User reviews

I found the first three seasons to be very captivating and I was really looking forward to Season 4.

Unfortunately Season 4 (part 1) has been a challenge to get through. I just can't relate in anyway to this friend group he has gotten into so quickly, and not sure how anyone can get attached given their attitudes.

Truthfully this 4th season part 1 is just plain boring as a result. If you end up not really caring for the characters or connecting with them, then what does a show leave you with?

But let's not forget seasons 1-3 (particularly season 1!). That era demonstrated excellent writing, wild plot twists and just an all around excellent viewing experience. 6 out of 10 overall as a result.

Ps. Update - oh boy part 2 of season 4 is even more unfortunate.

Last season was pretty bad,i didn t care if everyone died. I tried hard to finish it. I am stil trying actually. And the casting should be better. If they release another season,i won't watch it.

Absolutely loved season 1 of this show. It was so clever, innovative, creative, like a book you can't put down. Toying with ideas of morality and which characters drew our sympathies.

Season 2 took the story on, and whilst not on the same level, was throughly engaging and still had some of those good traits from season 2.

Then.... What. Actually. Happened??????

Season 3 was just the complete opposite. No cleverness, predictable twists, bizarre storylines, plot holes so big they could bury all the bodies in them... About as much of a waste of time as flying to Australia, going to a newsagent, buying a packet of crisps, going out of the shop, walking 3 days to a park, crushing the bag of crisps, opening the bag, letting the seagulls eat the crisps, and then coming all the way home again Very disappointing and already a season too far before season 4 even starts.

The first season was incredibly well written and cast, but every season has gotten worse since then. It's unfortunate, as it was a promising series. Season 4 in particular uses familiar and unbelievable storylines. I can't comprehend why some actors were cast. The character of Kate is particularly annoying and is always wearing clown-like makeup. This season grasps for straws (ratings) and really makes you hate Joe Goldberg, whereas before you kind of used to root for him. It's so unbelievable how he could get away with everything he has done, especially being so skinny and out of shape. At least Dexter was more believable and had a likable leading actor.

Needless to say, I won't be watching anymore if it does happen to come back for season 5. Netflix should drop this series & explore other original projects.

The Last 3 seasons had potential. But the terrible writing ruined everything. Since it's a full series review, I'm starting from the beginning.

Season 1: This show starts off really entertaining right from the beginning. A really cool plot with a really cool protagonist made this show really great. However, sometimes, I did have problems with the pacing. And Guinevere Beck's character was not really likable to me. She wasn't bad. But in the end, I wanted more from the character and not always be kinda self-centered. And her friends are also very pretentious (except Peach). They are more like NPCs. But Peach was a great character for me. Despite the problems, Penn Badgley's charisma carries the whole season. It's great. 7.5/10.

Season 2: In my opinion, this is the best season of YOU. It does not really do anything new until the last one or two episodes but it does everything season 1 did, but better. It had genuine likable side characters that don't feel like NPCs. Most importantly, it introduced the best love interest for Joe Goldberg; Love Quinn. And for the first time, I cared about not only Joe Goldberg but the love interest as well. And I remember I had some minor problems with it but I forgot about those anyway. It's brilliant. I love it. 8 or 8.5/10.

Season 3: Okay. Here we go. Things are about to get really messy. I immediately started to hate it but the last scene of the first episode made me hooked. Then it was excellent for a few episodes. To me, Season 3's episode 2-4 was PEAK YOU. The best YOU. And after episode 4. Things got so terrible I was fuming. I absolutely hated episode 5-9. Joe's choices or decisions didn't make any sense and I was only rooting for Love Quinn and not Joe Goldberg for the entire season. This season's Joe can't be from previous seasons. He sucked. I didn't even like the finale even though it was pretty good (the finale). This season hit the rock bottom for me. So 4/10 and not 1/10 only because those three episodes were peak.

Season 4: After season 3 I didn't even want to watch YOU but started the season anyway and hot take- I was liking it very much. Mostly because it didn't feel like YOU and I get that people didn't like it because of that, but not the case for me. It's a completely new show but with Joe Goldberg, the character I generally really like. After the mess of season 3, I finally started rooting for Joe Goldberg again. Which was missing for an entire season. Another hot take, I love Kate. I really don't get why people didn't like her in season 4. She was rude to Joe but rightfully so, and her being rude doesn't drag the show but rather builds her character. I love that she's tough with everyone but really has a soft and warm heart inside. And this is the main reason I was liking season 4 right from the beginning. Joe and Kate's love story didn't feel forced like Marianne's. Their relationship was built gradually. Despite it being very dumb on a number of occasions, I can still give it a pass because I enjoyed their chemistry overall and the whole vibe until that twist. I think the twist was quite unnecessary. The writers must've thought that was a brilliant idea. But it made things dumb more than clever. So, I dunno. Maybe 6 out of 10?

