Could the piano in the foreground literally be a stand-in for Simon (the piano player) and future love interest waiting for Wilhelm in the chapel in the next scene? It is the first time we see Wilhelm's genuine smile as he is touched by the boy's singing and beauty (and defiance when he is asked to sing louder). And possibly Wilhelm can relate to Simon being bullied as he himself is being bullied all through the first episode by circumstances seemingly beyond his control.
Once again, your thoughtful commentary is something I alway look forward to. Thank you from the bottom of my YR loving heart.
I absolutely 100% percent agree with what you're saying there. The piano equals music equals love equals Simon (obviously, because who else is Wilhelm going to love? I mean it's kind of obvious what the show wants us to take away from its whole set-up.:)).
Wilhelm might not know Simon yet, but the way the piano has been positioned in that scene certainly foreshadows future developments. In other words, if the Headmistress-Wilhelm 'switch' foreshadows something (and the parallel to the Erik-Wilhelm 'switch' a few minutes of screen time earlier suggests that it does), then music (read: love) will play an important part in that. The piano (aka music=love) is literally in the foreground of that 'switch'.
Thank you for your lovely comments. I always look forward to reading them, as well.
I have another thought, maybe a switch? When August tells Wilhelm they (he) could kill someone and get away with it during Wilhelm's initiation, we are seeing an entitled asshole talking (much like Trump saying he could shoot someone in Times Square and get away with it...) Wilhelm objects of course. But later when our boy has a gun to August's head (yikes) in the second season, he says something like "the monarchy gets away with a lot of things, right August?" I immediately thought of August's fathers' suicide. Maybe I am conflating all of this or mixing metaphors but did the monarchy do a cover up of that death or is he referring to the whole cover up with the sex video? There is an illusion to his dad's drug problems (aha! Simon's dad too) and another back story that gives us a deeper look into August and his character flaws...I never for an instant thought Wilhelm would pull the trigger. That would have been LAME.
Don't know where I read this: A reluctant ruler (Wilhelm) makes the best leader. An eager/covetous ruler (August) makes the worst.
I have always thought about Wilhelm's reluctant ruler persona. Throughout both seasons we see signs that Wilhelm would, ironically, make a very good King of Sweden. He is open minded, makes sound judgements. He is gentle and listens -- until a crisis occurs and then he springs into action. Though the decision to have Alexander and not Simon take the blame for the drugs (S1) was a decision he made with his heart -- it also makes logical sense. Alexander was caught with drugs, so why complicate matters by bringing in Simon who has no incentive to protect the secret society if interrogated? (Good political assumption that Alex won't snitch on the secret society). Then of course Wilhelm's speech at the end of S2 -- he demonstrates that he could be an enlightened leader who would modernize the monarchy.
tvmicroscope has alluded to Wilhelm taking over the school in some way as the head mistress has not stepped in to correct all the dreadful things happening there...hazing, the sex tape and bullying including the 'standing on the chair' to admit sexual encounters (gross). Wilhelm attempts to take control of the chair standing thing without success and considering how violated he was in the first season, to visit and admit to another private encounter is just fucked up. Wilhelm's 'kingly' moments are some of what you mentioned as well as his decision to let Simon go, heartbreaking as it is (and dressed like royalty too). He's certainly heard from his mother that he can't have what he wants because he has the monarchy to think of. And he believes Simon's heart belongs to Marcus. Thank goodness for Boris, the therapist, maybe the only adult at the school who actually gives a damn about the students. I LOVE the way Wilhelm shows up as a ruler during the conversation about who is going to be fingered for the drugs. We see him being decisive and leading the others to agree with him. of course the whole thing is a mess but....
Wilhelm's and Simon's intimacy scenes have been very thoroughly GIFed, and it's actually very clear that it's NOT Wilhelm who takes the initiative. It's Simon, whith his horny little throwing back of the head. This movement is almost always accompanied with lifting one's hip. It takes the still high and drunk Wilhelm a long time to catch up, to interpret the signal(s), but when he does, he's not hesitating at all. That doesn't mean he took the initiative, it means he acted on a signal from Simon. Later, it's Simon who nervously grips Wille's butt, and Simon who first start pulling his own sweater off, a signal Wille responds to immediately by copying it.
