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You Season 3 Is Happening, but Where Will It Go?

Penn Badgley as Joe, sitting behind his basement desk in Netflix's You.

Hello, more You. The hit Netflix thriller has officially been picked up for another season from producers Sera Gamble and Greg Berlanti. Based on Caroline Kepnes novels You and Hidden Bodies, the series first ran on Lifetime before being canceled, then rescued by Netflix and becoming a hit. It’s a delightful, dark pleasure to watch, blending horror and biting social commentary and satire … but where could a new season go?

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**SPOILER WARNING FOR YOU SEASON 2 AND HIDDEN BODIES!**

Season 2 of You saw Joe (Penn Badgley) on the run in Los Angeles, where he immediately became infatuated with a new target for his obsessive affections: Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti). As in season 1, Joe killed and stalked to “protect” love and others … until his past caught up with him and the big reveal that Love was just as willing to kill for him.

It was a brilliant, ironic twist that saw Joe becoming the victim in the cage, terrified of his captor, and one that was further complicated by Love revealing she was pregnant. Joe regards fatherhood and life in the suburbs as a father as his punishment for his misdeeds, which is pretty twisted. He’s also trapped with a woman he immediately stopped obsessing over the moment it was revealed she could (murderously) take care of herself. But he has a neighbor to spy on.

This is a big divergence from the end of the novel Hidden Bodies, which saw Joe arrested and didn’t include the “Love is a murderer, too” twist. There’s a third novel on the way, but we don’t know how it will influence or be influenced by the show.

So where could You go in the third season? I hope it will continue in the tradition of populating the world with diverse, fun side characters. I love how effortlessly Sera Gamble and Greg Berlanti fill their shows with people of all races, body types, genders, sexualities, and attitudes. I also hope that we’ll continue more of the incisive commentary that the show specializes in, and we’ll get a biting You take on life in the burbs.

But what about all of that, uh, murder? Joe has been really good at avoiding capture and consequences for his crimes, despite some near misses. Part of the brilliance of the show is the fact that we, the audience, often find ourselves rooting for Joe to escape, rather than for justice, but he very much deserves to go to prison forever—real prison, but I think he’d rather die first. We know he’ll keep killing, but will he get caught?

At this point in the show, Love and her family’s wealth are protecting Joe and keeping him hostage in a way, so if he steps out of line to stalk the neighbor, he’s tempting fate and Love’s wrath. That will be very interesting to watch, and Love is a character I want more of in this mode. I also want to see returns from other people from Joe’s past—like Will (Robin Lord Taylor), the one who literally got away because Joe let him, or anyone that knew Joe and Beck (Elizabeth Lail) in New York.

The cliffhanger ending of season two could have been a great place to leave the series … but just like Joe, we can’t stop ourselves wanting more. And we’re thrilled with this. Sera Gamble herself responded on Twitter, assuring fans of the same.

So, will we get a cat and mouse (or cat and cat) game of Joe and Love as two killers stalking and evading one another, all with a child in the mix? How might Love cope with jealousy? How will Joe be as a father? Will Ellie ever come back? There are so many questions, and we can’t wait for the answers and surprises in season 3.

(via EW, Image: Netflix)

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Author
Jessica Mason
Jessica Mason (she/her) is a writer based in Portland, Oregon with a focus on fandom, queer representation, and amazing women in film and television. She's a trained lawyer and opera singer as well as a mom and author.

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