Contextual metaphors: The Competition metaphor (example: “Young Royals”)

Did you notice there is a competition…and a competition in episode three (season two) of ‘Young Royals’?

There is an actual (rowing) competition going on. And then there is a love-triangle type of competition between Wilhelm and Marcus (for Simon) happening at the same time.

That’s not a coincidence, actually; the show sets these two competitions up as exact parallels for each other.

Welcome to the show’s funniest metaphor so far!

But let’s back up a bit…

We have so far discussed visual metaphors and textual metaphors on screen, and I have tried to explain why visual metaphors (which are, after all, an important element of a show’s visual storytelling strategy) are easier to spot than textual ones (which are the literary building blocks of a screenplay but do rely on visual cues to a far lesser extent).

What we’ve only touched upon briefly so far are contextual metaphors, metaphors which rely on the context, the situation a certain scene is set in to create a symbolic meaning.

I had briefly mentioned a few contextual (i.e. situational) metaphors already:

Wilhelm first catches sight of Simon in a church where Simon is singing with the ‘voice of an angel’. Wilhelm’s falling in love at first sight is thus (through the context, i.e. the situation the characters are placed in) likened to a religious revelation. It’s something so profound that it will change Wilhelm’s entire life.

Marcus, on the other hand, first catches sight of Simon on his way to the toilet. The situation the characters are placed in in that scene suggests that their relationship is doomed from the start.

One love is equated to a profound spiritual experience, the other one is likened to something we all need to flush down the toilet as soon as possible.

We have also discussed the infamous karaoke scene between Marcus and Simon. It’s a scene in which the symbolism is created by more than just the ‘music’ metaphor we’ve analyzed at length in the article on the textual metaphors of this show. The fact that Marcus is singing off-key and that Simon and Marcus don’t harmonize with each other is a textual metaphor that ultimately just reinforces the underlying contextual metaphor here: It’s all karaoke. It’s not real.

Again the situation (i.e. singing in the totally artificial and ‘fake’ context of karaoke) creates the symbolism. It’s what ultimately shows us that this couple isn’t the real deal. The off-key singing just reinforces that message.

Well, speaking of karaoke being ‘not real’…

Remember what other situation was explicitly called ‘not real’ on this show?

Yes, I’m talking about the rowing competition in episode three of season two.

As mentioned above, there are two competitions going on in that scene:

Literally, there’s a rowing competition. And subtextually, there’s the competition of Wilhelm and Marcus for Simon’s love.

And once again, the situation creates the symbolism here. Because we are explicitly told that the rowing competition isn’t real. We can also see that with our own eyes: It’s the fakest kind of rowing that has ever happened on this planet. It’s indoors, there’s no water (hold that thought), there isn’t even an actual prize to be won. It’s all fake. It’s not real.

Translation: The competition between Wilhelm and Marcus isn’t real either. Because for Simon, there is no competition when it comes to the question of Wilhelm vs. Marcus. There isn’t even a question. Simon loves Wilhelm deeply and truly, and he doesn’t feel anything for Marcus at all. That’s all there is to it. There is no real competition there. There can never be a competition for Simon.

Ironically, it’s August who tells us as much: The competition isn’t even real. It doesn’t matter. And we’re just doing it to create some sense of camaraderie, which isn’t even there. So it’s all irrelevant.

Yeah, about that sense of camaraderie that doesn’t exist in the first place: Metaphorically, that’s all there is to Simon’s feelings for Marcus. The whole love-triangle competition is just happening so Simon can distract himself from Wilhelm by creating some feelings for Marcus, but it’s not working because those feelings aren’t there at all. Not even camaraderie! That’s how brutally honest this show is; it literally tells us that there is nothing there.

So, after the whole toilet subtext and the karaoke subtext, here’s reason No. 17.536 why Simon and Marcus would have never worked out as a couple: There’s no camaraderie there. And the whole competition is fake.

Want to play with this contextual metaphor some more? Okay, here we go.

How do we even know who’s winning the competition? This is an actual question in the script that is literally asked by Sara (about the rowing competition).

And Felice answers it thusly: We know who’s winning because we can see it on the screen!

This is, hands down, one of the most brilliant lines to ever be uttered on this show.

Quick sidebar here:

A good TV show always operates on two different levels: 1) The literal level (i.e. the surface of the text, the plot itself) and 2) the subtextual level (i.e. the metaphors, symbols etc., the symbolic message of the story)

But a really, really good TV show sometimes adds a third level into the mix: 3) the meta level. That’s the level that communicates with us, the audience.

‘Young Royals’ is a really, really good TV show. And consequently, you can find this third level, the meta level, peeking through and winking at us every once in a while. (This is a show where the protagonist breaks the fourth wall at the beginning and the end of every season, after all. So, a meta level is to be expected.)

And this is exactly what’s happening in the rowing scenes:

Because once again: How do we know who’s winning the (rowing) competition? Because we can see it up on the screen right there!

So, how do we know Marcus is (ostensibly) winning the love-triangle competition? 

Well, what would a casual viewer say to that: “I know that Marcus is winning the love-triangle competition because, look, it’s on my TV screen. It must be true. Marcus and Simon are kissing, aren’t they? I saw it on a screen, so it must be true.”