This is their whole dynamic all the time! Simon is giving a signal, Wille responds, an endless dance of action and reaction where they learn from each other and copy each other's behaviour.
It's not just intimacy either. From the start, Simon is sending signals of various kinds that Wilhelm reacts to. It's the very first song he sings, that Wille reacts to. The comment in class, that Wille reacts to. Wille did say hi first at the initiation party, but then Simon is checking Wille out, leaving Wille flustered, before he turns and walks away, which Wille responds to by running after him. It's Simon asking Wille about what he thought when Simon sang. It's Simon kissing Wille - twice, before he decides to fuck the consequences and kiss him back. It's Simon initiating a talk about the kiss. In the gym scene, it's Simon making Wille spell out exactly what he wants, and demanding an answer to "what happened with forgetting about what happened". It's Simon who came to sit down and began talking with Wille after the euology for Erik.
I think it's important to be aware that unlike Wille, Simon is not emotionally repressed at all. He's open and honest about what he wants, and he's not afraid to speak his mind or to enforce healthy boundaries when he learns by experience that he has to.
He is also a gay boy falling for a closeted boy, and his behaviour reflects that. Simon is incredibly brave, and that's another thing that Wilhelm is learning from him. And I think the learning from each other aspect is incredibly important. For Wilhelm, it's crucial - every single interacrion he has with Simon, every bit of resistance and boundaries, every instance of Simon leading the way is important for Wilhelm's emotional growth.
And it all leads up to the moment when Simon tells Wille he loves him and agrees to be in a closeted relationship with him, "if there's no other way". What you wrote about breaking rules immediately made me think of this scene, because Simon's face is mirrored.
And I think that is done to show us that Simon is now mirroring Wille's original want, reflecting it back to him. It's odd, eerie and feels wrong. This isn't Simon as we know him. And it's certainly not Simon as Wille knows him!
I've written on tumblr that Simon loves Wille despite who he is, and Wille loves Simon because of who he is.
And it must be why they chose to do such an odd thing. I know Edvin mentioned this in an interview too, that Wilhelm was afraid of who Simon was becoming when he changed his mind on being in a closeted relationship. (I think it's in the Max Gao interview in LA Times.)
I wrote this instead of sleeping so there's probably a ton of thumby spelling errors.
Thank you for your comment. I will have to concur with your greater knowledge of gifed scenes in slow-mo. Believe it or not, I have only watched this particular show once (even though I have obviously re-watched some specific scenes for reference to analyze the camera work, blocking, etc. I might watch it again sometime before the next season comes out, but only if I can find the time for that.)
This particular point does however not change the broader point I'm trying to make in the article: The whole dining hall scene clearly foreshadows future developments on this show (what with August interrupting Wilhelm and Simon, drawing everyone's attention to them and then putting Wilhelm in Nils' place).
This is actually to be expected from what is essentially a pilot episode of a TV show and is done all the time. We can see that not just in the way this particular episode keeps foreshadowing future events in scene after scene, this is a little trick employed by a huge number of shows (probably the majority of them): First episodes metaphorically foreshadow where the show is going in scene after scene, which is not obvious from analyzing just the plot itself but becomes very obvious when one looks at the metaphorical subtext.
There is actually one more switch that never really happens, and it's in s2 e6, I am talking the speech thing. Wille says he's not feeling well and thus not giving the speech, so August is ready to "take" Wille's place. He even stands before the Headmistress calls him out, and then we get a memorable "Wille looks at Simon" moment, and just before the Headmistress gets to continue her lines about "the Crown Prince would today be replaced by", with August already walking toward the podium with a victorious smirk on his face, Wille stands up and puts August in his place (back on a chair) to give the speech himself. I always thought it is a very significant moment not only for Wille and his character development but also the Crown Princ August thing (and even highlights the Wille-August talk about switching places in s1 e4 you mention here). I think it might very well be foreshadowing that August would really never get Wille's place and never become the King.
