This review contains spoilers for the third season of You.Netflix recently released the heavily anticipated third season of You, starring Penn Badgley and Victoria Pedretti. Following the huge twist that revealed Love Quinn (Pedretti) was pregnant and just as psychotic as Joe Goldberg (Badgley), the newest season of You had a lot to deal with. These new circumstances gave You new avenues and potential thrills to explore, and season three doesn't disappoint.
Based on Carolina Kepnes' novel Hidden Bodies, the Netflix series follows Joe Goldberg who constantly tries to run from his past. In doing so, Joe holds onto his hope that one day he will come across "the one," who will somehow put his serial killing urges to bed. Joe has deemed his search unsuccessful but by the end of season two, it seemed Joe had finally met his match in Love. Unfortunately, her own violent acts against those who get in her way prove to be too much for Joe to handle.
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You's third season remains consistent with Joe and Love's troubling way of interacting with others while giving the series a breath of fresh air. The third season of You lends itself to differ from its predecessors because of the circumstances Joe is now surrounded by. After only needing to worry about his own desires, Joe struggles to acclimate himself to life in the Madre Linda suburbs as a new husband and father. By the end of season two, Joe is clearly unable to leave old habits alone, as he has already taken a curious liking to his new neighbor. You's third season picks up here, setting up Joe's primary obsession for the next installment. Given that Love has the same murderous inclinations as him, Joe is forced to tread extra carefully with his extracurricular activities.
In previous seasons, Joe had one primary infatuation that clouded his judgment for the entirety of the season. At first, season three is no different in adding to Joe's long list of victims. After revealing Love and Joe's neighbors as Matthew (Scott Speedman) and Natalie (Michaela McManus), Joe begins to fall into old patterns. It becomes evident that Natalie is not happy with her seemingly picture-perfect marriage and she goes as far as to physically express her romantic interest in Joe. It's surprising that Joe resists her advances and instead, returns home to Love and their son. It's not so surprising that Joe kept a few items that belonged to Natalie, which prompts Love to spiral after discovering Joe's betrayal.
What's new about You's third season is the quick pace. After learning of Joe's newest obsession, Love doesn't hesitate to lure Natalie into an isolated space long enough to kill her. While Natalie's fate was sealed the moment Joe began stalking her, no one anticipated the inevitable to happen so fast. The accelerated timeline of Joe finding a new obsession, weaving his way into her life, and now having her wind up dead, place the series on a unique timeline. Rather than taking the entire season to reach the unfortunate conclusion that the woman isn't the one Joe believes is "the one," all of this action occurs within the first episode. Turning You's typical pace on its head, it leaves everyone wondering what the final nine episodes have in store.
With Natalie dead, Joe develops a second obsession. This time, Joe falls for Marienne (Tati Gabrielle), his strict boss at the local library. Knowing what Love will do if she finds out about his interest in Marienne, Joe tries to live two separate lives until he is able to eliminate the one he has with Love. As monogamous as Joe believes he is in one of his obsession spells, Joe's not unaccustomed to having multiple love interests in a single season. After breaking up with Beck in season one, Joe did engage in a relationship with another woman, but he was never shown to be as obsessed with her as he had been in other relationships. Ultimately, he and Beck do end up back together, just as Joe constantly returns to Love again and again in season three.
As wonderful as the surprises the newest season of You offers, it is not without its flaws. With all the issues bound to occur with Love and Joe because of their shared compulsive and possessive nature, the issues between their suburban community and marriage could've been dragged out. Joe and Love understand one another in ways that no one else is capable of, so their unhappiness may come as a surprise. Joe's dismissal of Love after finding out that she's capable of the same level of violence he is, suggests Joe cannot be satisfied. However, the difference between them is that Joe tries to be good and Love seems in different to her actions, only becoming aware of them when she is forced to confront those connected to the potential victim.
You also could've used their child to explore a new side of both Love and Joe. While a child doesn't exactly align with You's context, how Joe and Love would've continued to raise Henry had the potential to be an interesting development. Had Love survived another season, she and Joe could've relocated together. Joe previously relocated to Los Angeles (where he met Love under an alias) from New York. The two of them then relocated to Madre Linda and could've branched out even further, continuing to wreak havoc, but it seems Joe will now do so alone. This pacing continues to show the hastiness of Love and Joe's own decision-making. Already renewed for season four You will feature a Joe that's more dangerous than ever. After leaving his son in the hands of a library coworker and killing Love (as well as framing her for his own murder), Joe is no longer weighed down by other commitments. Now in Paris under a new identity, as he searches for Marienne, Joe grows increasingly reckless, making him more susceptible to making a mistake.
You’s newest elements and characters do wonders to continue the story. Newer cast members play their roles to annoying perfection, which can make it difficult to decipher if some of Love and Joe’s acts can actually be chalked up to a public good. It uses these characters (and their fates) to offer commentary on modern issues including systematic racism, anti-vaxing, etc. After his stint in Madre Linda, Joe now has a list of people that have begun to figure him out. Should the fact that he's actually alive come to light, there will be many people that can reveal the type of person Joe actually is. It's only a matter of time the truth of his past catches up to him and he is finally forced to reap the consequences.
You is now streaming on Netflix.