You- The Complete Series DVD Review
“You” starts strong, but overstays its welcome.
Based on the novel by Caroline Kepnes, 2018’s “You” is a thriller series developed by Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble that ran for 5 seasons. The series is told from the perspective of Joe Goldberg who is initially a New York bookstore owner who also happens to be a serial killer. Throughout the series, Joe falls in love, but the romances always fall apart as his lovers become victims. Among his love interests are Guinevere Beck (a customer/writer), Candace (ex-girlfriend), Love Quinn (a cook at a cafe with a dark secret), Marienne (a librarian), Kate (a gallery manager turned CEO), and Bronte (playwright/author). The rest of the series contains plots about Joe moving (to L.A., a fictional suburb, London and back to NY again), Joe changing his identity, multiple marriages, Joe having a son, and serial killer encounters (no spoilers as to their identity).
Season 1 (which debuted on Lifetime originally) wound up taking the world by storm once it hit Netflix and it’s not hard to see why. It was a creepy and compelling season of television that was told from the POV of a killer who stalks, murders, and becomes all too obsessed with a love interest (in this case Guinevere). The debut season was the epitome of binge worthy with enticing cliffhangers, surprises, and twists. Seasons 2 and 3 attempted to mix things up with the introduction of Love Quinn and it did work. The Joe-Love dynamic proved to be deranged and unpredictable. For the final two seasons, however, “You” went off the rails. Gone were the intelligent psychological explorations about obsession, secrets, love, and the dangers of the internet. Instead, we got a trashy thriller that became so over-the-top, repetitious, and full of coincidences. Let’s not forget the series finale which was one big cop-out to put it mildly. Would the series have been better off as a one season mini-series? Perhaps, but even when the series made you roll your eyes, you were still eager to see what would happen next.
Of course, a big reason for the show’s success was Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg. He is the true MVP of the entire show and managed to make Joe charismatic, disturbing, human, and downright unhinged. He brings so many layers to this character. Elizabeth Lail (Guinevere) and Victoria Pedretti (Love) cannot be forgotten as their characters were both vital to the show’s success and had incredible chemistry with Badgley. A special shoutout to Anna Camp in season 5 who plays dual roles. She was the best part of that messy season 5.
“You” may have had a rocky run, but it’s still worth seeing it out. Or you could simply just watch the first (or first 3 seasons) and call it quits there.
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 2.0:1. How does it look/ The lack of a Blu-ray release is still odd to me, but this is still a solid standard definition transfer.
Audio Track: Dolby Digital 5.1. How does it sound? The 5.1 track does the job.
No extras.
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