This article contains spoilers for ‘You’, both the novels and Netflix series.
By now we’ve become well acquainted with the sinister Joe Goldberg, and his murderous antics in Netflix’s viral thriller You, but now we’re preparing to learn a whole new side to the serial killer with the upcoming release of author Caroline Kepnes’ third instalment, You Love Me.
For those unfamiliar, the streaming service’s psychological drama, starring Gossip Girl alum Penn Badgley, was based on the best-selling novels by Kepnes.
The first of the series, You, released in 2014, follows Joe, an insular bookseller who falls in love with Guinevere Beck, an aspiring writer who makes the fatal mistake of walking into his store one day. Its 2016 sequel, Hidden Bodies, follows Joe’s move to L.A.—but while attempting to start a new life, he becomes enamoured by heiress Love Quinn, and the pair turn out to be a match made in heaven, topping off their romance with a few murders along the way.
The third novel You Love Me, set to be released in April 2021, follows Joe on yet another move, except this time to a cosy island in the Pacific Northwest, where he finds a job at the local library and strikes up a liking to librarian Mary Kay DiMarco.
“Joe cleared his decks. He’s ready. And hopefully, with his encouragement and undying support, Mary Kay will do the right thing and make room for him,” the official description reads.
Of course, the second book and season diverged pretty clearly from one another. For one, Love is not a killer in the books, but she does forgive Joe for his transgressions, and secondly, Joe is in jail in the books, not roaming around cities wreaking havoc.
Earlier this year, Kepnes gave Roling Stone a hint about what Joe could be up to in the third novel—and it includes music. “Joe meets a former grunge rocker,” she told the outlet. “I wrote some lyrics for the imaginary band. Gulp.”
The author also gave a couple more hints about the story, saying “yes, the new book has a body count.” Honestly, what else could we expect from Joe?
As for the third season, considering season two diverged quite heavily from the original storyline it’s safe to assume the upcoming production will do the same, although the author has revealed the creative team have read the novel.
Its title characters Penn Badgley and Victoria Pedretti will reprise their now-famous roles as Joe and Love, while co-creators era Sara Gamble and Greg Berlanti, will also take a seat behind the cameras once more as executive producers.
Kepnes has also been writing a fourth novel—which means a fourth season is definitely a possibility.
Looks like we’re not done with Joe yet!
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