Young Royals Season 3 Review: Always Characterized by a Remarkable On-Screen Chemistry
Cast: Edvin Ryding, Omar Rudberg, Pernilla August, Malte Gårdinger, Frida Argento, Nikita Uggla, Nathalie Varli, Felicia Truedsson, Mimmi Cyon, Ingela Olsson
Created By: Lisa Ambjörn, Lars Beckung and Camilla Holter
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four stars)
One of the most beloved LGBTQ+ teen dramas Young Royals Season 3 is back on Netflix for its third and final season, halfway between Elite and The Crown: we are talking about Young Royals. This Swedish television series revolves around the crown prince of Sweden Wilhelm and his new life in the prestigious Hillerska boarding school, where he will learn to put his feelings before the duties of the Royal House and finally find the courage to be himself. Now that the love story with Simon has come to light, will the two be able to live their relationship to the fullest? We’ll find out on May 18, when the highly anticipated season finale will be released. For the moment, in our spoiler-free review of Young Royals Season 3, we can tell you that this third season is confirmed to be at the height of the previous one, capable of dealing with genuineness and great intelligence on important themes such as identity, inclusiveness, and social pressures while focuses more and more on the love story between the two protagonists, always characterized by remarkable chemistry on screen. Only the pace slows down now and then, giving the impression that the authors needed to fill the six episodes of which the show is made up a bit.
When in the last scene of the first season of Young Royals we saw Wilhelm turn a defiant look towards the audience, breaking the fourth wall, just as the word ” Revolution ” was sung in the background by the wonderful voice of the Swedish singer Elias (whose song later became the symbol of the series), we could only hypothesize that through that directorial choice a key concept was introduced that we would later find in the following seasons (at the time the alleged renewal of the series was still a remote hope). All in all, if there’s anything that Young Royals has taught us in these three years, it’s that nothing is put there by chance, not even the most trivial of details. In 2021, the year of the debut of the series created by Lisa Ambjörn, we had emerged from a long period of compulsive rewatching during which we had stocked up on teen dramas and consequent subgenres produced by Netflix: Sex Education, 13 Reasons Why, Elite, are just three of the many series that have approached similar themes, some completing the task better than others (but this is not the right space to discuss it), essentially at the time yet another tear-jerking and problematic LGBTQ+ teenage love story, it could have gone unnoticed in the eyes of young viewers who were now bored by a self-evident scheme of tailor-made clichés and stereotypes, to become just another commercial product.
Young Royals Season 3 Review: The Story Plot
In the finale of the second season of Young Royals, the Swedish crown prince Wilhelm (Edvin Ryding) took advantage of the nationally broadcast speech on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of his Hillerska school to confess to his classmates class, to his family and the entire country for having lied about the fact that he was not the boy who was seen with Simon (Omar Rudberg) in the intimate video released online by August (Malte Gårdinger). A moment of great courage and sincerity came after a very difficult period, during which he had been forced to lie by his mother, Queen Christina of Sweden (Pernilla August), which inevitably ended up damaging his newly blossomed relationship with Simon. With the truth coming out and the two being able to declare their feelings for each other, the love between Wilhelm and Simon finally seems to be able to take flight. But, as we see at the beginning of this third season of the show, the boys still have to face the consequences of this scandal: reaching an agreement with August will be more complicated than expected, and, while the press delves into the life of the crown prince, the two lovers they will have to commit to keeping a low profile so that their behavior does not reflect on the Royal House.
Young Royals Season 3 Review and Analysis
It is in this impasse that Young Royals insinuates itself into a panorama hungry for quality and content, where it finds its rise to success: with surprising ease, the world becomes passionate and attached to the story of Wille (Edvin Ryding), crown prince of Sweden who sees his position as a condemnation and not a privilege, and to his love as overwhelming as it is impossible for Simon (Omar Rudberg), his schoolmate belonging to a more humble social class; young actors but with an incredible ability to excite, a technical cast made up mostly of successful women, the (not so much) veiled denunciation of a reactionary monarchy, the inclusiveness within the characters, the theme of classism, Sweden shown from a new point of view, all assumptions that allowed Young Royals to gain public favor from the first frames, finding approval not only in Europe but also overseas. As often happens when we talk about creations aimed at young adults, preconceptions are the order of the day and even the series about the Swedish prince did not get away scot-free on this front: some unfairly classified it as a mix between The Crown for young people and Elite, and those who defined its plot as too similar to that of the novel Red, White and Royal Blue.
