The highly anticipated season three of the Netflix series “You” was released on Oct. 15. It received generally positive reviews from critics, with the New TV Tonight list from Rotten Tomatoes giving the show a 94% and a Metacritic score of 77/100.
Several students on campus have been waiting for the season to premiere with eager expectations.
“The show is already so crazy,” Alanna Haimes (‘24) said. “I couldn’t wait to see what happens next.”
“You” follows the story of Joe Goldberg, a New York native with an affinity for obsessing over women with the hope of “fixing them,” even if that involves stalking and murdering on their behalf. The exceptional twist of this thriller is, as you follow Joe’s journey, you find yourself rooting for his warped intentions. In season three, Joe and his newly married wife, Love, move to the suburbs with their son Henry, hoping to finally have normalcy in their domestic life.
But old habits die hard, as Joe finds himself falling into familiar patterns.
A great testament to this show’s unique quality is how it convinces you to take Joe’s side through his dark and unnerving inner monologues, twisting the perspective in his favor.
As TV critic Inkoo Kang wrote in her Washington Post article, “Deceit is the unstable combustible that makes ‘You’ propel forward and occasionally erupt into delicious disaster: Joe’s seductions are calculated performances of the kinds of men he thinks women want, and his self-delusions are even more dangerous.”
The writing of the show excels in this aspect, but is meandering in others. The stakes of this season grow higher and higher to almost ridiculous proportions, with Joe escaping from situations seemingly impossible to run away from. Though some may argue that this is the appeal of the riveting show, it pulls the audience away from the story and into reality, questioning how anyone could possibly get away with crimes of this degree––all with the knowledge that the protagonist is in fact the antagonist in the other characters’ stories.
Does this mean you couldn’t enjoy the newest season? On the contrary, the remarkable acting from main stars Penn Badgley and Victoria Pedretti convinces you to give into Joe and Love’s concerning desires. The charming facade of the normal neighbors next door is offset by the crazy glint in their eyes and fierce explosions of repressed emotions bubbling to the surface, all marvelously portrayed by Badgley and Pedretti’s exceptional acting chops.
“It was a lot to get through,” said Tyler Cochran-Branson (‘24). “But it was so worth it in the end, the ending made me want to watch more”.
“You” was renewed for a fourth season in Oct. 2021, before the third season was even released due to high expectations from viewers. Will you be tuning in to find out if Joe escapes from his dangerous decisions once again?
[…] and increase readership. In the past, students have used the paper as a creative outlet to write Netflix movie reviews or their opinions on miscellaneous topics, such as Ollie’s […]