Summary
You Season 2, Episode 7, “Ex-istential Crisis” sees Joe trying to make some changes, but his past is starting to creep up.
We recap the Netflix Series You Season 2 Episode 7, “Ex-istential Crisis,” which contains significant spoilers.
Episode 7, “Ex-istential Crisis,” is a strange chapter because Joe is desperate to make some changes, but at the same time, you know he’s a weird dude. It toys with the audience that Joe is attempting to fix his broken mind.
Episode 7 opens up with Joe (Penn Badgley); his house is a mess, and he’s not doing well without Love. He spies on her house and notices someone is about to break in. When he goes to investigate, he catches Love having sex with another man.
At work, Joe watches Love and her new man with public displays of affection. Forty lets Joe know that the man is named Milo — he used to be her husband’s best friend.
Forty days Milo is a scumbag; Joe immediately checks out Milo on social media. Forty suggests making Love jealous by dating and suggests using a dating app.
You Season 2 Episode 7 Recap
Ellie tells Joe not to sleep with her sister Delilah again and to get a dating app. Ellie tells Delilah that she does not hate Will. She actually likes him, so she wants to keep it simple. Ellie sends Joe some top dating apps.
Episode 7, “Ex-istential Crisis,” sees Joe do something that he doesn’t usually do — go on multiple dates from a dating app. Each date is wildly different, but it is working; Love notices that Joe is dating on social media and looks a little jealous.
Joe checks out Milo’s Instagram and sees that Love and Milo are getting more intimate. While taking out the trash, Love looks distracted by Joe while Milo says he wants to stick around and be her girlfriend.
Love doesn’t really accept his proposal but tells him she’d be happy for him to stay in LA.
Love approaches Joe and asks him about his online dating — she specifically asks what name he is using. Joe assumes that she isn’t jealous but disgusted by what he is doing. It’s obvious she is jealous, but he is unable to think clearly.
Joe instead stalks Milo, but Love’s best friend Gabe catches him stalking. Gabe says Love likes honesty and that it is time to work on himself.
Episode 7 sees Love’s best friend doing an acupuncture ritual on Joe. It’s a strange scene where Joe remembers his mother and her abusive ways and how she had a violent partner. Joe breaks down during the ritual, sobbing, believing he is unworthy of love.
Joe produces proper tears, which is strange in the context of the story, and puts forth character development we least expected. When it is finished, Joe says he feels free and full — “It’s the power of self-love.”
Joe decides to embark on a 7-day cleanse. Ellie shows up at the bookstore and asks how the dating world is treating him. Ellie then congratulates Forty regarding the press release of his new film — she’s being opportunistic and manages to land a job in Forty’s team.
Delilah confirms to Joe that her story may be published in Variety magazine, but she won’t thank him because he mansplained her. Joe throws up all over Delilah and collapses — the seven-day cleanse did not do wonders on his stomach.
Meanwhile, Milo is enjoying Love’s baking — he tells her he has found a new place and canceled Bali. Love says she is not ready to change the dynamic yet, but Milo responds by saying he is falling in love with her.
Joe wakes up after collapsing in Episode 7. Delilah orders him burgers and shakes. He reads her article and thinks it is incredible. Delilah tells Joe that she does not think self-love and self-cleansing work on someone who is truly broken.
Joe is starting to like the “real” Delilah. The pair decide to go on a walk, and they talk about their first impressions of each other. She admits she likes weirdos — “damaged finds damaged.”
They have sex again, but in an alleyway, and a cop finds them. They are arrested, which spooks Joe, but luckily, Forty helps them out. On the way out, police officer Finch, who was sleeping with Delilah, says he recognizes Joe.
When Joe and Delilah return home, they agree to be friends with Ellie.
You Season 2 Episode 7 Ending Explained
As we reach the end of Episode 7, Milo brings Love roses — Joe and Forty know Love does not like roses. Forty calls Milo out, so Milo confronts him aggressively. Milo punches Forty and blows up at Love; he says if she paid more attention to her husband, James, than Forty, she would have known he was sick. Joe tells Milo to leave.
Trouble is heading Joe’s way; Finch rings Delilah and says he remembers Joe when he caught him for jaywalking; his finances do not add up as he found him with extremely expensive headphones — he caught him on the same night Henderson was killed.
Delilah dismisses the idea, believing Finch is jealous. Delilah remembers moments when Joe helped out a lot — she sees a video of Joe and Forty at Henderson’s party. Delilah checks out Joe’s apartment and finds the keys to his storage container.
You Season 2, Episode 7 closes with Love shouting at Forty and Joe for the Milo bust-up. They both apologize. Joe says he has to leave due to dinner plans, and Love says, “Another date?”. Joe dismisses the idea it is a date, and Love looks at him longingly and says, “Joe.”
Delilah finds Joe’s glass cage and takes photos — she finds knickers and Henderson’s jack top. Joe finds Delilah snooping and puts her in the cage. Delilah panics and tells him to think about Ellie.
Joe then remembers a time when his mother prepared him to leave the town, but he declined because she had already found a new man. Delilah wakes up, locked in the glass box. Joe says he needs to make some arrangements and that he will let her go when he can leave LA.
Joe is the most confusing character ever.
Disturbing Thoughts
- “I considered stepping out in front of a car the other day, just so you looked at me”