Prejudices, however, can be easily refuted, because it is enough to look at Young Royals to discover that in reality, it does not come close to the aforementioned products: it has demonstrated this since the first season by departing from any conventional label thanks to a fluid and engaging writing, to which Lisa Ambjörn had worked for years before bringing it to the small screen, which is also reflected in a photography exceptionally studied down to the smallest details; stylistic choices that have allowed the series to broaden the target to an audience not limited to a specific age group. Therefore, the merit of the renewal for a second and then also a third (and final) season by Netflix can certainly be attributed to the well-deserved worldwide success achieved, which encouraged lovers of the series to loudly demand a worthy epilogue for their characters from the Heart. And here we are talking, without spoilers, about the highly anticipated final chapter of Young Royals which we saw in preview thanks to Netflix. But where were we after the second season?
If in the first two seasons, everyone orbited (some more, some less), in a mechanism of action and reaction around the weight of Wilhelm’s crown, like pawns dragged by the course of events and suspended in a limbo of uncertainty, in this last part of Young Royals an unexpected reversal of the dynamics occurs: the prince finally becoming aware of himself and his condition ignites a process of mutation also within the other characters who actively begin to take possession of their storyline; in particular, we note the beautiful evolution of Simon, played by Omar Rudberg, who although always remained consistent with his moral line even in previous seasons, this time openly takes a position highlighting an important socio-political issue within the plot; sides of his character that have remained hidden until now also emerge, reconfirming him as one of the best characters ever written in the circle of teen dramas.
Even Felice (Nikita Uggla), torn between despair at missing Sara and anger at the latter’s betrayal, brings to light a new interesting nuance of herself that raises problems within the school balance. August (Malte Gardinger) and Sara (Frida Argento), our two antiheroes in Redemption, in this last chapter have the opportunity to analyze their faults and experience the overwhelming sensation of now being left alone. Sara especially, deprived of the protective figure of brother Simon and without a point of reference in her life, appears estranged from reality and lost among the regrets that torment her. In this third final chapter, it is no longer just the public eye that witnesses the love between Wilhelm and Simon: the famous open curtain in the prince’s room, casus belli of the events in the first season, and metaphor of the detachment between the outside world and their relationship has now been replaced by kisses in the sunlight, hands that seek each other and intertwine without fear, loving looks in the middle of corridors full of people.
What we have been waiting for two seasons finally comes to life and it is impossible not to point out the skill of the lead actors, Edvin Ryding and Omar Rudberg, for how they were able to empathize and identify with each other, even though they were young (and with their first television experience as far as Rudberg is concerned), in the moods of the respective characters, understanding their points of view and psychological and emotional developments. In Young Royals love is not only narrated through the sexual aspect, which also takes on an important position in this season, but also and above all through the nuances of glances, the magic of small gestures of affection such as the thought of preparing for the ‘another a simple sandwich; what prevails in the feeling that binds the two is a never princely sweetness, built on the concreteness and simplicity of being together for real. And it is Simon who shows Wilhelm a reality so far from him, born in the cold pomp of a family that has always ignored his need for affection, and who convinces him that he is worthy of the attention that has always been denied him.
