New year, new ‘You’

Given how popular the initial seasons were, it’s no surprise that the psychological thriller “You” is set to return this year for a third season.

The Netflix series is an adaptation of Caroline Kepnes’ book series of the same title and follows protagonist Joe Goldberg, a New York bookkeeper turned serial killer, who has problematic approaches to his love life, to say the least. In Season 2, after Joe moved to LA for a fresh start in a relationship, Love Quinn, an aspiring chef, served as Joe’s object of obsession.

After COVID-19 brought all filming to a halt, the show is planning to kick off filming in February. Though there is no official release date, TVLine announced season three will consist of 10 episodes. The original co-creators Sara Gamble and Greg Berlanti will also be returning as producers.

Netflix has also announced a new lineup of actors and actresses that will be joining its existing cast. These characters could either make or break this show, with 12 confirmed new cast members and little setup from season two’s finale.

According to Entertainment Weekly, these additions include former “Vampire Diaries” star Michaela McManus, who will play Natalie — Joe’s neighbor and the “subject of his growing fascination” — and Shalita Grant, who will play Love. 

Returning cast members include Badgley and Victoria Pedretti, who also played Love Quinn in season two, keeping expectations high as their scary-accurate portrayals freaked many out.

It’ll be interesting to see manipulative and psychotic characters interact with each other. The new and original cast members may band together and have their own club of lovesick psychopaths, or they could end up as total enemies attempting to destroy one another the entire season. It'd be interesting to see a little bit of both.

Although there is little information on the third season’s official release date, Kepnes’ third novel, “You Love Me,” will hit shelves on April 6. 

In “You Love Me,” Joe Goldberg returns and is expected to start a family away from the city and away from Love. Joe will then meet a local librarian, Mary Kay Dimarco, and win her over “the old-fashioned way,” as the description of the book writes. Over time, they'll both provide comfort for one another in their sleepy town — a completely different take from the setting of busy New York in the previous season.

Although many avid “You” viewers were quite sure that Joe had completely cut ties with Love, seeing that she is a returning cast member in Season 3, we hope to see more of her and her family in future episodes.

Although both previous seasons closely followed the original novels, in the Season 2 finale, the producers of the show altered the book’s ending and left the audience with a jaw-dropping character reveal: Love is just as much of a lovesick psychopath as Joe is. 

One of the executive producers, Gamble, confirmed this, saying that Season 2 finale is exactly how they wanted to set Joe and Love up for the upcoming season. Joe and Love are not soulmates; rather, Joe is afraid of her toward the end. 

Season three seems to have more material exploration by allowing both of the characters to be each other’s archnemesis, rather than allies. But a couple consisting of psychopath serial killers, doesn’t seem too bad either.

Wherever the writers of Season 3 take the storyline next, they clearly have their ways to play around with the audience’s hearts, and Netflix no doubt has another hit show to add to their lists. In the meantime, Kepnes plans to keep working on future novels in her series, hinting that “You” Seasons 3 is not yet the end.