Love & Anarchy Season 1 recap: Episode 3, ‘StreamUs’

The flirtation escalates between Max and Sofie in Love & Anarchy Episode 3. Friedrich panics over a bad book-to-film adaptation.

In Love & Anarchy Episode 3, “StreamUs,” the publishing house has a monumental deal with one of the premier streaming services in the world, StreamUs. One of their most popular books, The Train, has received an adaptation, and they need to watch the final cut ahead of the big premiere night.

Friedrich, who has already seen The Train approximately 15 times, delegates the final screening duties to Caroline. She loves the movie, praising it as perhaps the best she’s ever seen. That’s good enough for Friedrich, who officially signs off on the deal with StreamUs.

Elsewhere, Sofie calls Ronny after he doesn’t come to work. They were supposed to run numbers on the company. He acts cagey over the phone. Sofie presses him for the truth. Lund & Lagerstedt is for sale, and he’s meeting with potential buyers. “Wow, this may actually be for the best.” Instead of agreeing with her, Ronny rushes Sofie off the phone with claims that he’s “said too much.”

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At the publishing house, Sofie boards the elevator. Max slips in before the doors close. “Ronny’s on vacation. You’re CEO today.” After a moment’s consideration, Max accepts this new challenge and starts acting like a boss, including taking over Ronny’s office, much to the employees’ confusion.

Caroline meets with Friedrich and Sofie to discuss the film ahead of the press screening.

She tells Friedrich about what she saw. It slowly becomes evident that Friedrich made a huge mistake in not going to the final screening himself before signing off on the StreamUs contract. Based on Caroline’s retelling, the new film took massive liberties, not only with the text but with history itself.

Friedrich is especially distressed because he’s worked with The Train author Gertrud for 30 some years. She trusts him. Unless they can declare Friedrich incompetent at the time of signing (which they can’t, although he’s interested in the possibility due to his desperation), then there isn’t much wiggle room. Sofie and Friedrich set a meeting with StreamUs to salvage Gertrud’s film adaptation.

As acting CEO, Max joins them — puzzling Friedrich, “Is he coming?” “Well, it’s a streaming service. We could use someone who knows tech stuff.”

It doesn’t take long for the meeting to go off the rails. Michelle Krauss is a dazzling, sophisticated woman who knows the market and is excited about The Train and the company’s foray into Nordic content. Friedrich wastes no time berating her, speaking down to her, and calling her an idiot who doesn’t understand the book’s true meaning and metaphors.

The entire scene becomes even more off-kilter as Max does everything he can to try and position himself as in power, including scolding Friedrich for the way he speaks to Michelle and ordering pricey menu items. Sofie can hardly suppress her smile while Freirdrich and Michelle dispute the film. Michelle gets the last word, “If you’re so critical of the new ending, why did you sign off on the final version?”

Back at the office, Max calls Sofie into his new office for a very important employee questionnaire. She didn’t hand it in, so now he’ll need to ask her the questions in-person. They include basic introductory queries like her favorite color, candy and the last song she listened to. Her answers: Red, Swedish Fish and Carla del Forno.

Max asks her to empty her purse so he can “verify” her answers. He puts in her headphones and requests she plays the last song on Spotify. It’s a Cyndi Lauper song. Sofie lied. It’s a serious thing to lie on an employee questionnaire. I almost anticipated Max whispering, “you’ll need to punished,” 50 Shades-style, that’s how intense the sexual tension is between them.

Before their flirtation can progress into something physical, a flustered Sofie excuses herself. Feeling guilty for her obvious attraction to Max, Sofie overcompensates at home by donning sexy black lingerie and initiating a passionate round of sex with Johan.

Lying in bed that night, she gets a text from Max. “Dress like Cyndi Lauper tomorrow.” Sofie does just that, taking her time pulling together a cute outfit consisting of colorful tights, boots, dangling earrings and an appropriate hairstyle.

Too bad Max doesn’t come to work that day. Sofie doesn’t get a chance to consider this, though, because she gets called to deal with her father, who is busy protesting capitalism with an “End Ignorance” sign. “Aren’t you cold? I bet your butt is freezing.” “It’s a lot warmer than capitalism, that’s for damn sure.” She takes him home for a cup of coffee. We get a peek at Sofie’s childhood home, adorned with posters and images of the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” singer.

Max does show up at the premiere. He and Sofie share a sweet moment from across the room as he smiles at her from the stairway, and she beams back brightly. Also in attendance at the premiere is Ronny, who invites Sofie to attend a meeting with the company’s new buyers the following day.

As for The Train screening, Freidrich cannot muster the courage to tell Gertrud about the big changes to her story. He has an anxiety attack in the middle of the movie. Sofie and Gertrud escort him to the hospital. There, the author tells Sofie she had a feeling the movie sucked based on Freirdrich’s reaction. She’s not that bothered by it because she got a great payout. “StreamUs, they take care of their creators.”

Let’s hope the company’s kindness extends to their publishing houses, too, because Sofie soon discovers the “clients” purchasing Lund & Lagerstedt are none other than… StreamUs!

Love & Anarchy Episode 3: Love & Other Thoughts

This episode is my favorite of the season so far. Not only did it give us two new challenges between Max and Sofie, but they shared several sexy, charming moments. I know I shouldn’t be rooting for Sofie to cheat on her husband, but it’s escapist television. Let me live! I loved the Cyndi Lauper challenge and that steamy “meeting” in the CEO’s office.

The only thing that isn’t super appealing to me right now is the subplot regarding Sofie’s dad. It’s not adding much to her character or the show thus far. All we know is her father is sick and has very strong values related to the government and society. Still, his characterization is somewhat shallow (we’ve seen the rebellious, strong-willed, but supposedly mentally ill father bit many times before) and doesn’t affect the overall plot.

• Love & Anarchy Episode 3 Grade: B+

What did you think about Love & Anarchy Episode 3? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below.

All eight episodes of Love & Anarchy Season 1 are now available on streaming.