Season 5: Okay this is a weird one. I didn't have any hope from this season as I knew there would be yet another new love interest for Joe. I was expecting disaster, but as things progressed, by the 6th episode I was thinking "oh my god! This season might actually turn out to be very good." I was very much liking it, despite the dumbness of it, but then things got annoying, again. I was pissed, again. And just when I thought that this season will be another mess it surprised me, again. I loved episode 9. So I was again on board that it's coming to a great conclusion. But then episode 10, the last episode added nothing. They should've just ended it with the previous episode and the consequence would've been the same. I would've loved that. But the writers must've thought "oh no! Make the very last episode this way, this will be good." But it wasn't. I can't express how annoying was Bronte oh my god. Her character was just an excuse for lazy writing. And so was Joe's character and his motivations throughout the season. Sometimes I root for him but sometimes his motivation doesn't make any sense. It's just lazy writing to make this or that happen. Overall, this season had some really really great moments. But very annoying throughout. Mostly because of Bronte and sometimes Joe. Another 6/10.

Now that I've finished the show, I'm frustrated. Seasons 3, 4, and 5 all had potential, but the writing simply wasn't smart enough to shine. Netflix should've hired better writers and directors to take this show where it could have gone.

But for what it's worth, Penn Badgley is hell of a great actor. That's I can say for sure.

My Worst-to-Best Season Ranking would be: 3 (worst), then 4/5 (tied), 1(great), and 2 (best).

I enjoyed the first two seasons but season 3 is crap. It's dragged out, stuffed with political messages and just a boring storyline.

The voice-over does almost half of every episode. And I get why; nothing interesting happens.

I'm out. No fourth season for me.

I think that this show started pretty good and it is watchable until the season 4. I mean, I just finished season 4, the second part, and I barely watched it. It was hard to keep me interested so I watched the last three episodes with jumping throughout the each episodes and scenes so I can finish it as soon as I can. It was so hard to watch it. Pretty boring.

To he honest, season 1 and 2 are great. Season 3 is watchable but there was no reason to do season 4 that ruined literally the whole series, as far as I'm concerned.

Penn did a great job and all the other actors but the script vas obviously bad.

In some point I would give it an 8 but after season 4 I will stick to 7.

Loved seasons 1, 2 & 3. Season 4 we were so excited for, not knowing what to expect....we are at episode 3 and we cannot watch any further. It is DREADFUL. I don't know if it is the British inclusion or the whole rich people arrogance that is everywhere, but we just cannot watch this another minute. There is no excitement in what is happening, the pursuit of his love interest completely is a train wreck after wher that was left in season 3....this season could have been something brilliant, but for whatever reason they decided to completely butcher it. It truly is sad they chose to destroy this show with season 4 after how good the first 3 seasons were. Tragic really!

Season one was slow but good and season 2 really picked up. Great writing and excellent secondary characters the first two seasons were classic Netflix drama. Then season 3 hit and the rails came off the story. Everything that made the first two seasons great is absent in the third including the heart of the show. If you watch and just stop after season 2 you get closure and the writing won't destroy the characters you love.

It is pretty much what I expected. This is the type of show you can leave on, leave the room, and come back to realize you missed nothing of importance. It's not there to make you think. It is just a show which points out that someone could stalk you through social media. It's just an embellished view.

I wish not every Netflix Show had to be pushing wokeness, politics and now even vaccines ... So these stars are for season 1 and 2, which I really enjoyed.

Season 1 was amazing with captivating scenes and twists. You could feel that Joe is really a psycho stalker to next level. Season was still watchable with some interesting and some not so interesting parts. However, Season 3 is just so poor that you really have to keep yourself up to watch. No connection between Joe and Marriene can be felt. You just can't keep on killing people for fun and get away with it with so much ease. Utter Nonsense!!!

I'm only up to episode 8 but Beck is annoying the hell out of me. Get a job and stop whining and lying about your family you lazy ar$e.

If I was Joe I actually would have killed all of her friends by episode 3. Then her.

After the wild ride that was Season 4, I waited for Season 5 like it was the second coming of television. And then... they served me this. Predictable? Check. Slow-paced? Check. Writing? Let's just say the plot twists were so telegraphed, I'm surprised they didn't come with spoilers in the opening credits.

Penn Badgley, bless his creepy brilliance, carried the whole thing on his back like a dramatic sherpa-but even he couldn't save this from the fate of "meh." The grand finale? A painfully familiar tale where the "good" guys live happily ever after and the villain learns about consequences from a jail cell. Groundbreaking. Never seen that one before.

Season 1 and 2 are pretty good and suspenful, however by the season three every other character is either gay or bi which is silly at the very least. Also I am not an antivaxer by any means, but to shove this topic into a show like this, is pure agenda.