The show is winking at us so unsubtly here that it looks like it’s about to have a stroke and keel over from its own cleverness.

No, seriously, I love this.

Team Granhult is winning the ‘fakest’ and ‘unrealest’ competition of all time. And we know so not because it’s something we can actually observe by looking at the rowing machines. No! We know so only (!) because a screen is telling us to believe it.

And since there is an exact parallel between the two competitions, this is what we are being told about the Wilhelm vs. Marcus competition here, as well: Yay, look, Marcus is winning. He kissed Simon. We, the viewers, all saw it on our TV screen. So it must be true, right? Right???

But, of course, the reality is that, just as with the rowing machines and the screen on the wall, that kiss was just the screen talking; this ‘victory’ wasn’t an actual, observable reality. 

Marcus hasn’t ‘won’ anything here. The whole competition was fake to begin with. It wasn’t a real competition outside on the lake (again, hold that thought). 

The only (!) reason we think the ‘other team’ ‘won’ is because we saw it on screen, and the screen told us so. A screen showing cartoon-type animated boats and cartoon character rowers. Hang on, isn’t that just like the ‘relationship’ between Simon and Marcus, you might ask? A cardboard cut-out romance that looks too cartoonish to be true? Should we trust something like this just because we see it on a screen?

That’s the meta level I meant: The show is questioning its own veracity and trustworthiness here, and it is telling us, the audience, to question it, too.

Is what you see on screen even true and real? Shouldn’t we observe both the rowing machines and Simon and Wilhelm’s interactions to determine what’s an actual observable ‘victory’ and what’s a lie? Should we really just believe a screen when it tells us who the ‘winner’ of the ‘competition’ is? Should we just rely on a screen to tell us what to think?

Should we believe any of the writers and actors, for example, when they tell us in some interview that Marcus is a great guy? I mean, interviews happen on screen as well, don’t they? Should we believe this (smoke-) screen?

Or should we observe for ourselves? Maybe we should take a close look at Marcus’ and Simon’s and Wilhelm’s interactions and then make up our own mind. Maybe we should observe the metaphorical subtext of the show for ourselves. Maybe we should stop believing the screen on the wall.

And maybe we should look at this contextual metaphor with its brilliant meta level joke and remember that this, too, was written by the very same writers. And that these people are poking fun at us right there…

As I said, this line about the winning team on screen is probably the most brilliant line of the entire show, definitely of the entire second season. This line is so self-aware, so meta, so objectively clever and funny; I can think of only one other line that breaks the fourth wall so utterly and brilliantly and that is possibly the crowning moment of all meta moments on this show (but more on that one later).

Season two would be great even if it were just for that one line about the winning team on screen. (But it obviously has far, far more and greater symbolism going on than just that.)

‘Trust your own intuitions, trust what you can observe, not what some (smoke-)screen tells you!’ That is a great message a TV show tells its viewers about itself.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the meta level we were just talking about.

But back to Marcus, the (ostensibly) ‘winning’ team, and Simon, the…well, who do you think Simon is in this competition?

To understand that, we need to go back to the conversation between Sara and Felice because this whole scene is made of subtextual gold.

Keep in mind that both Felice and Sara are part of the audience watching the competition and cheering on the rowers. On a meta level, this means that Felice and Sara represent the general audience of the show ‘Young Royals’ because obviously the audience of the show is watching the metaphorical ‘competition’ too, and the audience is cheering on Simon and Wilhelm to ‘win’ (i.e. be endgame), as well. (Note that Simon and Wilhelm are on the same team. They can only win or lose together.)

As we’ve discussed above, Sara and Felice have now established that it’s the screen that tells us who the ‘winner’ is (again, what a brilliant meta joke!), and, as I pointed out, we should be very, very sceptical of that claim because the ‘competition’ isn’t real. (As we can see, an audience isn’t necessarily always very clever. Sara and Felice don’t really get it. They trust the screen. Again, the writers are poking fun at their audience here.)

Now, pay close attention to what happens next, please.

Sara then asks what prize it is that the two teams are competing for. To which Felice replies with an I-dunno type of shrug, “Glory?” And then the camera instantly cuts to Simon!

Subtle this is not.

The camera work here suggests that the metaphorical ‘competition’ is over Simon. Simon is the prize to be ‘won’.

To reinforce this message, Sara literally starts chanting Simon’s name at that precise moment!

Simon is what this whole thing is all about.

…or so Marcus thinks. Because at that precise moment, the camera cuts to the door and who is shown to be walking in? Why, none other than Marcus.

In other words, it’s Marcus who thinks that Simon is the prize he can ‘win’ here. 

Simon, for his part, knows the competition isn’t real. (Did you ever wonder why Simon didn’t really want Marcus to come, but Marcus came anyway? That’s why! Subtextually, the writers are telling us that Simon knows the whole metaphorical ‘competition’ doesn’t really matter. It’s Marcus who’s got it into his head that this ‘competition’ is important and that he can ‘win’ Simon.)

Because while the camera work clearly did cut to Simon just as Sara and Felice were discussing the prize, suggesting that Simon is the prize that can be ‘won’, the dialogue actually suggested otherwise. (How very clever! The camera is the one that’s telling a lie because, repeat after me, the screen doesn’t always tell the truth!) The dialogue clearly stated that there is no prize, no award, no trophy to be won.

