‘Love And Anarchy’ Season 2: Ending, Explained – What Happens To Sofie And Max’s Relationship?

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What started as a casual affair between Sofie Rydman and Max Jarvi, soon turned into a serious relationship at the end of “Love And Anarchy” Season 1. Yet their relationship was hidden from the real world, and though both of them were never bothered about it, as viewers, we knew that sooner or later, it was going to become a conflict in their relationship. Sofie, as a character, was very good at concealing things or maintaining a secret life for herself, which was her only escape from her failed marriage. When Max became a part of that secret life, it did spice things up a little bit, but Sofie never left being secretive or tried to face things even after things went back to normal again.

As “Love And Anarchy” Season 2 begins, Sofie finally separates from her husband, Johan Rydman, and moves into a small apartment with her two young children, and starts looking for a new job after leaving her previous position at Lund & Lagerstedt book publishing company. At this point in time, Sofie doesn’t have to care about society much and can easily bring Max into her little world, but she still has her doubts about taking that big step, which complicates her relationship with Max. However, instead of their complicated relationship, “Love and Anarchy” Season 2 delves more into Sofie’s relationship with her socialist father, Lars Fagerstrom, who kills himself due to ongoing mental conditions. Throughout Season 2, Sofie struggles to make peace with the tragedy and is unable to mourn for her father’s death and thus keeps having imaginary conversations with him. The narrative, thus, explores Sofie’s transformation to become a better person. She not only makes peace with her grief but also accepts her real self in the process and stops pretending to please the world or the society she lives in.

Other than Sofie and Max, Season 2 also explores the important characters at the Lund & Lagerstedt office, majorly following the conflicts in the lives of Friedrich Jagerstedt and Denise Konar, both of whom start a complicated affair with a celebrated novelist, Vivianne Ivarsen. Hence, without any further ado, let’s explore the journey of these important characters and find out how it concludes.

Spoilers Ahead


Why Did Sofie Get Traumatized After Her Father’s Death?

Season 1 of the series had already established the fact that Sofie’s father, Lars Fagerstrom, was a socialist who had been very vocal about capitalism, especially in the field of the arts. Sofie, on the other hand, was a realist who was much more bothered about making a living and providing for her family instead of looking at the artistic side of anything. Thus, the entire season 2 discussed capitalism in art and underlined the fact that people in modern times are more bothered about a piece of work that sells because an artist needs to survive too in order to make art. But there is a blurred line between survival and luxury. Most artists fall into the trap of a luxurious lifestyle and, in order to maintain it, only create art that sells, so the real art, which is nothing but genuine, is slowly fading away from the face of the earth. Sofie was so busy in her daily life and so entangled in her complicated relationship that she forgot to have these creative discussions with her father, and above all, she failed to notice that her father had a mental illness. The news of her father’s suicide took Sofie by surprise, as she instantly started thinking about all the things she wanted to discuss with him. Throughout the season, Sofie carried the burden in her heart that effected both her personal and professional life and she needed to come out of her guilty conscience as soon as possible.

In Season 2, Episode 8, Sofie finally realized that she couldn’t just keep on running away from her feelings and live in denial of her father’s death, and thus it was time to face it finally. Sofie was arrested for destroying copywriter Malin’s house. She finally had a conversation with her father’s imaginative figure, which was a direct result of her traumatized mind. She finally told her father that she felt guilty for not spending more time with him while he was alive or trying to stop him from killing himself, a pang of guilt that had been tormenting her since the beginning of Season 2. And it was at this moment when her father told her that it wasn’t her fault at all. He had to leave someday or another, but he would always be alive in her memories. Before walking away for the last time, Lars Fagerstrom asked her daughter to be friends with her real self. Sofie had been running away from herself, neglecting who she really was, which was the root of all the crises in her life. Hence, she made a promise to her dead father that she would love her real self and stop pretending and stop caring about what others feel or think about her. That was her first step towards acceptance, and that was her character’s final transformation for Season 2.


What Happened Between Friedrich, Denise, And Vivianne Ivarsen?

Friedrich Jagerstedt was a righteous publisher who had rigid rules and regulations regarding art, and he certainly lived by them. At the same time, Denise Konar was a new-age publisher who believed in exploring new avenues that the digital world had to offer. The difference in their opinions and approaches towards art became the root of all arguments between Friedrich and Denise. Everyone in the Lund & Lagerstedt office wanted to get rid of Friedrich because of his rigid beliefs, but no one dared to convey that to him directly, so Ronny Johansson (the previous CEO) handed over a separate label to Friedrich so that he could publish his own books under the label, Jagerstedt Publishing. Everyone speculated that Friedrich would fail in his efforts, and thus the management would get a reasonable opportunity to fire him, but destiny probably worked in Friedrich’s favor. His old flame, Vivianne Ivarsen, a celebrated novelist, arrived in Stockholm to finish a novel. Friedrich quickly used the opportunity and became Vivianne’s publisher and was going to publish her new book, which was a collection of short stories that were her first-person conversations with different women in various European cities. Vivianne had chosen Stockholm for the last story, and coincidentally, her last conversation with a woman was with none other than Denise Konar.

