"Love and Anarchy": A prank war at a Stockholm publishing house, with two gay teases and male nudity

 Love and Anarchy appeared on my Netflix recommendations.  I clicked to see what it was about, forgetting that on Netflix, "click" means "start."  And since I was eating a bowl of Cheerios, I let it continue.

Link to the NSFW version

Scene 1: A harried middle-aged man and woman in a fancy house coordinating their calendars and telling their preteen son "No gaming at the breakfast table."  Dad is played by Johannes Bah Kuhnke, sweating below.

The woman chugs some espresso, talking about how this is her first day on the job. Teenage daughter comes in, not wearing the coat Dad bought for her.  This causes a crisis. Nuclear family squabbles.  Yawn. 

The woman goes upstairs, locks herself in the bathroom, and masturbates to porn on her cell phone.  Are we supposed to be titilated or judgmental, or are we to assume that she's having marital problems?  Everybody masturbates, but nobody admits that they do.

Scene 2: She is walking through a square in downtown Stockholm, at dusk or pre-dawn, checking her cell phone.  An older guy welcomes her to his publishing house.   He shows her to her new office, which is a disaster-area of books and manuscripts: the former senior editor was a bit of a hoarder.  

The older guy may be Ronni, the Publishing Company CEO, played by Bjorn Kjellman. He didn't have much of a physique in the 1990s, but he was rather well hung.

Scene 3: The woman -- Sofie -- giving a speech to the staff.  She's an independent consultant who saves publishing companies from bankruptcy by pushing them into the digital age, whether they like it or not. As she is ignoring a question about layoffs, a hot young guy comes in late and accidentally spills his drink over his crotch.  While he is dabbing at his bulge with a napkin, Sofie stares, mesmerized.

Scene 4: Sofie in her office, grimacing at the clutter.  Books --- ugh -- they might as well be stone tablets! As someone with a library of about 4,000 books, I am not amused.

 She piles some armloads of the relics outside her door to be trashed, and sees the hot young guy (Bjorn Mosten, top photo, left, and below) on a ladder drilling (and drilling...and drilling).  Receptionist tells her that he's Max, the IT Guy.  

"He doesn't usually do much drilling." 

 "Well, tell him to drill quietly!"

Max scoffs.  "How am I supposed to do my job?"  Receptionist doesn't answer; she's staring at his butt.  He storms out.

Scene 5: A publication meeting.  We are introduced to the Literary Drector (elderly guy) and the PR director (young woman), plus the intern who handles the social media presence (5000 followers on Instagram!).  PR Director wants to publish a novel "full of gay sex and drugs at an ayahuasca retreat," while Literary Director wants to publish a book of poetry about fir trees.   

Sofie suggests skipping the fir tree poems and tweaking the "gay sex and drugs" novel to draw the interest of heterosexual men. Heterosexist enabler!

Scene 5:  Dinner with the family.  Sofie complaining about how old-fashioned her clients are.  They don't even have digital book contracts!   Suddenly she gets a phone call and rushes upstairs, annoying her husband: "We're eating!"

It's a subplot about her elderly father, complaining about the working class unionizing.  She tells him to stop watching the news; it's upsetting and useless.

Scene 6:  Sofie in bed, reading a book while Husband snores.  Hey, I thought she hated books!  She sneaks into the bathroom to masturbate. 

Scene 7:  At work, they are signing the contract with the woman who wrote the "gay sex and drugs" novel. they just want some final revisions.  While Literary Director is trying to figure out how to take her photo with one of those newfangled cell phones, a Famous Author walks by, and he rushes out to hun: "I didn't see you at the club!"  Is Literary Director gay? 

Nope -- it was just a gay tease. 

It appears that the Famos Author sent the Gay-Sex-and-Drugs Author a dick pic (how did they even meet?), so PR Director wants to dump him, even though he's been their biggest moneymaker for 30 years. Literary Director asks what his dick has to do with his writing talent.  All literary geniuses have scandals.

