Karin does not belong to the nobility but nevertheless marries the mentally ill king Erik XIV and becomes queen of Sweden. The king's skilled counsellor Göran Persson wants a royal policy supporting the people and supported by it. But in relation to the nobility the king oscillates between provocative strength and unpredictable weakness. Göran arranges that some very powerful noblemen are killed. Subsequently the king tries to have them convicted of high treason by the parliament. He forgets the manuscript, mixes up all facts, and the noblemen are acquitted. But Göran speedily gathers another parliament and has them convicted. Meanwhile Erik apologises because of the unjust murders. Hence Erik is dethroned and imprisoned. Göran is executed. Karin is restricted to a castle in Finland. In the prison Erik believes that he is still the king and gives the guards presents such as all fishes in the Baltic Sea.
Monika from Stockholm falls in love with Harry, a young man on holiday. When she becomes pregnant they are forced into a marriage, which begins to fall apart soon after they take up residence in a cramped little flat.
Sailor Johannes Blom returns to his home port, after seven years at sea, to find that Sally, the girl he has been thinking of while away, is completely despondent. Seven years earlier, obstreperous Alexander Blom, brings his mistress Sally to live with him, his wife Alice, son Johannes, and crew, aboard the salvage boat he captains. Amidst all the tensions on the small boat, Johannes and Sally fall in love with each other.
Young woman Marta dreams of a better future and leaves her parent's cabbage patch and move to Stockholm. Waiting tables doesn't pay nearly enough and she soon finds herself working the streets. Her teenage sweetheart Adrian also moves to Stockholm to search for her. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.
The famous author Mark Storm's publisher is unhappy with his books and asks him to write books in a more popular genre, crime for example. When Mark Storm comes to his apartment, he finds a burglar, Kurre. He notices that they have a physical similarity and they change identity, which makes it possible for Storm to make empirical studies in the world of crime.
Wholesaler Berggren's daughter Elin travels to Örebro to spend her honeymoon with her husband Efraim. They get separate rooms on the hotel and later that night she finds another woman in her husband's bed. She goes back home immediately. Elin's sister Irma is courted by the handsome Klas, but he seems to be unable to forget his last fiancée. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.
The wholesaler Blomberg is a regular customer of "Parfumerie Marie Danielsson". He often buys perfume for his many girlfriends. Blomberg's driver Bengt Lundgren is in love with the shop assistant Eva Bergström. Bengt deceives his boss by telling him that his car has broken, then he can go out with Eva.