01x02 - Surprise Me

[bunniefuu]

-[traffic rushing]
-[car horn beeps]

Good morning.

Hey!

-Out for a morning jog?
-Yes. [pants]

It's important to stay fit
in order to keep up.

Mm.

How about you?

-As far as I can tell, you're doing great.
-Definitely. I sure am.

All right.

-Good morning.
-Good morning.

[receptionist]
Lund and Lagerstedt, Caroline speaking.

[muffled clattering]

[muffled voices]

[printer clattering]

[phone ringing]

[Ronny chuckles] Oh!

Hang on.

[Ronny chuckles]

-They're quite tricky, these ones.
-[Sofie] I see.

-This is how it's done.
-Oh, I get it.

Like this. There you go.

-You'll figure it out in no time.
-[Sofie] Right.

Take care. I'll close the door.

-Mm.
-["Dolores" by Vargas & Lagola plays]

LOVE AND ANARCHY

-[Denise] Wasn't there a draft to read?
-[man] I never got one.

I asked her several times,
but she kept saying…

Did somebody die?

No, we're just discussing
one of our fall releases.

The manuscript
didn't meet our expectations.

-We can't publish this.
-[Friedrich] I'm aware of that.

-But it's two million down the drain.
-[Sofie] I beg your pardon.

You paid two million in advance?

To who?

Lena Endre.

She had a really compelling premise,
"Ingmar Bergman: The Untold Story."

-The plan was for an anniversary release.
-But it got delayed.

For Christ's sake, that's not the problem.

The problem is that it's 300 pages
of blind admiration for the male genius.

-[gags]
-[Friedrich] I'll handle it from now on.

But my professional assessment
isn't based on ideological standpoints.

-The text is simply not up to par.
-[Denise] It's the same damn thing.

-No, it really isn't.
-[Denise] Yes, it really is.

-It's exactly--
-Hey, hey, hey!

[Friedrich] When you read a book
by an actor, you should get sellable smut.

[drilling]

But… [chuckles]

What's going on?

Are they tearing the place down?

Don't ask me, I'm innocent.

-Is it coming from outside?
-Apparently.

[drilling continues]

[knocking]

Come in.

Hey, sorry to disturb you. There was
an envelope for you at reception.

-Thank you.
-Thanks.

[inhales and exhales shakily]

YELL AT SOMEONE
OTHER THAN ME

Are you leaving already?

Yes, I'm going to the dentist.

Oh, okay. So, like…

You've been given permission
to go to the dentist?

Yeah, well, I asked you this morning.

Yes, right.

-Sorry, I forgot.
-Okay.

Off you go, then.

-Denise!
-Yes?

Uh, where's… where's Tom?

Tom's in a meeting, I think.

[drilling]

[clears throat]
I was thinking about those advances.

I just spoke to Lena's agent.
Lena's coming in tomorrow.

-Oh?
-We're obligated to publish her book.

But, perhaps we can suggest a rewrite.

You're welcome to attend the meeting.

Yes, that's great.

-Ten o'clock. Can you make it?
-Yes, absolutely.

Uh…

But I still think we need to go over…

this thing about the advances.

And protocol. What about protocol?

Do you even have a protocol
for how you handle these things?

Sure, okay.

-[drilling continues]
-Friedrich.

Hello.

Uh…

Just a second.

Sorry, you we're saying?

No, that was it.

[drilling continues]

Enough, already.
I can't take it any longer.

[sighs]

No wonder your teacher thinks it's odd.

-The task was to write about your family.
-Grandpa is part of the family.

Yes, but "The Khmer Rouge
and Other Alternative Societies."

What kind of a title is that?

-Are you being ironic?
-No, I'm not.

-It's not an homage to the Khmer Rouge.
-It's not?

It's a comparison
of different types of society.

-[in English] Yeah, why not Pol Pot?
-You haven't even read it.

Sofie, hello?

-Huh?
-Would you mind backing me up?

Yes, of course. What…

Don't listen to Grandpa
about stuff from the past.

It's very upsetting for him.

[gentle music playing]

[woman moaning on laptop]

[sighs]

[sighs]

AWESOME DAY

SCOLD SOMEONE!
YOU HAVE 30 MINUTES

[drilling]

[phone ringing]

Lund and Lagerstedt, Caroline speaking.

-You're on the phone?
-Mm.

Hello.

Tom!

[sighs] Motherfu--

Please, don't fire me.

I may not be the best at what I do,
but I really want to keep working here.

I don't want to lose my job.
Please, let me stay.

Uh…

[sniffs and sobs]

Listen, hey.

-[quiet sobbing]
-No, just calm down. Don't get upset.

