From someone who literally binged it with almost no context in a little over a week in an attempt to escape midterms
By Sophie Saliba '23
Photo Courtesy of IMDb
When I started watching the show You on Netflix, I had little context as to what the show was about. All I knew was that Joe Goldberg, the protagonist, stalks a woman who comes into his bookstore. That’s where my knowledge ended. I chose to watch the show because I’m a huge fan of psychological thrillers and everyone was talking about season 3 airing on Netflix - I guess you could say I was experiencing a bit of FOMO. I was immediately hooked, and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. There were many elements that I liked, such as Joe’s inner monologue, the suspense of never knowing what he’ll do next, and the ever-growing list of new and unique characters. What I did not like was the repetitive story line, mainly in the case of Marianne in season 3. Overall, I think the show is engaging and well-done, and I’m eagerly waiting for the release of season 4. Spoilers ahead!
Season one opens with Joe Goldberg meeting Guinevere Beck, an aspiring writer and graduate student attending Columbia University. Joe is immediately both intrigued by her and *creepy* as he attempts to analyze Beck and quickly concludes that she is his soulmate. He proceeds to both stalk and befriend her, ultimately becoming her boyfriend. This relationship evolves throughout season one, and it’s clear from the beginning that it’s not what Joe expected. What I liked about Beck is that while Joe crafts a perfect image of her in his head, she is the exact opposite of what he expects. Beck is a deeply flawed, and at times unlikable, character, which emphasizes the message that Joe’s behavior is still wrong, and still undeserved. Her tragic ending shows how corrupt and manipulative Joe’s character is, and his inability to truly feel remorse for his actions. Moving into season two, Joe immediately fixates on a new character, Love Quinn, when moving to Los Angeles. Joe and Love immediately connect and eventually form a relationship; however, unlike Beck, Love is drawn to Joe’s obsessive behavior. This season was my favorite, as I enjoyed learning more about Love and her family, which leads up to the shocking conclusion that Love is also prone to violent and impulsive decisions, making her the perfect match for Joe. What I found especially amusing about the end of this season is Joe’s reaction and immediate disapproval of Love and her actions, even though the two are extremely similar in their motives and thought-processes. The season ends with Joe choosing not to kill Love because she is pregnant with his child, and instead they choose to stay together. However, it also shows Joe already fixating on his new next-door neighbor. Overall, I found both of these seasons to be well-done and the epitome of a psychological thriller, as it’s almost impossible to fully understand Joe’s character even when you’re constantly hearing his thought-processes. Moreover, the introduction of someone who is equally as unstable and obsessive as Joe was both unexpected and well-done.
While I mostly enjoyed season three, there were a few disappointing elements for me. While I loved learning more about Love and watching her dysfunctional relationship with Joe, I grew tired of the same cycle of Joe’s fixations. By the end of season three, he had successfully manipulated four (five if you include Candace) women into trusting him and ultimately forming romantic relationships. I know I’m a bit biased as I am an insider to Joe’s creepy thoughts, but I still do not believe that all of these women are oblivious to his behavior. For instance, Marianne's character surprised me when she ended up falling for Joe and going against her previous boundaries. I had high expectations for her, and I thought it went against her character to trust Joe when he was constantly going against her wishes and, in my opinion, was very obviously creepy! Lastly, while I understand why Love’s ending happened in the way it did, it still disappointed me. I feel like it’s another pattern that the show hasn’t moved away from - Joe’s love interests ultimately dying a horrible tragic death, and I think Love would’ve been the PERFECT antagonist as the show continued (very much holding out hope that she may come back). However, the entire scene was shocking and so well-done, and moved into an ending that showed Joe in Paris searching for Marianne and her daughter. Fortunately, Love warned Marianne and pushed her to take her daughter and leave Joe behind, and I hope that their future story line will be different from those in the past three seasons.
There are so many other elements that I could bring up that I both liked and disliked about the show, such as the conclusion for Joe and Love’s baby, connections that he has formed throughout the show (especially with children in difficult home situations), and more thoughts about his psychological state of mind; however, I have provided most of my surface-level opinions in the hopes that it has summed up the majority of my thoughts about You. Ultimately, I highly recommend this show, especially those who are looking for something bingeable and suspenseful.