Warning: Major spoilers for season 2 of You follow.
In season 2 of Netflix’s You, Joe (Penn Badgley) had a better track record of people making it out of his glass cage alive. Robin Lord Taylor’s Will really broke the mould (thanks to a case of Stockholm Syndrome) making us think it was at least possible for stalker and literature lover Joe to let someone go free. However, one of Joe’s kidnapping victims this season did meet a truly gruesome, unfair death — and this time, Joe wasn’t exactly to blame.
Joe moves to Los Angeles in You’s sophomore season in order to get away from Candace (Ambyr Childers), the ex-girlfriend hellbent on making him pay for his attempting to murder her. When he gets to his new, much-hated city, he meets Delilah (Carmela Zumbado), a reporter and the building manager of his new apartment. After tense early interactions, the two become friends, with Joe supporting Delilah in her attempts to take down comedian Henderson (Chris D’Elia) for his unsavoury behaviour. Joe also takes a liking to her sister Ellie (Jenna Ortega), whom he sees a lot of himself in.
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The problem? Delilah’s an investigative reporter, which means that when she learns from her detective hookup buddy that Joe could be behind Henderson’s mysterious murder, she can’t help but look into the case. That leads her to the storage unit, where Joe finds her and locks her inside his glass cage, knowing she’ll blame him for Hendy’s death and go to the cops.
Joe fully intends to let Delilah out. He can’t leave Ellie without a sister, so he decides he’ll hightail it out of the country and let Delilah turn him in. He slaps time-activated handcuffs on Delilah, which will click open when he’s out of the country. Unfortunately, Forty (James Scully) needs Joe to help him rewrite a movie, then doses Joe with acid to get his creative juices flowing.
Joe doesn’t have time to leave the country, nor make any other plans. He makes it to the storage unit just before Delilah’s handcuffs unlock, but finds Delilah isn’t going anywhere: She’s dead, laying in a pool of her own blood, with her throat slashed.
Since he can’t remember what he was doing the night before, Joe thinks he may have killed Delilah. When all his suspects turn up empty, he convinces himself of it. The truth, however, is completely unexpected: Love killed Delilah, and did so in order to protect Joe and their unborn baby.
Love is a lot more like Joe than anyone knows. When she was a teenager, she killed her and her brother's au pair, who has having an inappropriate relationship with Forty, then blamed it on him, knowing her parents would protect Forty at all costs. In order to stop Candace from turning Joe in, she killed her, too.
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This wasn’t just the case of someone being backed into a corner. Love decoded that Joe was the person who killed his ex-girlfriend Beck (Elizabeth Lail), but instead of being upset or afraid, she was almost impressed. Joe was too good for the “unspecial” Beck, but Love is convinced she and Joe are soulmates who should start a life together. Delilah was just collateral damage.
The good news, maybe, is that it doesn’t seem like Ellie will get over the disappearance of her beloved sister — and she could be the person to one day bring Joe and Love to justice for their crimes. Joe is currently sending her money so she’ll stay away from Los Angeles, so a season 3 could potentially bring Ellie back. Considering that Delilah’s death was the cruelest of season 2, it might be just the catharsis fans need.
You season 2 is available on Netflix now