Much like the central protagonist, Denise, too, had been running away from her true self. In her case, it was her insecurities and, most importantly, her identity. She loved Vivianne but was too afraid to accept that in public. When Vivianne mentioned her insecurities and her affair with Denise in her story, Denise got paranoid and decided to quit the job at Lund & Lagerstedt as she was afraid of what the people around her would think about her after the book would be published. She requested Friedrich not to publish Vivianne’s book, but Friedrich chose the book over her friend as he felt Vivianne’s voice needed to be heard. In anger, Denise gave an unfiltered interview to a reporter about how Vivianne used her and invaded her privacy, but after Vivianne won the Nobel Prize for literature, Denise quickly had a change of heart and decided to tell Vivianne about the article that was soon going to be published. But instead of reacting, Vivianne accepted Denise and demanded the same from her, i.e., to express herself and accept herself. She kissed her while reporters clicked pictures of them at Lund & Lagerstedt, and this time Denise felt more than comfortable being seen with a woman. However, when she saw Vivianne kissing Friedrich intensely before the camera, she realized that maybe Vivianne wasn’t someone with whom she could think of a serious future and that it was undoubtedly a fling. But the good thing about the entire interaction was that she was finally able to accept her true identity and also restored her friendship with Friedrich.

Friedrich, on the other hand, was finally able to save his position at Lund & Lagerstedt. The new investor, Nille, wanted to get rid of Friedrich because of his stern attitude, but Max had given a dare to Sofie to do something that she would never do, something that would make a difference. Since the time Nille came on board, Sofie had been brainstorming ideas that would please the new investors. Again, the series highlighted through this entire hustle that instead of creating genuine art that would move people, Sofie was more concerned about pleasing the investors, a major flaw in her approach. Regardless of how rigid Friedrich’s beliefs were, he clearly loved art from the bottom of his heart and was not pretending to be one. In Season 2, Episode 8, Ronny asked Friedrich why he was so concerned about the Nobel Prize in Literature when none of the expected winners were part of their publishing house, to which Friedrich replied that the winner might not have anything to do with “business” and definitely had something to do with “literature” and this explains a lot. And hence, at the end of “Love And Anarchy” Season 2, Sofie chose Friedrich over Nille and gave her all the credits for publishing Vivianne’s book so that Nille wouldn’t be able to fire him from the job even if he wanted to get rid of him.


‘Love And Anarchy’ Season 2: Ending Explained – Will Sofie Accept Max and Make Her A Part Of Her Public Life? Will There Be A Season 3?

It is easy to run away from things or disown them when things get pretty tense or complicated. In Sofie’s case, she flirted with Max when things around her were good but discarded him in the first instance when she was traumatized by her father’s death. Sometimes, it’s not sharing our happiness or victories that bring us close to our loved ones, but being able to share our grief, pain, and insecurities. Max wanted to help Sofie, but she wouldn’t let him help her. He started a casual affair with a receptionist, Caroline Dahl, but soon realized that he didn’t love her and she was too good for him. Max not only broke off with Caroline but also left the job at Lund & Lagerstedt after his numerous attempts to help Sofie in her grief.

Sofie, on other hand, reached out to Max, after making peace with her father. At this point, Max clearly told her that he was tired of being used as a toy whom she would kick out as soon as things got complicated and accept when they would become mundane again. And hence, the question was whether Sofie was ready to accept Max publicly and make her part of her world or not. Max asked her to do something different to make a difference if she was really serious about their relationship. To finish that dare, Sofie, not only like a true anarchist, raised her voice against her own investors but also made a placard similar to what her father had made at the beginning of Season 2. The placard was not only the last tribute to her late father but also abided by the ideologies that Max believed in. In the closing scene of “Love and Anarchy,” Season 2, when Max saw Sofie standing with that placard in front of a store, he finally forgave her. In contrast to the opening sequence of the series, where we saw Sofie and Max inside a public bathroom trying to hide their relationship from the real world, the closing shot depicted how the two of them shared a kiss in public, not afraid of what society would think about their relationship or their age difference.

However, even though Sofie has decided to make Max a part of her public life, it’s still a long way before people around them accept their relationship. “Love and Anarchy” Season 3 will probably explore further whether Sofie’s children will be able to accept Max as their new father. It will be quite comical to explore that entire situation. Secondly, it will be Sofie’s husband, who will certainly have his say in this arrangement and will probably take a dig at Sofie for dating someone way younger than her. And last but not least, the following season, if it happens, will probably explore how the entire staff of Lund & Lagerstedt will react after they find out that their IT guy is dating the CEO of their company (probably if Max decides to re-join the office like Denise). If Sofie and Max decide to reveal their secret to the world, then it is going to create chaos in their lives, though in a funny way. Let’s hope the next season brings some really rib-tickling scenes on screen, as Season 2 got way too serious.


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Shikhar Agrawal
Shikhar Agrawal
I am an Onstage Dramatist and a Screenwriter. I have been working in the Indian Film Industry for the past 12 years, writing dialogues for various films and television shows.

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