That’s what Felice’s noncommittal shrug and, “Glory?” remark actually means: There is no prize, i.e. Simon cannot be ‘won’ by Marcus, no matter what the screen tells us to believe. Simon was ‘won’ a long time ago (by Wilhelm). He is not available. He’s Wilhelm’s. 

And no matter how ostentatiously Marcus pees all over Simon to mark his territory, it doesn’t matter because this competition is not real and Simon cannot be ‘won’.

By the way, the fact that Felice explicitly calls the prize ‘glory’ adds a slightly sinister undertone to the entire thing: Is Marcus really just interested in Simon because he thinks Simon is pretty and a great singer? Or is Marcus just in this competition because he’s after the ‘glory’, so to speak? The wording here seems to suggest that Marcus might be after Simon as a trophy because Simon is the famous boy from the video, the boy who turned the head of the future King of Sweden. Glory, indeed, to conquer the heart of someone like this in a competition against the Crown Prince himself. What a ‘prize’ this would be!

It’s just a hint, mind you. But then…interesting word choices are interesting, as they say. And this show is so good at stuff like this, so precise when it comes to its wording, that I’m going to at least consider this sinister reading a possibility: Maybe, in pursuing Simon, Marcus is only after the ‘glory’.

After all, we have to ask ourselves if we should just believe Marcus’s claim that he never saw the infamous video. Might I once again refer you to the screen-on-the-wall metaphor: The show itself told us not to take everything at face value that we see on screen about the ostensible ‘winner’ but to examine the show’s subtext very closely. It’s at least possible that Marcus lied to Simon’s face (and to all our faces on screen) – especially since, in the season finale of season two, Marcus seems to be most upset about the fact that he ‘lost’ Simon to a prince, someone he just can’t compete with. Losing to the Crown Prince seems to be the worse insult here than just being turned down by the guy he was interested in. In other words, it’s losing the ‘glory’, i.e. being humiliated, that seems to count most to Marcus in the finale of season two.

If you had any doubts about this whole rowing competition being a metaphor, they should have evaporated at this point. The whole conversation going on there is a metaphorical one. It’s all about the other ‘competition’ happening right in front of our eyes.

Want more proof?

There is a brilliant brief moment, in which we see Wilhelm furiously rowing on the rowing machine and Simon standing right behind him, cheering him on and repeatedly touching his back, ostensibly to support him, but we all know that Simon, at this point, will use any excuse to just be able to touch Wilhelm again. (And no, I’m not sketching it for you, I’m too lazy right now to draw so many rowers in the room. But go and look at that scene; the cinematography in it is so telling.)

As Simon touches Wilhelm’s back, he turns his head to briefly glance at Marcus, who is giving him his best I’m-not-amused look from the sidelines (And I mean, you can really see Marcus is fuming on the inside at having to witness this).

What’s so brilliant about that shot is that both Simon (and by extension we) literally have to look through the Granhult team to look at Marcus. In other words, Marcus and Team Granhult are functionally the same thing. Marcus is the ‘other team’ here.

He isn’t even watching the competition from the same spot as the rest of the Skogsbacken fans. He is watching the competition from Granhult’s side of the gym. And it’s also on Granhult’s side of the gym that he will later mark his territory, uhm, I mean, kiss Simon. That kiss, too, will happen over on the side of the gym Granhult was rowing on.

So, we are visually told that Marcus is the ‘other team’. Marcus is the ‘team’ Wilhelm is competing against in that shot where Simon is furtively touching his back. Team Granhult metaphorically represents Marcus. (Note, once again, that Simon is on Wilhelm’s team! He’s not on Team Granhult, ergo, Simon is not on Team Marcus at all. And Simon is subtextually supporting Wilhelm in this ‘competition’ by cheering him on and touching him furtively.)

Now that we’ve seen that Team Granhult metaphorically represents Marcus (i.e. Marcus is the ‘other team’), let’s remind ourselves what the show itself has called the Granhult team earlier in the same episode. Oh, yeah, Vincent literally told us:

“They are our worst enemies.”

Well, that certainly got a chuckle out of me when I remembered that Granhult and Marcus are functionally the same. I’m sure that’s exactly what Wilhelm feels when he thinks of Marcus, too.

And then Vincent proceeds to call Granhult “fucking rats”, which is even better. I mean, the show really doesn’t mince its words when it comes to how much it dislikes Marcus. All this he’s-a-nice-guy talk is just the (smoke-)screen talking, the subtext underneath states the exact opposite and is frankly freaking hilarious to boot.

Apropos Wilhelm. We’ve talked quite a bit about Simon and Marcus there, but what is happening for Wilhelm during the rowing competition?

The ‘other team’ won. That’s what it feels like for Wilhelm. Literally, Team Granhult won and Team Skogsbacken lost. But metaphorically, Marcus ‘won’ and Wilhelm ‘lost’. Or…so it seems to Wilhelm at that point.

We, the audience, should know by now not to trust what a screen is telling us about a competition that’s not real anyway. But Wilhelm doesn’t know that. To Wilhelm, this feels real now.

