Plentiful spoilers for You‘s first season will be found below.
As a Lifetime show, You scored critical acclaim but went largely unnoticed by the masses, only to emerge as a killer hit when it streamed on Netflix over the holidays. The streaming service then boasted that the highly addictive stalker-drama reached 40 million viewers, many of whom were perhaps too entranced by Joe Goldberg, the sociopathic lead embodied by Penn Badgley, who’s aghast at people lusting after his character. Yet there’s definitely going to be more “hot” stalker drama coming to perplex Badgley while he unnerves everyone again. So, what do we know about this second season?
The Why: The overriding reason for the second season, of course, is that the series exploded in popularity on Netflix, which snatched the property up for more (bye bye, Lifetime). Not only that, but plenty of loose ends and a cliffhanger provided for excellent jumping off points for Joe to continue his stalking antics with his narration queuing up the black comedy that makes this series more than a guilty pleasure. There’s a solid chance that the number of streamers has eclipsed 40 million by now, and those people will binge the hell out of a second season. (Netflix is also now serial killer central, although they half-heartedly discourage lusting over these convicted criminals.)
The When: The series will launch on Netflix sometime in 2019. “Sometime soon,” according to the official You Instagram page, though this will probably happen in the fall, given that the first season debuted on Lifetime in September 2018. Showrunner Sera Gamble told NME that the series would resume filming sometime in February, and the writers are currently working on carving out the latter half of the season.
The Who: John Stamos isn’t yet confirmed to reprise his role as the weed-addled therapist, but Penn Badgley will definitely return as Joe Goldberg. But who will he stalk, now that he’s killed his true love, Beck (Elizabeth Lail)?
Well, the first season cliffhanger unfurled a startling revelation — Joe’s ex-girlfriend, Candace Stone, wasn’t dead, as we’d been led to believe, given that she previously dropped off the face of the earth. Joe’s own visions of Candace made it seem that he was being haunted by her, but since she shows up in the flesh, Candace will likely play into the second season, according to an Entertainment Weekly interview with Gamble. In addition, actress Ambyr Childers has been elevated to a series regular for the second season, so yup, there’s gonna be much more Candace. Will she live? That’s difficult to predict since her twist appearance in the season finale differed from author Caroline Kepnes’ first book and places the character in uncharted territory.
No matter how much Candace we see, she won’t be the main female character. Netflix has announced that the female lead in season two will be portrayed by Victoria Pedretti (The Haunting Of Hill House). She will play an aspiring chef called Love Quinn. That’s a pretty silly name, but it will sound seriously ominous when we hear it in Joe’s voiceover. Watch out, Love.
1. @YouNetflix *will* be returning for a second season
2. the female lead will be played by Nell from the Haunting of Hill House!!!!!!
3. she will play an aspiring chef called LOVE QUINN
4. you have our attention pic.twitter.com/tGB260YkC2— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) January 31, 2019
Two more recurring roles in the series have been cast. James Scully will play Love’s brother, Forty (!) Quinn, and Jenna Ortega will play Ellie, a teenager who’s a bit of a con artist and who will work her charms on Joe. Trying to con a serial killer might not work out so well for anyone.
The Where: The series has moved to Netflix, but Joe’s moving to the West Coast, y’all. Why? To put some physical distance between himself and his sloppily-executed, murders. Taking leads from author Kepnes’ followup book, Hidden Bodies (the first season also hewed very close to its source material), Joe will transplant to Los Angeles from New York City.
This could present further complications. Even if Joe can free his psyche from Beck’s ghost, he immortalized their romance by publishing the book that she penned while locked up, so he can really “take” her with him anywhere. And although it seems odd for such a socially awkward person to want to live in Hollywood, Joe surely can’t stand being near any lingering evidence of his crimes, which include at least three bodies. Unfortunately for Joe, he did leave behind a glass full of his own pee (loooong story if you haven’t watched the series already, which you should) at Peach Salinger’s home before killing her. He was also messy enough — he never truly premeditated his murders and seemed shocked every time he killed someone — to probably have left behind other clues, too. So, Joe can run, but he cannot hide for long.
No promotional photos or trailers exist for the second season yet, but we’ll post them as they surface.
See you then!