The fact that You is on Lifetime almost makes you expect that it's going to be a teenager thing, which at certain points it is. It's a Dexter for teenagers. There is just too much drama between all the characters. Drama isn't bad, but teenage drama is something else, it's something annoying to watch when past a certain age. The concept is about the same as the success series Dexter, following a sociopath that is convinced he's doing great things, and this with the narrating voice of the sociopath, in this case played by Penn Badgley, that narrates you everything he does and thinks. It worked better with Dexter than with You, but that's just something about quality. For the rest the story isn't that bad, but it could have been much better. I guess there will be a second season, one that I probably will watch in the hope it gets better, but I have my doubts about that.

I haven't made it through S3E3 and I'm already sick of Hollywood shoving their opinions on vaccines down my throat. Nobody cares what hollywood says. Just entertain and leave politics out of it.

This series essentially repeats Dexter: a psychopath who is like this becuase of some trauma in his childhood, and now he keeps getting away with murders. Except that here it's all done for love and women. The attempt to make this show likable by female audience forces it to follow the conventions of the entertainment material targeted at women. What's those?

First, the character is your typcial "dangerous man who got tamed by the heorine", exactly what women find sexy (at least according to Jordan Peterson, if you care for he says anyway). To a male viewer, the core idea in the plot that some guy would do serial killings just to be liked by some girl is ridiculous. If a guy would go to such lengths, it would likely be for some more man-like reason. E.g. Raping those victims. Or, like Dexter, restoring "social justice". Or something else like money, power, fame, maybe religion or some crazy global conspiracy theories. Taking huge risks just as part of the courtship ritual is absurdly unrealistic, yet obviously plays to the fantasy of female viewers. Cuz see how much the girl valued here! Serial murders are committed in her name, wow! And that's boring/meh to male viewers. Men like porn, not romantic novels about Spanish princes courting your random average Cinderella.

Second, the focus of this show is always on the female characters! The male "protagonist" here is 2D and never really explored. We don't even learn about him much untill later, even until the closing episodes of season 2! Like in most women-targeted content, the man is never an actor of his own. Instead, he is just an attribute, an accessory to women. Like, in a dress-up game for 4 year old girls on an iPad, you'd first dress up the girl into a luxurious bridal dress, and then, as an afterthought, put a groom nearby as a single item. Similarly to how you'd put a pet puppy, a cage with a parrot or a pony ride. The girls are the real actors here. Also, we always see the relatives and the friend circle of the girls. Because that's what makes life of a female viewer. And the protagonist (the serial killer) has no one. He just appeared from thin air, like a hologram or a 2D cardboard. "Hi! Here I am. I'm a dangerous guy but I love you, so I'll serve you like a tiger pet in World of Warcraft. Just give me some meat occasionally and I'll tank the mobs for you".

Third, the female characters have interesting lives here while the guys are either losers or nobodies. In the first season, the girl is an aspiring writer. She has a goal in life, a career ahead of her. What does the guy do? Nothing! He just "owns a bookstore". 1 "hobby", reading. That's it. Aside from reading books, this guy does nothing. Well, he kills people to get liked by the heroine. But other than that, nothing. No gaming or sports or other typical guy's interests. No desire to go to college, or get rich, or create/invent/discore something. Why? Because it's a movie for women. If this guy would have any manly interests, it would move him away from the female viewer. Instead, he needs to like things that women like. Reading is gender-neutral, even a bit womanly. So, that's fine. Everything else? Hm... I guess it would work if he'd like travelling and dining in restaurants. But that would contradict the "dangerous" attribute. Reading physcial paper books looks weird/retro enough to your average female viewer, so that works fine for a "serial killer".

Forth, notice how murders aren't really shown. We rarely actually see this guy murder anyone, especially the girls. E.g. Season 1 ends with the guy merely grabbing the girl. Just imagine how gruesome the actual murder scene would look! But no, the show writers can't do that because this would make the character unlikeable by women. He has to stay likable. For that, he must be just "dangerous" but not the actual unhinged meat-grinding machine that he pretends to be here. See, it was a difficult task for the show writers to present a serial killer in a way that he wold fit the female-likeable archetype! I guess I have to applaud them for completing their mission. Yet, since their target audience wasn't even men (and I'm a man), it's kinda irrelevant to me.

Overall, the show is still somewhat fun to watch simply due to frequent plot turns and the tension it manages to keep up. As long as you don't try to bother with the psychology and the motivations of the characters. And are okay listinening to boring conversations between mediocre female friends here and there. There is no uniqueness or "spark" here though. It's nowhere near Dexter or great shows like Breaking Bad, for example. It's a passable and forgettable show that you probably will get completely bored of by the end of season 2.