Netflix’s Swedish show Diary Of A Ditched Girl tells the story of Amanda, a soon-to-be 31-year-old who has been celibate for a few years. One fine day, she finds herself in an obscene situation, where she gets flashed in the park. I suppose this makes her realize that life is too short and she needs to find love immediately. When she was 10, her mother married her off to the cosmos. Now, her mom thinks that the fact that Amanda can’t find a man who loves her is because she’s been closed off to the universe. So, the first thing she does is get rid of the butterfly ring, which is presumably her engagement ring to the cosmos, and decide to find love (or get laid). Will Amanda find love? Will she find the happiness she’s been dreaming of? Let’s find out in Diary Of A Ditched Girl.
Spoiler Alert
Is The Bartender Right For Amanda?
In episode 1, Amanda first steps out of her comfort zone with the help of her friend Lilleman, who is sexually liberated and brings a whip on their bar outing. Everybody is eager to help Amanda out, but is it really any use? Well, technically no, because Amanda seems to be a bit naive and a little bit too sweet for the kind of men who are around now. Amanda’s first encounter is with a man who is a fan of a writer named Zlatan. So much so that he’s read his book four times. Amanda’s quick to get affectionate, and even though he’s terrible and a little bit terrifying in bed, she feels good about them together. But ultimately, he tells her that he’s conflicted between her and his ex, and he wants to see his ex again, so Amanda’s sister, Adina, tells her to ditch him and find someone else. But hey, at least she has entertainment in the form of the Zlatan book that she borrowed.
A little later, Amanda meets a man named Jonte, who is a bartender. She pretends she works at his club so that she can get her jacket from him. Obviously, she doesn’t actually work there, but she gives him her number, and he actually texts her. Soon after, Amanda and Adina have to meet their dad, who lives with his new family, a wife and a son. He basically never has time for the girls, and even during the meeting, he gets a call from his wife about their son and lies, saying he’s out for some work, not even admitting he’s with his daughters. The only reason he’s really called them over is to discuss his own 60th birthday and how they should plan his party for him (yikes).
Adina’s in a sweet relationship with a man named Filip, and when Amanda heads off on her first date with Jonte, she asks Filip and Adina for advice. She even buys him a beer, which she worries is overkill, but Filip tells her it’s nice. Turns out he’s right, and the night begins well; Amanda even gives him flowers, to which he says he has something for her too. Now, Amanda and Adina help out their mum at work, and they’ve just set up a pop-up about sustainable Swedish blankets that Adina’s very passionate about. Jonte’s gift to Amanda is fireworks, and he wants to light them up in a random spot, but Amanda suggests they do it at the pop-up. More importantly, she lights one inside it, somehow not caring about her mom and sister at all. Next thing you know, they have a nice night at his place, with his plants for company, and she feels good about him. But he used to be a Scientologist and also did drugs (claims not to be an addict, though). The only reason he doesn’t do drugs anymore is that he lost a friend to an overdose.
The next thing you know, Amanda finds herself with herpes on her face. In the morning, it happens to be speed dating day for the girls, and it seems only the gay boys are worth anybody’s time because all the straight guys are old and messed up. Amanda goes and finds her bartender again, and he tells her his shift ends at 2, so he’ll meet her after, but he’s a no-show. Unfortunately, she even tries to call him, but he’s completely ghosted her by now. On the other hand, the fire situation has triggered Adina’s OCD, and she now can’t leave the house because she’s worried it’ll catch fire. Jeez, Amanda, pay attention to your sister. Clearly, Jonte isn’t the right guy for her.
What Happens With Emil?
Amanda and Adina are forced to work on a Botox project because their mom said yes, but they believe it’s demeaning to women. On the other hand, they visit their dad for the birthday planning, but they’re basically unceremoniously thrown out of the house after the work’s done. He didn’t even remember that Adina was a vegetarian, and they had so much to drink that it didn’t make sense for them to leave the house, but they had to because he didn’t want them there. Amanda meets her childhood crush, Emil, whom she tried to kiss once when she was in 7th grade, but he got mad and chased her around the garden for it. Emil meets Amanda when she’s looking for a breathalyzer. He offers to lend her his, but she’s got contagious herpes around her mouth, which she uses as an excuse to steer clear of him.