Love shouldn’t be so complicated, says Simon in a scene shown in the trailer, and it’s as if with this phrase, in perfect line with his character, he asks the question, which is somewhat the fulcrum of the whole series, to us too: to what extent are we willing to sacrifice ourselves for a love that seems to have no way out? If fighting tooth and nail to hold on to a hopeless feeling isn’t enough to be happy, what is the right epilogue that both protagonists deserve? Selfishly speaking, we would like love to triumph and for Wilmon (the name of the ship between Wille and Simon) to be endgame, but perhaps it is precisely this continuous uncertainty of being perpetually on the verge of letting go and then always returning to each other which made their relationship unique and memorable in the Netflix teen drama scenario. Young Royals Season 3 does not end with a hasty and hasty chapter, as has already happened in the past for other series, but with a careful closure in the writing, elegant aesthetics, and spot-on attention to the directorial choices. The melancholy of saying goodbye forever to the events born behind the walls of Hillerska will accompany us for a long time, but what will make us even sadder is knowing that who knows how long we will have to wait to have another teen drama that excites us in the same way.
The conflict between real feelings and responsibilities has certainly represented the common thread of the entire series and, in the third season of the show, this aspect is certainly exacerbated. But the complicated love story between Wilhelm and Simon is not the only dramatic aspect that is addressed in the six new episodes of Young Royals. Hillerska threatens to close its doors before the end of the semester, precisely because of the increasingly insistent investigations by the press, which bring to light the existence of sadistic initiation rites organized by third-year students. To prevent this eventuality from occurring, all extra-curricular activities are suspended, and children have imposed a curfew and the use of cell phones for only one hour a day. To this, we add all the conflicts that we had left behind in the second season of the show, in particular the one involving Sara (Sara Frida Argento) and August, whose secret love story ended up being wrecked due to the decision of the boy to publish the video of Wilhem and Simon online.
Finally, Young Royals, although never managing to dig too far beneath the surface (also and above all due to lack of time), undertakes to address relevant social issues through the prism of the lives of its protagonists, creating a narrative that reflects the complexity of contemporary society. The show explores the conflict between the expectations imposed by society and the search for an authentic personal identity, but also the theme of privilege, social inclusion, and the challenges that people belonging to different contexts have to face when trying to fit into more privileged. Ample space is then obviously dedicated to those who analyze the typical aspects of the adolescence period, Pressures of Adolescence: The series addresses the typical pressures of adolescence, such as sexual identity, the pressure of friends, self-esteem, and the search for independence.
Young Royals Season 3 Review: The Last Words
Young Royals Season 3 confirms itself to be on par with previous seasons, capable of dealing with genuineness and great intelligence on important issues such as gender identity and bullying while focusing more and more on the love story between the two protagonists, always characterized by remarkable on-screen chemistry. Only the pace slows down now and then, giving the impression that the authors needed to fill the six episodes of which the show is made up a bit. Young Royals Season 3 does not end with a hasty and hasty chapter, as has already happened in the past for other series, but with a careful closure in the writing, elegant aesthetics, and spot-on attention to the directorial choices. The melancholy of saying goodbye forever to the events born behind the walls of Hillerska will accompany us for a long time, but what will make us even sadder is knowing that who knows how long we will have to wait to have another teen drama that excites us in the same way.
Young Royals Season 3 Review: Always Characterized by a Remarkable On-Screen Chemistry - Filmyhype
Director: Lisa Ambjörn, Lars Beckung and Camilla Holter
Date Created: 2024-03-11 12:49
4
Pros
- Compelling Conclusion: Season 3 wraps up the series in a satisfying way, answering lingering questions and offering closure for the characters.
- Deeper Character Development: Both Wilhelm and Simon get more exploration, with their struggles and growth taking center stage. The supporting characters also receive more focus, enriching the overall narrative.
- Increased Emotional Stakes: Season 3 dials up the drama, exploring the consequences of Wilhelm's actions and the challenges he and Simon face as a couple.
- Realistic Portrayal: The show continues to ground itself in relatable teenage experiences, avoiding excessive dramatics.
- Positive LGBTQ+ Representation: Young Royals provides a strong portrayal of young love and identity struggles within the LGBTQ+ community.
Cons
- Potential for Frustration: The heightened drama could lead to some frustration for viewers, particularly with the obstacles Wilhelm and Simon encounter.
- Unconventional Ending: The season might not deliver the happily-ever-after ending some viewers crave, offering a more nuanced conclusion.
