All Eyes On “You”

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Ingrid Moises

This original Netflix series comes back for a season 2, and better than ever.

Ingrid Moises, Staff Writer.

TV Show: You (Season 2)

Release Date: Dec. 26, 2019

Starring: Penn Badgley (Joe Goldberg), Victoria Pedretti (Love Quinn), Jenna Ortega (Ellie Alves), James Scully (Forty Quinn), Ambyr Childers (Candace Stone), Carmela Zumbado (Delilah Alves)

Our Grade: A+

Conveniently, with the beginning of winter break, the second season of  “You” was released on Netflix. This riveting second season started with Joe Goldberg, the main character, meeting someone new in an unfamiliar environment. The new scenery contrasts heavily in comparison to the first season, especially with his jump from one coast to another. Much like the first season, we can still hear his devious thought process, except we now have a better understanding of how his brain works when he interacts with people. However, the biggest change Netflix implemented for this season was his hypocrisy. Nonetheless, he does show more character development, in his own twisted way.

This show is revolved around a man that may seem normal, but is insanely far from it. His ideas and schemes build the entire show, leaving everyone constantly wondering what his next move is. The amount of manipulation and exploitation he demonstrates is always hidden by an excuse he always has prepared. Regardless of his illegal and creepy activities, he still manages to present himself as a charming a collected young man who will do anything for those that he loves, no matter the degree of violence.

In the first season, when he hurt people, he justified it by saying he was protecting the girl he loved. This made viewers have an over romanticized opinion on his devilish character. Even though he was being the person many people fear in the real world, no one wanted him to get caught, keeping everyone at the edge of their seats for the second season.

In this season, the producers and directors of the show alluded to his childhood trauma and his mother’s toxicity growing up as an attempt to rationalize his behavior and his inability to hold a relationship. This was an even more effective contributor to the compassion and empathy viewers have developed for him.

“Sometimes I find myself feeling worried he will get caught, but he is the bad guy. I feel like Netflix adds good sides of him to make it more conflicting to those that watch the show,” sophomore Alondra Vega said.

As an attempt to begin a new life, he takes the term “fresh start” to an extreme, just as he does everything else. He changes his identity, introducing himself as a brand new person. He moves to California in attempt to run away from the mess he left in the first season. With no trace of him on social media, the clean slate became suspicious to the individuals met in the new setting. The landlord and her little sister stay clear of him as they try to analyze his character, or fail to, anyway. He later wins them over with his clever wit, and the abundance of knowledge he has on how to make people fall on the palm of his hand.

“As you watch the show you can notice that he is constantly making up ways to make people like him, just so they are not suspicious if anything happens in the future,” sophomore Mariangel Valcarcel said.

With his new start came his new intent to refrain from falling in love with anyone. He had finally become aware of how obsessed and infatuated he became with his past lovers and how that usually ended up with him trying to dig them six feet under when he was tired of them. Ignoring all the promises he made to himself, he still managed to “fall in love” again, which is really just an extreme obsession. This time, he wanted to make sure no one was hurt in the process of him “protecting” his lover, who is ironically named “Love.” He failed, miserably, and proved once again that he cannot change no matter how hard he tries.

Towards the end, there was a plot twist that included a string of lies from a character that we would least expect and the hypocrisy of Joe Goldberg shined through. The audience was exposed to the fact he only accepts diabolical actions if they are coming from him, highlighting his mental illness.

Since the last episode left on a cliffhanger, there is sure to be a season three. Overall, Netflix did a splendid job on Joe’s character development in the second season. They made sure to show how toxic he is to himself this time, not just to everyone around him. His breaking of his own promises and his hypocrisy will always lead him to fall into the same routine pattern, which is what makes this show so interesting.

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