Netflix's Swedish teen drama gets a little less queer and a little too straight.With the massive number of television shows these days, swiping through options on streaming services is becoming more like walking through the aisles of a bookstore. There are the big titles that everyone gravitates to, splashily on display up front, and the smaller ones hidden away like treasures in the back corner. Young Royals is one of those latter shows, a slow-burn romance that has audiences in certain circles of the internet going crazy.
Think of Young Royals as a prime example of what happens when television meets Tumblr. A niche, queer story made in Sweden, featuring a devilishly handsome queer couple and the boarding school drama that surrounds them, the series has captured the minds of young audiences thanks to an electric character chemistry and a soundtrack that will have you pulling out your phone to tag at least one song in every episode. The only problem? Its second season gets a little less queer and a little too straight, forcing us to wait too long for what we came for.The series begins when a young Swedish prince, Wilhelm (Edvin Ryding), is forced to enroll in an elite boarding school for royals, Hillerska, in order to better his party-boy image. It’s the same institution his brother, Prince Erik (Ivar Forsling), and mother, Queen Kristina (Pernilla August), attended when they were younger, so they think it’s only natural for Wilhelm to follow suit. Ironically, this only makes things worse for the “royal image” when Wilhelm falls in love with Simon (Omar Rudberg).
In its first season, Young Royals does a great job commenting on class and privilege, often highlighting the differences between the lives of Simon and his sister, Sara (Frida Argento), as non-boarders at Hilerska, who aren’t royal and can’t afford the boarding fees. It’s a classic tale of royal family member falling in love with someone in the working class but with a modern and queer twist. Things quickly go south for them, though, when a classmate, August (Malte Gardinger), catches Simon and Wilhelm having sex and secretly films it for leverage. In a series of unfortunate events, not only does the video go public, forcing Wilhelm to publicly deny involvement and hiding his relationship with Simon, but his brother dies in a car crash, leaving him as the sole heir to the Swedish throne.
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