When first starting up You, I was skeptical of it. The popular streaming service Netflix has brought forth some of the best original television in years with excellent shows like Stranger Things, Bojack Horseman and many others.
At the same time, the platform is responsible of some of the worst television I’ve ever seen with the hair pulling incompetence of Insatiable or the deeply and uncomfortably flawed 13 Reasons Why.
Now having seen the 10 episodes available, You takes viewers on a thrilling roller-coaster ride of creeping, sneaking and emotions.
It more than succeeds in showing that lead character Joe Golberg is an irredeemable monster.
A warning to any individuals who may have experienced forms of stalking or assault in their lives, this show has realistic depictions of these horrid acts and could potentially be triggering to anyone who has experienced something like this in real life. Viewer discretion is advised.
Penn Badgley is the real star of You, bringing a brilliant and nuanced per- formance. He brings to life a truly demented stalker.
Nowhere to be seen are sneers, the evil laughs, or anything that you would expect from a standard stalker character.
What there is is a variety of excellent facial expressions that show concern, happiness, fear and any other seemingly normal human emotion you can think of.
Badgley brings a truly disturbing performance of an uncaring, vile stalker who has no idea what he is.
He genuinely believes everything he does is in the name of romance, as evident by the most hair-raising lines in the show.
While trapped and close to being caught inside her house, the stalker, Joe, says in his narration, “Don’t worry, I’ve seen enough romantic comedies to know guys like me always get out of jams like this.”
The woman that he has eyes for is aspiring writer Beck, played by Elizabeth Lail. Lail does an excellent job playing the surprisingly three-dimensional character.
Not often do the victim characters of these stories get their own arc and character growth.
The horror of the show comes from the fact that the show is told from the perspective of the antagonist.
Shots of romance will often have very soft colors with a bright, almost blissful lighting.
The two will go on dates, share intimate moments and even have sex.
Those scenes juxtapose eerily with the fact that just a few minutes before the romantic scenes, Joe was seen smelling stolen underwear, looking at implied underage photos of her, and going through her phone to see where she is at all times.
The show gives us glimpses of how Joe would become who he is and while it is a nice little nod to how one could become a stalker, it never justifies his behavior.
One scene in particular in the last episode perfectly shows that despite his abuse, Joe is still in the wrong for the actions he’s made.
The show has many surprising twists and turns that will have you on the edge of your seat the entire time, all leading up to what was supposed to, and maybe was at one point, a satisfying ending, but instead led to a cheap, contrived, almost Spanish novella twist ending to set up for a second season.
Despite the ending leaving a bitter taste in my mouth, You is still absolutely worth your time.
It is truly a spine-chilling thriller that offers a unique and too real portrayal of one of the most dangerous types of people in the world.
I highly recommend it if you can stomach it and remember to stay safe and keep the stalkers on the screen, and not in your closet.
