WARNING: The following article contains spoilers from season 2 of Netflix’sYou.
The second season of Netflix’s hit psychological thrillerYouends with plenty of story yet to tell.
And one of the biggest loose ends is the fate of Ellie Alves (Jenna Ortega), serial killer Joe Goldberg’s young, headstrong neighbor.
Delilah’s death is a harsh blow to Joe as he developed a close relationship with her and Ellie throughout the series.
Ellie’s sassy quips and social media tutorials with Joe offered some of the few moments of levity in a season of violence, murder and plot twists. “Ellie is the coolest girl,” Ortega, 17, tells PEOPLE. “She may come off a little strong, but I think people can learn a lot from her.”
Below, Ortega, a lively actress with lead credits in Disney Channel’sStuck in the Middleand The CW’sJane the Virgin, opens up about playing the underdog and what she really thinks of Joe.
Beth Dubber/Netflix
PEOPLE: How do you feel about being Joe’s character foil and being the one to bring out his redeeming qualities?ORTEGA:The writers have been so careful with the way they’ve handled the audience’s relationship with Joe. Ellie doesn’t exist in Caroline Kepnes’ books [on whichYouis based], so I do believe they added her in to show off his more humane features. You can’t have a lead in a show be somebody you hate, because who’s going to watch a show that follows someone who annoys you? The show needs a character like Ellie. By helping other people, Joe feels better about himself, and it justifies the terrible things he does. Ellie sees Joe as an older, smarter friend who shares her interests, but for Joe, I think the relationship subconsciously feeds his ego.
PEOPLE: So what does Elliereallythink happened to Delilah?ORTEGA:Oh, man. Honestly, I think Ellie knows she’s been murdered. Especially after the conversation with Joe. I mean, she’s a smart girl, I think she’s picking up what he’s putting down. Maybe at first she thinks Delilah left her, because that’s what’s been her experience with so many people she cares about in her life. I wouldn’t say she immediately pins it on Joe — she doesn’t look at him like a killer. But she still thinks, “You’re the one who told me, you knew about this, you ruined my life, so I hate you anyway.”
PEOPLE: Ellie and Delilah share some emotional moments. What was it like shooting that powerful scene where they’re cutting up photos of Henderson’s assault victims and flushing them down the toilet?ORTEGA:When we shot that scene, which is so sensitive and relevant to things happening today, I think everyone was in a fragile mindset. You could feel it on set. And Carmela [who plays Delilah] is great, so being able to do that scene with her was really nice. As females in the entertainment industry, we both understand what goes on and how common something like this [sexual assault] is. It’s a really important story to be told and I’m glad that I got to do that with her. I think it comes off in the right way.
PEOPLE: If there’s aYouseason 3, do you think Ellie would return? How can you see her further contributing to Joe’s story?ORTEGA:If I were to come back, I don’t know if I would be in the first few episodes. I feel like I would have to be one of the [characters] like, “Oh, look who’s here, she just came up and now it’s another problem for Joe.” Ellie is already a powerful character, but I want her to come back even stronger after dealing with tragedy and it being Joe’s fault. I want her to pressure Joe and stress him out a little bit because he is such a terrible person! As much as people love him, he deserves that pressure, he deserves to feel in trouble.
Both seasons ofYouare available now to stream on Netflix.
source: people.com