You're absolutely right. That's exactly what it means. And the blocking in that scene is actually hilarious, too: the way August has to reluctantly sit back down with a disgruntled face...still chuckling at that. And I really think the blocking both in this scene and the one in season one episode four clearly foreshadows that August will never switch places with Wilhelm.
Anyway, thank you for your lovely comment. Proofreading the next one right now, not sure it'll be ready by tomorrow or Sunday for that matter, but it should be done soon, and then it's Simon-as-a-boarder time.
One more subtle switch occurs. In S1 E5, the Society convenes to discuss their fate as Alexander makes an ultimatum about the drug debacle. August is laying out how they must find a solution to get Alexander back to school or Alexander will start snitching on everyone.
Vincent is seen on the right of August and then does a slow turn behind August. At one point in the turn, he has his back to August and then appears on the left of August. August does not indicate he notices the switch and Vincent is very stealthy about it despite the fact they’re facing a mirror.
Yep. You've got a very sharp eye! Mirrors as visual elements will be a very important part of my planned character-centred post series, which I hope to start posting at the beginning of October, so I won't say anything about it here if that's okay because otherwise the comment will just turn into a wall of text.
But thank you again for reading and thank you for coming back to my little corner of the internet. It's much appreciated.
I just noticed a pretty interesting detail in S1E3 (since it has to do with the switch btw Erik and Wilhelm I am putting it here): in the scene where Simon and Sara are getting ready to leave from home before parents day, you can hear the radio in the background. Just when Simon is about to open the envelope with the invoice for the private math lessons, the voice on the radio becomes clearer and says: "...informationschef Bertil Ternert kan ännu ej svara på vad olyckan berodde på" (translation: "... information manager Bertil Ternert cannot yet answer what caused the accident". In real life (not fictional YR universe), Bertil Ternert is the information manager of the Swedish Court.
I found a little something while playing a "try to look at every single prop" game. It has nothing to do with blocking but is tangent to the Headmistress and I cannot remain silent. There's a portrait of a historical figure in the Headmistress's office. I spotted it in 1x5, in the scene when she tells August that he must leave Hillerska after Christmas. History isn't my strongest suit (to say the very least) so I googled the picture in conjunction with the word "Sweden". And boy oh boy it paid out. The man in question is Karl X Gustav, the king of Sweden who got his crown after abdication of his cousin... queen Kristina.
That gives us two possible interpretations: getting the crown after a cousin abdicates (yuck) vs abdication (maybe not literally and/or not right away) of queen Kristina. So the context of the entire scene must be taken into consideration. And at first sight, it doesn't look good because August is here. But upon closer examination, the scene in question is all about banishing August from Hillerska (read: respectable position in upper class society) by Annette who, as we know, will switch places with Wilhelm at some point. And all that under a watchful eye of a historical figure directly associated with abdication of queen Kristina. Beautiful.
It's me again, super late for the party but I still have no idea where else to write about the Headmistress so I'll continue here because so far it's the only article about her.
Her name is Anette Lilja. The first name is French (hold that thought), the last name is Swedish for "lily". I may be wrong, since there are literally dozens of ways to interpret the lily symbol, but I'm inclined to think that Lilja=fleur-de-lis (⚜️), the lily flower, one of the main symbols of French monarchy. Which was (almost) put to an end by the Revolution. The same revolution which was, definitely on purpose, mentioned or implied at least five times throughout the series.
So, in my opinion, Anette Lilja definitely has something to do with the monarchy (or the Crown, since fleur-de-lis is a very common design element for European royal crowns).
I'm not sure whether my explanation is correct but I'm fairly sure that the character in this show can't just randomly have an actual meaningful word for a last name.
