S02.E01: A Fresh Start

[Door County Cherry]

Airs 12/26/19

Quote

To escape Candace and the ghosts of his past in New York City, Joe changes his name and moves to Los Angeles, vowing to start fresh and change his ways. But then he meets Love, his charming new coworker.

 

[Andyourlittledog2]

I'm so glad this doesn't air tomorrow because it would be hard to explain to my family why I am glued to a show about a stalker all day on Christmas.  I can hardly wait!  😁

[TVFan17]

I was so confused about when this first episode was supposed to appear on Netflix because I was on the AfterBuzz TV (Dramas) YouTube channel and saw that they posted a recap show for Episode 2 of Season 2, but didn't post anything for Episode 1.  It's as if Episode 1 doesn't exist.  So I wasn't sure if Episode 2 had somehow accidentally popped up on Netflix before Episode 1 did. 

I also thought that maybe the AfterBuzz people had accidentally labeled this recap show as Episode 2 when they intended to say Episode 1, but their discussion seems to be reflective of the actual second episode and not the first.

 

Edited to add:  Never mind!  AfterBuzz finally posted their Episode 1 discussion -- they must have had it hidden yesterday when the show about Episode 2 went up.  But they're both there now.

Edited December 26, 2019 by TVFan17

[Jade Foxx]

Just watched first ep. As a disgruntled Angeleno, I appreciate Joe’s snark re: this failed city. Difficult to believe some women are comfortable with guys they don’t know a damn thing about besides “he’s kinda cute and looks harmless”

Joe spends each second trying to calm his natural, destructive impulses. Being a sociopath must be exhausting. 

Edited December 26, 2019 by Jade Foxx

[DanaMB]

I really thought Joe hadn’t done anything to pursue Love and that it was all happening naturally (all the while thinking she was in danger anyway). I liked the twist at the end, though I feel stupid for not seeing it before. He’s as crazy as ever.  Can’t wait to get through all the eps. 

[MrsR]

Off to a great start. Can't wait til he kills Forty.

[Spartan Girl]

Oh Candace, you in danger, girl. I get that you want to make Joe suffer and I'm all for that, but you are playing with fire. Though I will admit that watching Joe squirm while she was gorging herself on a vanilla shake and fries was pretty satisfying.

Love seems like Joe's ultimate Cool Girl, which of course means she's way too good to be true. 

[Chaos Theory]

The first episode was really well done.  The whole this is what you think is happening but its not really happening thing with Joe and Love really worked for me.  So much so that I thought for a minute there that Love might have been stalking Joe.   But of course it was all a carefully constructed plan of Joe’s to put him in the same circle as Love.  Even his new identity and kidnapping was just a plan to get him a new identity.  Which by the way....psychopathic  but clever. 

Edited December 27, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[Lady Calypso]

This was a solid first episode back. I think I liked the whole "is Joe really trying to change?" because he did have me fooled a couple of times. But they set up the end nicely.

Plus, Love is certainly not Beck. She definitely seemed like she could be Joe's stalker, at times. Of course, that doesn't count her out as being totally good, but I think they set up Joe's story very well. I am still somewhat suspicious of Love. There's more to her than meets the eye. She seems like she could have a dark side to her and I'd kind of love to see Joe having picked the wrong victim of his obsession. 

Ellie, run, kid. You're in danger. Now, it's not as bad as Joe's last protege because Ellie is old enough to know better....but it's still a dangerous position for her to be in, now that it seems like Joe has formed a...."friendship" of sorts with her. 

I will say that I was totally on Joe's side with his narration about the people of LA. Even I was getting pissed off by all the people he was encountering, especially Forty. 

I like that Candace actually threw Joe off his game, enough to get him to take off and form a new identity probably earlier than he intended. I was worried about how they'd handle Candace after the reveal of her being alive at the end of last season, but so far, I'm rooting for her. Now, of course it's smarter for her to just turn Joe in because this will just give him time to either kill her or frame her instead, but at the moment, I totally get Candace's reasoning for wanting to destroy Joe instead. I wonder if it'll work. A psychopath like Joe wouldn't ever see himself as a monster and beg for Candace to turn him in, so I have to imagine another ending for that is coming. 

I'm glad they had a plausible reason for Joe having his fake credit check work out, as well as him being able to get a driver's license that quickly. 

[tennisgurl]

So are we taking bets on how long Forty has left until Joe kills him? Three episodes? Two? Five? Somehow into the opening credits for the next episode?

Great start to this season, and damn it Joe is so charming that, even after watching everything he got up to last season, I did think that he and Love met organically and that he was trying to keep a low profile and not get up to his old tricks again, but nope, he is the same manipulative psycho that he always is. I did get suspicious when Joe pulled out his copy of Crime and Punishment and oh so conveniently found a new bookstore job, but I didnt realize how elaborate his new stalking plan would be. Love seems really great, maybe a little bit TOO great, I feel like she has a bit of a dark side to her, or at least some secrets we will find out. She seems really nice though, I hope she makes it out of the season alive. 

