Actually, I say YOU is a Netflix Original, but it originally started on Lifetime of all networks. I don’t watch a lot of Lifetime, but I was under the impression this was not their type of show. It’s just so dark and leaves you filling kinda… skeevy after watching it.

If you don’t know what YOU is, well it’s kind of like Dexter where it has the viewer rooting for the bad guy as he does one horrible act right after the other. Unlike Dexter, the people that end up in Joe Goldberg’s (Penn Badgley) way aren’t always bad. Annoying sometimes, but not to the point they deserve death. However, the show is done in such a way where we’re still pulling for Joe to get out of these tense situations. Then you just feel… dirty.

Joe, our star and… hero ?, is riddled with mental disorders that become evident to the viewer pretty quickly. He definitely shows some traits of an antisocial personality disorder, as well as attachment disorders, and of course, throw in a little bit of narcissism to top off that deranged mental stew. The kicker is, due to the narcissism, Joe is the white knight out to save the ladies he’s obsessed with, and he sees very little fault in the things he does. We learn this by monologuing voice overs that are creepy but hilarious at times.

As for the objects of his obsessions, Joe completely builds them up to something he’s created in his mind, which is the ‘you’ of the story. As we all know, though, people are still people, and we’re not without our faults. As perfect as Joe makes these women out to be in his mind, eventually there comes a breaking point when she shatters the illusion, and things take a turn. That’s when the story gets really exciting.

If you enjoyed Dexter, or any type of tense, stalker/thrillers, I would recommend giving this series a go. I just finished season 3, and I can say it holds up through-out. Now, if you’re caught up like I am, continue reading below. If not, there be spoilers ahead!

So, I remember when I first watched S1 of YOU, I was pretty much blown away by the story. Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail) was a very flawed person, but Joe stalked and obsessed her into something she never was (or could be) from the moment he first saw her. His attention to detail and ability to think his way out of problems seems so bullet proof to him, but he overlooks many of the small, very obvious things. Watching all this play out was so interesting to me and really drew me into the show.

Side note: I think this is something the writers stay true to through out the run of the show, and that’s refreshing.

Anyway, back to Beck. She was annoying. I didn’t like her as a person. However, I didn’t think she deserved to die and almost slightly disappointed in that we lost her, except the ending of S1 just came around as such a perfect fit. Masterful, and our very lucky Joe moves on to become obsessed with Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti) in S2. As we work our way through S2, it seems like it is much of a repeat of S1 with the Love/Beck comparison, and the addition of Candace. Surprise! She’s alive!

But she is not the surprise of the season. No, no, no. That gets laid on us when we find out Love is an absolute batshit murdering psycho too. DELICIOUS! That was not a twist I saw coming at all and could not wait for S3 to see where they take the story.

I was not disappointed.

Although Joe is already starting his obsessive behavior and has found another ‘you’ to latch on to, Love shuts that shit down real quick. Ya know. But killing her. Makes sense, right? Beautiful beginning. The second episode when they end up in couples counseling over Love’s little outburst was extremely fun to watch as the two of them dance around what’s really going on. The best part? The format of the show is completely shaken up as now Joe can’t risk finding someone new to stalk because Love is just going to kill her.

But Joe is still Joe, and what’s a stalker without an obsession? Yup. A stalker’s gotta stalk.

The deeper I got into S3, the more I was entertained and impressed with the story telling. I had no idea what was going to happen and was very satisfied with what played out on screen. The show has been greenlit for S4, and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here! I know Joe can’t keep getting away with everything he’s done, so I’ll be here till the very end so I can watch it go down.

And I think that’s it for today. I found this handy list on IGN of the top-rated Netflix Original Movies. I might have to give this a go and see where it takes me. Until next week! Happy Reading… and Watching!