The following scene in the locker room is particularly significant when it comes to its symbolism: We see Wilhelm sitting on a bench, absolutely devastated by the fact that he just witnessed the kiss between Marcus and Simon (i.e. Marcus’s ostensible ‘victory’). And in the background the voices of Vincent, Simon and August keep shouting abuse at each other.

The way the scene is set up makes it seem like they’re arguing about the rowing competition, but the fact that we see Wilhelm’s defeated face makes it clear that metaphorically they’re arguing about the other ‘competition’.

Vincent keeps shouting that it’s all Simon’s fault. That Simon messed up the switch. And that’s the reason their team lost.

Translation: Simon made a switch. He switched from Wilhelm to Marcus. And that’s the reason why Wilhelm has (ostensibly) lost the metaphorical ‘competition’.

Note that the ‘switch’ is explicitly associated with words like ‘fucking’ and ‘fucked up’ here. Yeah, even Simon probably knows he messed up. That metaphorical ‘switch’ is not what he wanted. And now, he screwed up. Now Marcus thinks he ‘won’ the competition and they’re in a relationship. That’s the definition of messing up a ‘switch’. This ‘switch’ is explicitly defined as the sole reason for their ‘defeat’, for their ‘team’ not winning. (And may I remind you once again that both Simon and Wilhelm are actually on the same team. They can only ‘win’ or ‘lose’ together. So, Simon’s metaphorical ‘switch’ from Wilhelm to Marcus is the reason both Wilhelm and Simon have suffered a ‘defeat’ together. The ‘other team’ (read: Marcus) ostensibly ‘winning’ means Simon has ‘lost’, too. But, oh, no! What is happening now?! Simon is leaving the team. Now, it really must seem to Wilhelm as though Simon isn’t interested in him anymore. Simon has left the team where they could have potentially ‘won’ together, i.e. each other. Now things must seem really serious to Wilhelm.)

In any case, this whole metaphorical subtext should clarify the question I have seen some people wonder about here and there: Why didn’t Wilhelm defend Simon in the locker room when Vincent was shouting at him?

Well, why would he? Vincent’s thoughts here are exactly Wilhelm’s thoughts, too…just, you know, metaphorically: Simon’s messed up metaphorical ‘switch’ is the reason Wilhelm has ‘lost’. He is devastated.

The funniest part about this whole argument is probably the moment Vincent starts shouting that knowing about the messed up switch is “basic knowledge” and that “a three-year-old would know this”. (All while the camera still focuses on Wilhelm’s distraught face.)

Because, yes, knowing that that ‘switch’ from Wilhelm to Marcus was a total fuck-up on Simon’s part and the reason for both Wilhelm’s and Simon’s ‘defeat’, knowing Simon doesn’t even want Marcus, that he only loves Wilhelm, knowing all of this is exactly that: basic knowledge! Anyone watching this show should know this. It’s obvious from outer space. A three-year-old would, indeed, know this. (Again, the show is basically winking at us in a very, very meta-level kind of way here.)

Oh, but then, August says the words that we should all take away from the situation: It doesn’t matter. Everyone calm down (yes, this is directed at us, the audience, as well). The competition isn’t even real. It’s irrelevant. And there’s no camaraderie (read: no feelings) between Marcus and Simon, anyhow, so none of this matters. Marcus didn’t ‘win’ squat.

So, who likes season two for its complex and consistent metaphorical subtext? (I’m raising my hand here, just in case you can’t tell.) Season two is brilliantly written and makes use of all three levels of good screenwriting: the literal, the subtextual and the meta level. And what happens next is a case in point:

Because then Vincent proposes the solution that really isn’t one: Let’s all go egg Granhult’s windows! And we, the audience, instantly laugh at this childish proposal because it’s obvious to us that throwing eggs at the problem isn’t going to solve anything. It’s laughable. It’s ridiculous. That’s not the way to somehow secure a retroactive ‘victory’. It’s just petty nonsense. (Please, put a pin in that. Because we’re going to come back to the egg thing in a second. And yes, that’s a metaphor, too.)

Wilhelm’s scenes that follow now are all a direct consequence of Wilhelm believing that he got ‘defeated’ in the metaphorical ‘competition’ by Marcus and what’s worse that Simon doesn’t want to be ‘on the same team’ with him anymore: We see Wilhelm sit at the table, then he goes for his walk, displaying some peak teenager behaviour by listening to sad music when he’s already sad (11/10 on the being-a-real-teenager scale, Wille. You’re doing it right!). Then Felice finds him. And the following scenes eventually progress into their kiss and Wilhelm’s textbook heterosexual fumble under her shirt.

Now, let’s quickly try to remind ourselves what the core conflict of this show is: In a country that is largely very progressive and where being openly homophobic is a big no-no, Wilhelm is still not allowed to be with the boy he so clearly loves because…

…yes, because he needs to have an heir. Simon and Wilhelm’s entire problem is centered around the fact that they can’t have biological children with each other, and that problem could potentially trigger a constitutional crisis. The fact that it’s really the heir question that’s causing the whole trouble is alluded to again and again and again both implicitly and explicitly on the show.

