(Trigger Warning: This show is a heavy, dark romance and speaks about topics like stalking, kidnapping, and murder. The blog will be discussing it! Please do not continue reading if these are heavy topics.)
“At the end of the day, people are really disappointing, aren’t they?”-Beck.
You is a Netflix Original thriller TV series that focuses on the protagonist, Joe Goldberg, who happens to fall into love with a woman named Beck. This TV series takes from the thriller novel “You” by Caroline Kepnes. The book was published in 2014, and the first episode of You aired in 2018. We will focus on the TV series and the contents of it and how it captured an audience.
We fall for Joe’s charm and believe him to be someone looking for love. We are quick to realize that Joe is the villain protagonist. The first season is about Joe and Beck. Guinevere Beck is the overarching protagonist.
The overarching protagonist is a person with a lot more weight and scope in the plot than the main protagonist.
It means that the first season of You wouldn’t happen without Beck. Joe is an obsessive man, and he immediately clings to Beck during their first meeting at the bookstore where he works. He tries to control the outcome where he could be with Beck and have everyone else away from her. If that meant taking out her friends or lovers, he was determined to have her to himself.
**SPOILERS**
Joe Goldberg looked for a normal life. He knew his patrons very well. He could read people the moment they walked into the bookstore. Beck was the one to surprise him by acting out of the ordinary. When the banter between them came naturally, he realized he could still be surprised. He was hooked. It starts his obsession with Beck and leads him back into (what we find out later) an old habit.
Joe stalks Beck, and when he realizes she has an old flame that seems to be her rebound, he decides to take control of the situation. Joe pretends to be an investor by feigning interest in Benji’s (Beck’s ex-boyfriend) start-up. It leads him to kidnap and murder Benji, so he could have Beck focus on him. It works, and he has Beck to himself, but trouble is at his door. Peach, Beck’s friend, doesn’t like Joe and tries everything she can to break the two up. Of course, this becomes a who’s the lesser of two evils. We find out that like Joe, Peach likes to watch and stalk Beck. We don’t know if she’s ever murdered anyone, but we do get the feeling that Beck’s breakups are because of Peach orchestrating it.
However, this does not bone well for Joe when Beck does seem to put the pieces together after her incident with Peach. When Beck demands them to be apart, she sees a therapist, Dr. Nicky, to help cope with what has happened. Unable to cope with the breakup, Joe kidnaps Beck and tries to figure out her relationship with Dr. Nicky. When he finds out it is sexual, he is no longer able to continue.
This series is a lot, and it takes wild turns. As many spoilers as I gave just recapping the first season, there is so much lore and emotional turmoil that grasps the audience. I enjoyed the first season of You, and it may be controversial, but I was on Joe’s side through it. It is because I know it is fiction. Otherwise, this is not someone I would ever take the side of. However, we feel for Joe and want him to be happy and find love. Have you watched You? Which character did you feel for? Who’s side were you on?
Heather Marie 