Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Young Royals’ On Netflix, Where A Swedish Prince Finds Himself In Boarding School, Then Has His Loyalties Divided

If you’re raising kids of any age, some of the more recent teen shows must be sending you to your liquor cabinet. Everyone seems to be drinking, taking Molly and exploring their sexuality, all away from the eyes of their dopey, unknowing parents. Young Royals looks like a show that will be similar in subject matter… until the first episode’s final 30 seconds. Then, it starts to become something different — at least we hope it does.

YOUNG ROYALS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A young man leans over a dresser, his face cut and bruised. Someone tells him that a car is there to pick him up.

The Gist: Sweden’s Prince Wilhelm (Edvin Ryding) gets into a fight at the club, his parents, the king and queen, decide it’s best for him to go to Hillerska boarding school, where his older brother Erik (Ivar Forsling) went. He doesn’t want to go, because he likes his life in the city.

When he gets there, his cousin August (Malte Gårdinger), who rules the upperclassmen, especially the Forest Ridge House residence, is happy to show Wilhelm the ropes. He also wants to have an initiation party for his cousin; he hears that a non-resident student, Simon (Omar Rudberg) has a connection to some booze. Despite the fact that Simon and his sister Sara (Frida Argento) are outcasts, Simon gets them both invited to the party — an honor for a first year — in exchange for booze.

Wilhelm is intrigued by Simon, and sits next to him at lunch before August “saves” his royal cousin from the “non-res”. Simon and Sara live with their mother, but he reluctantly goes to his estranged father, who is an alcohol wholesaler, to get the booze for the party. We’re also introduced to Felice (Nikita Uggla), who aspires to marry royalty; August’s second cousin status isn’t nearly enough for her, especially with Wilhelm on campus.

The initiation is your typical overwrought affair, and lots of kids show up to the party ready to get drunk. Sara finds Felice, whom she knows from the horse riding team, already throwing up and they go out for some air. Wilhelm and Simon hide out from August and talk, which is when Wilhelm realizes that he’s attracted to Simon.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Euphoria or Genera+ion, but a bit tamer and a bit more Swedish.

Our Take: At first blush, Young Royals elicits a big shrug from us. The series, created by Lisa Ambjörn, Lars Beckung and Camilla Holter feels like yet another YA/teen series about a bunch of overprivileged students doing things their parents wouldn’t approve of and exploring just what direction they want their lives to go in.

There’s nothing in the first episode that doesn’t persuade us otherwise. Wilhelm seems to be a young Harry Windsor-type who gets in trouble because he just isn’t sure who he is or wants to be. We appreciate the relationship he has with his brother Erik, but August looks like your average “big fish in a small pond” dickhead that populates every one of these kinds of shows and movies. He dresses too well for even the fashionable boarding school, walks and talks like he’s important even though he isn’t, is unnecessarily mean to people whom he thinks are “below” him, and shamelessly kisses up to his royal cousins.

The surrounding characters, except for Simon and Sara, seem to be just standard teen-show tropes. This includes Felice, who wants to go after a royal at the exclusion of everyone else. Simon and Sara are the exceptions because they have a backstory; their mother speaks Spanish to them at home, and they aren’t privileged in the least. Simon’s relationship with his father is transactional. Sara has ASD, at least according to what she tells Felice at the party, and is used to being unpopular.

The burgeoning relationship between Wilhelm and Simon, how that gets explored and how this will be tested by Wilhelm’s royal responsibilities, is what’s really going to make Young Royals stand out. If the pattern of the first episode continues, though, we’ll continue to shrug.

Sex and Skin: Surprisingly, none.

Parting Shot: As Wilhelm and Simon hide from August, Wilhelm draws himself closer and closer to Simon. As he goes to kiss Simon, the screen goes dark.

Sleeper Star: Frida Argento as Sara not only made us laugh, but we enjoyed her portrayal of someone who knows she thinks differently than everyone else and is fine with it, even if it makes her unpopular. “At least no one picks on me here” compared to their old school, she says to Simon.

Most Pilot-y Line: August keeps calling the booze Simon says he can get “moonshine,” as if he’s making it in his bathtub at home. That line feels not only classist, but vaguely racist, as well.

Our Call: STREAM IT. We’re intrigued with the love vs. duty story angle of Young Royals, but we’re wondering if that’s going to be buried under an avalanche of privileged teens acting badly.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

Stream Young Royals On Netflix