Penn Badgley Also Doesn’t Understand the Reaction to Joe in You

**Spoilers for You season 2.**

To say I felt good about Penn Badgley’s response to my question at AOL Build in New York City would be an understatement. Since the dawning of season 1 of You, I’ve been absolutely fascinated by the reaction on social media to Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgely).

A murderous stalker who doesn’t know the concept of boundaries or how to … not murder someone, Joe Goldberg is a creature of habit, meaning that he consistently does the same things over and over again despite his desire to stop. In season 2, he moves to Los Angeles, thinking that he will somehow change his ways, and falls in love with Love (Victoria Pedretti). Literally the most dangerous thing in this world to me now is hearing Penn Badgely say, “Hey, you.”

The end of season 2 truly confirmed, for me, that Joe Goldberg is maybe the worst kind of human. (Well, not maybe. He is. He stalks and murders, but you know what I mean.) When it is revealed that Love is pregnant, Joe is forced to move to the suburbs of Los Angeles (so … the Valley, which … chill, Joe. It’s fine there) and he has a monologue that equates fatherhood in the “suburbs” to some kind of universal punishment.

So, when it came time for me to ask the actor a question today at AOL Build, it was easy: I just wanted to know what the most outrageous reaction to Joe—a man who views fatherhood that way—has been over the course of the show, to both Badgely and You writer Sera Gamble.

As if Joe wasn’t already the worst, his archaic views on fatherhood and entrapment most definitely sealed the deal for me. And, apparently, Penn Badgely felt similarly, and related Joe’s views on fatherhood to many fathers throughout the history of the real world who have been similarly terrible about it. You can watch the whole chat below, with this bit coming in at the 28:20 mark.

While I like that both Gamble and Badgely expressed their love of the memes surrounding You and, particularly, the memes about Joe with acrylic nails and his hat, I think Penn Badgley’s response says it all. He’s been very vocal in the past about the reaction to Joe, and … even about fathers.

I have a lot more questions about You, but I feel weirdly justified in knowing that I’m not alone in my fascination with the reaction. I guess, in a lot of ways, Joe is just the typical romantic lead with a murderous twist, but seeing how so many people will willingly tweet at Penn Badgely to “kidnap” them, it’s nice to at least know that Penn Badgely is on my side.

(image: Netflix)

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