I can’t talk enough about how important and well-executed the locker room fight in episode 4 was, and how necessary it was to flip the dynamic between Wille and Simon in this way.
Up until this point in the season, it had only been Wille reaching out to Simon and continuously getting rebuffed. Wille has been the impulsive one - an emotional open wound - saying some very not fair things to Simon because he’s incapable of processing his hurt and coming to terms with his loss. He doesn’t reflect on his behaviour or actions and he doesn’t listen to Simon’s request for space. This begins to change in episode 3 - it starts with Wille acknowledging that him losing Simon was his fault, the first instance of him reflecting on his behaviour and taking responsibility. His mistakes aren’t over yet, though - as it finally hits him that he has perhaps lost Simon for good, and desperate to feel something, he kisses Felice, which was very selfish and out of line. At this point in the story, if this behaviour continued, it would be very easy for the audience to pull away from Wille completely and stop rooting for him. But the writing rightfully uses this situation to have Wille actually finally fully reflect on his actions - acknowledging the reason why he kissed Felice and how selfish and wrong it was for him to do that - and use this as the moment he decides to finally listen to Simon and let him go. Most importantly, he’s not only doing this for Simon - he’s doing it for himself too. He doesn’t want to keep hoping when he feels there is none. Wille still has his moments of impulsivity as the season goes on (that ending) - he can’t change completely overnight - but it does mark the start of him reflecting better on the decisions that he makes and how those decisions affect other people.
Moving onto Simon, up until episode 4, Simon had very much been in avoid, avoid, avoid mode. He’s incredibly hurt by Wille’s actions and the leak of the video and he deals with that by trying to forget. He keeps his distance yet he can’t help but still be concerned for Wille (him going to the principal to try to get her to let Wille stay, him being upset at how sad Wille is over him hanging out with Marcus). Simon tries to be thoughtful while still trying his best to stay away and move on. Until episode 3, it feels like Simon could genuinely like Marcus, but when he realizes it’s not working, he does do the right thing and tries to break things off only to be gaslit by Marcus into continuing to see him, which Simon very, very passively agrees to. Simon has never used Marcus to make Wille jealous at this point; when Marcus kissed him after the rowing match, Simon was very uncomfortable with it. In fact, I think that was Marcus’ nasty ass trying to lay some kind of claim on Simon in front of Wille.
My point is, if Wille continued to be an emotional basket case and Simon continued to be thoughtful, if a bit misguided, the audience would potentially begin to support the relationship less, and that’s why their role reversal in episode 4 is so damn important, to show that Simon is not perfect and Wille is not toxic, nor is he bad for Simon. In fact, episode 3-4 works to show that it’s actually Marcus who is bad for Simon, not Wille. That’s why when Simon is listing all the reasons why Marcus is the better option for him, he ends up listing reasons that are all perfectly applicable to Wille (liking his singing, accepting him for who he is), and Simon is forced to acknowledge that the real problem isn’t Wille being a bad partner to him, but rather Simon not accepting Wille’s role as a prince. It’s a rude awakening for Simon to realize that he has had just as much of a role in keeping them apart as Wille has.
Another important role reversal in this scene is Simon instigating a confrontation with Wille. Up until this point, it had been Wille instigating their interactions. This scene mirrors episode 2, another scene where Wille and Simon are alone. Simon is minding his own business, when Wille instigates a conflict between them - “I don’t understand how you can just not care.” In episode 4, the opposite happens - Simon walks into the locker room and Wille doesn’t engage with him. He just continues getting dressed, then Simon instigates a conflict with him - “Would’ve been nice to have a heads up about Felice… really nice to hear about that at lunch.” It’s petty and hypocritical and Wille rightfully calls him out on that. In episode 2, Simon walks away from the conversation. In episode 4, Wille walks away.
In episode 2, Wille is the one chasing after Simon, who is trying to let go.
In episode 4, Simon is the one chasing after Wille, who is trying to let go.
These interactions serve as a way to ground and equalize their relationship. The fact is they’re both traumatized teens dealing with their broken hearts in the only ways they know how - they’re in love with each other but are too wrapped up in their own torment to see each other’s point of view. It’s through these role reversals that we see their feelings for each other are equal and that they are both capable of being messy and petty. And most importantly, we know that no matter how messy they get, their hearts are pure and they’re trying to learn and grow, and that’s why we continue rooting for them until the end.
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