YOU Season One Review

Ivy Walsh

Class: Sophomore

Major: Strategic Communication

Minor: Writing

Hometown; Cincinnati, OH

 

This is a (mostly) spoiler-free review of Season 1 of You, which originally aired on Lifetime but is now available for streaming on Netflix.
You was written by Caroline Kepness and was first aired in September of 2018. The story takes place in a modern-day New York City where we are introduced to the show’s main protagonist, Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley). Joe Goldberg works in a bookstore when we meet his main love interest, a writer named Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail). Skipping the rest of the basic facts, the first thing you need to know before you tune in to watch this show is that You is incredibly divisive. This story is much more than a tale of a brilliant young bookstore manager who crosses paths with an aspiring female writer, and how their relationship blossoms into an awkward romance. This story is something that is much more sinister when the writer becomes the bookstore owner’s obsession. The Mr. Nice Guy murderer trying to will the women of his desire into loving him may have a negative effect on some people. It might even make you feel the urge to laugh, cringe, and hide behind a pillow all in the course of one episode. However, that’s what good cinema does; it makes us feel something.
You has the ability to make us uncomfortable with the expectations society has put on romance and make us really start to contemplate things…. Like why do we still like the main character even though he’s a stalker and a murderer?
This show really challenges the question: “What would you do for love?” Would you use social media, the internet, and every tool at your disposal to grow closer to someone? Go so far as to remove any obstacle that gets in the way of you and that person? Maybe even remove someone?
Still interested? Watch You on Netflix to see how it all unfolds.