but also he’s stealing drugs. No Simon! don’t do it don’t do it!
Everybody’s on a rowing machine. The rowing machine is a metaphor for sex. No, they’re all just panting, and I felt the need to be a dirty minded teenager about it.
Oh boy, here comes the meritocracy speech. That’s what I’m calling this awkward awkward moment where August clasps Simon’s shoulder and sings his praises. Walter and Henry are again like what the hell is going on and I can imagine all the thoughts they’re having in canon and in Sflow-er’s fics. Simon he’s just trying not to laugh in the situation, and then oh god the forehead kiss. It’s so extra. What. The few times in my life where someone has grabbed me and kissed me on the forehead have all been profoundly uncomfortable. I think the show doesn’t excellent job of communicating that moment in life.
Sara adjusting her hair and looking in the mirror before movie night is a nice little detail. We got Linda being like oh yeah go be social hon to Simon they say a lot of goodbyes.
The part where Simon asks, is it weird that Felice is inviting us? and Sara says actually I think she likes us… that’s kind of like an autistic feel for me because I feel like when you’re growing up, there are people who will kind of bully you by pretending to like you, which makes you cautious when people do like you. You can see a little bit of that caution in Sara. At the same time she’s like I’m trying to start something new and I want to give Felice the benefit of the doubt. That’s kind of what I felt the subtext of the those two lines were.
They’re watching horror movie now. August has thoughts. August probably also has thoughts on Taylor Swift and leggings that no one wants to hear. No one wants your opinion, sir.
Wille and Simon are holding hands! I guess they’re holding pinkies. They’re touching fingers. I love the background movie voices like I’m getting a little freaked out here, what are we gonna do as they like touch hands. You’re like oh yes, well now we know who is having an elevated heart rate. Certainly more than one future couple in this episode.
Wille steps away into this creepy hallway that’s putting the weight of ancestral pressure on him. That sign about how they owe the school—Wille is like feeling anxious about it and like that’s a powerful symbol. But I bet Hillerska staff also probably pull that line out at fundraisers to try and get parents and alums to donate to the annual fund each year.
Now Wille is sitting in the windowsill. I love it because it’s like, here’s a window to escape! I’m also reminded that Sara picked up Det går an in the library and that has stuff about windows.
Here comes Simon. I feel like I’m doing sports commentary here knowing where it’s going. Is he gonna do it? Is he gonna go for the slam dunk?
The way Simon is talking himself up to this internally. You can just tell by the way Omar holds his shoulders.
The first kiss—I do love a good like teen drama where there’s like an initial kiss to just kind of be like, okay, we got the placement. We figured out where their lips are.
And then they go in for another one and—that was weird. Wille’s feeling weird about it. Wille, shut up, you are absolutely queer. Okay, now Wille is pulling Simon back. They going in for another kiss now. Again I really like in teen dramas when it just takes a few kisses to get it right and for them. Where they have to figure out what they’re doing because I feel like that’s realistic.
So many colors in this episode! We’re gonna hit the credits now I guess.
That’s all for now. I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far!
I decided last night that when I do this, my goal is not to sound intellectual or put together. I spent a lot of my time doing that on previous social media and it was just putting a lot of pressure on myself. Now I’m just gonna kind of lean into my first impressions and where my emotions are taking me and all my weird little rambling tangents. I think there’s value in me seeing that and reading it and recognizing it as part of my experience of watching the show. Who knows, maybe they’ll be some fanfic ideas in there? Or, I don’t know maybe I’ll just be funny. (Maybe I’m not funny.) But you will get more of a sense of what it’s like for me in the moment as I’m watching. Though, obviously this transcript is still edited for clarity.
Also, we’re in episode two now. Horror movie night happens in this episode. The first kiss between Wilhelm and Simon happens in this episode. Sara and August also talk for the first time. Yes I will have thoughts. I am the weird girl who has plushies of sargust, alright?
So I am just going to hit play and we’ll see where this takes us.
People are banging on the table because… they have been banging. I think people in fandom noticed Simon banging too. Like oh man, he does not know what he’s getting into.
