On You season 2, Joe Goldberg, faced with a ghost from his past, flees New York City hoping to attain anonymity and a fresh start in Los Angeles. With one ex-girlfriend dead and buried, and another back from the grave, Joe calls off the search for his soul mate until he meets Love. Once again, Joe's quest for the perfect relationship is complicated by a series of bizarre and deadly events.
You season 2 continues to explore the incongruity between Joe's thoughts and his actions. It ventures more outside the confines of Joe's mind and focuses not just on his disturbing actions but those of the people around him. The two seasons are connected by one thing: Joe's deluded sense of the definition of love. Here are five reasons You season 1 is better, and five reasons why season 2 makes the show an even guiltier pleasure.
Why Season 1 Is Better: Gives Joe An Archenemy
LA brings new people and new challenges, but, disappointingly, nobody who can hold a candle to Peach Salinger. Beck's best friend and Joe's worst nightmare, Peach proves to be a formidable and unexpected foe for Joe. Peach has been stalking Beck long before the comely, aspiring writer catches Joe's eye.
Peach and Joe find a way to justify their actions by claiming to protect Beck from the other. Candace promises to be Joe's worst nightmare but turns out to be a monumental disappointment. With all the sycophants running in Joe's West Coast social circle, Peach, the resident mean girl, is sorely missed.
Why Season 2 Is Better: Digs More Into Joe's Past
Season 1 provides some insight into Joe's behavior: the biggest influence in his life is a morally bankrupt, abusive bookseller, Mr. Mooney. Joe's decision to throw people into the cage isn't just a matter of convenience. It's where he spent many hours himself as a teenager, atoning for not meeting Mooney's expectations. Joe associates the cage with atonement and self-reflection, and it's Mooney's legacy.
Season 2 delves further back, revealing Joe has serious mommy issues. His mother's promiscuous behavior leads her to abandon Joe regularly in public places. His father was abusive, and it's Joe who frees his mom from his grasp. This is Joe's real origin story: he rescues women from something or someone worse than himself.
Why Season 1 Is Better: In-Depth Focus On Joe's Obsession
Once Joe meets Beck, he infiltrates every conceivable part of her life. Their relationship only progresses beyond the chance encounter at the bookstore because he does everything in his power to make it happen. Beck is seen through Joe's eyes for most of season 1, making her more of an object than a person.
Season 2, Love changes the game. Joe ensures they cross paths, but he couldn't predict how quickly she responds to him. Joe's inner monologue interprets her behavior, but Love is less of a puzzle he needs to solve. She's open or at least as forthcoming as Joe. She practically begs him to like her, to want her, to love her. Love is still the central figure in Joe's life, but there isn't a constant chatter in his mind, dissecting her every move.
Why Season 2 Is Better: More Compelling Love Interest
Filtered through Joe's eyes, Beck is special because it's what Joe wants. He brings depth to Beck through his meticulous manipulation and actions that send her life spiraling into unforeseen directions. His presence, both seen and unseen, influences Beck's behavior to the point that she doesn't become interesting until their love story completely unravels.
There is instantly something so open and genuine about Love. Her relentless pursuit of Joe is unexpected. Throughout season 2, there is a vulnerability to her, especially when it comes to her family. Her ability to sell this image is what makes the final episodes so jarring. With Beck, there isn't much simmering below the surface, but with Love, she is complex in ways that are both endearing and incredibly frightening.
Why Season 1 Is Better: Final Twist Is More Open-Ended
Okay, revealing Love to be as diabolical as Joe is a pretty good twist, but You season 2 should stop there. Leaving Joe at Love's mercy is not only proof of the existence of karmic retribution, but it would also bookend Beck's fate at the conclusion of season 1. Joe isn't fully acquitted of his crimes: he's forced to serve his time in the suburbs, sleeping next to a psychopath and deluding himself into believing he'll be a good father. But his halfhearted efforts to change are abandoned as he finds a new object of his affection.
The final moments of the season 1 finale have a much more WTF? feel to them. Joe is resuming his predatory behavior, stalking a new woman as she wanders through the stacks of the bookstore. Only this woman is no stranger, she's the infamous Candace. Her return raises so many questions whereas the mystery woman next door at the end of season 2 will just turn out to be another disturbing and disappointing attempt by Joe to find the one.
Why Season 2 Is Better: Stronger ing Cast
Season 2 introduces some charismatic new characters such as sisters Ellie and Delilah. Love's brother Forty played by James Scully is an ingratiating mess who pulls it together a little too late. Saffron Burrows as Dottie Quinn is the mother from hell, oscillating from doting to duplicitous, tossing out thinly-veiled threats like day-old artisanal bread.
The standout of season 2 is Gotham's Robin Lord Taylor as Will. This bipolar hacker and document forger may be crazy, but he knows how to play Joe. There's an odd camaraderie between the two although, on the rare occasion Will oversteps, Joe reminds Will of the precariousness of his predicament.
Why Season 1 Is Better: Fewer Plot Holes
For someone so cerebral, Joe often acts impulsively, particularly when it comes to violence. During season 2, the entire LAPD is bought and paid for by a family that owns a chain of trendy grocery stores. How do people who sell green juice acquire the power to cover up multiple murders? What happens to Candace and Delilah's bodies? How is it that there's never a witness or CCTV to catch anyone in the act?
Nobody digs too hard. The police ask questions but not the right ones. The more Joe gets away with, the more emboldens he becomes. It's hard to be certain if Joe is meant to be incredibly lucky or everyone else is supposed to be incredibly stupid.
Why Season 2 Is Better: New City Brings A Whole New Vibe
Season 2, Joe escapes to the perceived anonymity of Los Angeles: a city where nobody is interested in keeping a low profile. The backdrop is supposed to reinforce Joe's determination to reinvent himself.
Joe's self-aggrandizing is on overload in an environment inhabited by so many stereotypes: the precocious ingenue, the cynical reporter, the hangers-on and wannabees, self-important entertainers and the practitioners of trendy forms of self-healing. Joe can blend because he is surrounded by eccentric, damaged, crazy characters.
Why Season 1 Is Better: How Far Joe Will Go?
Throughout season 1, Joe's actions are fueled by a bizarre moral code. He sees the faults in others but takes no ability for his actions. He's impulsive and unorganized, but he's also smart and methodical. This dark fairy tale never rules out a happy ending for its damaged Prince Charming and his would-be princess.
During season 2, Joe's no different, his internal monologues are lies he tells himself. There are more variables Joe can't control, but he's still driven to violence and deceit to fulfill his pathological need for love and acceptance.
Why Season 2 Is Better: Confirms Joe's Inability To Be Happy
You's season 2 finale confirms that the third time is not a charm. He's willing to forgive and forget when it comes to Candace and Beck as long as they love him, but when Love offers him the unconditional acceptance and love, it's no longer enough.
She's damaged, she's flawed, and she's available to him. For Joe, it's about the chase. The reality can never live up to his fantasies, or in Love's case, be his worst nightmare.