You on Netflix got here to an finish with its fifth and remaining season. It was a conclusive full-circle second for the lead character, Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), an enthralling however obsessive serial killer with a darkish facet and a warped sense of actuality. However as followers of exhibits that later turned franchises know, a sequence finale doesn’t essentially imply that the story is finished. There are all the time completely different views to discover.
All through its run, many followers drew comparisons between You and Dexter. That Showtime sequence skilled a second life when it began streaming on Netflix. The reinvigorated consideration sparked inspiration, and out got here the restricted sequence revival, Dexter: New Blood, aimed toward righting the wrongs of the abysmal unique sequence finale. Now, there’s a forthcoming sequel sequence, Dexter: Resurrection, and a renewed prequel, Dexter: Unique Sin. May You be headed in the identical route?
Concepts for a ‘You’ Sequel Centered on Henry
Persevering with with the Dexter lore for instance, Dexter: New Blood picked up a decade later with title character Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Corridor) now dwelling beneath an assumed identification. However on the core was a deal with his now-teenage son, Harrison (Jack Alcott). Harrison was a younger boy when Dexter left him within the care of his girlfriend, Hannah (Yvonne Strahovski). As soon as she handed a decade later, Harrison discovered outdated letters, discovered who his organic father was, and got down to discover him.
It is easy to see how the story could possibly be mirrored with You. Whereas married to Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti), among the finest characters in You, Joe fathered a son named Henry, performed by Frankie DeMaio within the fifth season. Following Love’s dying, Joe left Henry within the care of mates to jaunt off to England and comply with Marienne (Tati Gabrielle). Upon returning to New York after clearing his title, his new spouse, Kate (Charlotte Ritchie), used her assets and appreciable wealth to assist Joe regain custody of his son.
By the tip of You, Henry was conscious of his father’s shortcomings, even calling him a monster. He was left in Kate’s care as soon as Joe went to jail. The story is eerily much like that of Dexter, besides Dexter went on the run whereas Joe was serving a sentence for his crimes.
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The ‘You’ Collection Finale Has a A lot Deeper That means That You Would possibly’ve Missed
Of their remaining moments collectively, new love curiosity Bronte goes past the ultimate woman trope and serves Joe a destiny worse than dying.
Co-showrunners Michael Foley and Justin W. Lo instructed TV Insider that they have been certainly contemplating a by-product centered round Henry. Nonetheless, they expressed reservations about persevering with the present with out Badgley. “I personally haven’t gone down the highway of what it could be like for a present centered round his son as a result of I simply suppose that the a part of the DNA of You is a lot Penn taking part in Joe,” stated Lo.
Nonetheless, there’s no cause the present couldn’t additionally embody Joe. It might comply with a now-grown Henry seeking to work together together with his father out of curiosity, closure, even perhaps to check him, write a ebook, or make a film. If he have been engaged on one thing, it could even present a chance for surviving victims to return, together with Marienne, Bronte/Louise (Madeline Brewer), Maddie Lockwood (Anna Camp), and Nadia (Amy-Leigh Hickman). Provided that Ellie Alves (Jenna Ortega), {the teenager} Joe despatched away after her older sister Delilah (Carmela Zumbado) died in one of the tragic deaths on the present, was an aspiring filmmaker, she would match completely. She might method Henry to work with him, being intimately accustomed to who his dad was and issues he might need finished.
Foley admitted that they did learn a “good script” that follows Henry reconnecting together with his father down the road, probably with an aged-up Badgley reprising his position as Joe, nonetheless in jail as he was when the present ended. Nonetheless, a author in London wrote that script, and there are authorized points to contemplate when pursuing that concept.
Nonetheless, the story might go in lots of different instructions, too. Maybe Henry has inherited a few of his father’s darkness, as is probably implied with Harrison in Dexter: Resurrection, which is ready to premiere in July 2025. Or he could possibly be in a job the place he wants to hunt counsel from his father, or is haunted by him, related in narrative to exhibits like Prodigal Son and even, on a psychological stage, Hannibal. Regardless of the angle, there’s potential for one thing compelling, permitting a brand new character to take heart stage with a recent perspective whereas nonetheless together with Badgley in an enormous method.
A ‘You’ Prequel Route Is a Viable Chance
Do We Need To See a Youthful Joe?
