YOU Recap: Benji, Maddened
Sunday’s installment of YOU marked several firsts in Joe and Beck’s totally normal, healthy relationship: their first date, their first kiss and — in the episode’s chilling final scene — the first time he killed for her.
The victim, unsurprisingly, was Benji, who was already pretty banged up following last week’s mallet-to-the-head incident. And to Joe’s credit, he actually kept Benji around longer than I would have. Hell, that “waste of hair” would have been toast the minute he asked me to bring him sushi. But Joe saw a usefulness in keeping Benji alive, exchanging drugs for bits of information about Beck, about her friends and, ultimately, about himself.
For a minute, it seemed like Joe was going to let Benji free, especially after being given a video of him and his friends accidentally killing someone at a party (oops!), a mistake their parents made disappear. But even with this A+ dirt, Joe just couldn’t trust Benji to keep his privileged mouth shut, so he ended the episode by bringing Benji his coffee — loaded with extra peanut oil. (I guess his allergy was the one real thing about him. Oh well.)
Elsewhere this week…
HOT (WATER) FOR TEACHER | It was clear from last week’s less-than-subtle foreshadowing that Beck’s poetry teacher would inevitably try something on her, but even I wasn’t expecting their relationship to become as toxic as it did this week. After rejecting his grody advances over drinks at a bar (“You invited me, you flirt brazenly and you wear a shirt so sheer I can see your nipples”), Beck was told that her services as his TA were no longer required, though he did leave her with these lovely parting words: “Cover your tits, cool it with the blowjob eyes and write better.” Fortunately, the story didn’t end there. Not willing to accept the cards she’d been dealt, Beck threatened to expose her teacher after contacting several other women who provided similar tales of harassment, allowing her to keep her job and live on her own without needing Peach’s help.
EXES BAGGAGE | Speaking of Peach, Beck’s best pal threw her annual Parent’s Divorce Party this week, though she didn’t exactly seem thrilled that Beck brought Joe along as her date. As if calling him “Joseph” wasn’t bad enough, Peach proceeded to interrogate him in her family’s library. It’s pretty clear she doesn’t trust him — and can you really blame her? It certainly didn’t help that Joe and Beck were confronted at the party by a girl named Maddie, an apparent friend of Joe’s ex-girlfriend Candace, who “suddenly” left the country to pursue some other guy in Rome. Something tells me there’s a lot more to that story.
Also worth discussing…
* I know we’re supposed to be worried about Paco’s mom’s boyfriend, but I’m way more concerned about Joe’s influence over his young neighbor. When he caught Paco going into the book store basement, he could not have played it any less cool — and we’re only on the second episode, so there’s still plenty of time for Joe to fully snap. Run, kid, run!
* I was pretty sure of it last week, but after watching tonight’s episode, I’m convinced: Beck has got to be one of the least observant characters on television. To not notice Joe lurking in plain sight — at school, at a bar, right outside her damn window — would require an almost willful ignorance of the world around her. Truly insane.
Your thoughts on this week’s YOU? Drop ’em in a comment below.
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