You are all acutely aware of my anticipation, my fervent yearning, my incessant pleading for this series to unleash its boundless madness, a chaos that I am convinced, deep in its deranged soul, it is fated to embody. And throughout this season, I have harbored the hope that perhaps Love had committed a homicide of her own, making her an even more fitting soul mate than Joe could fathom. Alas, as of our current knowledge, she did not dispatch her husband—though his demise from natural causes serves as quite the misleading red herring! Instead, she concludes this episode by wielding a shattered bottle, slicing open Candace's jugular, mirroring the very cause of our beloved Delilah's passing. DUN DUN DUNNNN! Each character in this narrative is either a psychopathic killer, a victim or soon-to-be victim, or an innocent minor whose life, though spared from the series' grim fate, will undeniably be ruined due to their proximity to a menagerie of creeps, liars, and unintentional murderers. And I eagerly embrace it all.
That being said, I remain unconvinced by these unnecessary sepia-tinged flashbacks to Joe's childhood (which presumably took place in... the late 1990s? Why must everything be tinted with the hues of the Oregon Trail?). We are all aware: His father was abusive, his mother a helpless victim, placing her son in an untenable position. Beyond the predictable denouement of this tragic family saga—Joe shooting his father to save his mother, marking the inception of a pattern of "theoretically justified killings in defense of a woman he loves"—this episode's jaunt down memory lane yields precisely zero new insights, leaving one to ponder the necessity of lingering there amidst the escalating present-day drama.
Let's rewind to the episode's onset: Joe is in disbelief over Delilah's demise. Granted, he has a murderer's tally under his belt. Certainly, he imprisoned her in a human aquarium, shackled by time-release handcuffs, for a grueling 16 hours, and his LSD-induced blackout erases his recollections of the preceding night. Yet, there must be an explanation, one that absolves Joe and restores his worthiness in Love's eyes. He resolves to uncover Delilah's killer, even if it means confronting his own darkness.
At the episode's outset, I must confess to a twinge of irritation at the perceived dawdling. Why squander precious time in the penultimate episode of the season, waiting for Joe to unravel the inevitable? Who else could know about the storage unit, gain access, and harbor a motive strong enough to kill Delilah? Based on current intelligence, the suspects are few: the real Will (supposedly in Manila), perhaps Candace? The list isshort, and Joe swiftly crosses Will off. The Will saga strikes me as preposterous, even by You's standards. Am I really expected to believe he'd offer Joe his genuine contact details, maintaining such a bizarre connection? But the crucial takeaway is clear: It wasn't Will. Sometimes, when caution flags of catfishing flutter, there actually exists a beautiful woman on the other end, ready to wed once her suitor wires her a substantial sum. Romance, indeed!
It takes Joe some time to meticulously piece together the events of his tumultuous night. Meanwhile, Ellie begins to sense that something is amiss, her instincts tingling. Delilah remains mysteriously absent, ignoring her texts. Joe promptly alerts Officer Fincher to the disturbing revelation that Delilah had been receiving death threats from deranged Hendy fans, who had misinterpreted her #MeToo essay. With that settled, he sets off to play the role of a detective, driven by concern.
Love, meanwhile, takes charge of babysitting Ellie, instructing her on the delicate art of chopping vegetables. Ellie's hand hovers perilously close to the large knife, and Love's nonchalant ease with sharp objects is almost unsettling—perhaps a little too comfortable for comfort. Ellie vents her heart out, expressing her grief over the loss of her father, the only parent who truly understood her, leaving her and Delilah essentially alone in the world. The realization hammers home Ellie's isolation, her life marred by a string of misfortunes, culminating in her encounter with not one but two narcissistic murderers.
Joe pays a visit to Forty's place, where Dottie greets him at the door. She acknowledges that Joe is aware of the family's dark secret, assuring him that his secrets are safe with her. However, one wonders if she is truly privy to any of Joe's secrets. Forty bursts in, rambling about the mind-altering effects of drugs, his words painting a picture of divine intimacy that borders on sacrilege. He embraces his mother a little too intimately, fueling speculations about the Quinn family's true story—perhaps an incestuous nightmare waiting to unfold. Could Dottie's harsh treatment of Love stem from bitterness over the closer bond shared by the siblings? Did she eliminate the au pair out of jealousy, envying the connection she was forming with her son? Is this the reason she drifts through life, enveloped in a haze of medications and Moon Juice? One can only hope for such revelations.
