YOU Season Finale Review: Bluebeard’s Castle (Season 1 Episode 10)

Now that’s what I call a killer ending — literally. 

YOU Season 1 Episode 10, “Bluebeard’s Castle,” wraps up the Lifetime series’ first season with a heart-pounding rollercoaster ride. In the end, it ends pretty much exactly as we all expected: with Beck dead, at Joe’s hand, in the book vault.

RIP Beck. You made a valiant effort to not be murdered.

Now, I’ll admit, I spent much of my reviews of this season complaining about Beck. She’s rather unlikeable and hard to read for much of the show. But Elizabeth Lail’s performance in the finale wins me over more than a bit. I’m shocked at how genuinely saddened I am by her death. (And also grateful that we’re not forced to watch her death happen onscreen.)

Lail takes Beck through all of the imaginable emotions while she’s locked in the cage. She’s furious, she’s distraught, she’s scared, she’s bargaining. It’s clear that Beck, an intelligent woman, knows the fate in store for her from the moment she wakes up in that glass box.

That said, she also manages to be startling believable as she tries to manipulate Joe into believing she still loves him and that they can still be together. It’s a cruel twist of fate — and perfect, artistic irony — that Beck ends up writing the “perfect story” that allows Joe to get away with her murder by pinning it all on Dr. Nicky.

That poor, unethical sap. If only he could’ve kept it in his pants and abided by his profession’s code of conduct!

I think the biggest flaw of YOU is how long it waits to give us this version of Guinevere Beck. In all, there’s a tad too much Joe and too little Beck all throughout the season.

It’s utterly tragic (and a little bit infuriating) that Beck only opens up and unleashes her full, badass self (giving the viewers her treatise on life in the process) when she’s about to die. I’d have been far more invested in Beck’s survival throughout the season if there’d been more of this, or at least more hints of it.

Lail and Penn Badgley both gives intense, electric performances. Beck fighting for her life truly has me feeling my heart in my throat. The entire final sequence as Beck is attempting to escape is seriously thrilling.

And how devastatingly perfect is it that Paco is the one to seal Beck’s fate?

It plays out perfectly. After a long season of suffering through Ron’s abuse, Joe finally puts an end to the man who has been tormenting Paco and his mother. While traumatized, Paco is understandably grateful and feels indebted to Joe. 

Of course he would look the other way when he finds out that his beloved friend, mentor, and protector is doing something awful. The kid’s been put through the psychological and emotional ringer, and Joe just got through telling him that sometimes people do bad things for love.

This show is incredibly dark and dismal, make no mistake.

Beck’s voiceover monologue as she’s writing, recounting her life and the lies she’s told herself and how she’s wound up here in this glass cage, is absolutely gutting. It’s gutting that Beck is emotionally tortured to the point where she reaches this level of self-awareness, stands up and proclaims that it’s her life to live, then dies anyway.

But this is a show on Lifetime, and I unabashedly love dark, dismal drama like this. And for that reason, I’ll absolutely be tuning in next season to see how not-dead Candace will (hopefully) be putting the screws in Joe.

Stray Thoughts:

• Candace’s reappearance is not something that happens in the book on which the series is based or its Los Angeles-set sequel, Hidden Bodies. I’m interested to see how the show will continue to diverge from the source material in Season 2.
• Between this show and his recent guest-starring role on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Luca Padovan has really cemented himself as one to watch. Kid’s super talented.
• Is it just me or do Lynn and Annika not seem overly traumatized after two of their closest friends were murdered within months of one another? Self-centered weirdos.
• I hope Beck’s dad feels like absolute garbage after how he treated her, especially now that she’s dead and there’s no chance for him to make amends.
• As a former English lit major, I am all about that “Bluebeard and Prince Charming are the same guy” metaphor that Beck weaves in her epic voiceover monologue.

What did you think of this episode of YOU? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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YOU will return for Season 2 in 2019 on Lifetime.

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