Review of the Netflix series ‘You’ season 4

It’s always commendable when movie and TV series makers add some variation and don’t follow the same pattern over and over again. Because let’s be honest: that’s good Right handed however, nearly every season revolved around a newcomer threatening to expose the actions of “ethical serial killer” Dexter Morgan. the netflix series You contained the same danger, although this series threatened to sell out faster than Right handed.

So it’s refreshing that a completely different barrel is being tapped for season four. Not only because the battlefield has moved from the United States to the upper class of London, but also because now it is Joe himself who has to fear for his safety. He’s being chased by some jerk who’s trying to frame him for the murder. The plot shift creates a new dynamic, though Joe has to fend for himself in the midst of a bunch of very annoying snobs.

After last season, in which Joe killed his ‘partner in crime’ and great love Love Quinn, he has taken on a different identity in London. He now has Jonathan Moore and has left the Clippers behind. He managed to twist things so that Love was the evil mastermind behind the events and Joe himself didn’t survive. As a professor of American short stories (for which you apparently don’t need a degree), Joe leads a fairly simple life under his assumed name.

Joe mixes with the socialite of pampered influencers, up-and-coming artists, pesky rich kids, overconfident authors, and snobbish gallery owners. With all this emptiness, it’s hard for the viewer to move on, because there’s really no one understanding. Cleverly done by the creators, but also a bit transparent, because this means the empathy falls entirely on Joe, especially when it turns out that he’s framed for a murder after a night out.

Former bookseller and new teacher is blackmailed with text messages – the perpetrator knows his true identity and apparently isn’t the only one who knows more about Joe. Another meta factor is added when Joe comes into contact with a very smart student who is an expert on the best British page turners like Agatha Christie. This Nadia seems to want to help him find the blackmailer. They talk a lot about the situation they are in.

For the first time a season of You divided into two chapters that have been released on Netflix in one-month increments. The writers have taken this new strategy quite literally. There’s a clear plot twist and focus between the first five and second five episodes, complete with a midterm recap of sorts. The production team could have filled the entire season with the question of who is putting Joe under so much pressure, and especially why.

But in the second series, which can be seen from March 9, the perspective is completely thrown overboard and the course is changed decisively. With the exception of a few, the many annoying supporting characters barely get a feature. Furthermore, the writers draw on Joe’s psychological state, which is in stark contrast to the man who has been portrayed for seasons as quite deranged, but also as calculating, cunning and opportunistic. The main character is shocked and it doesn’t really go well.

More than before, there is also a return to characters from other seasons. Then he realizes that despite the change in atmosphere and tone You however, it begins to become a formula. The comparisons with Right handed it gets even stronger, if only because of the abundance of voiceovers from lead Penn Badgley, who starts almost all of his sentences slowly but ends with a bang.

The fourth season of this hit Netflix series is what English speakers would call a “mixed bag.” It starts off strong but gets lost in contrived plot twists and futile attempts to change tactics. And someone should explain to the viewer how Joe manages to surround himself with people who easily shrug and may ultimately go along with the rather creepy spirit of him.

★★★☆☆

You can be seen in Netflix.