🇸🇪 YOUNG ROYALS SEASON 2 🇸🇪
Young Royals season 2. Young Royals is a Swedish Netflix Original drama/romance series. Season 2 of this show arrived on November 1 2022. 6 episodes of 42-47 minutes. In Swedish, Spanish and some English with English subtitles. Rated 15 U.K.
Premise Season 2:
“A winter break has passed and Prince Wilhelm and the rest of his classmates are back at Hillerska. When Wilhelm tries to take revenge on August, and win back Simon’s trust, he creates problems that threaten the entire monarchy.” Netflix
Cast:
Edvin Ryding as Wilhelm
Omar Rudberg as Simon
Malte GĂĄrdinger as August
Frida Argento as Sara
Nikita Uggla as Felipe
Felicia Truedsson as Stella
Nils Wetterholm as Vincent
Fabian Penje as Henry
Natalie Varli as Madison
Samuel Astor as Nils
Mimmi Cyon as Fredrika
Uno Elger as Walter
Ingela Olsson as Anette Lilia
Xiao-Long Rathje Zhao as Alexander
Crew:
Creators: Lisa Ambjörn, Lars Beckung, Camilla Holter
Writers: Lisa Ambjörn, Sofie Forsman, Tove Forsman, Pia Gradvall, Ebba Stymne
Directors: Rojda Sekersöz, Lisa Farzaneh, Kristina Humle
Composer: Matti Bye
Cinematographers: Gabriel Mkrttchian, Lisabi Fridell
Editors: Sofia Lindgren, Therese Elfström, Roberth Nordh, Marinella Angusti
Costume Designer: Cecilia Zitron
Locations:
Stockholm, Sweden
Kaggeholms Slott, Slottshagen, Sweden
Review:
The long-awaited second season of the successful and acclaimed series Young Royals arrived on Netflix recently. This show certainly seems to have connected both with its target audience (it is a teen show) and also with those who are far removed from that.
Season 2 is certainly a different beast from the first season with its heady young love and a decent antagonist to throw a spanner in the works. This season is far more serious in tone in many ways with repercussions hitting from what happened before. The oath to happiness does not run smoothly, that’s for sure.
Mental health is explored sensitively this season, particularly focussed upon Wilhelm but also his “arch enemy” (more about the fascinating August anon) both of whom are medicating and engaging in unhealthy behaviours. That these amplified issues can be related to regardless of the social status or wealth of the young viewer watching is great. Loneliness and isolation are certainly major factors for some of the characters.
Relationships (not just romantic or sexual) lie at the heart of this season with not only our main couple of Wilhelm and Simon but others as well. How these play out from acts of revenge and jealousy and reactions to these are well explored. Family relationships too are dipped into with a contrast between families.
Tradition is another theme that’s explored in some depth this season and we can see how this can be abused by both adults and youngsters alike. Mostly it just seems like a handy excuse to not change anything and just preserve the status quo.
In fact, many of the adults do not come out of this looking very good. We see them manipulate the young and vulnerable, seemingly without much conscience.
Loyalty and betrayal also get a chance to shine in this. People use each other and are often seemingly oblivious to the feelings of others. But these are mostly young people who are feeling their way, so there should be some forgiveness. Revenge is, they say, a dish best served cold however from watching this you may well decide it’s best left on the side in the kitchen and not served at all. Using a horse as an example of betrayal did feel somewhat trite. I understood how Sara would feel but…
Secrets, truths and lies… these run throughout this season and the game of truth or dare was the obvious example but there are tons of others hidden away.
I liked the way that there was a great compare and contrast between how Wilhelm, Simon, August and Sara fare in their love lives.
There are occasional parts that do come over a bit contrived, for example, the Rousseau scene just before the speech but hey, this is a drama after all.
If I had to pick a favourite character this season it would be August, who is truly fascinating. You can feel his outrage when flakey Wilhelm finally decides what he wants at the 11th hour. I mean… really? We can see changes in August and glimmers of hope that he will stop being the big bad antagonist. Certainly, there are characters this season who are worse. At this point, I think Sara is giving him a real run for his money. Adults bear some responsibility here too, yes, I mean you, the queen, Wilhem’s mother!
I loved the direction this season. The overall production values of Young Royals are very high. The dialogue is of a high standard and the acting matches that. The use of music and visuals are both excellent. Omar Rudberg’s voice is amazing!
I am not the target audience for Young Royals, however, I can see that it allows those who are the opportunity to see, regardless of individual circumstance, the importance of prioritising your own truth. Adults could learn a lot from this as well.
In conclusion, I can recommend season 2 as a very good follow-up to the first season, in fact, I thought this season was, overall, even stronger. I will certainly watch season 3 if/when it arrives.
Awards Season 1: 5 Wins & 4 Nominations
Wins include:
Kristallen Awards (2022) Best Program ~ Lisa Berggren Eyre, Martin Söder
Best Youth Drama
Riagalen Awards (2022) Original Idea of the Year (Scripted) Nexiko, Netflix
Series En Cena Awards (2022) Best Actor in a Series ~ Omar Rudberg
Best Teen Series
Nominations include:
Kristallen Awards (2022) Viewers Favorite Program ~ Lisa Berggren Eyre, Martin Söder
Best Actor ~ Edvin Ryding
Best Supporting Role ~ Omar Rudberg
Riagalan Awards (2022) Jury Prize Profile of the Year ~ Omar Rudberg
Other Awards/Nominations:
Edvin Ryding Stockholm Film Festival (2022) Rising Star Award Winner
Omar Rudberg (same award) Nominated
Trailer:
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