Oh, there’s the girls. One or two have queer-coded haircuts. I feel like there’s so many more queer-coded girls in the background in first season and we should unpack that.
I like to think that this is an elaborate like beard relationship between Maddie and Nils. I don’t necessarily read Maddie as super straight, but I also wonder if part of their chaotic beard thing could just be like they did stuff without attraction behind it. That’s funny to me I don’t know why. Like if they just made out to make out because, as Maddie says, she was bored.
August’s sweater is great in the scene. Please put Malte in green and blue more.
Stop talking about dicks, you guys! I just want to focus on your sweaters. Wille’s blue sweater is also really good. I would wear both of their sweaters.
Oh my god, all of this banging on the table. It is sensory hell.
It’s Stella and Frederika‘s debut soon! And they’re gonna chat with Felice. Felice is looking at Wilhelm. Wilhelm’s wearing red and sunglasses, and the red is questionable. I think I’m commenting on everybody’s outfits in this episode quite a bit. I’m trying to figure out what I think about Felice’s outfit—like it almost has a little bit of a Sailor Moon fan vibe? I don’t know what I mean by that.
Oh August, go away. You’re wearing red too, well OK then. So he’s like asking Felice out to dinner but we also know that he like has issues around food and so does Felice. It kind of highlights right away how their relationship is troubled/a performance that isn’t good for either of them. Stella is already done with him, good for her. Fredrika is actually kind of defending August. We don’t unpack that one enough, as a fandom.
Sara repping the plaid and she wants to be friends with Felice. Felice is sitting with Maddie. Sara ends up sitting with Simon. Sara really does want to make friends and it’s really sweet that Simon sits with her, but you can also kind of see Sara being like okay, and now my brother is sitting with me in class, that’s like when your cousin goes to prom with you. Not in a royal way. I’m sure many royals went to prom with their cousins unironically, back in the day. (I will refrain from a Kristina/Carl Johan crack headcanon tangent but be aware it exists.)
Oh, the corrupt math teacher, we hate it. Hillerska needs to get on top of standards-based grading.
The way Wille pushes his hair back behind his ear when looking at Simon… ew, I sound like a body language expert on YouTube. I don’t mean to, but like I think I’m really noticing a lot of flirting mannerisms in that Edvin puts into place when he plays Wille.
Sarah doesn’t care if she gets a B in math and I think that’s great.
The math teacher is like, geometry and algebra. Like that’s freaking vague, sir. What actual unit are you on?
Simon is going to arrange for private tutoring. I feel like a lot of US private schools of Hillerska’s level will offer financial assistance to get a student tutoring if they don’t have the means, and it’s wild to me that Hillerska just doesn’t even care. Of course, Simon’s doing fine, but the math teacher is corrupt.
Rousseau! Our baby, baby horse! The way Nikita plays Felice’s anxiety is not talked about enough. She just does well with the little sighs, and trying to catch her breath and such. Sara looks great in blue, and her little face is so cute and sweet when she says she would like to have friends.
Simon is rowing the boat and just kind of looking a little bit timid about it. I can kind of vibe with that. Every time I’m in a canoe for some field trip, I’m like oh no this is going to capsize. The lake is beautiful, though. Wilhelm’s like babe, I’ll tell you how to row things.
I love that August’s athletic wear is just so very black. I guess it’s so he’s antagonist-coded, but I’m just like, you picked out that outfit.
Simon and Rose and Ayub, our friendship trip! Rosh and Ayub are already in Simon’s room and I think that’s true friendship. Rosh is like, rowing is not a sport and she is so valid and correct. I love her like Star Wars hair in the scene. Ayub talks about rowing being a summer camp thing, and I want to imagine him and Simon at camp as little kids. That’s cute.
The scene is so interesting because there’s the underlying tension of Simon wanting to get out of town, and Rosh and Ayub are like, we feel kind of insulted by that bro. I hope season three leans into this moment of tension a little bit more. Simon’s star is on the rise for being the prince’s boyfriend, and would he be put in a position where Rosh and Ayub feel like he’s leaving them behind? I mean, it would break my heart, but I think it would be a really good place to take their relationship next. Also, now I want pizza.
