If you haven’t seen the third season of YOU, you need to stop reading now.
Unless you have a thing for spoilers, or couldn’t care less about Joe’s shenanigans.
Last Friday, (October 15th) Netflix released the third season of their hit show YOU, and it was better than the last two seasons (in my opinion).
Netflix bought the series from Lifetime after its first season saw moderate success. The network would have axed the show if Netflix hadn’t swooped in like the knight in shiny armor to save it.
The first two seasons of YOU were loosely based on the books by Caroline Kepnes (You and Hidden Bodies).
I tried reading the first book but quickly gave up after a while. I couldn’t stand being in Joe’s head as he justified all the creepy stuff he did. So, I stuck with the TV shows which were much better in the creepiness factor. Plus it also gave us the POV of other characters.
Click here for a brief recap of the first two seasons.
When it comes to murdering people, Joe and Love have completely different ideologies.
Season three starts off where the second season left off – with Joe and Love living in a suburban nightmare called Madre Linda. So we get brand new faces and characters to pretend to care about (or not).
We have Matthew and Natalie Engler (their next-door neighbors), Theo, (Matthew’s stepson), Marienne (Joe’s boss at the local library), Sherry (local mom influencer/HBIC of Madre Linda), Cary (her husband), and a host of several minor characters.
Having welcomed a baby boy (much to Joe’s disappointment), the couple battle new challenges in the form of raising a child and interacting with their new neighbors. They have a rocky start, and you almost feel bad for them as new parents, but then you remember just who they are and instead feel bad for poor baby Henry. He never stood a chance with those two as his parents.
Right off the bat, we’re introduced to Joe’s latest obsession – Natalie, and we all know how it’s going to end. Thanks to Love’s murderous tendencies, Joe is forced to be careful with his extracurricular activities.
But Love finds out anyway because Joe, as the creep he is, always keeps a box of trophies. She puts an ax to their premature relationship (pun intended) and Joe is left to cover up her mess. And he keeps doing it for the rest of the season.
Love took the phrase “Till death do us part” to a murderous new level.
Love will do anything to make their marriage work – even go to couple’s therapy with Joe. Their therapist tries on her part to help them – even though she doesn’t know their full story.
Love and Joe’s therapy sessions were hilarious, to say the least.
You’d think after Natalie, Joe would have the sense to stick with Love, but he doesn’t. In later episodes, he gets a new obsession and love interest – Marienne. However, he tries harder to cover his tracks with her by living a double life.
Love doesn’t catch on until much later because she’s distracted with covering up her mess, Matthew’s suspicions, baby Henry, her mummy issues, and Theo. I disliked Theo a lot, and that’s all I’m going to say on the matter. He was dumb, to say the least.
Each season of YOU provides breakout characters we love to hate (or simply love in some cases). In season one we had Peach Salinger. S2 was Delilah and Ellie. And S3 we have Sherry and Cary Conrad.
When we first meet them, it’s hate at first sight. Sherry is the definition of suburban mom-influencer from hell while Cary seems like the dumb hyper-masculine husband. Their marriage looks like a sham, but oddly enough it isn’t. In later episodes, we see how well they complement each other. Sherry and Cary provide a weird balance between mockery, sincerity, and sadness.
Like most Hollywood couples, they appear shiny and united to the public but are deeply flawed on the inside.
Joe and Love inadvertently helped the couple to face their issues and become better versions of themselves. Not only were they the first people to leave the glass prison box alive, but they also emerged stronger from the experience. And that, my friends, is growth. I think.
Speaking of growth, it’s interesting to see how far Joe has come since season one. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a stalker and psychopath who’s a risk to every female within his vicinity, but he tries to convince us that he wants to be better. He also attempts to be a better parent to his son (considering what he and Love had growing up).
Do I think Joe would ever change? Highly doubtful.
Would I be happy when someone finally kills him? Definitely!
But when that happens, the show would probably end. And I don’t know if we’re ready for that yet. Maybe after two more seasons. Joe has to run out of luck eventually.
In season one Joe is clumsy with covering his tracks. It’s hilarious just how many times he’s almost caught committing a crime. In S2, he has more experience with hiding his murderous ways. In S3, Joe is just tired of covering up Love’s mess. You can almost relate to him.
Each season, YOU ups the ante by increasing its creepy factor and delivering a satisfying and bloody good time (pun intended).
The show’s casting was brilliant. I don’t know if any other actor would have pulled off creepy Joe as well as Penn Badgley (Gossip Girl Alum). He took Dan Humphrey from Gossip Girl and made him way creepier. It’s safe to say I was never a fan of Dan from Gossip Girl.
Victoria Pedretti plays Joe’s wife – Love Quinn (The Haunting of Hill House and Bly Manor Alum). Victoria’s no stranger to the thriller/horror genre as she plays Joe’s Sociopathic wife down to the T. Love Quinn makes Joe Goldberg look like the good/rational guy trying to make his marriage work – and that’s saying something.
With Love, we get to explore the passionate and irrational aspect of the aggression spectrum, while Joe provides the quiet and eerily charismatic stalker part. Joe and Love would have made the perfect psychopathic pair – if only they didn’t bring out the worst in each other.
Love was a foil to Joe. A mirror to show all his flaws and issues. His love interest, but also a nemesis. Their dynamic this season was impeccable.
I’ve often wondered why people love watching movies about serial killers and psychopaths. Maybe it’s because they’re fascinating, or that they offer a unique insight into how the mind works.
As humans, we’re often drawn to the tension between good and evil.
TV Shows like YOU embody said fascination with that dynamic. While some might say it’s the suspense and element of the unknown that draws them to thrillers and horror movies, some experts believe it’s more than that.
I believe most humans have a morbid sense of curiosity that draws them to issues involving sociopaths and serial killers. Deep down, we want to understand the reasons and motives behind their decisions. Either that or humans just love violence.
I’ll give YOU season three 4/5 stars for its slightly satisfying finale episode and overall enjoyable season.