So, in other words, the problem Simon and Wilhelm have is that they’re both biological males with male reproductive organs who can’t have a child with each other, is what the show is telling us none-too-subtly over and over again. The thing Simon and Wilhelm are literally missing are ovaries…eggs!

Do you see where I’m going with this?

Because it’s not just the competition that’s a metaphor; the egg thing is, too.

What was the proposed ‘solution’ to them losing the competition? That they all go and throw eggs at the problem. And what is Wilhelm doing when he starts to make out with Felice? Yeah! He’s throwing eggs at the problem. Her eggs. Felice’s eggs. (Remember how the show very slyly reminded us of her reproductive biology twice in a matter of two episodes by having her talk about period cramps and then her PMS? Yeah, that.)

And remember what our reaction was when Vincent proposed egging Granhult? We, the audience, all laughed because we deemed it ridiculous, right? It’s laughable. Throwing eggs at the problem is not going to solve the problem. That’s what we said about the egging idea.

And that’s exactly what the show is implying about the whole Felice and Wilhelm situation here: Wille, dear! Throwing eggs at the problem is not going to solve it. Don’t be ridiculous. You’re in love with Simon. Just trying to be with a girl, so you could potentially at some point later in your life father a child with her, is not going to solve the underlying problem: You’re madly in love with someone else.

Note that Henry interrupts Felice and Wilhelm by specifically yelling something about their egg-prank. (Nice idea by the writers to equate trying out heterosexuality with a prank, by the way. The irony in that word choice is noted and I’m still chuckling about that.)

To make things crystal clear: I don’t believe Wilhelm consciously went into this encounter to intentionally try things out with a girl. It’s obvious that things with Felice progressed naturally and grew out of his being heartbroken, jealous and devastated. But somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of his mind, the question of what it would be like with a girl did actually pop up. I mean, he literally tells Felice as much once he apologizes in the next episode. So, at least subconsciously he wanted to try it out with a girl because…wouldn’t that make things so much easier? If only it could feel the same with her as with Simon, wouldn’t that just save his future?! She has eggs. He could have a child with her.

But the show tells us that, no, throwing eggs at the problem would be ridiculous, and it wouldn’t solve his underlying problem at all (because, eggs or no, he’s in love with someone else). And consequently Wilhelm doesn’t do either of those things: We never see him throw eggs at Granhult’s windows, and he doesn’t sleep with Felice. Wilhelm leaves all the eggs on this show well alone, as he should.

Because it would’ve been just a stupid ‘prank’. And neither Felice nor the audience deserve that.

(By the way, if you think the metaphorical egg joke is the most groan-inducing joke on this show, you’re sorely mistaken. There are way worse jokes in the show’s subtext. But more on that later.)

As you can see, the competition was all a metaphor, the proposed solution to the problem of ‘defeat’ (i.e. throwing eggs at the problem) was a metaphor, as well…and as it turns out, the preparation for the competition is all one big metaphor, too. And it’s once again a contextual (situational) metaphor, so sit back and enjoy this one:

Remember how they prepare for the rowing competition one episode prior to it all going down? At Vincent’s behest, they run a long trail leading through the forest. It’s not even a proper track, and they don’t seem to be particularly prepared for it (neither is the trail, to be honest). They’re presumably running around the lake (hold that thought).

(By the way, an actual geographical filming location doesn’t need to be identical to the fictional location it’s posing as. Otherwise every other movie set in New York would actually be set in Canada. So while it might not be possible to run from Kaggeholm Castle all around the lake; it might be perfectly possible to do so from Hillerska. Just saying.)

What we will discuss now is that long run through the forest. And I will argue that both the competition and the forest run essentially describe the same thing twice! It’s just that the competition scenes give us a microscopic view of the love-triangle situation, and the forest run scenes give us a macroscopic view of season two as a whole. 

Ready? On your marks, get set, go…

Did you ever feel like season two was one long, arduous run through the thicket until finally, finally Wilhelm and Simon got back together? Didn’t season two feel like we had to run 17 km until we were on the brink of collapse? An excruciatingly long, awful, overgrown forest trail. And uncharted at that because the trail wasn’t even a real footpath. It was almost unbearable, wasn’t it? It was painful. 17 km – that’s almost a half-marathon. And that’s what watching season two felt like at times.

That’s because we were supposed to feel like this. We were supposed to feel like we were running a half-marathon, but under far, far worse conditions (no level road, no real track, no clear view of the destination, etc.).

And that’s what it feels like for the two characters, as well. Not being together is awful; it’s painful and tortuous. And the whole ordeal is quite intentionally cruel, as well. It’s a very horrible type of ‘half-marathon’, so to speak.

This whole run through the forest is a metaphor for the arduous ‘journey’ Wilhelm and Simon have to undertake to get back together. It’s a metaphor for their relationship in season two.

And what happens then on this metaphorical ‘journey’? 

They take a shortcut, a little detour away from that lake (again, hold that thought), a detour that leads directly to a grinning Marcus posing on his tractor! 