I am worried for Ellie too, but since she seems to be taking the place of Paco as the kids who becomes his protege/protecte in the face of parenting that Joe disapproves of, I more worry that he might be a corrupting influence on her than him actually hurting her. 

Of course LA is basically Joe’s version of hell. The whole bit where Love is talking about everyone being the star of their own movie really fits Joe perfectly. To Joe, he is the romantic unlucky in love hero who is the lone voice of chivalry and intellect in a shallow world, who has his heart broken by women who just dont understand how much he improves their lives. Thats not the show that we’re watching, but it sure is the one that Joe is. 

Edited December 27, 2019 by tennisgurl

[DoubleUTeeEff]

14 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Plus, Love is certainly not Beck. She definitely seemed like she could be Joe's stalker, at times. Of course, that doesn't count her out as being totally good, but I think they set up Joe's story very well. I am still somewhat suspicious of Love. There's more to her than meets the eye. She seems like she could have a dark side to her and I'd kind of love to see Joe having picked the wrong victim of his obsession. 

Yes! Beck and Joe at least had some stuff in common. Beck wanted to be a writer and Joe owned a bookstore and was really into reading. Love seemingly has nothing in common with Joe and it's hard to see why she is so into him, other than the fact that he's attractive. Beck wasn't immediately into Joe the way Love was and from my POV, they had more of a connection. There was some witty repartee with Beck that we don't get with Love. I am interested to find out Love's motivations going forward. There's got to be more to her than meets the eye.

[SoWindsor]

Can someone explain the twist in this episode. I guess I was only half watching it. Don’t feel like rewatching.

i don’t like the Love character. Becks was a stronger character and actress so already I’m not too invested in this season.

[Chaos Theory]

1 hour ago, SoWindsor said:

Can someone explain the twist in this episode. I guess I was only half watching it. Don’t feel like rewatching.

The first Half of the episode made it look like he was trying to avoid or at least curtail his stalking impulses but then just happened to run into a girl at the market that caught his attention.   The second half shows him making a concerted effort to get into her circle.  Moving  nearby so he could watch her by telescope and a job where she worked.   

[yourmomiseasy]

I'm assuming the grocery store is based on/making fun of Erewhon.  I used to work with the owner's son maybe 15 years ago and asked what the name meant and I remember he said it was nowhere backwards, except it isn't and something about a book.  It's like a more pretentious, way more expensive, and more organic indie Wholefoods.   I can't shop there, it's too kale-y and too expensive for me.  (The son was actually a cool guy and not like Forty).  

[Mellowyellow]

Who is the guy in the cage at the end?

I got everything except could not work out who that guy was!

[momma2rnr]

1 hour ago, Mellowyellow said:

Who is the guy in the cage at the end?

I got everything except could not work out who that guy was!

He's the real Will. 

[TaraS1]

Didn't Paco and his mom move to California at the end of last season?  I'm guessing we'll see them, or at least Paco, again this season.

[Blakeston]

So what was with the voiceover of Joe explaining that he didn't want to pursue Love, which took place after he'd manipulated his way into a job at her workplace just to be near her?

[iMonrey]

I think it's pretty far-fetched that Joe was able to build a replica of the glass cage in a storage facility somewhere. Where did he get the materials and the money to buy them? And the storage facility wouldn't be sound-proof either. Granted someone would have to be walking by at just the right time but if the real Will started yelling for help someone would hear him. 

It feels a little bit like they're just trying to rehash the first season's storyline with different characters.

[peachmangosteen]

I tried to watch this show a few months back and got through maybe like 4 eps before I just kinda stopped because it wasn't grabbing me. Anyway, I decided to try again last week and finished season 1. I don't think it lived up to the hype at all but it was OK.

Anyway, I loved this ep and I'm already pretty sure I'll like this season much more than season 1. 

I agree with you on the cage @iMonrey. I was like how the fuck did Joe take the cage with him to LA lol. I guess you're right though that he rebuilt it or something but that's almost more outlandish than what I originally thought.

I already like Candace, Ellie, and Delilah much more than I ever liked the supporting cast (minus Peach; I loved her) of the first season. Hell, I even like Love more than Beck already. I agree that there feels like there's maybe something sinister underneath with her and I'm intrigued by that.

[Scarlett45]

I don’t quite gather how Joe was able to get away from Candace THAT quickly. It takes a bit of of planning to just disappear in the 21st century. 

On 12/30/2019 at 7:40 PM, Blakeston said:

So what was with the voiceover of Joe explaining that he didn't want to pursue Love, which took place after he'd manipulated his way into a job at her workplace just to be near her?

yes it was a lie he was telling himself. “Oh I’m just going to watch her from a far”. 
 

Penn is doing an AMAZING job. This could’ve easily felt like a rehash of season 1, but given we know now exactly what he’s capable of, it’s a more quiet scary.