Hey, what's…

No, I promise I won't fire you.

Hey.

-[drilling]
-[groans]

What strategy do you normally use?

Our strategy is to make Lena understand

that we have to at least make some money
on this rubbish, so it needs more filth.

She's here.

Hello.

We haven't met before.

-Max.
-Hi. Lena.

Hi!

-[Tom] Welcome.
-[Lena] Thanks. It's one of those days.

-This way.
-Oh, okay.

-Hello.
-Hello.

-Welcome.
-This is Denise, Sales and Communication.

-Lena.
-And Sofie. She's…

-What is it you do?
-Business development.

-I thought your agent was joining us.
-[Lena] Yes.

He's tending to his kid who got sick.
He'll sort out the details with you later.

So… [chuckles]

-We've all read your manuscript.
-[exhales, chuckles] Okay.

-You've done a tremendous job.
-Thanks.

-Truly. It's difficult to write a book.
-Yes, it is.

-But you did it.
-Thanks.

You've certainly written a book.

Uh… Though…

occasionally…

certain portions are somewhat lacking
when it comes to the text.

Oh dear. [laughs] Okay.

[Friedrich] Uh…

For the time being,
the text is simply a bit… generic.

"Generic"?

We were anticipating
your personal relationship.

The untold story of Lena and Ingmar.
I'd like to know more about that.

[laughs] Hang on a minute.

Hang on.

Don't tell me you think we were intimate.

Also, we need to discuss your advance.

Since you missed the deadline,
you'll have to pay a big chunk of it back.

It's unacceptable--

-Oh my Lord!
-Lena. You're leaving?

Lena, wait!

-Wait!
-Screw this.

-Lena, hold on now!
-[Lena] You're f*cking kidding me.

We were colleagues.

-The best of colleagues.
-[Friedrich] Wait a minute!

[drilling]

I'm off to a meeting. Back after lunch.

[drilling]

[tires screeching]

-What the hell?
-Oops.

"Oops?"

-Do you know how many days this took me?
-[cyclist] Surely you have a backup?

No, I don't have a f*cking backup.

-You should get one.
-Okay, you know what?

You can take your "backup"
and shove it up your little bicycle ass!

You're crazy.

[yells]

-What?
-That bike you're sitting on.

It was made by children in Bangladesh.

So don't think so highly of yourself
when you're biking and cycling.

And what the hell are you staring at?
Keep drilling, damn it!

[playful music playing]

[drilling continues]

I'm fond of this lipstick.

I would really like to get it back.

I have to go and get lunch.

[playful music continues]

Thank you.

Absolutely, excellent.

-Oh, did someone send you flowers?
-No. They're from Lena Endre.

So it all worked out with Lena's agent?

[sighs] No.

The agent was on his way here,
but as he was about to go inside,

he was att*cked by this crazy woman.

-Right on our doorstep.
-Oh dear.

He was too afraid to go inside.
He called me, extremely upset.

Apparently, his kid hit his head
on his iPad during the incident.

-His kid was sitting in a bike trailer.
-Right.

I could hardly get through to him.

-But the flowers?
-I had to call and talk to Lena in person.

We ended up having to agree to…

publish her book

unedited, this fall.

No, no, not one word. Not one word.

-I can't take any more.
-No.

No.

[smacks lips]

-Hello.
-Hello.

[drilling]

["Explosions" by Coco Morier plays]

♪ In a bed amongst the storms ♪

♪ When the tide will crush your bones ♪

-Hey.
-Hey.

-Another bike accident?
-I'm missing out on deliveries.

Give me a hand, will you?

-[Max] You need a new bike.
-No way, I can't afford it.

[lighter clicking]

[grunts and laughs]

♪ I just wanna have you ♪

♪ Tell me that you want to ♪

♪ With your spark that turns to gold ♪

♪ And your eyes… ♪

Damn it, Alex!

I've told you five thousand times
not to pick them before they're ripe.

What's up, homies?
Guys, I'm taking customer service calls.

What are you wearing? Put something on.

And chuck your plants. Get a new hobby.

Just be quiet. I'm bringing home
the bacon over here, okay?

f*cking donkeys.

[phone ringing]

Thank you for calling TeleBrothers.
How may I help you today?

-Hey.
-Hey.

You look great.

So do you.

[camera clicks]

Hashtag

"my trophy wife."

Oh, no.

How's the party?

[lively music playing]

-Hey.
-Hello.

-Party's on. Nice.
-It's on, it's on.

-Hey.
-Hey, buddy.

Long time.

-No hard feelings, right?
-Sure, it's fine.

The timing sucks.
I was down for both projects.

I get it. Don't worry about it.