Simon is like, I’ll try when Rosh asked him to come to her soccer game. I’m sorry, Simon. If I was a teenager and Rosh was like come to my soccer game I’d be like do you want me to bring your water bottle? I could pick up Gatorade? Do you want me to braid your hair before the game? Should I wash your uniform afterward?
Oh, August. We are exercising. Son, I am worried about you. And then we cut to the horse, who is also exercising. I wonder if these things could be related. Is August the horse yes? In short, yes.
I love it when Wilhelm’s lying down and he cannot get still, and his leg is in the air. Like way to pose like a bisexual, sir.
August and Erik are on FaceTime on Wilhelm’s phone. It’s just a little awkward, like when your parents talk to the cousin they like better than you when you’re they’re visiting you. (That’s happened to me.)
OK, people like read this scene as August being annoying, and he is, but I do think August is trying to be like a functional substitute big brother here. He’s not doing amazing but I think he’s trying. I also wonder what it’s like for Erik‘s actor to have to do so much acting via FaceTime.
Oh, the part where they talk about how August’s dad died because he took his life. The way these families don’t really talk about suicide and mental health issues is just tough on me for personal reasons.
The way, Wille and Simon are just staring at each other at rowing practice. Literally everybody can see you, y’all. Now Simon is wearing green and that’s valid of him.
We’re in August teeny little room now it is super organized. He got his little jacket hanging up. There is a lot of hair product in those cabinets and we are out of ADHD meds. Son. I’m worried about you. Stop stop get therapy get therapy!!! I hope my phone is picking this up. Oh my god you’re going to Vincent when you have a problem. Don’t go to Vincent when you have a problem!
Oh my God no one’s helping him! Where are the adults in this building?!? I haven’t got ADHD, says August. I sometimes have my doubts that he doesn’t. I would really like to write fic where he is a missed diagnosis and it turns out he was self-medicating—not in a healthy way obviously—but also fic takes me forever to write.
We’re in Boris‘s office. Knowing he becomes important and season two, it’s like oh it’s Boris (affectionate). I mean I do feel for Boris. I said where are the adults? and I think Boris definitely knows that August needs support and August needs to talk about his grief and trauma and such so he can stop being the worst. Boris is trying his best, but, he also knows that August the kind of person who’s gonna have to come of his own free will to therapy. Boris knows about like all the stuff August is doing and how he’s overextending himself he’s aware. But Boris is one person, and the rest of this teachers at the school, at least the ones that like August is interacting with and especially the headmistress, are not giving him this encouragement. It makes me mad as a youth professional.
Although Boris, isn’t quite knowledgeable enough to like remember that August‘s dad is dead and that’s something. Boris realizes midway through conversation like oh shit his dad is dead I forgot and said “your parents” and then at the end he’s like come talk anytime. He really does try to salvage it. Yay, Boris is doing his job!
Alphabitch song is iconic. I’m not somebody who listens to the soundtrack again and again, but this is one that I remember. I wonder if the ring being pushed in Felice’s face, I think by Maddie, is meant to be like oh Felice‘s mom sent her here to like get married. Okay, Sara is glancing over at the table with Wilhelm and August and Simon. Interesting. August is attempting some kind of meritocracy speech about Simon’s rowing and he is so not practiced with it. Simon is going to go see Rosh, yay! Wille is like friends outside of school, that’s so impressive.
Felice just invited Sarah and Simon to her movie night, and this makes me want more fic about Felice and Simon. I guess she’s also like impressing Wille in this scene.
Maddie says her infamous fuck you August but in episode one she was also like use him for sex with no strings attached in her advice to Felice in episode one and I think that’s nuance.
Don’t use August for sex, though. He is decidedly an unripe avocado in this season. My phone took that dictation perfectly because it validates my dumbass metaphors.