Could the piano in the foreground literally be a stand-in for Simon (the piano player) and future love interest waiting for Wilhelm in the chapel in the next scene? It is the first time we see Wilhelm's genuine smile as he is touched by the boy's singing and beauty (and defiance when he is asked to sing louder). And possibly Wilhelm can relate to Simon being bullied as he himself is being bullied all through the first episode by circumstances seemingly beyond his control.
Once again, your thoughtful commentary is something I alway look forward to. Thank you from the bottom of my YR loving heart.
I absolutely 100% percent agree with what you're saying there. The piano equals music equals love equals Simon (obviously, because who else is Wilhelm going to love? I mean it's kind of obvious what the show wants us to take away from its whole set-up.:)).
Wilhelm might not know Simon yet, but the way the piano has been positioned in that scene certainly foreshadows future developments. In other words, if the Headmistress-Wilhelm 'switch' foreshadows something (and the parallel to the Erik-Wilhelm 'switch' a few minutes of screen time earlier suggests that it does), then music (read: love) will play an important part in that. The piano (aka music=love) is literally in the foreground of that 'switch'.
Thank you for your lovely comments. I always look forward to reading them, as well.
I have another thought, maybe a switch? When August tells Wilhelm they (he) could kill someone and get away with it during Wilhelm's initiation, we are seeing an entitled asshole talking (much like Trump saying he could shoot someone in Times Square and get away with it...) Wilhelm objects of course. But later when our boy has a gun to August's head (yikes) in the second season, he says something like "the monarchy gets away with a lot of things, right August?" I immediately thought of August's fathers' suicide. Maybe I am conflating all of this or mixing metaphors but did the monarchy do a cover up of that death or is he referring to the whole cover up with the sex video? There is an illusion to his dad's drug problems (aha! Simon's dad too) and another back story that gives us a deeper look into August and his character flaws...I never for an instant thought Wilhelm would pull the trigger. That would have been LAME.
Don't know where I read this: A reluctant ruler (Wilhelm) makes the best leader. An eager/covetous ruler (August) makes the worst.
I have always thought about Wilhelm's reluctant ruler persona. Throughout both seasons we see signs that Wilhelm would, ironically, make a very good King of Sweden. He is open minded, makes sound judgements. He is gentle and listens -- until a crisis occurs and then he springs into action. Though the decision to have Alexander and not Simon take the blame for the drugs (S1) was a decision he made with his heart -- it also makes logical sense. Alexander was caught with drugs, so why complicate matters by bringing in Simon who has no incentive to protect the secret society if interrogated? (Good political assumption that Alex won't snitch on the secret society). Then of course Wilhelm's speech at the end of S2 -- he demonstrates that he could be an enlightened leader who would modernize the monarchy.
tvmicroscope has alluded to Wilhelm taking over the school in some way as the head mistress has not stepped in to correct all the dreadful things happening there...hazing, the sex tape and bullying including the 'standing on the chair' to admit sexual encounters (gross). Wilhelm attempts to take control of the chair standing thing without success and considering how violated he was in the first season, to visit and admit to another private encounter is just fucked up. Wilhelm's 'kingly' moments are some of what you mentioned as well as his decision to let Simon go, heartbreaking as it is (and dressed like royalty too). He's certainly heard from his mother that he can't have what he wants because he has the monarchy to think of. And he believes Simon's heart belongs to Marcus. Thank goodness for Boris, the therapist, maybe the only adult at the school who actually gives a damn about the students. I LOVE the way Wilhelm shows up as a ruler during the conversation about who is going to be fingered for the drugs. We see him being decisive and leading the others to agree with him. of course the whole thing is a mess but....
Wilhelm's and Simon's intimacy scenes have been very thoroughly GIFed, and it's actually very clear that it's NOT Wilhelm who takes the initiative. It's Simon, whith his horny little throwing back of the head. This movement is almost always accompanied with lifting one's hip. It takes the still high and drunk Wilhelm a long time to catch up, to interpret the signal(s), but when he does, he's not hesitating at all. That doesn't mean he took the initiative, it means he acted on a signal from Simon. Later, it's Simon who nervously grips Wille's butt, and Simon who first start pulling his own sweater off, a signal Wille responds to immediately by copying it.