(Note that even though it’s referred to as a ‘shortcut’, it turns out not to be one at all; Simon and Wilhelm are still the last ones to make it to the finish line and they’re so exhausted they’re almost collapsing on the spot. So, it’s not a shortcut at all; it’s a detour! Translation: Season two taking that narrative path that led to Marcus might have felt like an easy storyline solution, but it turned out to be the opposite of an easy solution: It turned out to be a painful and arduous deviation from the road.)

And now, might I point out that Simon specifically calls taking this ‘detour’, that leads to Marcus, ‘cheating’. He does so twice.

So, on their metaphorical ‘journey’ towards finally getting back together, Wilhelm and Simon encounter diversions and detours, so to speak. One of them leads to Marcus. And the wording here tells you something very, very interesting about Simon: We, the audience, obviously know that Simon and Wilhelm have broken up and that Simon has every right to pursue any kind of relation- or situationship with whoever the hell he wants at that point. But both the word choice and Simon’s behaviour in that scene and in the next episode tell you that that’s not what it feels like to Simon.

Remember that this entire forest run is a metaphor for Simon and Wilhelm’s relationship in season two.

The fact that Simon specifically calls that metaphorical ‘detour’ towards Marcus ‘cheating’ tells you what it feels like for Simon to be with Marcus: It feels like he’s cheating on Wilhelm.

That is so telling about Simon’s emotions here because by extension this means that, even though he and Wilhelm are broken up, that’s not what it feels like to Simon: He feels like he’s still in a relationship with Wilhelm because of that deep love for Wilhelm that he’s feeling. So, whatever their official relationship status might be, deep down in the farthest recesses of his mind, Simon knows that they are still very much emotionally involved and that’s why anything (from dates, to awkward hook-up attempts) with Marcus feels like cheating.

What’s more: Simon blames Wilhelm for the ‘cheating’. That one, I found particularly realistic and so brilliantly written, as it highlights once again that Simon and Wilhelm are both teenagers who are not as emotionally mature yet as you would need to be to navigate a complicated relationship such as theirs.

Let’s recap: Wilhelm is the one who suggests taking the ‘detour’ (that leads to Marcus). Now, obviously that metaphor doesn’t mean that Wilhelm wants Simon to pursue a relationship with Marcus. Wilhelm doesn’t even know that said ‘detour’ will lead to Marcus (that’s an unwelcome surprise for both of them as they come running out of the underbrush). But what the show is telling us here (and what Simon is feeling) is that it’s because of Wilhelm that they’re on a different path from the one they’re supposed to be on. To Simon, it does indeed feel as though it’s because of Wilhelm that he got pushed into that awkward situationship with Marcus whom he doesn’t even like. It’s because of Wilhelm that all of this happened. And it’s because of Wilhelm that he’s now forced to ‘cheat’ on Wilhelm, which he hates. Which in turn is why Simon is freaking angry with Wilhelm.

This is so great. I mean, we’ve talked about Wilhelm’s peak teenager behaviour in the ‘Lonely Ones’ scene, now come and examine Simon’s peak teenager feelings: “You forced me to emotionally cheat on you. And I hate that. Because I hate cheating on you in any way, shape or form. And now I hate you for forcing me to cheat on you, which actually means that I love you. But I won’t tell you that, so go fuck yourself.” Simon is an emotional disaster here, and we’re all loving it.

So, Wilhelm suggesting the ‘detour’ is basically a metaphorical way of telling us that to Simon it feels like Wilhelm is the reason he ever took that ‘detour’ that led to Marcus, which to him feels like cheating. And to top things off, he’s blaming Wilhelm for having to ‘cheat’ on him because actually he hates ‘cheating’ on him. The way teenage emotions are described here is brilliant.

One other thing: In the forest, it’s Simon who is least prepared for that metaphorical ‘journey’ the two of them have to undertake. You can see that it’s Wilhelm whose bodywarmer/down vest type of clothes are more suited to the winter weather, and it’s also Wilhelm who’s far less out of breath. It’s Simon who’s on the brink of collapsing.

I think that’s very interesting because we largely watch the show through Wilhelm’s eyes. He’s the main protagonist, so we see most of what’s happening from his point of view. In these scenes, though, the show actually tells us a lot (subtextually) about how Simon is feeling in season two.

Look, Wilhelm probably still does feel like he’s better prepared for that ‘journey’ they have to undertake to get back together – at least at that point in the story. (Obviously, we see how Wilhelm breaks down once he sees Marcus kiss Simon in the next episode). But at that point, Wilhelm has spent the entire Christmas break ruminating the question of what to do, and he seems to have come up with three solutions: Give mother dearest the silent treatment, take revenge on August, and do anything in your power to get back together with Simon.

So, Wilhelm has objectives; he shows a lot of resolve (at least at that point in the story). He knows what he wants (or so he thinks). That’s why we see him better dressed, better prepared and less out of breath on that metaphorical 17 km ‘run’ towards his ultimate metaphorical destination.

Interestingly, it’s Simon who’s on the brink of collapse in the forest. He’s notably dressed worse for the weather. He has to tie his shoe when they start running. He turned up late for practice to begin with. Translation: Simon is wholly unprepared for that emotional ‘journey’ the two of them have to undertake to finally get back together, and he’s on the brink of collapse. I mean, look at his face in those scenes in the forest; the poor little guy is in pain. He’s out of breath and has a stitch. He feels like he can’t do any of this anymore.