THE AVOCADO SCALE OF AUGUST’S CHARACTER ARC (aka nonsense added in post)
1.1-1.4: that avocado is too ripe, unfit for consumption
1.5-1.6: girl I know you think that avocado is ready, but that is your hubris talking
2.1-2.2: good for slicing and adding to a salad
2.3: perfect for guacamole ;)
2.4: dubious, but salvageable with a little lemon juice
2.5-2.6: oh no girl your avocado went bad :(
Wille’s little lights! I like to think of Wille buying his lights on Amazon or whatever the royal family uses for quick delivery. He is like I’m gonna give myself a personality because my mom would never have let me have these at home. Simon is like daring Wille to come to the football match. Flippa is such a great Swedish verb. Wille faking his little headache, aw. As a millennial I’m obligated to do the lines from Mean Girls. “I can’t go out, I’m sick!” “Boo you whore.”
Lisa says that August actually does care about the possibility that Wille might be sick in this scene, but is still super annoying in how he expresses his care, which changed my whole perspective on it.
The way Edvin throws his head back before he types that he’ll come to the match—another great mannerism. Oh no, he’s gonna try and take the bus. <3
I’m gonna figure out public transit like a real person, says Wille. He doesn’t know there’s an app! That’s OK, I don’t think I knew how to pay for the bus when I went to Sweden and Finland. I only had to take the bus in Finland. I used tokens, because it was 2010. It was embarrassing because I had no idea what I was doing.
I love the way the scene is lit when Wille and Simon are at the gas station. I love the way they make the town look beautiful. It reminds me of wandering around town with my friends at night—not that we could walk much of anywhere. I think we went to Blockbuster, once? But just that feeling of freedom when you’re a teenager and you have a little bit of a later curfew and you’re seeing things in a new light for the first time. Lovely.
Soccer girls, soccer, soccer girls! Lisa Ambjörn has my number, because she’s like, Simon and Wille are going to have this flirty experience, and a key part of it is Wilhelm getting along with Simon‘s best friend. Simon and Ayub are the best.
How many of like Rosh’s ex-girlfriends are on her team? How many are on the other team? Part of me is like, she has so many ex-girlfriends I’m sure. But then I’m like, no, she’s 16 or 17, and she probably has one or two or three. I like to think of her channeling that level of lesbian chaos someday, though. Break some hearts, Rosh!
The way the boys do their little synchronized chant is absolutely precious.
The scene on the motorcycles is another one that I just adore. Again that teenage freedom feeling, and the way they pass the apartment complexes and the lights in the windows look so warm. There’s something just cozy about this scene.
We’re back at Forest Ridge. Nils and Vincent are always playing chess. Are they playing chess in the scene? No, it’s cards. I can see them being competitive Gen Z chess trenders, though.
August, are you seriously trying to be a dom in plaid pants right now? Nils just gave him a look like not a good look bro. Nils is right.
Sara‘s drawing and I think that’s super cute. This is an untapped aspect of her personality in fanworks, in my opinion.
Sara is like, you think I’m being literal when I say to check your watch and you think I’m being autistic and that’s true but actually I’m roasting you just a little bit too because I contain multitudes. Sarah’s little necklaces in this scene are cute. I guess she wears them often throughout the show.
Wille and his lights!!!
Maddie and Felice are doing waxing in their dorm room. I feel like that’s part of the show’s realism, because when you’re in like a boarding school or a college situation you might not have your regular salon people around. So it’s just like you and your friends doing DIY things.
Oh shit, the headmistress is asking August about his tuition. The fact that like it just comes down to his mom not being around, and the headmistress has to go to him. I guess he’s like 18, so legally she can. But I just think about like the people in this world keep treating him an adult in the wrong places, and how that is not actually good for him when he has unprocessed grief and trauma. (Meanwhile they treat him like a child when he needs accountability.) I really am capable of talking about other characters I promise. This also may be a lie.
I never know what the hell Nils and Vincent are doing in this scene. Also there were two girls and I’m pretty sure they were gay because one of them had short queer-coded hair and one of them had pink queer-coded hair. You can probably be like, Blue, are you stereotyping? Maybe I am, but I’m also saying the statistics mean there are gays at Hillerska other than Simon and Wilhelm.
Oh no, we’re down to August’s last ADHD pill. Oh my god oh no oh no, somebody put this boy in like inpatient or outpatient or some kind of -patient.
