YOU Season 1 Episode 7 Review: Everythingship
Jasmine Blu
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It's official; Joe is all aboard the Psycho Train to Crazy-Town.
Joe has always been batshit crazy, and we knew it. But YOU Season 1 Episode 7 is the first time Joe's troubling behavior has been this overt.
Joe was the embodiment of an abuser during the hour. It was terrifying, uncomfortable, but also entertaining.
If you were temporarily distracted by Joe and Beck playing the happy couple or rooting for their toxic, abusive, and unhealthy relationship, this hour was a hard, sharp smack back to reality. It served as a reminder of what the series is at its core.
Joe's descent into paranoia and turning up the notch on his brand of crazy to properly showcase how wrong he is for his actions was clever.
It was only a matter of time before Beck saw some of Joe's darkness; it's impossible to keep up an act for a whole relationship. In many ways, everything about Joe during his relationship with Beck was a facade.
Be still my bespeckled heart; Beck made a turnaround. She displayed a modicum of self-preservation for a change when she noticed Joe's behavior, confronted him about it, and took the necessary steps to remove herself from the situation.
I need space to heal, but every time I turn around, you're standing there ready to make it all go away, but only I can do that. And if you really love me, you'll see that. You'll let me go.
Beck
Beck gets a silver star.
It took way too long for her to figure out something was up with Joe, and when she did, it was only because Joe's cuckoo was so blatant Stevie Wonder could see the signs.
Something tells me that after finally making a sound decision, she'll go back to Joe because she uses him as a crutch, and she spent a good portion of the hour as a stereotypical lazy millennial, which was the most unforgivable of all.
Related: YOU Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Amour Fou
Seriously, the honeymoon stage of #JoeBeck was destined to end sooner rather than later, but the downfall had to be the second Joe agreed to let Beck work at the bookstore after she got fired.
It would be easy to give Beck the benefit of the doubt here if it weren't previously hinted at by the many loathsome characters in the series (and in Beck's life) that bless her heart, the woman is poorly motivated and lazy.
YOU keeps up with this pattern of telling us who Beck is via the worst characters knowing that the urge is to dismiss the assessment of these characters because they are the worst.
Beck wants someone to take care of her. Benji gave her whatever it was that had her putting up with him for so long. Peach had been looking after Beck in her various ways since they were at school together. Beck's anger toward her father didn't stop her from using him as an ATM.
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It's possible that Beck was at her most annoying while aimlessly wandering around the bookstore tossing books anywhere in no particular order and lounging in an armchair thinking about writing.
Then the second Joe rightfully pointed out that she was doing a craptastic job, Beck reminded him that she was supposed to have ample time to write at work. Bish, you aren't working or writing, so WTF?!
Ethan: We need to talk.
Joe: About what?
Ethan: Look, this is uncomfortable. She's your girlfriend, and lord knows I'm not one to criticize but, Beck is terrible, Joe. OK, she's always late, she leaves the register open, she doesn't know how to organize by genre ... Just this morning, she chewed out a 14-year-old for buying American Tragedy for school because she hates Dreiser. Everyone hates Dreiser, but this is a bookstore. We have to sell books.
Ethan had every right to call Joe out on being too mesmerized by Beck's, uh, "tilt-a-whirl punani" to notice how much she sucked at the job.
Beck's attempt to make things up to Joe was outlandish at its finest. Who thinks it's a bright idea to light a dozen candles, some of which perched precariously on the edge of a tiny table, in the rare book dungeon?
We won't even discuss how haunting it was that the two shared a romantic dinner in the very spot Benji was held captive and killed.
Beck had many questionable moments, but in addition to picking up on Joe, she made some impressive strides in understanding herself better, and that is thanks to Dr. Nicky.
Beck knew that Peach was not the ideal friend and posed a threat and that their relationship was unhealthy, but she also knew none of that would change the fact that she missed her.
Beck made a solid point about grief not being linear. She was correct about being both drawn to and smothered by Joe trying to make things better for her. It's evident that Beck's therapy sessions with Dr. Nicky were fruitful because for the first time on the series Beck was standing in her truth and taking action.
Grief isn't a straight line, Joe.
Beck
Beck has a lot of baggage that she hasn't unpacked nor sorted. It's also nice that she may be open to taking a break from writing.
Writing doesn't suit her right now, but it's possible it will in the future. Her most successful piece was the Red Ladle piece, and she lucked out on that.
Her therapy has genuinely helped her which makes Joe's actions all the more despicable.
The only time Joe had anything close to a leg to stand on was when he was pissed about Beck showing up late to her surprise party. Beck didn't know about her party, but even if she didn't, it was a dick move not calling or texting when she still knew she had plans with Joe.
She spent at least an hour with Nicky, but after that, she took a walk, went to a bar to write, drank three glasses of wine but didn't think she should maybe warn her boyfriend that she would be late?
Outside of that, Joe's level of crazy reached death-con levels, and it all started because he was jealous of Beck's therapy sessions.
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Beck's best friend "committed suicide," her ex-boyfriend "went off the grid," her father cut her off, her professor sexually harassed her, she lost her job all within a couple of months. It's normal and healthy for her to go to a therapist!
