You
You
A dangerously charming, intensely obsessive young man goes to extreme measures to insert himself into the lives of those he is transfixed by.
Hipster ZOMBIE reviewedMay 12, 2025
Imagine a show about a killer who you know you should hate but somehow end up rooting for. No, I’m not talking about Dexter, I’m talking about Netflix’s stalker obsessed, darkly addictive series, You.
Across five seasons, the show masterfully walks a tightrope between psychological thriller and black comedy, thanks to clever writing and a phenomenal cast that brings every twisted turn to life. At the center of it all is Penn Badgley’s hauntingly brilliant performance as Joe Goldberg, the charming, soft-spoken book lover with a disturbingly warped moral compass. Like Dexter Morgan, but instead of having a code, Joe convinces himself to the point of obsession with each woman he falls for. He also just as easily falls out of love with them. Badgley doesn’t just play Joe—he is Joe, making viewers complicit in his descent as he narrates each thought with eerie intimacy. Again, like Dexter’s dark passenger.
What makes You stand out in the crowded true-crime streaming landscape is how it weaponizes genre tropes. It takes the rom-com format, turns it inside out, and reveals the sinister underbelly beneath idealized love. Each girl he falls for, from Beck to Brontë, is different from the other. He’s a serial stalker but one who isn’t committed to a certain type. Like the real life serial killer, Ted Bundy, Joes victims are random the only common thread being how hard he almost instantly falls for them.
The writing is consistently smart, self-aware, and laced with irony. From Joe’s internal monologues to the series’ satirical take on influencers, academia, and the elite, You manages to be both pulpy and profound. The tone dances effortlessly between suspenseful, funny, and chilling. The ensemble cast is equally outstanding. From Elizabeth Lail’s innocent yet layered Guinevere Beck to Victoria Pedretti’s magnetic and chaotic Love Quinn, and later Charlotte Ritchie’s enigmatic Kate, every actor elevates their character beyond expectations.
In the end, the show never allows the viewers to forget that at the end of the day, Joe is not a good guy. Hes a liar, a cheater, and ultimately a killer. The series finale delivers a satisfying ending and gives closure to plot threads left dangling from previous seasons. Joe is one of the best written and complex characters we have seen in a series in a very long time.