We are in the library. Sara is looking at books, including Det går an. Okay, this is the scene where she and August talk for the first time. It is interesting in light of the fact that we know they become a thing later. It’s not explicitly written as a meet cute, it’s more of a meet creep.
I think the camerawork calls attention to like, how close Sara and August’s bodies are to one another, and how they maneuver around one another and exist in space together. Then they’re focusing Simon now, and his reaction and he’s kind of picking up on things. I don’t think either of Sara or August knows that attraction is going to develop but like, could they be noticing something different? Like an elevated heart rate or sweaty palms they’re just chalking up to nervousness of a conversation about drugs? I don’t actually think whatever happens between them starts in episode four, I think it actually starts now. Physiologically speaking.
Yeah, the first thing that Micke says when Simon goes to see him again is about Sara. I actually do wonder if that’s coming back in season three, in some way.
Simon and his dad can bond over music and I don’t get the impression that that’s a connection Simon had with his mom or sister. I think that’s part of maybe what makes him want to come back to his dad, but also he’s stealing drugs. No Simon! don’t do it don’t do it!
Everybody’s on a rowing machine. The rowing machine is a metaphor for sex. No, they’re all just panting, and I felt the need to be a dirty minded teenager about it.
Oh boy, here comes the meritocracy speech. That’s what I’m calling this awkward awkward moment where August clasps Simon’s shoulder and sings his praises. Walter and Henry are again like what the hell is going on and I can imagine all the thoughts they’re having in canon and in Sflow-er’s fics. Simon he’s just trying not to laugh in the situation, and then oh god the forehead kiss. It’s so extra. What. The few times in my life where someone has grabbed me and kissed me on the forehead have all been profoundly uncomfortable. I think the show doesn’t excellent job of communicating that moment in life.
Sara adjusting her hair and looking in the mirror before movie night is a nice little detail. We got Linda being like oh yeah go be social hon to Simon they say a lot of goodbyes.
The part where Simon asks, is it weird that Felice is inviting us? and Sara says actually I think she likes us… that’s kind of like an autistic feel for me because I feel like when you’re growing up, there are people who will kind of bully you by pretending to like you, which makes you cautious when people do like you. You can see a little bit of that caution in Sara. At the same time she’s like I’m trying to start something new and I want to give Felice the benefit of the doubt. That’s kind of what I felt the subtext of the those two lines were.
They’re watching horror movie now. August has thoughts. August probably also has thoughts on Taylor Swift and leggings that no one wants to hear. No one wants your opinion, sir.
Wille and Simon are holding hands! I guess they’re holding pinkies. They’re touching fingers. I love the background movie voices like I’m getting a little freaked out here, what are we gonna do as they like touch hands. You’re like oh yes, well now we know who is having an elevated heart rate. Certainly more than one future couple in this episode.
Wille steps away into this creepy hallway that’s putting the weight of ancestral pressure on him. That sign about how they owe the school—Wille is like feeling anxious about it and like that’s a powerful symbol. But I bet Hillerska staff also probably pull that line out at fundraisers to try and get parents and alums to donate to the annual fund each year.
Now Wille is sitting in the windowsill. I love it because it’s like, here’s a window to escape! I’m also reminded that Sara picked up Det går an in the library and that has stuff about windows.
Here comes Simon. I feel like I’m doing sports commentary here knowing where it’s going. Is he gonna do it? Is he gonna go for the slam dunk?
The way Simon is talking himself up to this internally. You can just tell by the way Omar holds his shoulders.
The first kiss—I do love a good like teen drama where there’s like an initial kiss to just kind of be like, okay, we got the placement. We figured out where their lips are.
And then they go in for another one and—that was weird. Wille’s feeling weird about it. Wille, shut up, you are absolutely queer. Okay, now Wille is pulling Simon back. They going in for another kiss now. Again I really like in teen dramas when it just takes a few kisses to get it right and for them. Where they have to figure out what they’re doing because I feel like that’s realistic.
So many colors in this episode! We’re gonna hit the credits now I guess.
That’s all for now. I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far!
