After last week‘s little “meet cute”, Joe is quite excited for his date with his latest obsession, Beck. The mysterious book keeper is found dancing around his apartment before watching Beck through the window yet again. To much of Joe’s dismay, Beck’s mind is still a little preoccupied with the fact that her so-called boyfriend, Benji, dropped off the face of the earth.

Because of this little dilemma, Joe decides to have a heart to heart with the trust fund baby living in the bookstore basement. Joe didn’t succeed in killing Benji the first time and now he has no idea what to do with him. It’s quite funny when Joe offers Benji breakfast, but alas he’s allergic to gluten. Sushi works, but it’s really not that type of situation.

After Benji denies having a girlfriend, he finally has an epiphany, realizing that Joe was the man in the cab. Benji could care less about Beck and practically gives Joe his blessing. That only really proves that Benji doesn’t deserve the girl at all.

Later in the day, the date finally happens. Beck goes into why she started writing and Joe goes into why he loves to read. But it’s interrupted when Peach calls Beck in regards to Benji. Joe takes this as a push to finish the job he started. Some may think that means kill the guy, but really Joe utilizes his social media skills to make it seem that Benji is off somewhere hooking up with other girls and getting high – which is what he usually does anyway.

Beck spends time with her girls agonizing over Benji and her perverted thesis advisor. The topic of sleeping with said professor comes up, and let’s just say that Joe isn’t the only one who has an obsession with Beck. From the way Peach squashed the “sleep with prof” idea,  it seems there’s a little more to it. But maybe not, especially when Peach brings up her anniversary of her parents’ divorce party.

Back in the basement, Joe is still prepping Benji’s social media. Benji can’t seem to believe that Joe is falling for Beck’s “hardworking writer” act. He’s still not winning any points in Joe’s book. Everyone perceives people differently. Benji tries to paint a picture in Joe’s head about Beck’s meeting with her advisor and Beck’s advisor has the same idea. But they are both far from the truth and Professor Pervy (yes, I’m calling him that) takes away the one thing Beck has been working for because of this.

But Joe comes to the rescue again. After Beck calls him to meet up, Joe steps up his flirting game as the two of them people watch. Beck starts talking about her day saying, “I’m starting to think I’m some kind of magnet for like dudes with serious issues.” I rolled my eyes as Joe smiled. And then Beck invites him to Peach’s party.

Remember Paco, Joe’s little prodigy? Well as he reads Joe’s latest recommendation, Frankenstein, I can’t help but think Joe is trying to justify himself as a hero. “He’s bad, but not all bad…”, Paco describes the monster, that is until Joe goes all bat shit crazy when Paco makes his way down to the basement.

Beck decides to spend a little time with Peach and complains about her financial woes. But the great Peach Salinger tries to save the day. Her intentions are nice, but Beck doesn’t want Peach to save her.

Before the party, Joe plays a little mind game with Benji and his artisanal soda. If he guesses which one is his soda, he gets to leave. But like Joe said earlier, Benji is a fraud and knows nothing about his own brand. After failing, Benji tries to get into Joe’s head again about Beck. Beck doesn’t want Joe. She wants to fit in, blah blah blah.

At the party, Joe is very quick to judge. This isn’t his type of party, nor are these people. “Brown people don’t bite,” Peach cracks a joke about Brown University students and both Joe and I raise our eyebrows. As Joe explores the great Salinger house, he finds a book that takes him back to his younger years working at the book store. And this is where we find out why Joe may have turned out the way he did. As a young teenager, it seems he didn’t read as much and it’s very clear to Mr. Mooney, the old owner. Mr. Mooney locks him in the basement box and it must be satisfying for Joe now to be in the position of the captor.

Peach interrupts his thoughts and I adore how inquisitive she is. She knows that Joseph is hiding something and that 2nd Joe/Beck meeting was not a coincidence. She tries to make it clear that Joe isn’t good enough and succeeds a little when Joe sees Beck with Benji 2.0. It’s quite sad, if you ask me. Here Joe is, trying to see past the surface and what Benji sees. But here’s Beck and everyone in her life sending him mixed signals. That is until Beck pays Joe a little visit on the balcony. He’s quite inspiring when Beck reveals that she’s trying so hard to fit in. And then she leans in right before pushing Joe right into the friendzone, “I’m glad we’re friends.”

As they leave the party, someone from Joe’s past happens to be in attendance. She brings up Candice and the way she supposedly left. Joe plays the victim card insinuating that the girl in question broke things off with him to run away with someone new. But with the way Joe has been mentioning Candice, it seems like Beck may be a Candice 2.0.

But Joe’s not all bad. His little balcony pep talk inspired Beck to stand up to the people bringing her down. First on that list, Professor Pervy. A part of me thought that Beck was going to give in to Prof Pervy, but she stood right up to him, revealing that she and 6 other girls are ready to come forward. He tried to threaten Beck back, but she stood her ground. Joe isn’t all bad, right?

I mean, Joe woke up and remembered to go feed Benji. He rushed to Benji’s side only to find him getting a little frantic and making a mess. But after he calms down, Benji makes a little deal, “I’ll know your biggest secret, and you’ll know mine.” Joe takes it. Turns out Benji was involved in a hazing incident that led to a death and it was caught all on camera.

But Joe has too much to lose especially since Beck decided the friendzone may not be right for her new friend – things turned around after she brings him a donut and a kiss. He can’t risk Benji ruining Beck again, ruining her character and typecasting her into something she isn’t. Benji was wrong about Joe not being a killer. And I bet he regretted that thought as he gulped down his coffee order, falling to the ground due to that damn peanut allergy.

TLDR version because I wrote too much:

Joe starts dating Beck, slowly pushing Benji out of the picture.
Beck introduces Joe to her so-called world.
Peach doesn’t like Joe. The feeling is mutual.
Joe convinces Beck to stand up for herself.
Joe’s not all bad. or something like that.
Joe kills Benji with peanut sauce.

—

So far, I’m intrigued. What are your thoughts?

xoxo,

Adele

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