Joe Goldberg is (still) watching you. Penn Badgley’s dark and twisted character will be back for season 3 of the psychological thriller You.
The Gossip Girl alum took on the role of Joe Goldberg for season 1 of You, which aired on Lifetime and was based on Caroline Kepnes’ novel of the same name. While the network didn’t renew the show after the 2018 season, Netflix picked up the series and Badgley returned alongside recurring cast member Ambyr Childers and new star Victoria Pedretti.
During season 2, Badgley’s troubled Joe seemingly found his match in Pedretti’s Love, who is also not afraid to commit murder and do some light stalking.
“It’s a show about love and obsession and where the line is between the two of those — and the character of Joe will always look outside himself for this thing that completes him,” showrunner Sera Gamble said on the “Watch With Us” podcast after season 2 started streaming in December 2019. “He has the perplexity to see a girl and think that she’s The One. I don’t see any signs of stopping that, but we never want to make a season that feels like it’s trying to replicate the one before. He has a baby on the way and Love has moved from that perfect girl that he’s trying to win to the real girl, who’s maybe not exactly what he’s expected … to something much more like a wife.”
It was revealed at the end of the second season that Joe and Love were moving to the suburbs after she found out she is pregnant with his baby.
“[Love is] certainly set up to have very much her own story moving forward,” Gamble told Us. “It’s an interesting balance with the show You in particular because so much of the show is interested in showing you the world through this particular man’s gaze. He is our window into the world, in a much more direct way than on a lot of other shows. The intention is to build her out — her point of view, her desires, her problems — in a way that makes her feel as fully realized as her troubled romantic partner.”
Badgley, for his part, teased that Joe’s relationship with Love won’t stop him from finding a new obsession, which was teased at the end of season 2.
“It’s definitely a dangerous cycle,” he told TVLine. “It’s kind of like old patterns and habits. We recognize them more as we get older, and we often find that they’re extremely hard to break. Maybe that’s what we’re seeing with him? His particular cycle is so awful. Technically, he has improved. Yes, he was going to kill Love, but he stopped when she told him she was pregnant. I really don’t know what’s in store there.”
Scroll through for everything we know about You season 3:
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