You - TV Series Review

‘You’ tells the creepy story of Joe Goldberg, a manager of a small bookstore with pleasant to look at exterior but murderous intent in his heart. When Harry meets Beck, a struggling writer his sexuality is not just aroused but turned into obsession immediately. Joe engages himself into Beck’s life using the social networks and the internet, learning, and eradicating any barriers that stand in the way of him getting the girl. Finally, it is important to know that the primary concept of ‘You’ is all about obsession and privacy violation in today’s world. The show rather sardonically concerns American culture regarding love and proposes how obsession can effectively camouflage itself as true love. In terms of tension, it remains consistently creepy but provides flashes of quietude in the midst of intense action.

Penn Badgley has an impressive first season playing Joe Goldberg; charming at times, scary at others, and always watching. That very manner conveys the internal state of the character and shifts people between sympathy and violent dislike. Everyone in the supporting cast contributes to the show and makes Joe’s interactions with the show even more layered and interesting for the audience to watch.

Directors Silver Tree, John Scott, and Marcos Siega manage to give this show a stunning and captivating look while faithfully adapting the essence of Joe’s psychological saga to TV. The direction of they continue to keep tension on a high pitch and skilfully play with and the viewers’ feelings throughout the show. This music works brilliantly to complement the storyline and emotional experiences of audiences, navigating through the scenes with alacrity while enriching their feeling embedding process. Audaciously framing the audience as active witnesses, let alone a part of Joe’s twisted environment, mise-en-scène reinforces Joe’s deceptive stoicism and internal chaos.

Largely located in neon-lit urbanscape, visually designing the world in which Joe lives emblematically represents the divide between reality and Joe’s hidden psychopathy. Although the series does not depend on post-production elements, the sparse transition used in the crucial scenes of the series adds considerable suspense. These effects although to a minimal degree provide depth to the unstable behavior and state of mind of Joe.

The fast pacing provided by the show’s editing allows for complex storytelling while also keeping the tension high. Internal and external perspectives with Joe are well-embedded and include several necessary backstories but never to the point where it interrupts the show’s flow.

The pacing in You is apt with enough buildup to accommodate character transformation and twisted events comfortably. It is calculations and smooth, while always keeping the audience hooked and engaged from one episode to another while also creating as much tension as possible.

The language used in You is quite elocuted and characterizes the figurative dispositions of the show. Most memorable are Joe’s soliloquies: what definitively identifies him is the full direct exposure of his thought processes, rationalizations, and illusions. Even in dialogue, banal and heated, characters are written with complex desires and rivalries simmering beneath.

Nonetheless, like the show’s intense suspense, You can sometimes rely too heavily on predictable thriller clichés. A few storylines are drawn out and seem unnecessary to stretch believability. Furthermore, IMO, although it’s for the purpose of irony and critique, there is sometimes an eroticisation of Joe’s stalking behaviour – creepy. Elements that delight are narrative intensity, daring cast performs, as well as a timely and eerie take on a society consumed with online presence. It is possible to recall clips from the series for days – weeks, contemplating love, privacy, and morality in the digital age.