Ron Does Stuff

It’s the final episode of the first season! Let’s get into it because I just know this is going to break my heart.

At the end of the last episode, we saw Wilhelm’s sex tape hit the internet and me being impressed with how quietly they played that moment on the screen. At the start of this episode, Wilhelm is in his room understandably and the social media noise just keeps coming in. I’d tell him to get off social media but even I have trouble doing that and I hate social media. Also I was kinda shocked that they showed Wilhelm jacking off Simon? I mean Simon was wearing underwear but I guess I’ve become soft in my old age because I’ve seen more explicit stuff than this and yet I’m clutching my pearls?

Wilhelm is visited by the queen while Simon is getting stares at the grocery store and my heart is breaking for these kids. And it helps that they’re actual kids and not some thirtysomething pretending to be a kid. Simon’s even on magazine covers my god, he’s not a celebrity! Isn’t there some rules to this? He’s a minor too!

Meanwhile, Wilhelm is being told that even the power of the Swedish Royal Family cannot contain this and they’d have to put out a statement. He’s also told that he’ll understandably have to stay away from Simon and I hate August so much. Over at Simon’s house, it’s an entirely different approach that his mother takes, telling him that they need to report it to the police because it is a crime to disseminate this since he’s a minor. The situation also puts a rift between Simon and Sara, since Sara still wants to stay at Hillerska while their mom thinks it would be better if they both left the school.

Over at the school, Felice’s friends are discussing how this is going to affect the line of succession, which I admit I was also curious about. The blue-blooded aristocratic surrogate mom idea sounds interesting! They also point out that it’s only them in Hillerska that know for sure that it’s Wilhelm’s room in the video and everyone else in the country is just speculating.

Simon’s friends Ayub and Rosh update him about what those on the less affluent side of the tracks think, and it’s basically the same as the rich kids — they’re all talking about the sex video. Ayub points out that Kim Kardashian parlayed her sex tape into celebrity while Rosh points out that why is it Simon who has to leave the school when it’s one of the rich kids who leaked and you know what keep these friends, Simon. They’re good people.

Wilhelm is trying to get Simon to go back to school so they can talk about while August is trying to cheer him up and acting like he didn’t spread that video in the first place. I swear to god gripuhan ko ‘to kung madaan siya dito and that’s how you know I’m really mad because I’m speaking in Filipino.

I guess Rosh’s pep talk got to Simon because he’s back in school and understandably everyone is staring at him once he walks into the classroom. He’s the only truly recognizable one in the video, after all. It’s a point that Simon brings up when he and Wilhelm finally get to talk to each other and while Simon and Wilhelm think that they can do this together I don’t think that’s going to be the case. Wilhelm isn’t just any other teenage boy.

Sara, on the other hand, confronts August about the sex tape because Sara put two and two together and knows that he’s the one that leaked the sex tape. August tries to reason that Wilhelm doesn’t respect his role enough but Sara correctly points out that it still doesn’t give him the right to do what he did and also destroy Simon’s life in the process. And then we find out that Sara wants to stay in Hillerska in exchange for not ratting out August and then they start making out? Well, Sara initiates it but the fuck. How is this going to affect her and Felice’s friendship? Felice was nice to you! You’re making me side with the rich girl!

This culminates in a confrontation between Simon and Sara when she throws at tantrum at dinner. Sara exposes a lot of the resentment she feels towards her family while Simon throws back at Sara that she’s trying to be someone that she’s not. It’s a tense confrontation to say the least but I did like that it was resolved immediately as well. I don’t think I can handle two seasons of the two of them not being okay with each other.

Back at Hillerska, Wilhelm is digging in his heels and resolves to talk to his mom about handling this whole situation differently from the way the queen wants it. And to his credit he does stand up to the queen! But the queen comes with all the weight of experience and duty and in the end, he folds. Damn.

After that shitshow Wilhelm asks to meet Simon and obviously Simon is heartbroken. He’s correct when he points out that everything in their relationship so far has been on Wilhelm’s terms but I also get where Wilhelm’s coming from here. He’s not just any ordinary celebrity, he’s meant to lead a nation, even if I think royals are just ceremonial in Sweden? Are they? Either way that’s an entirely different level of responsibility. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, good on Simon for standing up for himself. I think he does have sympathy for Wilhelm’s situation, but that doesn’t mean he should sacrifice even more of himself than he already has.

Wilhelm is heartbroken and Felice is here to give him a target for his pain because she’s figured out on her own that August is the one that leaked the video. Maybe it’s just the Swedish way of doing this but I really like how the confrontations are short but charged. It’s the Nora Aunor fan in me! Wilhelm also learns the painful lesson that maybe his mother loves the institution more than she loves him, Because it does appear like the queen loved Erik enough.

The term ends — or are they just going on Christmas break or something? — and you can feel that there’s already the seeds of dissent growing in Wilhelm. He hugs Simon publicly, in defiance of his mother, and as he drives away from Hillerska the song pretty much keeps repeating the word “revolution”. And then this first season ends the same way it started — with Wilhelm staring right at us.