Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers from the Season 1 Finale Episode of YOU.
Credit: TV Fanatic
In the season finale of You, Joe really proves to us how far he’ll go for what he calls “love”. At the end of last week’s episode, Beck was left in the infamous cage in the basement of Joe’s bookstore where an old ex-boyfriend of hers went to die. The beginning of this week’s episode makes us aware that Beck’s MIA status is up to date- her friends have no idea where she truly is. Paco, Joe’s preteen neighbor, tries to stir trouble in an attempt to remove Ron, his mom’s boyfriend, from their lives after he hurts her again. A lot happens in this episode and I’m not going to lie- this season does not end in a way any of the viewers want it to. Some of the most innocent characters end up slain or framed (but don’t worry- I won’t give any spoilers as to whom they were). Joe shows us and Beck how deeply messed up he is, and finally, Beck realizes what a terrifying situation she’s stumbled into.
Credit: TV Fanatic
A bulk of the episode is taken up by flashbacks to Joe’s youth, which do a decent job at showing us how Mr. Mooney really screwed him up when he was Paco’s age. Though it doesn’t relieve any of Joe’s actions, it does make it clear why he does the things he does. Mr. Mooney locked Joe in a glass box to punish him when he demands perfection and Joe doesn’t deliver. His claim is that he doesn’t want him to end up like his deadbeat father, but he didn’t recognize that he was teaching Joe to be someone much worse. Even worse, Joe is doing the same to Paco now. As Joe continues his repetitive streak of murdering to protect someone he loves- in this case, Paco- he tries to demonstrate to his young friend that killing is alright if it’s done out of love for someone else. He teaches him that there are different types of harm and that the kind he committed for Paco is okay, when in fact none of their actions is justifiable or done out of love. If Joe continues to mess with Paco’s head, that innocent boy will end up just like his mentor.
Credit: TV Fanatic
Beck remains frustrated and scared, as anybody would be in her situation. I think the glass cage she is now trapped in represents her relationship with Joe, and how he’s been treating her since the beginning of their time together. He confined her in this little box, resembling his actions in past episodes when he tried to restrain her from her independence. The only difference now is that she’s begging him to let her out- she’s not clueless anymore. When screaming at him doesn’t work, she flirts. If you thought Joe was intelligent, think again- he falls for her game and lets her trick him. He really thinks she’s blossoming from being imprisoned. In order to encourage her career, he left a typewriter for her so she could continue writing from the bottom of his dusty bookstore and she writes something really great about her relationship with Joe- only she writes it backward. She twists a tale where Dr. Nicky hurt her and murdered her friends, and made Joe believe she did it so it could be released and he would get off scot-free for his actions. What Beck was really doing was prying the door to that cage open in any way she could. Unfortunately for Beck, her plan didn’t completely pan out in the way she wanted it to and it ends up backfiring for many people, including herself in the most terrifying way- unsurprisingly, none of this hurts Joe. The very end of this episode shocks viewers with a surprise visit from someone characters and fans both thought to be dead, but she’s very alive and seems ready for revenge. The writers of You certainly know how to leave us with one heck of a cliffhanger.
The tenth and final episode of season one was fantastic and well-thought out. I applaud the writers of the show, particularly the author of the book by the same title Caroline Kepnes, as well as Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble, the developers of the show. I also give my praise to the two leading actors, Penn Badgley and Elizabeth Lail, who portrayed a stalker and a damsel in distress quite well. Finally, I’d like to give credit to Lifetime for producing such a magnificent show. I’ve seen Lifetime dramas that were very cheesy in the past and You is anything but. Although I don’t know when it airs, You has been renewed for a second season and I am anticipating that it will be just as mind-boggling, if not more. To catch up on the first season, go to https://www.mylifetime.com/– you won’t regret it.
Featured Image Via Vulture
