You season two is right around the corner (just like everyone’s favorite creepy stalker, Joe Goldberg), and you know what that means: you’re about to feel momentarily lost as hell when you hit play on a show you haven’t watched for a year. I’m pretty sure most people ripped through the first season in a single sitting, which probably didn’t do your memory any favors. Anyway, fear not, because everything you need to remember is right here.
Here’s a quick lil summary of season one
The series begins when Joe, a bookstore manager, sets his sights on a grad student and aspiring writer named Guinevere Beck. His insta-crush seems innocent enough, until he goes home and begins creeping her on social media. Joe’s run-of-the-mill Instagram lurk soon becomes IRL stalking. (He also steals Beck’s phone, and begins to read all of her text messages.) When the two finally begin to date, he kills anyone who seems like a threat to their relationship. It’s the worst!
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Here’s who didn’t make it
TBH, the easiest way to explain season one is to talk about all of the people Joe killed. Dark!
His first victim was Beck’s on-off ex-boyfriend, Benji. Joe was frustrated that Beck continued to give Benji attention when he was so obviously wrong for her. His solution? Lock him in the creepy glass cage in the basement of the bookstore, and then eventually murder him.
Netflix
The next person Joe kills is Beck’s super rich best friend, Peach. Peach hated Joe from the beginning, but she was also secretly madly in love with Beck. He actually unsuccessfully attempted to kill her by bashing her over the head with a rock while she was on a run…but she survived. He later offed her at her family’s home in Greenwich, Connecticut, shortly after she asked Beck to move to Paris with her and tried to kiss her when they were drunk.
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The last person Joe kills in season one is Beck. He throws her in his glass cage after she finds the most suspicious collection of evidence (like…human teeth and Candace’s necklace) in his apartment. He kills her in the season finale.
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Don’t forget that Joe also killed his abusive neighbor, Ron, and Elijah, a man who had an affair with his aspiring musician ex, Candace. Oh, and Candace has seemingly disappeared off the face of the planet.
Here’s how it ended:
After killing Beck, Joe framed her therapist, Dr. Nicky, for his murders. (Memory jog: Beck had an affair with Dr. Nicky while she was working through her grief with him after Peach’s death.) Then, Joe published her memoir posthumously.
At the very end of the season, Candace (yup, the one everyone assumed was dead!) shows up at Joe’s bookstore and he literally looks like he saw a ghost.
P.S., Netflix also made a handy little video as a recap. Bless up.