Series Analysis: You Season 4
Compelling chemistry between Penn Badgley and Ed Speleers, with lovely performance by Tilly Keeper, but a flawed narrative with an average Part1.
Directed by :
- John Scott (3 episodes)
- Harry Jierjian (3 episodes)
- Rachel Leiterman (2 episodes)
- Shamim Sarif (1 episode)
- Penn Badgley (1 episode)
IMDb link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7335184/
"All I have ever wanted
is to love and to be loved completely. I should have fought harder. I was born
to give you that. That's all that matters. You. Just You."
Spoilers ahead...
The Plot - Joe Goldberg is now Professor Jonathan Moore
Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley)
has now become Professor Jonathan Moore, teaching literature at Darcy College
of London. One day, his colleague Professor Malcolm Halding (Stephen Hagan)
invites him to Sundry House, where Malcolm and his rich friends usually hang
out, mostly to get high. The rich friends include Kate Galvin (Charlotte
Ritchie), Lady Phoebe Borehall-Blaxworth (Tilly Keeper), Rhys Montrose (Ed
Speleers), Adam Pratt (Lukas Gage), Sophie Soo (Niccy Lin), Blessing Bosede
(Ozioma Whenu), Roald Walker Burton (Ben Wiggins), Connie (Dario Coates), Simon
Soo (Aidan Cheng), and Gemma Graham-Greene (Eve Austin). The next morning, as
Joe wakes up from the hangover of the party, he notices Malcolm's dead body on
his dining table. His first doubt is that he committed the murder, but soon a
series of phone texts suggest one of those rich friends is the killer, who soon
becomes famous as the 'Eat the Rich' Killer. Now, Joe has to find that killer
before he/she reveals his/her real identity.
Initial Impression - Not boring thank's to Joe's regular commentary
At the halfway mark or the
end of Part 1, it made me believe this might be the first time when You
won't work for me and be a disappointment. No, it's not boring thanks to Joe's
regular commentary; even these 5 episodes pass by easily. Enjoyable comments
like "Which of these people would I hate the most?" and "Joe
feeling Kate would easily be anyone's first suspect for murder," or one in
Part 2 where he says, "Meeting up with Connie for lunch to assess him for
framing ability."
From the trailer, I was
excited because it felt like it would be fun watching Joe get his own medicine
when he's trying to find the killer who's set to reveal his identity to
everyone. As he himself says, "I have found myself in a whodunnit."
Issues with Part 1? - Eat the Rich Killer plot and Kate Galvin don't work
The question is, "Could
they have made it more engaging?" I feel yes, by either making the Sundry
House members likable or worthy of being not killed, because every time Joe
says, "please drop a bomb on them" or "just kill these rich
douchebags," you just feel like agreeing with him. I still can't believe
Adam wanting to buy an egg for such a big amount or Lady Phoebe playing the
'killer' game at Hampsie House when their friends are getting killed.
It made the whole whodunnit
very uninteresting. Rather than being interested in finding who the killer is,
I wanted them to just reveal it, get it done with, and then tell where Part 2
is leading to. Gemma and Simon especially were way too irritating to like. I
did enjoy Phoebe the most, and also liked the character arc Adam gets; for a
while, I was rooting for him to change, but then it had to be a sad ending for
him. His golden shower scene was very gross to watch.
Another main issue is the
lead character Joe gets paired with, i.e., Kate. In the past, I have loved both
Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail) and Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti); even
Marienne Bellamy (Tati Gabrielle), whose story didn't fully click for me in
Season 3, wasn't boring or irritating. But Kate is such an uninteresting
character; she is the kind of person you don't want to be around, way too rude
and way too unfriendly. Even though I am not the right person to talk on this,
rather I should be siding with Kate, but that's how I felt all the time
watching her. Yes, we do learn why she is the way she is, even then it never
made me like her; maybe this was supposed to be the best possible match for
Joe, not Beck or Love or Marienne.
Turning Point: Part 2 - Rhys Montrose isn't what Joe thought, Split Personality Angle
Part 2 changes everything,
especially the final 3 episodes. There was a tiny part of me that wanted this
to be not about Rhys Montrose but something else; I wasn't sure what, maybe Rhys to be
linked to someone Joe knew in the past. But to learn that it was Joe always,
and it's his split personality at play was a genius thing; mind you, it wasn't
perfect. More on the flaws later.
Knowing Joe isn't that
routine serial killer, a reason why we always rooted for him in the past 3
seasons, it doesn't come as a surprise when the writers pull off the 'gone
insane' to the level of split personality where he lets his dark side out
believing that way he would be able to peacefully live life as Jonathan.
It's good because we see the
side effects Joe is having, wanting to be loved and unable to keep a
relationship lasting due to his obsessive nature, and now in desperation, he is
trying to shut off that dark side of him only to actually make it worse. And I
am happy the writers didn't go for a redemption or 'Joe has changed into a
better person now' plot.
Episode 8 is a total
season-stealer. The way Marienne is referred to as Nightingale and Joe as Fox,
how we finally learn that Joe actually never let Marienne depart from that
train, still obsessed over his relationship with her, and then that brilliant use
of the song 'Bells in Santa Fe' where Marienne forms a habit of living in a
cage daily.