This is their whole dynamic all the time! Simon is giving a signal, Wille responds, an endless dance of action and reaction where they learn from each other and copy each other's behaviour.
It's not just intimacy either. From the start, Simon is sending signals of various kinds that Wilhelm reacts to. It's the very first song he sings, that Wille reacts to. The comment in class, that Wille reacts to. Wille did say hi first at the initiation party, but then Simon is checking Wille out, leaving Wille flustered, before he turns and walks away, which Wille responds to by running after him. It's Simon asking Wille about what he thought when Simon sang. It's Simon kissing Wille - twice, before he decides to fuck the consequences and kiss him back. It's Simon initiating a talk about the kiss. In the gym scene, it's Simon making Wille spell out exactly what he wants, and demanding an answer to "what happened with forgetting about what happened". It's Simon who came to sit down and began talking with Wille after the euology for Erik.
I think it's important to be aware that unlike Wille, Simon is not emotionally repressed at all. He's open and honest about what he wants, and he's not afraid to speak his mind or to enforce healthy boundaries when he learns by experience that he has to.
He is also a gay boy falling for a closeted boy, and his behaviour reflects that. Simon is incredibly brave, and that's another thing that Wilhelm is learning from him. And I think the learning from each other aspect is incredibly important. For Wilhelm, it's crucial - every single interacrion he has with Simon, every bit of resistance and boundaries, every instance of Simon leading the way is important for Wilhelm's emotional growth.
And it all leads up to the moment when Simon tells Wille he loves him and agrees to be in a closeted relationship with him, "if there's no other way". What you wrote about breaking rules immediately made me think of this scene, because Simon's face is mirrored.
And I think that is done to show us that Simon is now mirroring Wille's original want, reflecting it back to him. It's odd, eerie and feels wrong. This isn't Simon as we know him. And it's certainly not Simon as Wille knows him!
I've written on tumblr that Simon loves Wille despite who he is, and Wille loves Simon because of who he is.
And it must be why they chose to do such an odd thing. I know Edvin mentioned this in an interview too, that Wilhelm was afraid of who Simon was becoming when he changed his mind on being in a closeted relationship. (I think it's in the Max Gao interview in LA Times.)
I wrote this instead of sleeping so there's probably a ton of thumby spelling errors.
Thank you for your comment. I will have to concur with your greater knowledge of gifed scenes in slow-mo. Believe it or not, I have only watched this particular show once (even though I have obviously re-watched some specific scenes for reference to analyze the camera work, blocking, etc. I might watch it again sometime before the next season comes out, but only if I can find the time for that.)
This particular point does however not change the broader point I'm trying to make in the article: The whole dining hall scene clearly foreshadows future developments on this show (what with August interrupting Wilhelm and Simon, drawing everyone's attention to them and then putting Wilhelm in Nils' place).
This is actually to be expected from what is essentially a pilot episode of a TV show and is done all the time. We can see that not just in the way this particular episode keeps foreshadowing future events in scene after scene, this is a little trick employed by a huge number of shows (probably the majority of them): First episodes metaphorically foreshadow where the show is going in scene after scene, which is not obvious from analyzing just the plot itself but becomes very obvious when one looks at the metaphorical subtext.
Amazing as usual!
There is actually one more switch that never really happens, and it's in s2 e6, I am talking the speech thing. Wille says he's not feeling well and thus not giving the speech, so August is ready to "take" Wille's place. He even stands before the Headmistress calls him out, and then we get a memorable "Wille looks at Simon" moment, and just before the Headmistress gets to continue her lines about "the Crown Prince would today be replaced by", with August already walking toward the podium with a victorious smirk on his face, Wille stands up and puts August in his place (back on a chair) to give the speech himself. I always thought it is a very significant moment not only for Wille and his character development but also the Crown Princ August thing (and even highlights the Wille-August talk about switching places in s1 e4 you mention here). I think it might very well be foreshadowing that August would really never get Wille's place and never become the King.
