Young Royals (Netflix)

[mrfixit477]

When Prince Wilhelm arrives at the prestigious boarding school Hillerska he finally gets an opportunity to explore his true self and find out what kind of life he really wants.

Young Royals premieres July 1, only on Netflix.

[mrfixit477]

[mrfixit477]

http://instagram.com/p/CPHaTMAL9Ey

[mizuryuu]

Interesting. Always love a good Royal story.

[justinate]

Trailers may not tell the full story but could we be getting that rarest of unicorns - a bi male lead?

[justinate]

Looks like the trailer confirms the lead character is queer:

[mizuryuu]

I'm going to be cautious until the show actually airs. Been burned before where the queer clip in the trailer is the only queer scene in entire show.

[justinate]

Here are a couple of reviews - both of which appear to point to the show's central arc being a gay romance between the lead (playing a Swedish prince) and another boy (who is also a POC based on the casting, but it's clear if that's just blind casting or will be a plot point).

www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/young-royals-review-netflix/
readysteadycut.com/2021/06/28/review-young-royals-season-1-netflix-series/

Lead actors behind Prince Wilhelm (Edvin Ryding, 18) and Simon (Omar Rudberg, 22) for a magazine cover.

http://instagram.com/p/CQvrIl2JKsj

[justinate]

I caught this today. The gay love story is definitely central. The leads are very believable as teens (although Omar is 22) and have good chemistry. I appreciated that; they could have decided it was too big a risk to ground the show in a queer male character. A reviewer complained that the supporting characters weren't as fleshed out; I agree, but there are only six episodes and I would've hated it if they sacrificed too much airtime to develop the peripheral characters at the expense of the central couple (which is my chief complaint for Love, Victor). Here both boys exist outside of their relationship, which is a huge plus for me. And it was also refreshing that one of my major concerns going into the series didn't come to pass:

SPOILER: Click to show

Prince Wilhelm did not treat his sexual awakening as an internal conflict, but rather one tied to his royal role and familial expectations.

I will say, however, that the story was fairly predictable, and I do wonder if it could sustain a devoted audience without the gay romance. For me, personally, the episodes before the romance developed were a bit of a chore. There are enough open threads left to command a second series if an audience rallies behind this - and there are definitely plenty of people who are gagging for a queer male-led show - but it seems to suffer from limited promotion which is basically the Netflix way of sending shows to the graveyard before they even premiere. Will this end up becoming a Tiny Pretty Things (which crashed and burned after just one season) or a Sweet Magnolias (which, despite the lack of publicity, managed to garner a second season order)?

I also think there was a bit of an identity crisis with the show - were they intending for a teen or young adult audience? The moments that presumably contributed to their 18+ rating were filmed in such a coy manner, presumably to skirt around the rating that they ended up being saddled with anyway! They should have made up their minds and gone with one direction or the other instead of this half-in, half-out status that's bound to satisfy absolutely no one.

[Haru]

I just finished and I liked it, I hope we will get season two

[Haru]

Netflix list in Sweden and in Norway

[Haru]

they're so cute

promo video

[arcoiris]

Best gay storyline this year - by far. It was great. Acting, chemistry, gay affection... everything. I don't have any complaints. Heck, it was even somewhat realistic as this is something that could have happened in real life, especially that ending. I won't spoil anything, but as sad as the ending was, it was amazing because it was realistic and the actors nailed it acting-wise. Thank god Simon didn't back down on his values. It was very emotional. It physically hurt. But it was great. I really hope it gets a second season because the end of season one was open-ended and I need these two to have a happy ending.

[kevvoi]

Review of the show:

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9760573/Fans-wild-gay-teenage-version-Crown.html

[Haru]

promo video

Meet the STARS

[Yuan]

A life savior in summer after what Elite and Love Victor have done to me. Great chemistry between the male leads. I have to admit the other characters are really under-developed. Most importantly, I am glad we don't get another plot involving self-hatred and internalized homophobia.

[Haru]

Creating Young Royals - the Director & Head Writer shares all details



promo

http://instagram.com/p/CRGjiKpFNY9

[kevvoi]

Auftauchen posted a clip that seems to be most of their scenes with English subtitles:

[mizuryuu]

Finally finished my busy week of work and binged the rest of the series tonight. It was SO good!!!! I need S2 of Young Royals now!!

[TheGuyFromBrazil]

Finished the show yesterday!

In terms of the gay storyline, it was very predictable but very cute (and sad)! They have great chemistry together!

I knew Simon looked familiar... he was part of FO&O lol

The show as a whole was alright. I wish they had developed the supporting characters more... a lot of them have so much potential but they just weren't explored (probably because of lack of time) which made the show a bit "half-coocked"... I hope they're able to flesh out the other characters a little more if we get a second season.

[Haru]

promo

in some countries it is not available

[kevvoi]

Another uploader has posted Wilhelm and Simon clips (a huge number of tiny clips), here is the playlist courtesy of Frankie:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g05S8kO30MY&list=PLi_Vy_9Id2TVJbINyOmUheMTjgbgyWSfb

[mizuryuu]

A few observation now that I have a few days to reflect:

SPOILER: Click to show

- I am so happy they went with Simon already being out. I am also so glad there is a lack of self-hatred and internalized homophobia on Wilhelm's part. I was so worried he would fake date Felice to hide being gay (See this way too much in western LGBT shows). So glad that was handled well
- The chemistry between the two lead was out of the world. They were able to express so much with just a glance or touch. I am also glad they didn't shy away from kisses and sex. Not to mention the kisses start coming in early on instead of leaving it to the very end.
- Student drug blackmail: This whole thing just didn't make sense. Even if the boys blame Simon for the drug's origin, the caught student would still be expelled, cause he GOT CAUGHT WITH DRUGS!! Just because the school find out where the drug came from doesn't change the fact that the student had a large supply of drugs on him. Then he would still rat out the secret society, bringing everything back to the starting point just with Simon dragged in. The only hope of damage mitigation was to blame everything on the student that got caught.
- The video scandal: I love the detective work that Felice did. It is actually smart of her and realistic. It is realistic that she, unlike the public, would be the only one who would compare it against August's IG. The reaction of the royal family was expected, and I hope a S2 would explore the family's betrayal of Wilhelm cause I'm sure the Queen would want to continue selling the "closeness" of the two cousins.
- Crown Prince Erik: Why was he even in the show? He was on the show so little that they could have just started the show with Wilhelm as an only child and it wouldn't have changed much. If they wanted Erik there, they should have kept him alive until S2 or S3. That way, they could contrast the difference in expectation/treatment for a gay prince to a gay Crown prince

[mrfixit477]

[mrfixit477]