Also, for the first time, we
see Joe fixate himself on a guy, not in a love way but more for the relation he
feels with his story and the troubled childhood of Rhys connection. I would
have actually liked more scenes on how he was getting attached to Rhys; maybe
the 8th episode could have been even more special with 20-30 mins extra length.
There are a few things,
however, that didn't make sense to me, maybe because I don't have a clear
understanding of how split personality works. Two of such instances would be,
one where Joe puts Phoebe's Hampsie country house on fire; not really sure how
he did it while being chained? And then that camera clip he watches where he
sees himself behaving like Rhys which we didn't see earlier. I think I know the
answers to both these scenes, just not sure if it's accurate or not!
Cameos of Elizabeth Lail and Victoria Pedretti in episode directed by Penn Badgley himself
I loved the brilliant cameos
of both Beck and Love in episode 9, which is directed by Penn Badgley himself.
I may come across as a fan of Victoria Pedretti, which I don't mind, when I say
that her few minutes cameo was way more enjoyable than the entire Kate plot in
this season.
The photographer sub-plot of
erotomania was a great add-on. Like most others, I fell into the trap thinking
she's someone from Beck or Love's season out to get Joe's real identity
revealed. But boy, she being herself part of a mental issue that Joe is going
through was a very perfect idea and I didn't feel cheated in any way at all.
Rather, I felt sorry for her to be gone behind bars as the 'Eat the Rich
killer.'
Season 4 Repeating Mistakes of Previous Seasons - Joe Goldberg can never be caught ?
Two things this season again
got wrong sadly. One is a supporting character Nadia (Amy-Leigh Hickman), who
we see all the time as the smartest student in the class and yet fails miserably
to reveal Joe's identity while having her boyfriend killed and landing herself
in jail. Yes, you can complain that she was such a nosy character and got what
she deserved, but that's what writers made it look like. Felt déjà vu of many
old characters that have had the same fate at the hands of Joe. It would have
been nice to see Nadia escape; that way, Joe would be nervous knowing she is
out somewhere and also unaware that Marienne is alive too.
Then there's the cop angle.
Why don't they ever behave like cops when around Joe? It's not like he is some
big rich figure which actually at the end of the season he has become, so cops
not doing their job in the final season would be understandable. But till now,
they were supposed to be much more active and find the clues left behind by
Joe. Instead, we again see Joe as a helpful guy helping detectives figure out
who may have killed Malcolm or Simon.
New Characters in Season 4 - Tilly Keeper as Lady Phoebe is the show stealer
Among the new characters, I
liked Adam, Roald, and Nadia (till Part 1). Lady Phoebe (an excellent Tilly
Keeper) is of course the best one of all, while it stays a mystery as to what
Joe told her during their first meeting at Sundry House. What makes Phoebe
lovable is her innocence and how she tries to see the good in others, even
though there are shades of a rich spoiled girl probably because of the friend
circle she is part of. I was so happy to see her reject Adam when he proposes
to her and later gutted to see how she fell into his trap. Still love how
things finally turned out for her.
Adam and Roald, though not
likable characters, are played well by Lukas Gage and Ben Wiggins respectively.
Simon (Aidan Cheng) was a typical artist figure we see in almost all whodunnit
plots, so nothing fresh there.
Nadia (Amy-Leigh Hickman)
was so good till Part 1 and maybe the first 2 episodes of Part 2; you really
feel she might become one of the rare supporting characters to actually survive
Joe's hunt. Sadly, they give her a cliched ending by the finale.
I am happy Marianne didn't
have to die. It was smart of her to not let Joe know about the sleeping pills
while she was put in the cage and how she makes use of Nadia in her grand
escape.
Rhys is indeed the best new
addition to the You universe, thanks to Ed Speleers' charismatic performance,
who also has excellent chemistry with Penn Badgley. It’s fun watching him play
the dark side of Joe; all the time way he encourages Joe to do the needful
including the parting moment ‘I love you’. He will be missed if Joe has truly
accepted himself in the end.
The Ending - Joe Goldberg will return to New York
I love the ending a lot because for first time, we finally see Joe accepting himself for what he is, that entire walk when his conversation ends with Nadia, is pure evil with that background music, and so is his final words with that smile. I just hope they don't play the 'I am good' angle anymore as the mirror reflection of Rhys gave a slight hint of it. Maybe we would see a more impulsive Joe in final season which would also be a reason for his downfall with all the loose ends from past catching up on him. Interestingly, the cop angle may not affect him initially with all the money and power he has got due to Kate, but the question is did he tell Kate all the truth about his past or that he killed her dad? If not, then Kate may turn up against him anytime. Whatever it is, I have got a strong feeling the final season will live upto the expectations.
Verdict on 'You' Season 4
Overall, Season 4 of You is enjoyable but has its share of flaws, especially with the 'Eat the Rich' plot. It's still a must-watch for fans, primarily because of the great twist involving Joe's split personality and some excellent performances. The chemistry between Penn Badgley and Ed Speleers is a highlight, and the cameos of Elizabeth Lail and Victoria Pedretti add a nostalgic touch.
My Rating : 6.5/10
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