Beck: At the end of the day people really are just disappointing, aren't they?
Joe: Sometimes they surprise you.
Surprise? Well of course, we all love these surprise things. But, before, I ruin this surprise for you. Let us look at the reason, why this show is solid "85" for me.
For me the SURPRISE was this show beong on Netflix.
Do not hate on me. But Netflix has this art of turning a promising show into a three-season hostage situation, cancelling the good ones - Mindhunters, 1984, and leaving us staring at the screen wondering what exactly we did to deserve this. Lol!
However, ever once in a while, Netflix does come up with a masterpiece. And luckily, this is one of those masterpieces. Yeah, we can exclude Season 4 and 5.
Anyways for today, my focus is on Season 1 only. Because, every season - especially Love Quinn - deserves her own review.
Not-so-usual-story
So the story follows, Joe Goldberg: our protagonist. A charming but deeply strange character. He works as bookstore manager who falls in love with Beck, an inspiring writer who walks into his shop.
Pretty normal thing, right? Like most of the romantic series start this way. But this innocent crush moment quickly turns into something disturbing. Our protagonist starts stalking Beck, digging through her social media. And remember, this is not normal stalking. Belive me, if you find out the way he does it; you are surely deleting your social media accounts.
(Joe and Beck)
He sees himself as a hero. But, in reality, he is not a hero. He is just a psychopath. JUST? On the outer self, he is all good. His thought-process is something, even I, being a narcissist, envy him. My man can really think as a philosopher. Oh, back to the story for now. My mind, right now, is running faster than my hands.
As their - Joe and Beck - relationship develops, Joe gradually removes the obstacles between him and Beck. And on serious note, if he thinks you are bad for her, consider yourself dead, kidnapped or imprisoned.
Meanwhile, our beautiful Beck has no idea that the charming man she has fallen for is indirectly controlling almost every aspect of her life.
The thing is Joe judges everyone, except himself. He is completely blind, when it comes to self-observation. He narrates his actions, murdering, kidnapping, imprisonment, as acts of love.
And this is why, I say: it is not just another love story. This is some dark stuff, mostly to be found on dark webs.
Meet the Psychopath x Philosopher - Joe Goldberg
The character is played by Penn Badgley. He really lived through his character. It never felt like he was acting :)
And the story mostly revolves around Joe Goldberg, and his ways of doing things. Basically, he is a: stalker, pervert, cheater and a killer. He is totally nuts. He is obsessed with two things: literature and his ways. But, he has an excuse.
Whatever I have done, I did it for YOU.
He thinks that whatever he is doing, he is doing it for his lover. Like he is fixing everything. One important factor is this guy is manipulative, and the thing is: his inner thoughts even manipulate him.
Thing brings us to inner thoughts.
Believe me, this show is nothing without Joe doing this thinking inside his head. And this whole thing made me watch this masterpiece. For him, philosophy of love is twisted. For him, love is not about boundaries, trust or let few things pass. Love simply means doing whatever it takes. As he himself says: "Beck, I love you. And loving someone means you will do anything for them.”
Sounds romantic, doesn't it?
But remember that the man is a stalker, manipulator, a psychopath, a philosopher, and a killer. Being a philosophy lover, I have put it in a list of negative things, lol. This man really got into me.
Now, meet our not so innocent Beck.
Beck is played by Elizabeth Lail in You Season 1.
At the surface level, she seems pretty normal and a beautiful character. But for character sake, she is a total wuss. She does not have a backbone, as she uses people to feel good about herself. Throughout the season, she does not have any kind of stable self-identity. She will lean over anybody who will provide for her. Ironically, she thinks Joe is the only bad character. But, it is clearly visible; she, just at different level, is the same. Like at one point, she cheats on Joe. And compares this cheating with him stalking her. As she gets caught.
Some may hate on her, but the thing is show is nothing without her character being this way. She needs to be flawed. Because only then, our protagonist can fix her - of course, in his crazy ways.
Now, back to the point, where we started.
Joe: Sometimes they surprise you.
Oh yes, Joe, they do. And, we all are surprisngly surrised by such people. Consider yourself, Mr.Joe.
Spoiler Alert Ahead
After everything, their relationship starts to collapse when Beck discovers the truth about Joe.
She finds evidence connecting him to the things tha thave happend around her. Including some quite personal things such as underwear, tampon etc, as part of the collection of personal items. And of course, the charm has died by now.
Beck tries to escape.
But our philosopher catches her, takes her to the cage beneath the bookstore, the same glass cage used by Mr.Mooney to store rare books. Joe locks Beck inside.
The most horrifying fact is: he thinks he is protecting Beck. He tries to convince her - basically himself - that there is still a way to fix everything. He talks to her through the glass, attempting to manipulate her. Ironically, he is the one who is controlling everything.
She fights, and somehow manages to convince Joe. Eventually, she get out of the cage. For a brief moment, it looks as though she might survive. But, Joe surprises her again.
This act of her, results in Joe killing her. He believes this thing justify his action.
Afterward, just like a serial killer. He reomves evidence, mind you he is really good with it, and makes it appear that Dr.Nicky - Beck's therapist - is responsible.
Final surprise is: Joe rewrites the whole incident, the whole story. And, in this story, he is the protagonist.
He simply turns his mostrous actions into acts of love, but this whole thing is inside his own head. And this is what I love the most about his character. Though henious, but he thinks his ways out. Lol!
One last fact. "You" is based on the 2014 novel You by American author "Caroline Kepnes."
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Ratings as of now:
IMDb: 7.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
My Rating: 8.5/10
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See you guys for Love Quinn, the female version of Joe Goldberg. Character so goated even Joe is afraid of her. But man, there chemistry is of inexpressible level. Oh, I was ending it.
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Peace 🕊️
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Rating: 85/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.