Amanda then goes on a Tinder dating spree because she thinks she’s got no other choice. She meets bad date after bad date until Adina swipes on Emil on Amanda’s phone, and they match. Emil is wonderful and nothing like the other guys she’s been with. He actually cares about her needs, unlike the rest, who only cared about theirs, but Amanda gets insecure in the middle of their naked happy time, and she goes to shower. She takes too long in the shower (I mean, it literally becomes morning), which makes Emil feel like he’s done something wrong, and because they don’t communicate very well, that’s the end of their date, and he leaves. Amanda then meets the flasher on the street, and she yells at him for ruining her life. She’s really upset, and even when Filip tries to comfort her, she can’t stand it.
At Amanda’s 31st birthday party, the girls take her out, and Jonte happens to be at the bar. Oh, also, her dad didn’t even bother getting her a present. He tells all her friends about the “Fluff” fire, which leaves Adina devastated. So instead of properly apologizing to her sister, Amanda spends the day with a man who isn’t even interested in her but only said he’d hang out because it was her birthday (ouch). Somehow, Adina finds the heart to forgive Amanda, but the latter is distracted yet again by a man, this time faceless. He’s into domination play, and Amanda’s okay with that because she thinks that’s the only thing that’ll make her excited. After he makes her pretend she’s a horse, she narrates the whole story to her friends as a joke. Adina can tell Amanda’s struggling, and they hug it out. But in the final moments of episode 5, Adina and Filip announce that they’re moving in together, which makes Amanda more upset because everybody’s moving on, while she’s still stuck: unloved. Emil sees her look upset and asks her if she’s doing okay, and she pretends she is and walks away. But later, Emil gets her number and texts to check in on her. This is endearing and sweet, but Amanda thinks he’s playing mind games with her. When they meet up, she asks why he unmatched her on Tinder, but it turns out he deleted his account because he was tired of the dating game. Seems like they’re both in a similar boat. They have a wonderful date together later, and it all seems fantastic, so Amanda invites him to a costume party. He promises to come, but after dinner.
At the party, Amanda’s upset that she’s not dressed up sexy, even though the costumes were decided a long time ago with her sister and Filip. Amanda continues to be selfish and annoying because she doesn’t seem to care about anybody else’s feelings except her own. But after all that waiting, Emil doesn’t show up at the party, which makes Amanda very upset, so she ends up calling Jonte over and sleeping with him again (oh no).
Do Emil and Amanda End Up Together?
In episode 7 of Diary Of A Ditched Girl, Amanda comes to the realization that she needs some time away from her sister because she’s too co-dependent. She also has a conversation with her mom, and she tells her that she’s so similar to her, so she should learn to be independent and be happy by herself without a man to drag her around. So when Emil comes to apologize, she’s both thinking about what her mum said and her last night with Jonte, and she’s too overwhelmed to accept Emil’s apology; she ends up pushing him away. He’s surprised that this is the end of their little relationship, but she has nothing to say to him. On the other hand, Adina’s got a new job offer, but she didn’t tell Amanda about it for a week after being interviewed. Amanda’s always been selfish and has never really been happy about her sister’s achievements.
At their dad’s 60th, the old man is even worse than usual, and his wife Paula announces that he’s taking her last name. To make matters worse, the girls had no idea, and this was the last straw for Amanda. She finally bursts a vein and tells her father that he’s always been neglectful of them. He’s totally defenseless because he’s literally never prioritized them. Ironically, he tries to gaslight her by saying, “I’m sorry I’m the worst,” but this whole interaction is fantastic for Amanda, and she finally leaves the room knowing why she doesn’t feel loved when she genuinely has it. Adina gives her a tight hug, too, and she’s finally free to go find herself for real.
Amanda rushes to Emil, apologizes for her behavior, and also honestly tells him the reasons why she’s so erratic. He’s a great guy, so he forgives her and takes her back. Plus, he clearly really likes her for the person she is. However, the show doesn’t necessarily end on a happy note. At the end of Diary Of A Ditched Girl, Jonte shows up at the bar that the girls are hanging out at with Filip and Emil. Emil goes to get drinks, and Jonte talks to him, leaving Amanda anxious as the screen goes black. The question remains: Did Jonte tell Emil that he slept with her after the costume party? Obviously there’s no reason for him to, but Amanda should tell Emil that she was mad and did something she didn’t mean to. He may forgive her.