Scene 8: Sofie reading reports.  Max starts drilling again. Drilling, drilling...She rushes out in a huff and demands that he not drill during work hours.  He says "What a bitch!" and storms off.  They'll be screwing by Episode 3. 

Scene 9:  Night.  Sofie still in the office, working.  Husband Johan is filming, so she calls the sitter to say that she'll be late, and please put the kids to bed.

Everyone's gone, so why not masturbate?   In an office with the blinds open, so anyone who comes into the main suite can see her?  At least close the blinds!

At that moment Max comes in -- she said don't drill during working hours -- and sees her.  He snaps a photo and leaves.

More Max after the break

Scene 10: Morning.  Sofie arrives at work.  With an evil grin, Max reveals that he has a photo of her masturbating in the office, and will show it to the boss unless she...he hasn't decided yet.  Then he begins drilling -- loudly.  What is she going to do about it? How much drilling do you need to install a cable?

Scene 11: Whoops, another crisis: Dad was caught shoplifting in a grocery store: it had turned cashless, and he "refuses to be a victim of the digital system," so he just walked out with his sausage.  Sofie pays for it.

Scene 12: At home, Sofie complains about Dad to Husband Johan, while he stands in his underwear: "He's not taking his meds.  He won't even acknowledge that he's sick."  

 Then she complains about Max being "arrogant" (ttv for sexy).   "Well, you're the consultant. Fire him!"  "No...um...er..."  Instead she researches him on social media, trying to find a scandal for bargaining.

Scene 13:  Max in a restaurant -- with a male friend!  Maybe he's gay.  

Nope, it was another gay tease.  He cruises the middle-aged woman at the next table.

Scene 14: They're having sex (no beefcake, but Max is nude in another episode.)

Scene 15: Back at work. Sofie offers Max money to delete the picture, but he says "It's nothing.  Just buy me lunch."  Darn, I thought the picture was going to go viral on the internet, and ruin Sofie's marriage. 

Scene 16: Not even a nice lunch -- they eat at a fast-food place.  Max asks the usual first-date questions, and Sofie gives noncommittal answers. 

A snoopy friend drops by, and wonders why Sofie is with a hot young guy while married to someone else. Coworkers can go to lunch, right? Feeling guilty, Sofie gets rid of her.

Max gives Sofie his phone so she can delete the photo, but she won't give it back "until you do something fucked-up at work."  Then, I guess, they'll be even?

Scene 7: Grinning triumphantly, Sofie returns to work.  After hiding the cell phone she stole, she interrupts a damage-control meeting. Gay-Sex-and-Drugs Author got even with the Famous Author by posting his dick pic on her Instagram page. And everybody saw it!  Except the audience. PR Director rants: "Now we have to drop him!"  Literary Director: "No, he's an artist!"  

 

At that moment, someone posts a picture of a vagina on the publishing company's Instagram page! We get to see that, but not Famous Author's dick?  Boo!   Before they can delete, people take screenshots and re-post it.  So much for damage control!  

They rush to Max (who, you recall, is their IT Guy) and demand that he find out who posted the vagina pic.  "Maybe we were hacked by ISIS, or the Russians," he suggests. "But there's no way to be sure." But Sofie knows that he did it.  She returns his cell phone.

Then she gives him her favorite lipstick.  "Tell me what I have to do to get it back."  So they're going to be playing a fun prank game? The end.

Max: Bjorn Mosten has appeared only in this and Evil, another series about a young man sexing an older woman. Although there might be some buddy-bonding as well.

Other Sights: Some random exteriors of Stockholm.

Gay Characters: Maybe the Gay-Sex-and-Drugs Author, but she doubtless will not appear again.

Gay Teases: 2

Heterosexism: Yes.

Homophobia: Gay people exist only in a sleazy sex-and-drugs novel.

Will I Keep Watching: Maybe.  I want to see how the prank war escalates before the couple does their "Are you as turned on as I am?" Sam-and-Diane thing.

Nude Max and the CEO on RG Beefcake and Bonding