When I first started watching You in 2018, I wondered how the idea of obsession and stalking would be panned out into multiple seasons. While Season 1 left me with just enough curiosity to await the second, and the second did just enough to engage me for a third.
Although the third season was constricted by predictability, and the lack of newer avenues to explore, it did set a great premise for the fourth. Now, four seasons later, I can only say that the series can go on and on and on as long as Penn Badgley is at the centre of things.
The fourth season of You starts with Joe Goldberg arriving in London under a new identity, Jonathan Moore. After having murdered Love and framing his own death, Joe seeks to start a new life in London as an English professor. He happens to befriend some prodigal heirs of a few wealthy people in the elite societies of London. However, things start to take a difficult turn for Jonathan as he finds his rich friends murdered, one after another, and he gets framed for them.
The first three seasons of You travelled a familiar route, which lead to a monotony setting in the narrative. Right when we felt the series hit a dead end, the writers opened a new world for Joe in London, where he faces new kinds of problems.
The season starts slow, and Joe’s identification of ‘You’ or whom he chooses to obsess over, comes much later in the series, unlike the previous seasons. His person of obsession is also very interestingly written in this season. Revealed at the end of the first part of season 4, the makers of You make you think you figured out the expose even before Joe could. However, you’re truly in for a shock in the second part of the series.
Unlike in other seasons where Joe is always shown as the dominant hand, season 4 portrays his character as vulnerable. He gets stuck in a position of fear, something unexplored so far in the journey of You. The newfound vulnerability of Joe, as he keeps getting framed for murders he hasn’t committed, makes his character more relatable. Nevertheless, a part of our brain constantly keeps reminding us that he is a murderer.
Sex and gore have been the two symbols of You. Every episode of the series will either have murder and bloodshed, or an intimate scene of Joe making out with his ‘You’. This time around, both these aspects of the series have been reined in. The focus is more on the psychological issues of not only Joe but also the other characters the season introduces.
Unlike other seasons, this season deals with the problems of the rich, and there is a sense of dissonance because of the underwritten characters. While it is established that an ‘Eat the rich killer’, it’s unconvincing when the characters are hardly perturbed by the murder of their near and dear ones. Some of the story arcs of the supporting characters feel like a force fit, making the series draggy.
The idea of making a criminal the protagonist is not new to us. Joe (played by a very convincing Penn Badgley) has been a serial killer since season 1, and as much as he tries to change, he remains the same. The obsession, stalking, and murders orchestrated by Joe only get worse in this season. Yet, the humanisation of an obsessive manslayer, his traumatic childhood, and his idea of ‘love’ makes us root for him and almost hope he never gets apprehended for his crimes.
The standout in the series is the performances of Charlotte Ritchie as Kate Lockwood and Ed Speleers as Rhys Montrose. Kate’s traumatic childhood makes her story relatable to that of Joe. Just as Joe had an abusive father, Kate’s father also controls her life, in ways she never imagines. With Fight Club references, Rhys gets equal weightage in the series as Joe, and an unfaltering Ed is as good as Penn.
Just like every season, this time too, there is no doubt that Joe will get away. The idea of an evil person finding a way out has gotten repetitive. Unlike the ending of the third season, the fourth season’s climax isn’t intriguing enough, and we have to see if season 5, the series finale, ends things on a fine note.
You is a series that either creeps you out or sickens you. But as you indulge deeper and deeper, season after season, Joe’s obsession becomes yours. You ache to know what happens next to the infamous psychopathic serial killer. Of course, the glorification of a ruthless murderer is terrible, but it is a guilty pleasure, nonetheless, considering the charismatic lead, and our investment over the years.
You Season 4
Cast: Penn Badgley, Charlotte Ritchie, Ed Speleers, Tati Gabrielle, Tilly Keeper, Amy-Leigh Hickman, Lukas Gage
Director: Greg Berlanti, Sera Gamble
Streaming on: Netflix
Rating: 3/5