Joe's heart sank with absolute horror as he laid eyes on the dilapidated basement and the grim spectacle of Marienne, starving inside her human aquarium. He had come bearing tokens of his kindness—a book, pencils, and an apology—but his gesture seemed lost on the macabre scene. Meanwhile, Hallucination Rhys, a.k.a. Shadow Joe, reveled in the drama with delighted glee. Nadia, crouching stealthily behind a wall, managed to elude detection by sheer miracle. As Joe departed, she and Marienne conspired to devise a chilling plan to eliminate Joe, involving ketamine (courtesy of Edward, her boyfriend-cum-drug-dealer) to sedate him, a drill to breach the door, and a knife for Marienne to ensure the deed was done. Ironically, amidst this plot, I couldn't help but appreciate the sight of women empowering each other in STEM and beyond!
Elsewhere, Kate found herself at Adam and Phoebe’s engagement bash, which had unexpectedly morphed into their wedding. Adam's transformation from a casually neglectful partner to a gold-digging megalomaniac was anything but subtle, but then again, subtlety has never been 'You's' strong suit. Phoebe, in the throes of a cocaine-induced spiral, seemed blissfully unaware of the mess around her, despite her parents boycotting the festivities upon realizing it was a wedding. Though Phoebe was clearly unraveling, I admired her flair for fashion, her robe a testament to her ability to dress impeccably even amidst chaos. Kate, in a desperate bid to intervene, pleaded with Phoebe to call off the wedding, only to be met with a fierce rebound. Phoebe, insisting she was no fairy princess, felt compelled to tie the knot. Logical? Hardly. But then, reason had long deserted the premises. Kate fled to the bar to text her no-show date, wondering when Jonathan would finally grace the party with his presence.
Joe, meanwhile, was preoccupied with devising an escape plan from the country once Marienne was free. Hallucination Rhys/Shadow Joe urged Joe to inspect his freezer, prompting me to wonder, "Good Lord, how many body parts are we accumulating here?" Instead, it was a GUN that Hallucination Rhys/Shadow Joe proposed Joe use to end Marienne's suffering. Joe balked, heading straight for Sundry House. At the sight of Kate, the world softened around them, but I remained unmoved by their supposed romantic tension. Joe's attentions had been too divided this season—his fascination with Rhys undeniable, his obsession with Marienne unbroken—and the chemistry between him and Kate lacked the spark we so crved. The narrative felt congested and disjointed.
Upon learning of Kate's failed attempt to deter Phoebe, Joe decided his "mission was clear"—he must thwart the wedding. Another mission, so late in the game, unrelated to his core storyline as a serial killer with a split personality! The disjointed nature of the plot was exasperating. Initially, I'd hoped for some resolution to the season opener's mystery—what Joe had said to Phoebe in his intoxicated state that had so profoundly altered her life. Alas, such was not to be. Sloppy storytelling, indeed, and quite rude! In truth, the sole purpose of this detour was to reveal Phoebe's reliance on Diazepam and other medications scattered about Sundry House, which Joe pocketed for later use. Their conversation failed to deter Phoebe but instead triggered a full-blown psychotic episode. Adam's arrival, complete with douchebaggy blonde highlights (you know the ones), sealed their fate as he had Kate and Joe ejected from the premises.
Kate, barefoot and undeterred, strides through the bustling streets of London beside Joe, whose casual demeanor belies the harrowing realization that he had once abducted Marienne, leaving her to a grim fate in his macabre human aquarium. As the night unfolds in an almost surreal leisureliness, Joe regales Kate with tender, romantic declarations, painting a picture of transformation: "You have illuminated my world, like a window does a darkened room." However, his abrupt departure, citing "matters to attend to," should have raised red flags in Kate's mind—especially considering Joe's supposed engagement at a wedding that had abruptly ended in ejection. Yet, love-struck Kate remains oblivious. The show's murky portrayal of time makes it difficult to ascertain the exact duration of their acquaintance, but it feels scarcely more than a fleeting couple of months. Kate's infatuation renders her as blindly trusting as Phoebe.
As dawn breaks with harsh clarity, it emerges that Phoebe, the recent bride, stumbled into the night amidst a nervous breakdown, leading to her involuntary commitment. Kate confides in her father, who awaits her with a comforting cup of coffee, revealing Adam's ironclad control over Phoebe's finances and life, a situation beyond anyone's power to alter. Meanwhile, Lockwood unexpectedly presents himself at Kate's doorstep, seemingly inspired by Joe's entrance into her life. He declares that Kate's horizons are too narrow and urges her to embark on a grand venture—a monumental operation, he promises, that will empower her to "spare 10,000 souls for every one she inadvertently harms."
Joe, on the other hand, begins his day by delivering breakfast to Marienne, only to discover through her phone a harsh truth: Marienne has lost custody of Juliette, her daughter, who is now bound for the United States with her grandmother. Beatrice, Juliette's babysitter, coldly informs Marienne that she has no right to interfere anymore. Marienne, desolate and believing she has lost her only reason to live, wails in despair. The sinister specter of Rhys/Shadow Joe whispers encouragement for a mercy killing.
Elsewhere, Nadia, a criminal clumsier than a novice on ice skates, attempts to sneak past a turnstile while boarding the Tube, only to spill her suspicious paraphernalia in plain sight of a bystander. One wonders, couldn't she have simply topped up her Oyster card? Instead, her clumsiness lands her in handcuffs.
