Every guy wants a girl whose love isn’t easy but worth the chase. Every guy wants a girl who is loyal to him and allows him to be himself without judgment. Every guy wants a relationship where what he receives is matched by what he provides. Every guy wants a girl whose craziness matches his. 

But, should every guy really? 

In the second season of the Netflix series You, protagonist Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) moves to Los Angeles to flee his scheming ex, Candace Stone (Ambyr Childers), who is onto Joe involving his framing of Dr. Nicky (John Stamos) for the murder of Guenivere Beck (Elizabeth Lail): Joe’s ex. Promising agonizing, drawn-out revenge, Candace’s threats of exposing Joe’s crimes accompanies Joe throughout the entire ten episodes of the season. 

Joe goes to lengths to ensure he is untraceable: he kidnaps a man named Will Bettelheim (Robin Taylor) and purloins Will’s identity, chooses to transfer to Los Angeles because he knows Candace is aware of his disdain for the city, assumes a new job at a trendy grocery store called Anavrin, and attempts to refrain from any interaction with his coworker Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti) to prevent himself from becoming obsessed with her and repeating his past actions.

But by the concluding minutes of the first episode, Joe reveals to viewers that his intentions to protect Love from his toxicity were shallow and not followed through; he rented an apartment close to hers and purposely applied to Anavrin so he could work alongside her. Following these efforts, Joe takes up a “hard to get” approach to his relationship with Love; they dabble both in dating and just being friends, and this is credited to Joe experiencing haunting flashbacks and visions of Beck. 

By the fourth episode, Candace has cleverly tracked down Joe, and Candace starts dating Love’s twin brother Forty (James Scully). Known to Forty as Amy, Candace’s presence alone puts Joe on an extreme edge; however, Joe doesn’t believe that Candace is capable of proving to Love and authorities that he is guilty. Meanwhile, Love starts to catch onto Candace’s shadiness, and Love hires a private investigator to follow Candace. 

Joe’s prediction proves to be wrong, and Candace corners Love and reveal Joe’s true identity. Shaken involving Joe’s lie but not convinced that he killed Beck, Love breaks up with Joe and temporarily rebounds with an old friend; yet, Love eventually realizes she still is interested in Joe. Frustrated, Candace continues to follow Joe until she is able to capture him in his glass vault and make an example of him to Love.

The second season of You was renewed by Lifetime in July of 2018; however, in December of 2018, it was announced that Netflix would pick up the series and release it onto its platform as a Netflix Original series. The second season is based on the book Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes, and it was released onto Netflix on December 26, 2019. 

The second season of You perfectly expanded on the story of murderous, manipulative Joe while providing viewers with a freshly-different story of yet another one of Joe’s relationships. With drama thickening the plot through every complicated twist, at points I found myself supporting Joe and Love’s relationship—even if that could lead to the demise of Love at Joe’s hands.

With the combination of gruesome crime, intriguing manipulation, and an addictive plot, the second season of You did not disappoint its viewers. Everything from casting to acting to wardrobe and appearance was spot on, and viewers were once again left with a cliffhanger for an ending. 

You encourages viewers to ponder yet another confusing, rather dark question: Is what you think you want in love really what you want?