‘You’ Season 2: Here’s What Need to Remember from Season 1

If you’ve been feeling too comfortable dating, don’t worry. You Season 2 is here to destroy that happiness. And it’s coming at the tail end of the year to make sure you start off 2020 in a panic.

Based on the novel by Caroline Kepnes and developed for TV by Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble, You takes the “nice guy” trope and pushes it to its horrific limits. The series centers around a seemingly harmless bookworm named Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley). But despite his kind eyes and vows to dedicate his life to his girlfriend-of-the-week, Joe may be the most dangerous man around, a serial killer who will happily end anyone’s life at the drop of a hat.

Can’t wait to be simultaneously horrified and enchanted by You Season 2? Same here. Here’s everything you need to remember from You Season 1 before you start your binge-watch and swear off all social media on December 26.

What’s Going on with Ambyr Childers’ Candace in You?

Before there was Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail) there was Candace (Ambyr Childers), Joe’s first ex-girlfriend. Joe’s relationship with Candace was eerily similar to the one he had with Beck. In both cases he stalked her and made her entirely dependent on him, snapping only after she failed to do what he wanted. But instead of locking her away in an underground cage dedicated to restoring books, Joe buried Candace alive.

To Joe’s shock, Candace survived. In You’s final episode of Season 1 she appeared in Joe’s bookshop complete with dyed hair and heart-shaped sunglasses, saying that they needed to talk. And we already know this won’t be a fun conversation. As You Season 2’s trailer reveals, Candace has returned to settle her score with Joe and make him just as miserable he made her.

How Did Beck Die in You?

Poor, poor Beck. After killing her ex-boyfriend and best friend, the psychotic Joe finally targeted the supposed love of his life, Beck. This change of aggression happened after Joe discovered Beck had been sleeping with her therapist, Dr. Nicky (John Stamos). Joe locked her in the bookstore’s sealed cage, just as Mr. Mooney (Mark Blum) used to do to a younger Joe. He then gave her an ultimatum. She could either stay in there until her death or write her way out.

After several breakdowns Beck chose the latter, writing an elaborate (and at the time fictional) love story about how her therapist killed her. The details in that short story, Beck explained, could be used as an alibi for Joe’s many crimes. Beck asked Joe for a kiss, while secretly hiding a sharpened key from her typewriter, and Joe eventually relented. That devious kiss marked the beginning of the end for Beck.

After stabbing Joe, Beck locked her ex-boyfriend in the same cage that once imprisoned her. Joe escaped, there was a fight that involved her bashing his head with a sledgehammer, and Beck revealed that she could never love him.

In You Season 1’s final moments, we learn that Joe did indeed murder Beck. Not only that but he also successfully blamed her therapist for her death and compiled all of her work into a publishable collection of poems and short stories. At the end of this first season the dark face of love by Guinevere Beck is a bestseller. But not everyone believes what she wrote.

What Happened to Paco?

Joe’s subplots with his kid neighbor were never quite as scandalous as anything having to do with Beck, but they were still important. All throughout You Season 1, Paco’s (Luca Padovan) mother was in a relationship with an abusive parole officer named Ron (Daniel Cosgrove). Things were so bad between Ron and Claudia (Victoria Cartagena) that Paco would routinely stay with Joe in his apartment.

Joe eventually helped Paco in the only way he knew: with murder. In the final episode, Joe murdered Ron while Paco cowered in the corner. Joe pressured Paco to keep the killing secret to keep both himself and Paco’s mother out of trouble. The last we see Paco he and his mother are moving to California. Coincidentally, that’s where we know Joe is heading in You Season 2.

How Many People Has Joe Killed So Far?

Joe is up to five kills by the end of this first season. The first person we know he killed was Elijah (Esteban Benito), Candace’s music industry boyfriend who was pushed off the ledge of a building. Following Joe’s habit of murdering exes, Benji (Lou Taylor Pucci) was next. Beck’s ex-boyfriend was killed by the most sinister of all combinations, peanut oil and his own peanut allergy. Joe killed one more person “for” Beck, her best friend who was in love with her, Peach Salinger (Shay Mitchell). The socialite was shot.

Next up was the parole officer Ron (Cosgrove), who was stabbed to death by Joe. Ron is the only person we know of who was murdered not because of anyone Joe was dating. Instead Joe killed Ron to protect his neighbor Paco. Hey, it’s still murder but that one is at least a little easier to swallow. And finally Joe’s last kill of You Season 1 was his biggest obsession, Beck.

What Happened in Joe’s Childhood to Make Him This Way?

As horrible as Joe is to, well, everyone, You gives us a good reason for his psychosis. Growing up one of the few parental figures in Joe’s life was the bookstore owner Mr. Mooney. This angry old man would habitually lock Joe up, forcing him to restore old books and teaching him vague lessons. It’s because of Mr. Mooney that Joe knows how to make so many soundproof cages. It certainly doesn’t excuse or explain all of Joe’s neuroses, but it helps.

How Did You Season 1 End?

In You‘s final moments it seems as though Joe has gotten away with everything. Dr. Nicky has been arrested for the murder of Beck. The private investigator has been pulled off of Peach’s case. And Beck’s newly-published book is a huge success.

There’s only one person who can ruin Joe’s happiness, and that person should have died years ago. Candace emerges in You‘s final moments, vowing that she’s going to make Joe pay. And we are ready for this revenge epic.

Watch You on Netflix