Netflix's YOU has garnered much acclaim and popularity for various reasons - but arguably its greatest trick is that it tricks the audience into rooting for Joe Goldberg, a character who shouldn't be likeable at all. Developed by Sera Gamble (The Magicians) and Greg Berlanti (Arrowverse), the series initially debuted on Lifetime. YOU only truly found its place within the zeitgeist, however, when it enjoyed a second release via Netflix. Released in its entirety in December 2018, YOU ultimately garnered over 40 million viewers and dominated social media over the Christmas period. Though Lifetime had already commissioned a sophomore season, YOU eventually moved exclusively to the streaming service and became an official Netflix Original. YOU season 2 was released in December 2019.
YOU centers on the exploits of Joe Goldberg. Outwardly a good-looking, charming, well-read bookstore manager who compassionately looks out for children, Joe seemed like the type of man who belonged on lists of eligible bachelors. Unfortunately, Joe was quickly revealed to have a dark side. Prone to obsessive tendencies, YOU season 1 saw Joe stalk, manipulate, and murder his way into the life of Guinevere Beck. The already-deranged relationship inevitably soured even further when Beck discovered Joe's secrets. After failing to win her around to his twisted way of thinking, Joe murdered Beck and framed her therapist/intermittent lover for the crime.
YOU Season 2 saw Joe Goldberg relocate to Los Angeles and quickly latch on to a new target. Operating under the stolen identity of Will Bettelheim, Joe ingratiated himself into the life and workplace of Love Quinn. Similar to the first season, YOU season 2 subverted traditional rom-com tropes as Joe and Love simultaneously pursued their perceived love story. As a result - with everything from the use of sun-kissed lighting to the swell of music upon that first moment of eye contact - viewers understandably began rooting for the burgeoning romance. Similarly, as YOU season 2 delved deeper into Joe Goldberg's past via flashbacks, the show's creators are all but daring fans to sympathize and fall in line with Joe Goldberg's view of himself. That, however, is a trap by the writers that is akin to one of the delusional serial killer's own.
YOU season 1 already established that Joe Goldberg didn't have the most normal of upbringings. After being seemingly adopted by bookstore owner, Mr. Mooney, Joe endured frequent harsh punishments. The main part of that saw Joe often locked in the infamous cage that he would ultimately utilize for his ends. YOU season 2, however, ventured further back into Joe's childhood. Introducing the character of his mother, Sandy, a 9-year-old Joe was frequently abandoned so that she could enjoy liaisons with various men. The repercussions of her infidelities also tended to manifest in violent ways - with Joe's father often visibly beating his mother.
Joe himself was also not exempt from direct physical abuse. Whenever he was endeavoring to uncover Sandy's deceptions, Joe's father would actively torture Joe. In one particular scene, Joe's father burned him to elicit the truth from the youngster. In an early sign of his eventual patterns, Joe's focus was entirely centered on his mother. Not only did he protect her secrets, but he was often dismayed when she never followed through on forgoing other men in favor of him. The events of Joe's childhood came to a head when he once again a witness to his father attacking his mother. Having learned of a gun his mother had bought for protection, Joe used it to shoot his father dead.
As a result, Joe seemingly got what he had wanted - namely, his mother all to himself. Unfortunately, Sandy had an entirely different reaction. Though she still declared Joe to be a good boy, the event served to illuminate her parental failings. She then immediately called social services and allowed Joe to be taken to a boy's home. Little more of Joe's time at such an establishment was shown before his initial arrival. However, Joe would relay in his adult life that his time in boy's home was not something he'd wish on any child. Whether or not his time there will be explored in YOU season 3, potentially bridging gap between his life with his mom to his time with Mr. Mooney, remains to be seen. One thing is already abundantly clear, however: Joe's upbringing was not a pleasant one.
While young Joe's story may be sympathetic, the same cannot be said for the adult version of Joe Goldberg around which YOU revolves. As the old saying goes, those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. Equally, as the real Will Bettelheim stated, adult patterns are locked in early - with most men subconsciously seeking out versions of their mother. Will also elaborated that if Joe isn't able to see and accept that that is definitely what he's doing, then he's merely deluding himself. And therein likes the crux of why Joe has gone from a sympathetic child to a monstrous adult: because he is too firmly ensconced in his denials, delusions, and self-aggrandizing justifications. Joe Goldberg is largely incapable of seeing outside of his viewpoint.
This is why Joe put Beck on an such a high pedestal in YOU season 1. It's why he missed all the signs pointing towards Love Quinn's true nature. And it is why he placed the idea of being a good person on the shoulders of both Love (the person) and love (the concept). Like most rom-com characters, there is always an illusion of change, of them evolving. In truth, however, it's usually more a tale of people coming together through an eventual appreciation of the flaws and quirks they'd previously used to dismiss in the other. Joe Goldberg is all but the personification of that trend. While he pursues the idea of being a good person, it's merely an illusion. There is no real, meaningful growth. That is largely the reason that, even after seemingly gaining everything he claimed to be searching for, Joe concluded YOU season 3 by obsessing over a new victim.
The idea of a darker protagonist is nothing new in the world of television. Though Dexter's titular character only hunted bad guys, he was still a serial killer. Unlike Joe, however, Dexter Morgan's delusions were the reverse. He had been conditioned from a young age to believe that he was an emotionless killing machine incapable of forming genuine attachments. In truth, however, each season of Dexter peeled back layers of the character and revealed that he was capable of deep levels of emotion. He was even able to develop a loving family of his own - though his own darker impulses would ultimately leave it in ruins. Meanwhile, Walter White on Breaking Bad was ostensibly a normal, loving family man...until he wasn't. And while opinions will always differ regarding when Walt officially crossed the line into becoming Heisenberg, it remains that he was relatable and more than sympathetic when his journey began.
Joe Goldberg never had that luxury. Despite boasting leading man looks and charm, Joe was a fully formed monster from the outset. Firstly, Joe often relied willingly on murder. Secondly, even when he was attempting to forgo those habits, he put himself in situations that could only end in death. Another way that YOU succeeds in obscuring that fact is the return of Candace Stone. Equally, there is also the introduction of characters like Forty Quinn and Milo Warrington. So efficient is YOU Season 2 at leaning into romantic-comedy elements that it is surprisingly easy to view Forty, Candace, and Milo as obstacles to Joe's happy ending. In any other thriller, they would be the heroes of the story. But, by mostly viewing the world through Joe Goldberg's biased gaze, they are simply an obstacle to be overcome, and it can take an extra level of focus to remember that that is not the case.
The question of whether or not Joe Goldberg can be redeemed will no doubt be one that hangs over YOU season 3. On the one hand, anything is possible - especially in a show centered on a character that treats a baseball cap like an invisibility cloak. If, as some fans have theorized, Joe's new obsession is his long-lost mother - be it by a twist of fate or his twisted design - it could certainly pave the way for redemption. If he were to finally heed Will Bettelheim's words, the return of Joe's mom could allow him to bring things full circle and address his issues once and for all.
A more pertinent question, however, is whether Joe deserves redemption. While Joe's childhood certainly illuminates why he is the way that he is, it still far from justifies his decisions and actions. The very same question of redemption and happy endings hung over Dexter for the length of its run. Given that Joe is arguably worse, however, the answer would almost certainly be no. The laundry list of Joe's crimes (against actually innocent people) and the fact YOU season 2 saw him actively choose to slip into old habits should preclude him from achieving fulfillment. However, despite all of the evidence suggesting not to - and actor Penn Badgley's insistence that fans not romanticize Joe - fans may find themselves still rooting for Joe Goldberg when YOU season 3 eventually rolls around.
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