I think that’s a brilliant subtextual way of showing us Simon’s feelings in season two.

Because we usually follow Wilhelm, the main character, we think we know how much he’s suffering (and he is, to be honest). But subtextually, we’re told here that however much Wilhelm is suffering at the beginning of season two, it’s potentially even worse for Simon. At least Wilhelm has an objective, a goal he’s decided to devote himself to. Simon’s suffering is on a whole different level. He is in so much pain that he’s about to collapse. And then the whole thing gets exacerbated by the so-called ‘shortcut’ (that’s not a shortcut at all but a metaphorical ‘detour’) towards Marcus. Poor Simon, really.

I mean, to be fair, Wilhelm’s resolve to get Simon back under any and all circumstances will falter pretty soon, as well. Once he thinks he’s ‘lost’ the competition, Wilhelm will break down completely and suffer awfully, as well. So, it’s not like Simon is the only one angsting away here. They’re both pretty good at this whole pain-and-suffering thing, to be honest.

Well, and just like Simon, who ends up on a ‘detour’ (to Marcus) which he hates and which feels like ‘cheating’ to him, Wilhelm will try to solve his suffering problem by throwing eggs at it (Felice).

Both solutions (the cheating detour and the egg throwing) don’t really work and are unsatisfying, the show tells us.

By the way, did you notice the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in which Simon in the next episode (in the gym) tells Wilhelm that he (Simon) can’t just cheat while Wilhelm will, of course, get away with it. Yeah, that’s a metaphor, as well! Not only does it show us that Simon doesn’t want to ‘cheat’ with Marcus; he also accuses Wilhelm of being able to ‘get away’ with ‘cheating’ much better than he (Simon) ever will.

Look at the dialogue in that gym scene here:

Simon says, “But it doesn't exactly feel great to know that we cheated.” (Subtextually, this really tells you all you need to know about Simon’s feelings on the subject.)

Then Wilhelm says, “Hey, come on, it's no big deal.”

To which Simon replies, “It is for me.”

While obviously Wilhelm’s ‘cheating’ with Felice hasn’t happened yet, the show is already foreshadowing it here. And it seems to subtextually tell us that afterwards Wilhelm won’t feel like it was that big of a deal. Yes, he kissed Felice. But it didn’t mean anything. It didn’t feel the same as it did with Simon. End of story. No need to get all upset about it. If you don’t feel anything while doing it and you didn’t do a lot to begin with and both you and your best friend are on the same page (namely, that it didn’t mean anything) once you’ve talked things out, then it’s no big deal. That’s all there is to it, in Wilhelm’s opinion.

Well, and then look how Simon disagrees with that. That’s some brilliant subtext right there. ‘Cheating’ is a big deal, Simon says. Even if Wilhelm’s ‘cheating’ didn’t mean anything to Wilhelm, it still affects Simon badly. It’s a big deal for Simon.

And then Simon adds, “It doesn't matter if you guys cheat. You'll always get away with it.”

While on the surface of the text, Simon just alludes to Wilhelm’s social status protecting him when he does cut a few corners here and there, the subtext is so much more telling:

Wilhelm’s ‘cheating’ is more socially acceptable. Wilhelm ‘cheats’ in the way the upper classes have always cheated, the way their kind accepts and condones, the way that guarantees him social validation (which is exactly what you see in the on-the-table scene in episode four of season two). In other words, this foreshadows the fact that Wilhelm’s ‘cheating’ will be with a girl, i.e. the socially acceptable kind.

Simon is 100 % gay. None of his ‘cheating’ will ever be as socially acceptable as Wilhelm’s can at least potentially be. And Simon hates that just as much as Wilhelm’s ‘cheating’ itself. 

And he hates that it can be ‘no big deal’ for Wilhelm, when he (Simon) feels like his own ‘cheating’ with Marcus is eating him alive.

That’s some brilliant metaphorical subtext. Did I already say that I love season two? I did? Okay, I’ll say it again: Season two provides us with some amazing metaphorical, subtextual insight into the characters’ thoughts and feelings.

Anyway, where’s the light at the end of the tunnel, you ask? Or at the end of the long arduous forest run, if you will…

Well, it’s that both Simon and Wilhelm ultimately make it to the finish line, isn’t it? We know that despite all the pain and ‘cheating detours’, the two of them will get back together – ‘somewhat surprisingly’ as team captain Vincent calls it. But they’ll still manage to reach their destination. They will, ahem, finish, sweating and panting. (And yes, I have intentionally used innuendo here because that foreshadows the night they spend together towards the end of season two when things are finally starting to look up a bit in the getting-back-together department.)

So, not all is lost. Throughout season two, we have to hope for them to reach the finish line. And they will. They will make the team, and then they will be on the same team (where they can only lose or win together.)

Prediction/Speculation time:

If I were a writer on this show (but I’m not), I would include an actual, real rowing competition in season three to give the viewers some long-term pay-off for this admittedly funny and very well-thought-out metaphor.

This time the competition should be real, though. No rowing machines in the gym, actual boats out on the lake (hold that thought).

