Top 10 Most Shocking YOU Moments

Among Joe and Love’s Madre Linda neighbors, Gil seems like the closest thing there is to a genuinely nice person. Which is probably why he felt the need to come talk to Love in person. Following a measles outbreak that left Henry Quinn-Goldberg dangerously ill, Gil visits the bakery to apologize for the fact that his daughters infected the baby. The look on Love’s face should have told Gil it was time to just stop talking and go. He attempts to explain his stance all the same. Needless to say he’s not gaining any ground with Love. In a move that is stunningly unhinged even for her, she knocks him out in broad daylight. And to think they say the truth will set you free...

When Joe assumes Will Bettleheim’s identity, it turns out that he takes on his problems too. In this case, according to Will, $3000 worth of problems owed to Jasper, a one-time prospective client. Joe is able to scrape together the money, but nothing goes quite as expected. Jasper may seem affable, but he quickly proves he’s no pushover. When it turns out that Will was about $47,000 off on the amount he owed, Jasper decides a little collateral is in order. With almost cheerful nonchalance, he removes the tip of Will’s finger, with a promise to return it once the debt is paid in full. The bizarre and brutal scene was over before we’d picked our jaws up off the ground.

Mind altering substances don’t mix well with a life like the one Joe Goldberg leads. With Delilah in time-release handcuffs, and a firm deadline for his escape from LA, he was already on edge to say the least. Then Forty doses him with a strong serving of hallucinogens, and everyone knew we were in for a wild ride. As Joe’s reality bends he knows there’s a very real chance he will lose control and do something, well...Joe-like. Then he loses track of time completely, leading to a grisly moment that seems to confirm his fears. But was it real? Or was this a Lady Macbeth moment? It seems like it might have just been another hallucination, until Joe returns to his storage unit to find Delilah’s body.

If Season 3 made anything abundantly clear, it’s that Love is not the best when it comes to impulse control. It wasn’t really surprising that she got jealous during an ill-fated attempt at swinging with the Conrads. However, it was downright shocking to all involved when she blurted out some key information during the ensuing fight with Joe. They return to their guests hoping this innocent little revelation has gone unnoticed. Where would the drama be in that, though? At first it seems like the Conrads might get the upper hand, but it isn’t long before they find themselves deposited in the infamous glass box all the same. Which left the Quinn-Golderbergs to disturbingly reaffirm their passion for shared hobbies.

There’s a sinister undercurrent whenever Joe mentions the ex who broke his heart, which implies that he has already killed one girlfriend when he meets Guinivere Beck. So at the end of season one it was news to everyone when Candace showed up very much alive. Shocking as that was, it didn’t brace us for the details we would get in season 2. In some ways, the dark turn in their relationship is just more proof of Joe’s pattern. However, after striking Candace’s head against a tree root during a struggle, Joe buries her alive, leaving Candace to crawl up out of the makeshift grave. Most unsettling of all is the fact that this still wasn’t enough to put him away.

Joe was creepy right from the start, but we didn’t really understand the kind of guy we were dealing with at first. Then along came Benji to show us. When it comes to Beck’s objectively awful love interest Joe decides that if you can’t beat ‘em...you should just beat them. His attack on Benji was the kind of savage escalation we weren’t expecting to see so early on in the plot. Once it becomes clear that Beck isn’t moving on, Joe decides it’s time to go all in. Based on an earlier comment about Benji’s nut allergy, he offers his romantic rival a strategic cup of coffee. We didn’t like Benji either, but it’s chilling to see how easily Joe flips to murder.

Joe’s feelings for Beck were toxic, and frightening, but it still seemed like she might be the one person on Earth he wouldn’t physically harm. However, she didn’t take it well when he imprisoned her in the basement. With some clever manipulation she is able to trick him and escape. Her read of him, while well deserved, shifts the dynamic between them. When Paco refuses to let her out of the basement, she finds herself in a scenario right out of a horror movie with the belligerent Joe the audience has watched all along. Beck’s desperate attempt to survive had us all hanging off the edge of our seats in dread. Worse still was the reveal of Joe’s internal version of events.

As Joe stalked his neighbor Natalie Engler, we were all prepared to watch his latest obsession progress over the course of a season. No one counted on Love, though. After discovering that marriage hasn’t changed Joe’s habits one bit, she makes plans to be alone with Natalie. At first there’s nothing that feels off in the visit to a potential bakery. However, the mood shifts as they tour the space. Spooky though the basement is, Natalie and the audience are still caught off guard when Love attacks. With Natalie’s life and time on the show cut dramatically short, we were left horrified, and fascinated to see where the season would go from there.

This couple has very different ideas about conflict resolution. Joe wants out of their marriage, where Love wants him to sit tight for a minute while they work it out. Literally. After Joe proposes divorce, Love reveals that she has paralyzed him with aconite, the same substance that she accidentally killed her first husband with. Quite the two-fer of a reveal. However, when she returns Joe has a surprise of his own. More than just neutralizing Love, though, Joe intended his aconite injection to be fatal. And of course, Joe Goldberg always manages to take things to the next level. With that classic attention to detail, he fakes his own death and burns his old life to the ground. Never say he lacks commitment.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Theo’s Brush With Death, “Red Flag”
As If There Was Any Doubt Left That Love is Hazardous For Your Health

Peach and Joe’s Standoff, “Amour Fou”
This Is Why You Always Double Tap

Beck’s Discovery, “Candace”
Watching Beck Find Joe’s Trophies Made the Whole Concept So Much Worse

Marienne Lives, “What Is Love”
At a Point it Became More Shocking to See Love Exercise Restraint

The Doctor Did It, “Bluebeard’s Castle”
Dr. Nicky’s Face Says It All’ Joe’s Schemes Are as Impressive as They Are Horrific

The second season finale delivered us the biggest subversion of our expectations yet when Love turned out to be anything but a helpless target. In a monologue that only got wilder with every twist, she revealed herself to be a mirror image of Joe. Not only had she stalked him since laying eyes on him, she had investigated his entire backstory, and only fallen more in love with him as a result. Meticulous research, masterful manipulation...she even displayed the same self-righteous sense of protection towards Joe. Which left a similar trail of bodies in her wake. The idea of Joe meeting his match was deeply unsettling. But there was a strange satisfaction in seeing him get just as freaked out as we were.