On last week’s You, Joe (Penn Badgley) bid farewell to Beck (Elizabeth Lail) — and slept with his neighbor Karen (Natalie Paul) pretty much immediately after.
When we pick up with our hopeless romantic/serial killer, Joe is still seeing Dr. Nicky (John Stamos)... and someone else. Though the psychologist thinks Karen is really “Brad” — the man his patient “Paul” is seeing following his breakup from “Ronaldo” — Joe and Karen have made quite the nice little relationship. It might not be an “everythingship,” which is the word that Joe and Beck used to describe their own romance once upon a time, but it is definitely nice. Which, in the context of the dark romantic comedy that is You, means boring as hell.
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So it’s no surprise that Joe is still checking Beck’s Facebook page on the regular. That’s where he learns that she scored a book deal (thanks to Joe killing Peach, which spurred her to write an essay that went "Cat Person"-esque viral), and is essentially leading her best life. She’s even become actual pals with Blythe (Hari Nef), whose relationship with Joe’s co-worker Ethan (Zach Cherry), is absolutely one to root for. They are my #everythingship.
It’s Ethan and Blythe’s romance that brings Beck and Joe together again. After Beck not-at-all casually runs into Joe on the street (when he’s with his nice girlfriend Karen), Joe and Beck reconnect for real when they are recruited to move Ethan and Blythe into their shared apartment. From here, they start a texting flirtationship, which eventually turns into… sex on the ferry??? In the middle of the day???
The ferry sex leads to sex… well, just about everywhere. The passion that these two had a few weeks into their relationship is back, baby, even though it’s not good for either of them. Beck and Joe are addicted to one another, which is juxtaposed with Joe’s neighbor Claudia (Victoria Cartagena), mother of Paco (Luca Padovan), who is going through her own drug battle. Karen, Claudia’s friend, is doing her best to keep Claudia afloat, while Joe tries his best to take care of Paco.
Eventually, the only way to take care of Claudia is to help her detox, which Karen doesn’t want her to do in rehab: Claudia could lose Paco, and everything, if she admits her drug use. Fortunately, Joe knows just the place to help Claudia get clean. It’s Joe’s very own multipurpose room: The rare books cage of his store!
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It’s possible that the real romance on You is not between Joe and Beck, but between Joe and that rare book cellar. Joe is obsessed. He has dates down there. He kills Manhattan douchebags there. And now, he’s saving a woman’s life, amongst the rare editions of To Kill A Mockingbird.
The whole thing is spooky, though — especially when Claudia, in a detox-induced state of delirium, says that she thinks there are ghosts in the bookstore. Joe scoffs at the notion that Benji (Lou Taylor Pucci) could actually be skulking around as a spirit. “He was too lazy to run his own business,” Joe says. “Why would he haunt mine?”
Fair point. The person who is really haunting Joe is Beck, who shows up to a “Swedish name for a housewarming party” thrown by Blythe and Ethan to basically tell Joe it’s over. Beck admits that she’s no good for Joe, which is laughable considering Joe has systematically killed off her friends.
By the way, where is Annika (Kathryn Gallagher) because I’m growing concerned!
At the end of the episode, though, Joe has a real romantic comedy, come-to-Jesus moment. Sure, Beck is terrible for him, but shouldn’t he be with the one he loves, and not the one who laughs a little too loudly at King of Queens reruns? Beck’s probably never watched a Kevin James sitcom in her life.
Joe dumps Karen, who takes the news a little too well. She just wants her curling iron back.
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So Joe runs to Beck’s apartment — he’s admittedly disappointed that it’s not raining, because how dope would that be? — and throws a rock at her window. It shatters the window, making Joe wish he used the front door, but who cares — love!
I really thought that Beck might be with a sexy Tinder date (or maybe even Dr. Nicky?) but she’s alone, and not even that mad that Joe broke her window. When Joe declares her love, she gives him a resounding “yes!” and the two embrace on the porch for all the world to see.
Then again, the world has already seen Beck do pretty much everything, since she still doesn’t comprehend the importance of curtains.
Things are looking pretty peachy (RIP Ms. Salinger), until the end of the episode. Joe’s enemy, a.k.a Paco’s stepdad Ron (Daniel Cosgrove) is back, despite Claudia getting clean. Karen is gone, and Paco blames Joe for it.
But it turns out that Karen isn’t gone just yet. Karen runs into Beck on the street, and basically chews her out for sleeping with Joe behind her back. Beck is uncomfortable but takes it fairly well… until Karen cuts right to the bone. She says she’s glad Beck gave her a “get out of Joe free” card because Joe’s ex-girlfriend, Candace (Ambyr Childers)? Well, she wasn’t quite so lucky. Let’s hope Beckalicious doesn’t end up like her.
Whatever that means, it clearly gets to Beck. When Joe calls, she’s hardly delighted… instead, she’s wondering if there could be truth in Karen’s words.
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