Netflix released the third season of You on 15th October 2021, and fans have been hooked to the series ever since, as they watch the psychotic Joe Goldberg attempt to raise a baby boy named Henry. He’s not alone, accompanied by his murderous wife and arch-nemesis Love Quinn, the duo begins life in a posh suburb named Madre Linde while Joe grows increasingly infatuated with other women.
Just as Penn Badgley had promised, Love and Joe keep butting heads, resenting each other while trying to keep their sham of a marriage afloat amidst a web of lies, deceit, violence, infidelity, jealousy and rage.
Victoria Pedretti plays Love Quinn and had first made her appearance in the previous season as Goldberg’s newest obsession. Although she had initially seemed like a harmless girl-next-door, her true colours shone through soon after, revealing her twisted and psychotic self. Murderous, impulsive and angry, Love is Joe’s “soulmate”.
Although the third season sees them trying to move past all differences and attempt at building a happy family, Love’s jealousy and Joe’s inability to stay away from other women lead to a dwindling relationship and toxic fights as they both try to get rid of one another.
Despite both the characters being equally perverse, despicable and terrifying, Love Quinn is often viewed as grotesque and monstrous while fans often obsess over Goldberg, even resulting in memes that have Goldberg creepily staring into the void while fans wish for someone to look at them the same way. Netflix’s murder problem as well as romanticising Joe Goldberg is incredibly problematic and concerning.
Pedretti has had a wild guess regarding that notion. She spoke of Joe’s privilege as a white man that allows him to slack off much further than his wife.
She said, “The amount of tolerance we have for Joe’s less than ideal behaviour is so high because our expectations for men are extremely low, which is probably a good way to stay not constantly angry in the world.”
“But it’s still not fair, right?” she added. “We don’t live in a fair world, and I think that is what all of this is meant to emphasize.”
Season three also dealt with the significance of white privilege when Joe’s boss and librarian, Marianne, an independent Black woman, pointed out how the upper-class neighbourhood fretted over the disappearance of a rich white woman while they would possibly never bat an eye over the mysterious disappearance of someone else.
Seeing Love as a problematic, grotesque figure could also result from how society views violence in women as a transgression. While Love has possibly met her end in the series, we wonder how long Joe will escape unscathed. Will season four, which has recently been announced, finally see Joe face the consequences for his sinister actions? Only time can tell.
You season three is now streaming on Netflix. Check out the trailer below:
