Eli–Håkan Bengtsson relationship

Eli–Håkan Bengtsson relationship centers on a bond in which Håkan supplies blood and helps conceal Eli, while his devotion carries a disturbing possessiveness. The relationship is largely reconstructed through its aftermath: Håkan’s search for a victim, the evidence left in his apartment, and Eli’s efforts to continue living after he is gone. Together, these fragments show how care can sustain Eli while also placing others in danger, and how the space Håkan occupied is eventually approached through a different relationship with Oskar Eriksson.

Dependence and Devotion

Håkan’s practical role is to secure what Eli needs and keep Eli’s existence hidden. The relationship is therefore not simply a matter of affection: it depends on the movement of blood and on secrecy. Håkan’s service gives Eli the means to endure, but it also makes Håkan’s choices consequential for people beyond their private arrangement. His devotion is presented through what he is willing to do, not as a neutral or selfless form of care.

One passage places that devotion beside a private fixation on the person he calls his beloved. Håkan imagines a night spent beside that beloved and turns from the fantasy to a concrete plan: he will go to Vällingby Pool and find a victim there. The passage links the intimacy he longs for with the violence he is prepared to commit in order to sustain it. His care for Eli cannot be separated from this willingness to treat another person as a means to an end; the protective role and the danger grow out of the same consuming attachment.

The Secret Exposed

Håkan’s absence becomes newly dangerous when Oskar sees a newspaper display at the subway kiosk. Expressen has devoted several pages to the search in Judarn Forest, identifies the man as Håkan Bengtsson, and reports that his whereabouts have been unknown for eight months, including a reference to Karlstad. Oskar understands that someone may recognize Håkan and know where he lived. The public search turns a concealed domestic arrangement into something that may lead the police directly to Eli.

The danger is not abstract to Oskar. He worries that the police could break into the apartment and find the bathroom, and he has no plan beyond warning Eli. His alarm reveals how much of Håkan’s former role remains materially present even when Håkan himself is absent: the hidden residence, the concealed evidence, and the risk that discovery will reach Eli. In this respect, secrecy had protected their life together, but it has also left Eli exposed to the consequences of Håkan’s disappearance.

What the Apartment Reveals

The same newspaper image gives Lacke a different path into the secret. He recognizes Håkan as the man who bought him whisky at the Chinese restaurant, then connects him to Jocke’s killing and to the nearby building complex where they had both lived. The recognition collapses the distance between a reported stranger and a familiar neighbor. Håkan had been close enough to greet Lacke, yet his connection to the violence remained hidden from him.

When Lacke enters Håkan’s apartment, it is empty of furniture and personal furnishings. Bottles of T-Ro remain in the hall; blankets hang over windows in several rooms. At the end of the apartment, Lacke forces the locked bathroom door and finds a tub partly filled with blood and large plastic containers marked by blood. These objects make the concealed work of Håkan’s relationship with Eli visible without explaining every detail of it. The domestic space that had facilitated secrecy now supplies evidence of the means by which Håkan served Eli, and of the danger attached to that service.

Other Exchanges and a Changed Bond

Eli’s exchange with Tommy offers a contrast to Håkan’s hidden provision. Eli takes three thousand kronor from a case and lays the notes down as payment; Tommy questions what the money is for. In the context of Eli’s need for blood, the transaction shows a practical way of obtaining it through an explicit exchange. It does not establish that dependence has disappeared, but it makes the transfer of resources visible and negotiated, rather than concealed within Håkan’s private undertaking.

Oskar’s connection with Eli develops through smaller acts of exchange and trust. Earlier, Oskar holds out the Cube and invites Eli to try it; she accepts it and examines it. Later, after Oskar has moved boxes from Eli’s balcony to his own, the two lie together and discuss what happened in the subway. Eli apologizes for having started the danger between them. She then asks whether Oskar would want to become like her. Oskar answers that he wants to be with her, but does not want that transformation. Their exchange distinguishes companionship from complete identification: Oskar can choose closeness without agreeing to become what Eli is.

Significance

The relationship with Håkan is thus both sustaining and perilous. His devotion provides Eli with blood and concealment, yet his fixation leads toward the victim-seeking plan at Vällingby Pool and leaves a trail that can expose Eli after Håkan disappears. The evidence does not reduce their bond to either tenderness or exploitation; it shows how care, need, secrecy, and danger become entangled in the same arrangement.

In the later scenes, Eli’s dealings with Tommy and Oskar do not erase Håkan’s importance. They show that Eli’s needs continue after his absence, while the forms of response around Eli differ: payment for blood on one side, and a conversation about chosen companionship on the other. Håkan’s relationship with Eli is therefore also measured by what remains when he is no longer there: a concealed apartment, evidence of the blood supply, public exposure, and the risks that Oskar tries to forestall by warning Eli.