Aahana Swrup
Netflix’s Swedish show ‘Tore’ explores its titular character’s self-discovery journey as he tries to drown himself in love, sex, and drugs to escape from the grief of a monumental loss. 27-year-old Tore, who lives with his father, Bosse, likes a certain routine and familiarity in life. As such, Tore’s life fully upends when Bosse dies in an unexpected accident on the heels of encouraging Tore to open himself to new experiences. Consequently, Tore tries to fill a gaping void in his life and burns many bridges along the way.
In Tore’s pursuit of comfort and happiness, he crosses paths with Erik, a new employee at the local flower shop that makes deliveries to the funeral house where the former works. Tore, who has his reservations about romance and sex, ends up becoming smitten by the man and tries to pursue him to the best of his abilities. If the pair has caught your attention and you’re wondering about their possible future together, here’s what you need to know. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Tore And Erik’s Tumultuous Relationship
Erik arrives in Tore’s life on the heels of Bosse’s mortal departure. The latter man has already been having a difficult time dealing with his father’s death, alternating aggressively between escapism and anger to deal with his grief. Therefore, Erik’s sudden presence, in doses as it comes, offers a softer prospect to Tore. Yet, as a man nearing his thirties with little social life outside his best friend, Linn, and absolutely no experience with a love/sex life, Tore can’t figure out how to approach the other man.
Furthermore, at the time, with the wound of Bosse’s death still so fresh, Tore seeks to surrender himself to more self-destructive emotions and experiences. As a result, despite having a crush on Erik, Tore gets involved with another man, Viggo, whom he meets during a drunken night at the local gay bar. Their initial interaction ends less than pleasantly, with Viggo almost forcing himself on Tore, who is unsure about hooking up with a stranger against a building wall.
Nonetheless, while Tore manages to escape from the situation after pushing Viggo away and bolting, he ends up crossing paths with him again over a dating app. At the time, Tore is looking for something stronger than alcohol to numb his consciousness further. As luck would have it, Viggo has many drugs, including LSD, to help Tore out with the same. As such, the two end up hanging out frequently, getting high and making out.
Eventually, their relationship, undefined as it remained, comes to a crashing end when Viggo tries to have a sincere conversation with Tore about their initial almost-hook-up, apologizing profusely for it and confessing his feelings for the other man. However, Viggo thinks Tore might be only seeking him out to hurt himself more. In response, Tore admits his feelings for someone else— Erik— and remains frustrated that he can’t use Viggo to deal with his pain. Thus, the two part ways, both unsatisfied in their own ways.
Nevertheless, in the meantime, Tore has also been getting relatively closer to Erik through small conversations. Therefore, shortly after his crash-and-burn ending with Viggo, Tore finds himself spending more time with Erik, who agrees to give the other man driving lessons. Consequently, Erik remains the one beacon of joy in Tore’s life when everything else becomes a trainwreck, including his friendship with Linn and her kids, his job, and family life with Bosse’s ever-present reminder in his dog, MJ, whom Tore tries to rehouse. Even though Erik has his own complications in life, namely his recent relationship, he finds a moment of respite within Tore as well and invites him over for dinner.
Tore and Erik end up having a good time at dinner, coyly flirting with each other until they end up kissing. The interaction is obviously emotional for Tore, who tries to rush into sex with Erik in his kitchen. However, Erik helps him slow down and moves them to the bedroom, where they find comfort and pleasure with each other in a tender moment. The night would have been a memorable one for Tore, in a good way, if it wasn’t for the interruption that arrived at Erik’s front door in the middle of their time together.
After Erik leaves to check on the visitor, Tore overhears his conversation with another man, his ex, as the latter confesses that he made a mistake and is ready to have kids with Erik. Thus, Tore discovers that all this time, Erik has been on a break from his previous relationship. Emotions run high for Tore, given his first sexual interaction with someone else has just turned into a disaster. Realizing he couldn’t have a future with Erik, Tore flees from his apartment, heartbreak piling on top of his aching hurt.
Where Tore had tried to find a solution in Erik, the other man only managed to add to his problems. Even though Tore tries to give his feelings for Erik a second chance, Erik can’t give him anything more than a saddened look and an apology, cementing his decision to choose his ex over Tore. Although the decision is sound, given Erik only knew Tore for a few days, it doesn’t help soften the blow for the other man. Likewise, perhaps their relationship could’ve never worked out in the first place since Tore put Erik on a pedestal, romanticizing the idea of him.
In the end, Tore does not find a happy ending with Erik and likely stops keeping in touch with him. Instead, Tore finds a way to start his journey toward healing from his mounting pain with the help of his friend Shady Meat, a drag queen, who makes him realize he needs to be with his family. As such, for the time being, Tore’s story ends with a moment of chaotic joy with Linn as he steals MJ back from a family, remedying his previous rash mistakes.
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