✦Elzary
Cinema·4 min read·👀 Watched 2023.02.20

You

Rare for a series to stay this gripping into season four. It leaves the bookstore behind but keeps its edge — stepping out of its comfort zone.

2023 · Psychological Thriller · Gregory Berlanti · Netflix

It's rare for a series to stay this gripping into season four. Even though the main thread leaves the "bookstore" behind, it keeps its brilliance and doesn't just repeat the earlier seasons' formula — you could say it stepped out of its comfort zone? Anyway, I'm quite a fan 😆

Played like a fiddle by the writers

After the first half I actually thought Joe had met a formidable rival and was being counter-stalked.

Meanwhile the writers give everyone a plausible reason to be the killer (though I also think it's because that friend group is too fake + brainless), so I got led around by the nose the whole way — only for a huge twist later. Even as Joe struggles desperately to "do the right thing," struggling and struggling and struggling, in the end he still can't overcome his own dark side, and even merges with it? (Maybe shaving off the beard is the hint?)

The inner-monologue setup and all the snarky asides are both funny and let you understand how he struggles — I think that's a nice touch. I just don't get why the projected figure is Rhys? Because Rhys rose up from poverty — is that Joe's dream image of himself?

What I didn't expect: at the end of season four, the writers hand him a game-like "paid top-up," an all-powerful shield (Kate). It gave me the creeps, a bit of a surprise — but I couldn't help sighing that maybe this is just the reality of society.

Wrap-up

Even though season four was quite good, I still wish they'd quit while ahead and end on a perfect period, haha. (And then today they announced a season five for 2024 🤣.)

Coincidentally several seasons of You accompanied me through many sleepless nights — in a way it did help me sleep (?).

#series#thriller#netflix
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