Joe concocts a harebrained scheme to silence his inner demons by consuming a generous quantity of Diazepam, intending to outlast them until dawn. Personally, if I harbored a penchant for blacking out and committing heinous acts, I'd steer clear of such reckless experiments with narcotics at such a pivotal juncture. (Setting an alarm, at least, before succumbing to slumber, would be prudent!) Joe succumbs to a series of unsettling and markedly drug-induced visions.
In his dreamscape, Joe finds himself ensnared by a forgotten cage code, repeatedly punching in 121389—an enigmatic sequence that strikes me as Taylor Swift's birthdate (December 13, 1989), albeit I hesitate to attribute this solely to Joe Goldberg being a closet Swiftie. If indeed he is, what a delightful, unexpected Easter egg! Amidst his reverie, Joe inadvertently (or perhaps intentionally) poisons Marienne's coffee with peanut oil, mirroring the exact manner in which he dispatched Beck's first beau in Season One.
Next, Joe hallucinates Gemma, her presence in his dream a tantalizing enigma; she mocks him relentlessly for slaying her and shirking accountability. She fades away abruptly, leaving Joe to confront a podium in a classroom brimming with Beck clones. At the helm stands Beck herself, reading from "Bluebeard's Castle," a tale of a woman who marries a wealthy man only to uncover his grim secret—the murder of his six former wives. How relatable, indeed! She introduces Joe to the room as the author who "completed my story after I expired in his embrace," labeling him "pathetic." Upon turning, Joe beholds his human aquarium, teeming with life, occupied by Love, who is engrossed in Rhys' book. Marienne lies asphyxiating on the floor nearby. Love poses a poignant question to Joe about the essence of love (sans capitalization), and then hands him an object that reveals itself to be a firearm: "Someone must perish for this to conclude definitively," she decrees. The gun presses against Joe's temple; with a thunderous bang, he awakens abruptly.
Joe confides to his hallucinatory doppelgänger, Rhys/Shadow Joe, that he knows the path to "terminate this cycle forever." As anticipated, Hallucination Rhys/Shadow Joe vehemently opposes Joe's contemplation of suicide. Yet, Joe is resolved to silence that fraction of himself once and for all.
Back at Sundry House, Adam finds himself immersed in what he believes to be the pinnacle of his S&M fantasies. However, just as the words, "I'm in control now," escape his lips, his dominator and a group of thugs suddenly brandish an assortment of knives, ruthlessly ending his life. It's unmistakably Lockwood's doing, a realization that dawns on Kate with alarming swiftness. While this grim turn of events is intended to underscore the season's overarching theme—men exerting control over women and perpetrating horrific violence under the pretext of acting in their best interests—the manner in which this plot is executed feels overly melodramatic and fails to enhance the narrative's depth.
Kate storms over to her father's airplane hangar (how fitting, given his penchant for tinkering with aircraft in his leisure time), and lambasts him for orchestrating Adam's demise. Lockwood, feigning innocence, retorts, "I did what you asked me to do!" Apparently, had she refrained from voicing her disdain for Adam to her notoriously trigger-happy father, this tragedy could have been avoided. This predicament mirrors Meadow's reluctance to confide in her dad about Coco's incriminating words—when your father's hand in murder is a known fact, discretion around him becomes paramount. Kate, however, fails to grasp this subtlety, severing ties with her father in an emotional outburst.
Lockwood ignores her wishes, unburdening himself of a truth that, admittedly, shouldn't have come as a shock to Kate: her entire life of perceived independence was meticulously constructed by her father. He orchestrated every move, ensuring she believed she was forging her own path while her true identity remained obscured by his manipulations. Like Joe with his alleged love interests, Lockwood's modus operandi revolves around "keeping her safe" by erasing unpleasant truths—such as quashing Me Too allegations against Malcolm—that Kate knows nothing about, by design. Despite her efforts to escape, she remains his cherished child. "I own everything in this world I want, including you," he asserts. The highlight of this confrontation is Kate's departure, met with her father's casual admonition, "I want you to drive careful though, okay?" Greg Kinnear delivers this line with impeccable nuance, bringing a chilling authenticity to the scene.
Honestly, this season would have been infinitely more captivating had we encountered Lockwood in the season premiere! Instead of the convoluted mess of a split personality revelation that Rhys isn't actually Rhys, Joe could have faced a genuine adversary: a man capable of outmaneuvering Joe in his quest to court and protect the very woman he desires. Imagine the dark, gothic horror twist if Joe's rival for Kate's affections turned out to be her own father. The revelation would have shattered Joe's illusion that his behavior has some definitive end, some ultimate act of violence that would suffice. But the truth is, nothing will ever be enough for someone like him! Change is not in his nature. Alas, what we got instead were five episodes filled with mundane murders of uninteresting rich folks, the likes of which wouldn't even be welcomed at the White Lotus. Joe committed these crimes in a drug-induced fugue state, while his conscious self ran in circles, chasing his own tail. What a colossal missed opportunity!
Back in town, Nadia is released from the police station to find her devoted boyfriend waiting patiently outside with a backpack filled with ketamine and the means to secure her bail. His dedication is boundless, while her mind is elsewhere. Their purity is their undoing; there's no way both of them will survive this season unscathed.
Joe finally returns to his human aquarium, only to discover Marienne unconscious, apparently having consumed all the drugs. My suspicion lingers that she pretended to take them, faking her unconsciousness just as she did when Joe first brought her here. Full-circle deception! Hallucination Rhys, or Shadow Joe, takes Marienne's apparent demise at face value and is overjoyed. Oh, how annoying he is! Is there any way Joe can rid himself of this pesky alter ego once and for all?