Forty informs Joe that it was Joe's idea to seek out Delilah, and this quest sparked Forty's desire to reconnect with Candace. Igor, the driver, had taken them to a nondescript downtown corner where the storage unit was located. Joe is eager to delve deeper into this lead, but a call from Love interrupts him—a fake 911 call, which makes one wish at least three characters in this episode had the sense to make genuine emergency calls at crucial junctures. Ellie, sensing something is wrong with Delilah, is understandably convinced of her worst fears. Joe rushes back to the apartment, enveloping Ellie in a comforting embrace, his sociopathic nature further underscored by his actions. Across the room, Love watches this heartfelt scene, and one can almost imagine her becoming pregnant at the mere sight of Joe tending to the distressed child.
Left to her own devices, Candace visits Forty, praising him as a "genius" for his revised Beck script. She confesses to Forty that she had told him the truth about Joe, but he remains unconvinced. She spells it out clearly: "Hector" from Beck's book is Joe, and Dr. Nicky is innocent. "Don't come crying to me when he kills your sister," she warns, her words resonating with a finality that is both chilling and powerful. While one isn't entirely convinced that Candace will survive the season, her attempt to convince Forty, though imperfect, deserves some appreciation.
Joe ponders deeply on what course of action would be best for Ellie, wishing fervently that he had never intertwined his life with hers in the first place. Contemplating his next move, he concludes that tricking her into believing her sister is still alive by using Delilah's phone is a merciful act—though this revelation hints at a sociopathic tendency. With this plan in mind, he intends to flee with Love, raising Ellie as their own. However, as he attempts to unlock Delilah's phone using facial recognition, it slips from his grasp, shattering the screen beyond repair. Left helpless, Joe sits beside her lifeless form, whispering empty reassurances, when unexpectedly, Candace enters the scene.
Candace had caught sight of the storage unit in a video Forty had sent her the previous night. My notes were filled with urgency: "I swear, if she goes there alone, I'll leap through the screen myself to stop her." Arriving armed only with pepper spray, she seemingly courts danger, mirroring the reckless disregard for safety displayed by everyone in this narrative. With precision, she temporarily blinds Joe with pepper spray, seizes his phone, and confines him within the unit, alongside Delilah's body. I scream silently at my television, "Call the police, Candace!" as instead, she sends a text to Love, summoning her to witness Joe for herself.
Given Love's alliances, what are the chances she will side with Candace's narrative over suspecting Candace of murdering Delilah and framing Joe? Or believe she constructed this grim trap using hush money from the Quinns? While I acknowledge law enforcement's past failures towards Candace, is this truly the moment for her to nurse grudges?
Joe leans back, his mind creating a montage of all the homicides he has committed in the past. Love bursts in, insisting that Candace must set Joe free. My notes are laden with exasperated thoughts: "This girl is utterly irrational—why doesn't she just DIAL 911, DROP A GPS PIN, or STREAM THIS chaos live on TikTok? Even Hansel and Gretel had the sense to leave bread crumbs on their casual woodland stroll. How could she be so oblivious to her peril on this reckless, potentially fatal endeavor?"
Joe confesses, explaining that he committed these murders "to measure up to you, Love." He reveals that Delilah must have been killed because she discovered his role in Henderson's murder. Love storms out in tears. Joe ponders, "If I had only walked into a different bookstore, one not run by a former Soviet prison guard, might I have been a better man?" Additionally, Joe has hidden a spare key inside the prison—a detail that, of course, he overlooked until now. The reasoning behind why he didn't use it sooner remains a mystery. Nonetheless, he decides it's time to assume responsibility for his actions and tosses the key outside. The decisions made by these characters are nothing short of bewildering, threatening to induce a headache of monumental proportions.
Candace, concerned, follows Love out. In return for this gesture, Love stabs Candace in the throat, fulfilling her vision of a death as sacred as it is grim—dying in a pool of her own blood, in the most dreary storage facility Los Angeles has ever seen. Love then returns to Joe, who is on the brink of madness. "Where's Candace?" he asks. With the calm demeanor of a seasoned mob boss, Love assures him, "I took care of it."
