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| “ | Sometimes we do bad things for the people we love. It doesn't mean its right it means love is more important. | „ |
| ~ Joe explaining his worldview to Paco |
Joe Goldberg is the main protagonist in the Netflix thriller series You, based on the novel of the same name by Caroline Kepnes.
He is portrayed by Penn Badgley, and Gianni Ciardiello as young man
Biography
Joe manages a bookshop called Mooney’s. During his youth, the owner, Mr. Mooney (who was his adopted father) would physically beat him and lock him in the basement, scarring the boy and warping his mind.
Sometime before the story begins, Joe was dating a woman named Candace. The relationship seemed happy enough, but Joe caught Candace cheating on him. Driven further into insanity, Joe killed the man and Candace disappeared shortly after that.
One day a young woman named Beck caught Joe's eye. instantly obsessed, Joe begins stalking her while plotting the best way to enter her life and be her ideal boyfriend. He lies, steals, assaults, kidnaps and even murders in order to form his idealised relationship with Beck. Eventually Beck finds out that Joe has been stalking her, which leads to Joe turning on the very woman he claimed to love and eventually killing her.
In season two, Joe had become a bookstore clerk at the Anavrin, and has fallen in love with Love Quinn, and later learns that she isn't so different from him. He also has to deal with Candace returning to his life, as she wants to ruin Joe after he thought he killed her. Joe befriends his neighbor Ellie Alves, and wants to protect her from comedian Henderson, who supposedly abused Ellie's sister, Delilah.
Personality
Joe is extremely obsessed with Beck to a very unhealthy degree. While he does have a strong desire to do right by her he is extremely delusional about what is best for her and as a result commits many atrocious acts against her and those around them such as stalking Beck and checking all the text conversations on her phone. When she gives him a final rejection in the end Joe murders her.
Having been severely abused as a child himself Joe is very sympathetic to the son of his neighbour Paco who is being abused by his step father Ron. Paco's mother Claudia too is being abused by him. Joe is consistently supportive to Paco throughout the first season and works to try and get rid of Ron. Upon finding out that Ron is a probation officer and is forcing Claudia to allow him to live with her and Paco by threatening to use his influence to have Paco removed from her custody if she leaves him Joe murders Ron.
Joe takes it upon himself to do right by those he "loves" and believes anything he does for that purpose is justified. Joe is blind to the fact he does not love Beck but rather is obsessed with her and murders those who hurt or abuse her.
Being rejected by someone he is obsessed with causes him to have an emotional meltdown as seen when he murdered Candace for trying to run away from him and Beck for trying to escape from him.
Over the course of the second season of the show more of Joe's backstory is revealed. His mother was unhappy in her marriage to his father who was abusive towards the both of them and has a result she began having an affair. Joe was aware of his mother's infidelity but never admitted it to his father even when he burned his cigarette to force Joe to tell the truth. When Joe's father attempted to kill his mother Joe found a hidden gun in the closet he was hiding and without warning shot and killed his own father. His mother presumably took the blame to protect him. As a result Joe was placed into foster care until he was taken in Mr. Mooney who subjected Joe to abuse in his own twisted way of making Joe as "dedicated" as he was in preserving his book collection. Mooney enabling Joe after committing his first murder was arguably the last straw before Joe truly lost touch with his sanity.
As the second season progresses Joe while continuing his pattern of stalking, obsessing over, and starting a romance with his new co-worker Love Quinn, Joe eventually comes to the realization that he's done horrible monstrous things and that he needs to come clean allow himself to be taken in, and stop lying to himself from this point on. He admits everything in front of Love and Candace and plans to wait for Candace to turn him in only for Love to kill her. Joe feels guilty believing he caused Love to have a psychotic break. When Love reveals that she's always been like this Joe is appalled by this showing that he now has a much better sense of morality. At first he plans to kill Love and turn himself in but upon learning she is pregnant with his daughter he choses to be with her for the sake of their child. Later he admits that in spite of what she did Joe does in fact love Love, as they're kindred spirits who can find solace in each other after what they'd done and been through. When Love's brother Forty deduces the truth and prepares to kill him Joe accepts his fate (showing that he still has desire for some form of penance) only to be saved due to the intervention of a nearby police officer.
Also given two separate occasions where Joe was being indecisive as to whether or not what he was doing was right implies Joe may suffer from a split personality that alternates between a sane part of him and an insane part.
Gallery
Trivia
- Joe's actor, Penny Badgley wasn't nearly as adept with social media as his character.