‘You’ showrunner talks ‘biggest tragedy’ in finale, Season 2 plans
protect Paco from his mother’s abusive boyfriend Ron (Daniel Cosgrove) and in the finale ended up killing him — in front of Paco’s eyes.
“Paco has been a character that illuminates the best, most compassionate side of Joe,” Gamble said.
Gamble notes that Joe “doesn’t go around killing people for no reason” but has a “very strong code.” Usually his self-interest and preservation is at the center, which is what led him down the road to killing his girlfriend’s meddling best friend Peach (Shay Mitchell) earlier in the season and even that girlfriend, Beck (Elizabeth Lail), herself in the finale. But in this instance he put concerns about Paco first.
In many ways, Paco could be seen as a loose end for Joe going forward in the story. After all, not only does he know what Joe did to Ron, but he also caught Beck trying to escape the basement of the bookstore, where Joe had imprisoned her. But in choosing not to help Beck, Paco proved his loyalty to Joe.
“Paco has been exposed to Joe (after) being trained to see Joe as this hero and savior, so the biggest tragedy for me in the finale is that moment where Paco does the math and realizes there must be something very deeply wrong with her or Joe would never do something like this to (her),” Gamble said.
While Beck and Joe’s story came to an end in the first season finale, in many ways Candace and Joe’s story, as well as Paco and Joe’s story, may just be beginning.
“Do you remember in ‘Kill Bill’ when Uma Thurman’s character says to the little girl, ‘Come find me in 20 years?’ When we were shooting those last scenes with Paco, that’s what kept popping into my head,” Gamble says. “What I’m most interested in is doing an entire TV show about who Paco grows up to be because he spent some time with Joe.”
Of course, Gamble isn’t actually making that a reality just yet. The second season of “You” will follow some of the themes and dynamics of Kepnes’ sequel, “Hidden Bodies,” as the story follows Joe, who worries over the “stress and the pressure of what he has done.” While he may be able to justify and live with the murders, there are people still out there who are trying to get to the bottom of them, leaving him vulnerable.