It's not like I have a choice,
my new agent

is pushing me
to only work with international directors.

Albin, for instance,
he's filming a TV show in LA.

You'll find another DP.

-They're lining up to work with you.
-Look, just drop it.

-It's fine, drop it.
-That's Albin over there.

-Albin!
-Don't bother.

Come on now.

-Albin!
-Jocke.

-How's it going?
-What's up?

Have you met Johan Rydman?

-Great to meet you.
-Hi. Johan.

I used to watch all your stuff
back in junior high.

-No sh*t? Nice.
-What are you up to now?

Well, I've been heading
in a slightly different direction lately.

-More low-key, sort of.
-I've been thinking along the same lines.

-Pardon?
-Cutting back on the hoopla, you know.

Trying to keep it real.

I'm much more of a minimalist now,
nothing unessential.

More along the lines
of Ruben Östlund's earlier stuff.

I've always been a sucker for style.

Okay. More social criticism?

Yes, you could say that.

I didn't have a clue
that you were doing feature films now.

You've definitely taken your artistry
to the next level.

Oh no, I don't do feature films.
I still do commercials.

Wow.

It's really hot in here. Beer, anyone?

Over there.

-Uh… Good luck, you two.
-Yeah.

-See you around.
-Good luck.

-Bye.
-Bye.

Hi.

-Isn't it really hot in here?
-Yeah, it's kind of hot.

[lively music playing on stereo]

-[clattering]
-[groans]

Ooh, that hurts!

sh*t.

-What happened?
-I think I pulled something. Right here.

Is it your shoulder?

Yeah, a bit further down.

I'm putting pressure on. Hold steady.

-Further down.
-Right there?

Even further.

Perhaps a massage would do the trick.

[heavy breathing]

[gasps]

[electronic music playing]

How's the cultural world treating you?

-[Johan] Tell us.
-[Elin] Making any progress?

Oh my God, it's such a mess.

You might as well publish your novel
while you're there.

-Huh?
-[Nille] What?

[Johan] Right?

It was so cute.

When we met,

you dreamed of being a writer, right?

-[Nille] For real?
-That was a thousand years ago.

So what?

You kept writing and writing,
but I never got to read anything.

-[Elin] You've written a novel?
-[Johan] Yes! Tell them.

What's it about?

Well, it's about this girl

who sort of…

rebels.

-Against what?
-I don't know, I never finished it.

It didn't amount to anything but a long…

poem or sentiment or something.

God, I don't remember.

It was ages ago. I was, like, 19 or 20.

[Johan]
Before I made you go to business school.

What was the name again? It had a title.

-Come on.
-No, I can't remember.

Love and Anarchy.

[both laugh]

-[Nille] Love and Anarchy.
-[Johan, in English] Fantastic, I love it!

[Elin] Indeed! That's beautiful.
"Anarchy" is one of my favorite words.

[gentle music playing]

YOU ARE FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK

CREATE SOME ANARCHY
AT THE MEETING TOMORROW.

[chuckles]

[sniffs]

In closing, I'd like to say
that I'm going to move forward

with concrete action plans
on how to achieve our goal

of establishing Lund and Lagerstedt as
a publishing house with a bright future.

I have identified four areas to focus on

to enhance our competitiveness.

These are Format Development,

Digital Strategies, Business Development,

and last but not least, Content.

You do have very powerful content,

but you really have to work
on content analysis.

Any questions?

No?

Then let's break for coffee.

Isn't this exciting, everyone?

It's like being back in school.

It's all about having
a curious mind for the cutting-edge.

[elevator dings]

I grew up a working class kid in Västerås,
and that mindset took me all the way here.

[Ronny chuckles]

Also, having a strong team spirit
in the workplace is so important.

If we get everybody on board,
the sky's the limit.

Uh…

[chattering]

-Is this where we're having coffee?
-Pardon?

It says right here
that you're inviting us for coffee.

What's this?

It says, "Lund and Lagerstedt invites you
to a cultural cup of coffee."

-Oh. [laughs]
-Anyway, we really appreciate the gesture.

Right, boys?

["Explosions" by Coco Morier playing]

[indistinct chatter]

♪ In a bed amongst the storms ♪

♪ And the tide will crush your bones ♪

♪ In the dirty water ♪

♪ We are slipping under ♪

♪ When the madness rings our ears ♪

♪ Will you drink away my tears? ♪

♪ I just wanna have you ♪

♪ Tell me that you want to ♪

♪ With your spark that turns to gold ♪

♪ And your eyes that bare your soul ♪

♪ Does it really matter? ♪

♪ Tell me what you're after ♪

♪ Lights out baby now ♪