You is honestly one of the most intriguing and yet uncomfortable shows, I have watched in quite some time. You may be wondering why I would enjoy the show if it makes me uncomfortable – well let me introduce you to the lead character Joe. Joe is played brilliantly by the charming Penn Badgley and this charming portrayal of course is displayed throughout the role in season 1 and 2. Joe comes across as a charming romantic, every thought he has displays that he is caring, loving, and just wants true love – what’s wrong with that? I suppose, it’s because he uses stalking, abusive and manipulative behaviour, and well of course murder to get what he wants.
Season 1 built up the character Joe, and broke down all his secrets for an astounding conclusion – by the end of it, you hate everything about him – yet somehow season 2 makes you forget all of what happened. Somehow you fall in love with him all again, just as the new character Love does.
This new season introduces flashbacks to give more insight on Joe’s life, and relationship with his parents. It introduces even more new characters into the show, Love Quinn is the new love interest and Love’s brother Forty adds a lot of unexpected humour into the season such as when he doses Joe with acid. With the addition of new characters, Cadence also returns, which continues the story between Cadence and Joe from season 1.
You is such an easy show to watch in one sitting, each episode has some unique plot within the episode that doesn’t take away from the main plot at all. It just adds to the interesting personality and relationships that Joe creates. The relationship dynamic between Joe and Love is a hard one, it’s similar to Beck in the first season while it comes across super cute and romantic, that if a casual viewer was to flip through parts of the show, you’d have no idea the dark secrets that Joe has, for the rest of us however, the audience knows that Love could be at risk at any moment.
Episode one does a great job convincing the audience that Joe is truly changing, just to have a reveal that not all is what it seems and BAM you are drawn into the story, the tension, and characters all over again.
If you are a fan of the show Dexter, you will definitely love season 2 of You. With the addition of the Henderson subplot, it begins to add the moral dilemma of whether Joe is doing the right ‘thing’ when an individual may deserve it – which is what Dexter is all about. Finally, just like Dexter the final episode is disappointing. I loved season 2, and I’m excited to see another season if the show gets renewed but the final episode was just a trainwreck from beginning to end, and I was really expecting a greater ending… although saying that, if this was the last episode ever – it wouldn’t be the worst final episode of a TV show I’ve ever seen.
Review by Sandra Porter
