Warning: This story contains spoilers from You season 2.
What does the future for Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) look like? It’s complicated, showrunner Sera Gamble teased during the latest episode of the “Watch With Us” podcast.
“It’s a show about love and obsession and where the line is between the two of those — and the character of Joe will always look outside himself for this thing that completes him,” Gamble, 36, tells Us Weekly exclusively. “He has the perplexity to see a girl and think that she’s The One. I don’t see any signs of stopping that, but we never want to make a season that feels like it’s trying to replicate the one before. He has a baby on the way and Love has moved from that perfect girl that he’s trying to win to the real girl, who’s maybe not exactly what he’s expected … to something much more like a wife.”
At the end of season 2, Love (Victoria Pedretti) revealed to Joe that she was pregnant and the duo bought a house in the suburbs. He also found out that she was much more similar to him than he ever knew — she killed multiple people, including his ex-girlfriend Candace (Ambyr Childers).
“She’s certainly set up to have very much her own story moving forward,” Gamble says about diving deeper into Love’s story in future seasons. “It’s an interesting balance with the show You in particular because so much the show is interested in showing you the world through this particular man’s gaze. He is our window into the world, in a much more direct way than on a lot of other shows. The intention is to build her out — her point of view, her desires, her problems — in a way that makes her feel as fully realized as her troubled romantic partner.”
So, what does father Joe look like? While he’s a serial killer, he does have a sense of family that could make him a good father — possibly.
“I think the very best thing inside of Joe is his desire to protect innocent young people. That’s so sincere. It’s obvious that he doesn’t have any ulterior motive beyond maybe just wanting another kid to have a better childhood than he did,” the Magicians showrunner says. “I mean, the argument can be made that he saved both [Paco and Ellie], but the argument can probably more strongly be made that he came into their lives and destroyed them.”
Greg Berlanti, who adapted Caroline Kepnes‘ novels with Gamble, has many ideas about what’s coming for Joe as a dad.
“Greg has so many really fun ideas. He’s newly a father again,” she shares. “He has two young children. I don’t have kids but other people in the writers’ room do and he does so he’s like, ‘Let me tell me about some of the horror stories!’ I’m excited to dive into a whole new world.”
For more from Gamble on You and what’s coming on The Magicians season 5, listen to the “Watch With Us” podcast above. Subscribe for free for more exclusive TV news and interviews.
You seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Netflix.
