SPOILER ALERT:
This article contains important plot elements.
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One step forward, two back
© Netflix / Love & Anarchy
Season 1 of Love & Anarchy more than conquered us. In the editorial office, we were more than happy when season 2 was announced after this open ending! However, this new opus has a strange taste, which spoils our memory of the first season a little.
We see there the particular touch of Lisa Langseth (Euphoria) and that disturbing feeling that sometimes twists our stomach. Sanity is still the central pillar of the series and one of the highlights of this season. Unfortunately, the development of the relationship between Max (Björn Mosten) and Sophie (Ida Engvoll) leaves much to be desired, as well as the final wasteful development of other members of the publishing house, such as Friedrich ( Reine Brynolfsson) and Ronny (Bjorn Kjellman). Some characters disappear entirely, like Sophie’s children.
If the employees of Lund & Lagerstedt behave badly in Season 1, in season 2 some become caricatures, archetypes we hate rather than try to understand. Yes, the series wants us to feel shame, to question the rules of society, but the line is sometimes very coarse. For example, the presence of a white, cisgender-hetero male sensitive reader might raise a smile, because it was written to criticize the demonstrative activism of companies that don’t really want change. However, like many characters, his presence weighs more heavily than anything else.
© Netflix / Love & Anarchy
The central concept of this new era of Love & Anarchyis the truth. What exactly is authenticity? Do not lie ? On its own? To others? We all have subjective or philosophical meaning? Also returning is the importance of mourning and guilt – and the taboo – about mental illness and suicide.
Criticism (first underlying then completely acerbic) of the cult of personal development is necessary in 2022, in a time where social networks are kings and where we have forgotten patience and kindness. Self first, between self-importance and denial of the loss of a loved one. With others as well, where corporations and other educators distort grief, guilt, and exploit it for profit. The relationship between Sophie and her dead father (Lars Väringer) unfolds on this painful path, between acceptance and helplessness.
Finally, it is a very powerful message offered to the public: it is difficult to get rid of old demons, vices may return. You have to move on, it takes time, but all is not lost. The most important (and hardest) thing is to be friends with yourself.
© Netflix / Love & Anarchy
If this season struggles to change itself: Sophie is angry with Max, we tell ourselves that she deserves better, but instead she is not honest and makes Caroline (Carla Sehn) suffer… Because under his moralizing air and outside the social framework, Love & Anarchy remains a love story. We see characters project their own desires and their own fears onto others. There is also a representation of sexuality and love that is off the beaten track, away from the usual aestheticism (and ageism) of Hollywood.
An appreciated element is a sharper criticism of the art milieu and literary circles. Is it moral to write about others? What is success when you forget to be human? Can we write everything, or do we have to censor ourselves? The allusions to the cinema and the culture industry are many thanks to the dark humor, between the #metoo movement and the members of the Academy.
By touching a certain “sacredness” in literature and the Nobel Prize, the screenwriters doubted the path of the artist: are we losing ourselves by sacrificing part of his work for the majority of the public? Seeing his son escape us for a publication or an adaptation, won’t that also be lost?
In conclusion, until the end, we wonder if Max and Sophie’s relationship will end well. The anti-capitalist critique became smaller during this period, but the question of self-discovery was greater for it. Should we let the loved one go if we become toxic, or hang? The finale, a bit of a classic, would be a good conclusion to the series. Rose, seed or forest, we will remember the adventures of Sophie and Max the gardener for a long time.
Our rating: