Review: Season 4 of 'You' on Netflix

Five out of Five Stars

By Jake Leslie
Photo Editor

Season 4 of “You” is out after its staggered release this year, and it has lived up to the high bar that it had set for itself.

The show follows Joe Goldberg, a man desperate for love; desperate to be seen as important and good. This all stems from an abusive childhood and estranged parents. His desperation, however, quickly leads to obsession, as he falls impossibly hard for women, and will stop at nothing to keep them safe and keep them interested.

The thing this show does so well is it simultaneously makes you hate Joe and also root for him at the same time. As he narrates, you hear his thoughts and you start to understand where he’s coming from. You feel his excitement, his lust, his pain and his anger.

You truly want him to be a good guy, and you always become frustrated when he proves he is much more of a villain than you would like him to be. And yet, as he runs from the messes he creates, you quietly hope he is able to leave it all behind and get a fresh start, because, after all, he deserves it.

Those who have not seen season 4 yet may want to abstain from reading on, just to preserve the purest viewing experience.

Season 4 didn’t get off to the start I had hoped it would. At first it felt like it had just repeated the recipe from the previous seasons. It felt rushed, and almost corny in its familiarity. Soon, its actions had me intrigued again, but when the first half of the season came to a close, I was left feeling just a little bit disappointed.

The show was able to do a complete 180, however. For the first time in the whole series, I stopped rooting for Joe and started to see him for what he truly is. I stopped wanting him to succeed and ultimately wanted justice. But as his mental state deteriorates, you start to separate Joe from his actions again.

This rollercoaster is addictive, and I don’t want to get off.