Previously, in episode 1 of “You,” after having his heart broken by Marienne, Joe Goldberg got a helping hand from Elliot, who gave him his new life as Jonathan Moore. Joe accepted a position at a university where his colleague, Malcolm, who was also his neighbor, entangled him in greater danger. After getting drunk at one of Malcolm’s friends, Adam Pratt’s sundry house, Joe awoke the next morning to find Malcolm dead in his living room. Joe couldn’t remember when he killed him, but he did an excellent job of cleaning up the mess. Later, a mysterious text alerted him that the killer was not him but someone from Malcolm’s group of socialites. Even Malcolm’s girlfriend, Kate, could be the murderer. A serial killer Joe Goldberg became all of a sudden a whodunit investigator, desperate to find out who killed Malcolm; otherwise, he knew his newly started life would be in jeopardy.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Was The Second Victim? Why Was Simon The Prime Suspect?
Episode 2 opens at Kate’s house at dinner, where Joe is keeping a close eye on everyone and listening in on their conversations for any hints. But finding the killer wasn’t so easy. Joe was intrigued when Phoebe’s American boyfriend, Adam Pratt mentioned Simon’s art exhibit, but how could Joe go there without an invitation? He received the invitation card as soon as he arrived home, but he was unable to identify the sender. Using Google, he discovered Kate was the owner of the gallery where Simon’s art show would be held. He added Kate to his list of potential suspects, but once at the campus, he realized Kate was rather concerned about Malcolm’s disappearance and was frequently leaving him voicemails. She may have been displaying her fear to convince Joe that she wasn’t the murderer, so Joe was unable to remove her from the suspect list.
Joe knew that he needed some help from whodunit mysteries, such as those found in Agatha Christie novels, to answer this puzzle, but his student Nadia caught up with him in the library. She volunteered to help him out, pointing out a few ideas on how to solve a murder mystery. The motive is always sex, money, or revenge, and the leading suspect is always the second victim; there could never be a coincidence. Joe had a pretty clear insight, but in the meantime, he thought back to Elliot, who may have set him up on purpose. Elliot, though, revealed that he wasn’t fool enough to endanger both Joe and him. Elliot should therefore be ruled out. But Joe received another text, and this time the sender warned him once again that they would soon learn Jonathan’s true identity. Joe didn’t want that to happen; therefore, he had to identify the murderer before the perpetrator discovered who he was.
When Joe visited Phoebe at her home, she admitted that she was the one who invited him. Phoebe seemed to be hitting on Joe, which Joe swiftly ignored. Joe had his eyes on Adam, who didn’t appear to like Kate or Malcolm. Joe was intrigued to know why. Vic, Phoebe’s bouncer, led Joe to the gallery as Phoebe insisted on giving him a branded suit to wear for the night. Joe discovered Simon, Sophie, and Kate were already present. To check the reaction, Joe brought up Malcolm, which enraged everyone except Kate, who appeared to be very concerned about her boyfriend. After stealing the keys from Kate’s belongings, Joe went to Malcolm’s office. He discovered a notebook in Malcolm’s study, which was filled with the names and numbers of racing horses, as well as a few other details. Adam was attending a meeting at his party house when Joe arrived there.
Adam came from a wealthy real estate family where his brother was the senator and also gay, according to Joe’s continued research on him. Joe was trying to make connections when he discovered that Adam had previously played Louis XIV, the Sun King, who was also listed in Malcolm’s notebook. As a result, Adam Pratt might be the main suspect right now. After the meeting, Adam went inside covertly, and Joe followed him. He saw through the doorway that Adam was having sexual relations with a black waiter who was engaging in some bizarre fetish that we might best leave unexplained. But, while Joe was as uncomfortable as we were, he was nabbed by Vic, who nearly busted him, but Joe made it clear that he was writing a murder mystery about rich people, which is why he was following him. Vic kept his cool after discovering a wad of cash in Joe’s pocket, so he let Joe go home.
Joe arrived at the art show in the mid-evening. He was enthralled by Simon’s artwork, particularly a painting of a Sphynx cat. However, the respect Joe has for Simon is quickly destroyed when a young girl rushes into the event and hurls red paint on the painting while cursing Simon in front of everyone. Even though Simon claimed that this was all part of the show after the girl left, Joe realized that it wasn’t. Joe requested that Kate bring him along since he knew where they could look for the girl. They arrived at a location where they were finally able to meet the girl, who went by the name of Blue. She claimed that the painting of the Sphynx cat belonged to her. Simon had simply stolen these artworks from both her and the other former aides who worked for him. When Joe brought up Malcolm, Blue said that Malcolm wanted to expose Simon. Since Simon had his own reasons for killing Malcolm and was afraid of being exposed, Joe included Simon on his list of top suspects. Joe returned from Blue’s place and spent the whole night in front of the gallery, sitting on a bench.
Cops swarmed the scene at dawn, revealing that Simon had been murdered. The prime suspect is always the second victim, as Nadia predicted, which turned out to be absolutely right. After paying a visit to Phoebe’s house and discovering that Simon’s so-called friends didn’t care about his murder at all, Joe set off for university, but on the way, he noticed Kate sending voicemails to Malcolm and then calling Blue, whom she may have been sending to rehab. Joe became confused about why she wanted Blue to clean up and what her role in Simon’s murder was. However, it appeared that Kate was aware of Blue before she acted out at Simon’s art show. She could have secretly aided Blue in committing the murder of Simon, but why?
However, when Joe returned to university and reconnected with Nadia, he discovered Malcolm had been having an affair with Nadia, who used to show Malcolm her writings. When Joe returned home, a sinister text message appeared on his phone, but this time it wasn’t just some vague threats. The killer recognized Joe and addressed him by his given name. Joe discovered that his apartment was strewn with newspaper clippings from his previous crimes. How would Joe get away now? Let’s find out in the following episodes.
