The Present, Eternity and the Action Plan
Episode 8 of Love & Anarchy begins with Max scrambling on the bus back home again. While he does, Sofie apologizes to her husband for taking Isabell to see Lars. Johan berates her though, bringing up all the moments over the season where she’s acted oddly. As he continues, he tell Sofie she’ll end up in the psych ward too if she’s not careful. Back at Lund, Ronny gathers the guys together as they anxiously await Sofie’s arrival. She’s too busy at home feeling sorry for herself though but everyone is counting on her to come up with an action plan to save the company. Sofie has bigger problems though, coming in the form of marital problems with Johan. In order to fix what’s happened, Johan suggests they go to London as a whole family as a fresh start. It’s a big move and one that Isabell isn’t so sure of. Back at work, Caroline receives a new manuscript from that girl we’ve seen across the season. She actually reads the pages and realizes the material is actually very good. Sofie finally shows up at Lund and hands over the action plan she’s created, but she’s not staying. She mentions the move to London and prepares to pack her things up to go. Only, Max arrives and tells her they need to talk. Sofie hates being called insane and Johan’s words really got through to her. She takes the lipstick and throws it away, telling Max he means nothing to her and leaving him teary-eyed and dumbfounded. When Sofie leaves, Max even passes out on the floor in the office. While the rest of the team try to decipher Sofie’s graphics and charts, Ronny face-times the team and tells them he’s feeling under the weather. Sofie visits her father at the institute and tells him she doesn’t want to end up like him. It’s a nice heart to heart and one that ends with this Father and daughter embracing. That afternoon Johan’s true colours come out, prompting Sofie to make a big decision about her life. She tells her husband that she doesn’t want to stay home and look after the kids – which is exactly what her role would be if they move to London. She has way too much self-respect to do that and – sporting a brilliant white dressing-gown – walks purposefully out the building and toward the publishing house. The big presentation begins and both Denise and Friedrich struggle to decipher the data. Thankfully, Sofie arrives just in time to try and salvage the meeting. Only, StreamUs have had enough. The sight of Sofie in her dressing gown is enough for the acquisition to be severed forever. In the midst of all this, the manuscript from that girl spills over the floor where Friedrich and Denise get a sense for the writing and realize they could have a hit on their hands. A liberated Sofie heads up to the rooftop where Max appears to greet her. “Well…what happens now?” He asks, as the big question remains over whether this will be renewed for a second season or not.
The Episode Review
As season 1 of Love & Anarchy draws to a close, this Swedish drama has been a bit of a mixed bag. It also leaves a lot of unanswered questions at the end and plenty of material for a possible second season. With StreamUs pulling out of the acquisition of Lund, what will the future be for this struggling publishing house? I guess we’re led to believe that this manuscript will be the salvation of the company. At the same time, StreamUs pulling out of the acquisition also brings doubts over the scandalous drama surrounding Stefan partway through the show. Lund lost a decent author at the hands of chasing StreamUs and it’s certainly come back to bite them. In fact this lack of consequence is something a lot of the characters here face, and it’s not helped by very few of the characters here growing across the season. Aside from Sofie choosing to remain independent (something she already was during episode 1), Friedrich is really the only character whose changed. This gives a feel of this show stagnating into a melodramatic lull that unfortunately fades into mediocrity. It’s a shame but Love & Anarchy is not one to remember.