Joe's sense of entitlement is astonishing, but he was on a whole new level when it came to him wanting to know about her therapy.
Joe: Beck, just tell me. Tell me. Tell me the truth, and we can get through anything. If you can't tell me then show me. Show me your phone.
Beck: Are you serious right now?
Joe: You told me yourself you have a hard time with good guys.
Beck: What are you talking about?
Joe: The hootsie stuff.
Beck: OK, you wanna see my phone? Have at it, but if you do this, that means there is absolutely no trust between us, and if we don't have trust we have nothing. Do you trust me?
There isn't a single person on the planet who is owed information or explanations about every facet of your life. Sharing of oneself is a courtesy, not a requirement.
If Beck told him that after all the crap she had gone through that she was seeing a therapist, that should have been enough. No one person can be everything to you, and that's something Joe does not comprehend.
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It's evident that Joe wants to be all things to Beck. He has adopted tidbits from the other people in her life. He has been competing and attempting to beat Benji in the lovemaking department.
He started making her breakfast by using the same red ladle Beck's father used to make pancakes when she was a child. He wanted to take Peach's place by throwing a huge party the way she did. He reenacted Beck's first kiss as if trying to erase it and her first boyfriend from her mind.
He wanted to be Beck's sole confidante, and that's why Nicky, the least threatening individual Joe has gone after for Beck's sake, was who Joe directed his blazing hot anger towards next.
John Stamos is a gift from the gods, and he manages to age like a fine wine. I'm not unconvinced that he's a real-life Greek god, you know, one of the impossibly attractive ones, not Hephaestus.
Dr. Nicky is an excellent therapist. It's alarming that Joe tracked him down and used an alias and fake backstory to get a feel for the guy.
I think there are two of you. Two Paul Browns. One has been hurt in the past, felt betrayed and hopeless, but the other one has faith in spite of the evidence to the contrary. He believes true love exists, and that is someone I think I can help.
Dr. Nicky
Joe going after Nicky was the scariest he has been because he was completely irrational. Up until that point, he could rationalize many of his illegal, immoral, and despicable actions, and there was a logic, however warped, to them.
There was nothing logical about Joe going after Nicky, and because he wasn't behaving in the level of nuts we have grown accustomed to, there was a real fear that he would kill Nicky in the parking garage.
If he loved Beck as he professed, he wouldn't remove someone else from her life. He's "loving" her so hard he's willing to break her. Why take someone healthy out of her life during such a difficult time?
I wanted to be wrong. I never wanted to be wrong so badly in my life. I was begging to be proven wrong. But it was looking like I was right. You trust someone. You give them your heart, and what do they do? Is there even a punishment that fits the crime of lying, of manipulating like this? Of breaking someone's heart? I guess I'm bad at picking good people, but I'm good at catching bad people red-handed.
Joe Voiceover
Who in their right mind would jump to the conclusion that Beck was sleeping with her therapist?
A perturbed Joe blinded by jealousy as a result of the baggage he brought from his previous relationship, that's who. The scene at the party where they argued over the phone was troublesome. Beck catching Joe following her was even more so.
One minute Joe was trying to kill Nicky, and now he's seeing him professionally. It's a pity Joe is doing this under false pretenses. Nicky's analysis of Joe was accurate, and Joe could benefit from therapy.
The more determined Joe was that Beck had been cheating on him the clearer it became that Candace probably didn't cheat on him. The ghost of Candace is haunting Joe. Is it safe to say she is a ghost? It sounds that way.
Things don't look good for Beck. Joe didn't trust her. It took Joe breaking into Nicky's office and going through and listening to her therapy sessions before he believed Beck was doing what was best for herself.
Are you going to leave Beck alone or will she end up like me?
Candace
He loves her too much to let her go, even if it's for her good. Seconds after his hookup with Claudia's friend, he was back to stalking Beck's social media. He's obsessed, and that isn't going to change.
At the end of the season, Beck may be in Candace's shoes, and Candace must be dead. The path toward self-improvement that Beck is on may be short-lived; Beck may be on borrowed time.
Nicky and a contact high can't fix Joe anytime soon.
Additional Notes:
- Lynn was the uptight friend. Didn't it seem like she and Annika switched personalities?
- Are baseball bats the go-to weapon of choice for single women and mothers? It's hard to believe Ron could be chased away with a baseball bat.
- It looks like Ethan found somewhere to stick his meat.
- That party theme was unique, and so was Joe's Hemingway turtleneck and the scrabble cake.
- Is it the last of the Greenwich police checking up on Joe? How long before they close in on him for good?
- Joe stopped relying on his "crutches" and still self-sabotaged his relationship by being an abusive prick. He's hopeless.
- Pretentious Joe has to be a closet Beyonce fan. It's like the third time he's mentioned her. This time his fake boyfriend, Ronaldo, was her backup dancer.
Can Joe leave Beck alone for good? When will all the bodies catch up to Joe?
Do you expect Beck to survive the season? What are your Candace theories? Hit the comments!
If you need to catch up or want to enjoy this ride all over again, you can watch YOU online here via TV Fanatic!
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
