Joe Goldberg is back, but his new life across the pond isn’t striking everyone’s fancy. The risky reinvention of Joe’s character in a whodunit mystery in which he becomes the stalked instead of the stalker has split critics and fans alike. No doubt, every popular TV show, the longer it runs, faces the risk of losing its charm. This can occur due to a misguided rebrand or growing dull from repetitiveness. For three seasons, YOU seemed to have been avoiding these pitfalls, keeping things fresh but still familiar. Now, with the debut of Season 4, it appears as if the Netflix hit may be losing steam. Let’s get into the fan arguments for and against this new storyline for Joe Goldberg.
As always, here’s your courtesy spoiler warning before we dive into everything YOU
Hello, YOU Part 2
The undeniable clamor surrounding the second official trailer for the season is, of course, due to the surprise appearance of Love Quinn at the end. For most fans (including myself), this raises our spirits about the true star of the show making her return. However, more realistically, since Joe is prone to hallucinations, Love could very well still be dead.
That said if it’s not the ultimate form of clickbait for watching Part 2, and Love Quinn is indeed back to get revenge on Joe, YOU Season Four Part 2 might wholly make up for a rocky, rather dull start. On this note, fans are quick to argue that without Love Quinn, YOU has lost its spark.
Fans Against Season Four
Fans For Season Four
My Two Cents
Though I wasn’t particularly impressed by Season 4 Part 1, I think the jury is still out about whether YOU will succeed in its new plotline. Broadly, I can relate to the complaint that this season just doesn’t feel like the YOU of years past but more like a half-hearted Pretty Little Liars rip-off.
Perhaps my biggest issue with the season so far is that it doesn’t have engaging secondary characters. Last season, there were new faces that significantly added to the fun and chaos of the show. For instance, Theo, Cary, and Sherry from Madre Linda were great additions to the cast. In this new London landscape, there are plenty of new characters, but none of them struck a chord with me. In my opinion, they all fall flat, making it hard to be engaged in Joe’s new friend group, love interest, or the plot as a whole.
Not to mention, the entire plotline with Marienne from last season seemed to be hastily swept under the rug to focus entirely on this whodunit scheme. I’m still unsure about how I feel about that. In all, despite my grievances, I’ll still be tuning in March 9th for Part 2 to see if and how it makes up for Part 1. For, even if it crashes and burns, at least I’ll get to see more Penn Badgley rocking a beard and suit in London, which has got to count for something.
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