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Are You’s Joe and Love Soulmates? Even the Cast Can't Decide...

Joe Goldberg is many things: a murderer, a misogynist and...the marrying type? Hear what You co-stars Penn Badgley and Victoria Pedretti had to say about their on-screen relationship.

By Samantha Bergeson Oct 11, 2021 7:00 PMTags
Watch: Netflix's "You": Are Joe & Love Really Soulmates? The Cast Says...

We love him, we love him not. 

The serial killer that we hate that we loveYou's Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) returns for season three—and this time, he's trying on the suburbs for size alongside wife Love (Victoria Pedretti) and their newborn baby. With a copy of Revolutionary Road no doubt in tow, Joe tries to adapt to the fictional Bay Area town of Madre Linda, finding his place balancing new neighbors and old temptations. 

Yet, there's one thing You can count on: the undeniable chemistry between Joe and Love, who, after that bloody season two twist, has to curb her own murderous impulses. Are these newlyweds soulmates, or codependent victims of their own damaged psyches? 

Pedretti exclusively revealed to E! News what she really thinks about Joe and Love's twisted relationship. "I do see them as soulmates," Pedretti explained. "I think that they're uniquely capable of fulfilling each other's weaknesses, and their strengths are really there to support and uphold each other." 

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However, their respective "traumas" drive a permanent wedge into their marriage.

"If they had the courage and wherewithal to be vulnerable and open themselves up to each other, to maybe take some time apart to really work on themselves and their own trauma and loving themselves, yeah, they'd have a lot more to offer each other and a real relationship to build," she speculated. "But unfortunately we don't see that happen." 

JOHN P. FLEENOR/NETFLIX © 2021

Badgley agreed, stating, "They are actually perfect for each other, but as long as they misunderstand this sort of natured purpose of a relationship—which is not just about personal fulfillment and stuff like that—then they're not going to go anywhere. And that's a struggle we all encounter." 

In fact, according to Badgley, You is a "study in relationships." 

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You showrunner Sera Gamble has a very different take on the love between her two leads: "I think the idea of a soulmate is actually part of the problem in our culture. I think the idea that there's a person for you has led a lot of people into a lot of unhappiness. I don't think it's a realistic template for a living, breathing relationship with people who grow and change and get the flu and lose their job and have babies. It's so romanticized."

JOHN P. FLEENOR/NETFLIX © 2021

And that romanticism is precisely what Joe craves, finding solace in novels and fellow lonely hearts. "Joe thought Love was his soulmate until he realized who she was, and then in season three we see him go back and forth a lot," Gamble noted. "I would say that they are well-matched in a lot of exciting and also uncomfortable ways." 

So, will we ever see Joe find true love? 

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"If I were writing a show about people who had totally different motivations, they would be like, ‘I want to find somebody I can do this beautiful work of love with,' not like, ‘I need a soulmate who will make everything perfect!' That's a different show," Gamble joked.

JOHN P. FLEENOR/NETFLIX © 2021

In fact, she even has that spin-off idea in mind: "[Joe] has felt a lot of heartbreak. He's not able to fully see himself. I don't think that a character who is built this way, a person who has this sort of psyche and life, is necessarily capable of it, but if he had that lightning bolt of enlightenment about who he is, he would realize, ‘Oh, I'm looking for something outside myself that I can't get from another person.' And then he would never stalk anyone again," Gamble explained. "And then we would just be doing a show about a guy who—I keep saying—opens a dog rescue. It's just Penn Badgley and dogs and books." 

Coming soon to Netflix? We are already obsessing over it.  

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