Since it’s highly unlikely that Marcus will turn up again (he was just a metaphorical ‘detour’ and Simon and Wilhelm have made it to the finish line now, thank God), I would style the actual, real rowing competition as a competition between Team Wilmon and Team Royal Court/press, i.e. them against the world. In other words, I would make the competition a metaphor for the fight these two have to fight against the actual, real-world antagonists that try to keep them apart. This would absolutely justify making it a real (!) competition this time. Because the fight is real; it’s not a fake competition like it was when Wilhelm ostensibly had to face off with Marcus. This is dead-serious.

So, this time around, the ‘other team’ would have to represent actual, real-world actors trying to destroy the love story we’re all watching. And because that’s a real fight (metaphorically: a real competition out on the lake), the stakes should be much higher this time: i.e. there should be a prize, an award of some sort this time. And this award should represent the happy end the two main characters are fighting for.

And this time, they should win! Both the award and metaphorically their freedom to be together, their happiness. They should win and the ‘other team’ (their antagonists) should unequivocally lose the competition.

That’s how I would reward the viewers for understanding the contextual metaphor we’ve discussed above, but then again, I’m not a writer on this show.

By the way, needless to say that this time Wilhelm and Simon wouldn’t even consider throwing any eggs at anything. They should instead throw themselves at each other. 

~fin~

Bonus:

I think I have to apologize at this point for honestly having no idea if the character is spelled ‘Marcus’ or ‘Markus’. I just don’t know. (Oh, what the hell, who am I kidding, neither does Simon. So, I’m not apologizing. Sorry, not sorry.) And I don’t even feel like Marcus warrants the energy it would take me to google that. So, I’m not going to.

Let’s not kid ourselves, you’re all here for my Marcus bashing TED talk, aren’t you?

So, how many subtextual clues have we gathered so far that Marcus is not all he’s cracked up to be? And I’m not talking straight-up text (because there is a lot of that, as well), text in which Simon is directly telling us that he doesn’t like Marcus. I’m only talking about the subtext here.

So far we have collected the following pearls in our subtext basket:

• Marcus meets Simon on his way to the toilet (contextual metaphor)

• Simon has his back to him (visual metaphor)

• Marcus is bad at, ahem, making ‘metaphorical’ music (textual metaphor)

• Marcus and Simon don’t harmonize together (textual metaphor)

• Their date is all karaoke, i.e. not a real concert (contextual metaphor)

• The rowing competition isn’t real (contextual metaphor)

• The award (Simon) can’t be won (contextual metaphor), arguably: the award is just ‘glory’ (part of the same contextual metaphor)

• Granhult (Marcus) is the ‘other team’ (contextual metaphor)

• Granhult (Marcus) is called ‘the worst enemy’ (part of the same contextual metaphor)

• Granhult (Marcus) is called a ‘fucking rat’ (part of the same contextual metaphor)

• Marcus is a detour on the road to a different destination (contextual metaphor)

Impressive list, isn’t it? And that’s just the subtext.

Let’s not even mention the slew of visual cues and, as I said above, the straight-up text (not just subtext!) that tells you that Marcus and Simon are not a good fit.

So, just a bonus, a little dessert treat for you, dear readers who’ve made it through that whole long article above, let’s add two more items to that list.

One is a textual metaphor and also just a really good joke, to be honest:

When Simon tries to recreate that horror movie night feel he had with Wilhelm while he’s on his date with Marcus, there is a very funny moment: He tells Marcus, “I can show you a good horror movie,” and then pretty much instantly proceeds to kiss him and grab his, uhm, parts.

While Simon is literally just talking about showing Marcus a horror movie on his TV screen, the quick progression from that sentence to him making out with Marcus and going for his nether regions is intentionally targeting our sense of humour: We are subtextually meant to understand that Simon and Marcus sleeping with each other would be an absolute horror movie for us, the viewers.

Every time I watch this scene, I just have to laugh at how unsubtle this joke is.

And then there’s another item for our list above (one last contextual metaphor for today because I’m having so much fun with them):

Did you think it was just a funny little joke that Simon sat at the back of Marcus’s car in episode one of season two? Did you think Marcus was referred to as the taxi service just for funsies?

Because that’s a metaphor, too. It foreshadows the fact that the whole Marcus/Simon relationship in its entirety is transactional. Simon needs Marcus to provide a metaphorical ‘service’ for him (just like a taxi driver).

The service that Marcus provides, by the way, is interesting as well. You might think at first glance that the metaphorical ‘service’ is a rebound, a distraction, helping Simon to forget Wilhelm. But it ultimately turns out to be a different ‘service’ altogether. Just look at what Marcus literally does in the season opener of season two. He literally drives Simon to Wilhelm!

They both don’t know it at that point. (Simon has no idea he’s going to meet Wilhelm at that party and make the doest doe-eyes to ever doe at him.) But ultimately that’s exactly the metaphorical ‘service’ Marcus provides: He drives Simon back to Wilhelm.

And on a show that equates forest runs with metaphorical ‘journeys’ you have to undertake to get back together, this car ‘trip’ is obviously no coincidence: Marcus’ and Simon’s relationship is purely transactional, and ultimately it will always just bring Simon back to Wilhelm.

THIS ARTICLE IS CONTINUED IN: Part 2 – The Water Metaphor

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