Into The Woods
Episode 5 of You Season 3 begins with Joe and Love back in therapy and doing much better. As Love calls it, they’ve turned into a “boring suburban family.” It’s been six months and unfortunately their initial spark has worn off too. Well, Chandra suggests that Joe should work harder to make friends outside of work. And just to seal the deal, we get the dreaded “I wolf you” line come back too. Part of this suburban life comes from Love cozying up to Sherry. And why has Love made her her BFF? Well, she wants to help get Henry into the prestigious Ashman School. Only, all it’s doing is pushing Joe further away and alienating him from the woman he’s married. Guess who isn’t? Marienne. She and Joe end up having a lot in common, with her even entering an illustration contest and discussing their love of reading and books together. Unfortunately Joe starts fantasizing about kissing his colleague and it’s at this point where he realizes he has a problem and needs to try and fix his marriage. However, when Theo shows up in town he ends up growing suspicious of Love, especially when he walks into an awkward silence mid-conversation. It’s awkward and alarm bells immediately start ringing for Joe. When he does some digging, Joe notices UBER charges and that Love kissed Theo. This is the final straw for Joe, who chalks this marriage roadblock up to Love’s dishonesty. Love bites back, encouraging him to get his act together and heads off to work, just as Joe goes on a retreat with the lads into the woods. The trip in the woods isn’t exactly enthralling for Joe, especially with Cary continuing his alpha-male schtick. Even worse, Cary decides to cling to Joe for the night, determined to let Joe release his inner-beast and loosen up. this eventually leads to him goading Joe into fighting. Only, Joe pushes him square off the cliff. A lot of this pent up frustration stems from Joe’s upbringing, where he was bullied relentlessly by the other boys. Anyway, Joe brings Cary back to camp but instead of lashing out at his push, Cary welcomes him in as “one fine specimen.” It’s certainly unexpected and in fact, Joe ends up breaking down into tears. Despite his worst tendencies coming out, being accepted as a friend is something that feels completely alienating to Joe and he’s overwhelmed. While Joe is accepted in, Love grows closer to Theo. After a scooter ride and a confession, the two end up rolling around kissing. However, Love’s mother notices the pair getting out the car together and claims Love is someone who wants to “fix” problems, hence her fascination with Theo. The ensuing result sees Love message Theo and tell him to find someone her own age. She’s out… or is she? That evening, Joe returns and the pair end up having sex. However, the alarm goes off at the bakery and this ultimately causes Joe to head off to take a look. However, he gets distracted and winds up watching Marienne from his car instead. I guess old habits die hard! And when it comes to Love, she notices Theo outside with a random girl giving him oral. As she watches him from the window, the two lock eyes.
The Episode Review
The halfway point fop You sees us reach somewhat of a crossroads. The show seems intent on trying to set up Love and Joe as this happy family but it’s also clear that the pair are struggling with their obsession with past ties. With no end-goal in sight, this almost feels like a deep breath before we plunge into a bigger overarching story. Unlike the first and second seasons though, this one feels quite disjointed, with Henry appearing to be the bridge… but then forgotten about for long stretches of time. For a couple that are having trouble with their child and marriage, they sure don’t seem to be spending loads of time with him! Love is obviously off with her bakery while Joe works in the library, with Love’s mum doing the heavy lifting. Of course, there’s still time for the stories to align and change but right now it’s unclear whether Natalie’s death will play a larger role in the rest of the story. We’ll have to wait and see!