A derivative might additionally go in the other way and discover Joe’s childhood and youthful years, together with occasions in his life earlier than assembly, courting, stalking, and finally killing Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail). His time after assembly Beck marks the primary little bit of darkness in Joe that followers witness on display. However he’s already in his late 20s by this time.
Joe has mentioned his childhood in You, sharing tales that could possibly be expanded upon. He lived together with his mom and an abusive father. The second Joe killed his father, proven by way of transient flashbacks within the sequence, might have been a turning level in his psyche, or maybe he all the time had the darkness.
He additional deteriorated when his mom, whom he cherished so dearly, put him within the palms of social companies on the age of 12, after which he ended up in a bunch dwelling. By the point Joe escaped and located his mom years later, she was elevating a brand new son named Jacob and needed nothing to do with him. Not solely is there a lot to discover in regards to the growth of Joe’s abandonment points, however no matter occurred to Jacob? He was by no means talked about once more, and this half-brother might simply play into a brand new story.
Curiously, the existence of Jacob mirrors Dexter’s story, too, since he found he had an older brother, Brian Moser. His massive brother seems within the unique, revealing himself to be the Ice Truck Killer in Season 1 (performed by Christian Camargo). He additionally seems in a youthful type within the prequel sequence Dexter: Unique Sin, performed by Robby Attal. This passing point out of a half-brother for Joe opens the door to potential inclusions like these explored within the Dexter universe.
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You Most likely Missed the Deeper That means Behind the E book Joe Reads on the Finish of ‘You’
The ebook Joe is studying on the finish of the Netflix sequence is chilling, particularly contemplating how related, and dissimilar, his scenario is.
There’s much more story to inform main as much as the time Joe turns into a younger man and begins killing. You followers know that Joe finally meets retired jail guard Ivan Mooney (Mark Blum), who adopts him. That is when Joe started working at Ivan’s bookstore, however quickly discovered himself within the cycle of abuse as soon as once more.
When Joe will get into bother at college, Ivan punishes him by doing the exact same factor Joe finally does to his victims: locking him within the glass cage within the basement of the bookstore till he proves that he has discovered his lesson. Joe’s life was not solely marred by the abuse of his father, violent family, and abandonment by his mom, but in addition by the abuse that continued into younger maturity by the one particular person he trusted to guard him.
Followers know from Season 1 that Joe went on to kill a person with whom his ex-girlfriend, Candace Stone (Ambyr Childers), was dishonest on him, then tried to kill her. These have been presumably his first victims, after his father. However Joe has been identified to dissociate from himself, as evidenced in an enormous method in Season 4. So, telling a narrative of earlier killings that possibly even Joe didn’t bear in mind might make for an fascinating twist. It might even be intriguing to see Joe’s story with Candace past the brief flashbacks.
What’s extra, there’s an adoptive father-and-son relationship to discover between Joe and Ivan, much like the one between Dexter and his adoptive father, Harry Morgan (performed by James Remar within the unique, and Christian Slater in Dexter: Unique Sin). Whereas Harry was a loving father, the antithesis of Ivan, the tales share similarities in an vital method. Harry helped Dexter redirect his darkish urges, permitting him to solely kill criminals who skirted justice. When Joe confessed to Ivan that he had killed the younger man Candace was dishonest on him with, Ivan comforted him and instructed him that some folks should die anyway. Exploring their dynamic and what position Ivan performed in additional shaping Joe might show simply as attractive in a You prequel because it has within the Dexter prequel.
Most significantly, in relation to a possible prequel sequence, it must draw inspiration from Dexter: Unique Sin and be narrated by Badgley. This could tie the tales collectively and hold Badgley concerned. Followers might proceed to listen to the identical interior monologue, even when one other actor performs him on display. Given the success of Dexter: Unique Sin, it’s a viable possibility price contemplating.
The underside line: there’s a lot alternative to show the present You right into a franchise. If Dexter has been any indication, and given the similarities between the tales, it might work. And followers could be all for it. We haven’t had sufficient of Joe Goldberg simply but. Optimistically, it received’t take greater than a decade for one in every of these spinoff concepts to return to fruition. For now, we are able to proceed with our personal fan fiction. Stream You on Netflix.