Thank you again for another great article! 🙏
You're absolutely right. That's exactly what it means. And the blocking in that scene is actually hilarious, too: the way August has to reluctantly sit back down with a disgruntled face...still chuckling at that. And I really think the blocking both in this scene and the one in season one episode four clearly foreshadows that August will never switch places with Wilhelm.
Anyway, thank you for your lovely comment. Proofreading the next one right now, not sure it'll be ready by tomorrow or Sunday for that matter, but it should be done soon, and then it's Simon-as-a-boarder time.
One more subtle switch occurs. In S1 E5, the Society convenes to discuss their fate as Alexander makes an ultimatum about the drug debacle. August is laying out how they must find a solution to get Alexander back to school or Alexander will start snitching on everyone.
Vincent is seen on the right of August and then does a slow turn behind August. At one point in the turn, he has his back to August and then appears on the left of August. August does not indicate he notices the switch and Vincent is very stealthy about it despite the fact they’re facing a mirror.
Yep. You've got a very sharp eye! Mirrors as visual elements will be a very important part of my planned character-centred post series, which I hope to start posting at the beginning of October, so I won't say anything about it here if that's okay because otherwise the comment will just turn into a wall of text.
But thank you again for reading and thank you for coming back to my little corner of the internet. It's much appreciated.
I just noticed a pretty interesting detail in S1E3 (since it has to do with the switch btw Erik and Wilhelm I am putting it here): in the scene where Simon and Sara are getting ready to leave from home before parents day, you can hear the radio in the background. Just when Simon is about to open the envelope with the invoice for the private math lessons, the voice on the radio becomes clearer and says: "...informationschef Bertil Ternert kan ännu ej svara på vad olyckan berodde på" (translation: "... information manager Bertil Ternert cannot yet answer what caused the accident". In real life (not fictional YR universe), Bertil Ternert is the information manager of the Swedish Court.
I found a little something while playing a "try to look at every single prop" game. It has nothing to do with blocking but is tangent to the Headmistress and I cannot remain silent. There's a portrait of a historical figure in the Headmistress's office. I spotted it in 1x5, in the scene when she tells August that he must leave Hillerska after Christmas. History isn't my strongest suit (to say the very least) so I googled the picture in conjunction with the word "Sweden". And boy oh boy it paid out. The man in question is Karl X Gustav, the king of Sweden who got his crown after abdication of his cousin... queen Kristina.
That gives us two possible interpretations: getting the crown after a cousin abdicates (yuck) vs abdication (maybe not literally and/or not right away) of queen Kristina. So the context of the entire scene must be taken into consideration. And at first sight, it doesn't look good because August is here. But upon closer examination, the scene in question is all about banishing August from Hillerska (read: respectable position in upper class society) by Annette who, as we know, will switch places with Wilhelm at some point. And all that under a watchful eye of a historical figure directly associated with abdication of queen Kristina. Beautiful.
It's me again, super late for the party but I still have no idea where else to write about the Headmistress so I'll continue here because so far it's the only article about her.
Her name is Anette Lilja. The first name is French (hold that thought), the last name is Swedish for "lily". I may be wrong, since there are literally dozens of ways to interpret the lily symbol, but I'm inclined to think that Lilja=fleur-de-lis (⚜️), the lily flower, one of the main symbols of French monarchy. Which was (almost) put to an end by the Revolution. The same revolution which was, definitely on purpose, mentioned or implied at least five times throughout the series.
So, in my opinion, Anette Lilja definitely has something to do with the monarchy (or the Crown, since fleur-de-lis is a very common design element for European royal crowns).
I'm not sure whether my explanation is correct but I'm fairly sure that the character in this show can't just randomly have an actual meaningful word for a last name.