You is a drama-thriller TV series created by Sera Gamble and Greg Berlanti and starring Penn Badgley, Tati Gabrielle, Charlotte Ritchie, Lukas Gage and Ed Speleers, alongside other cast members. You season 4 Part 2 has 5 episodes, each around 50 minutes long.
Joe Goldberg is back with another part of season 4, and now he’s running away (or towards?) Rhys Montrose. Will his past finally catch up to him, or will he be able to get away from everything horrible around him and live a better life?
– You Season 4 Part 2 Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
The more I watch You season 4, the more I get confused about where we are going with Joe… or Jonathan. The way we see our favourite creep this season, I am inclined to start liking him. Not just liking him – but feeling empathetic for him. It’s a weird feeling, and the season doesn’t show Joe as the person that we know he is deep down. He wants to change, he wants to be better, and that’s growth that we didn’t want to watch.
Honestly, I like it for poor Penn Badgley. I am sure it’s not fun to be in the mind of a psychotic stalker and masturbate behind an odd bush. However, in trying to go down a different rabbit hole, things are unnecessarily complicated in the You universe. Without getting into spoilers, season 4 is just such an odd mishmash of things happening together. These things are just so worlds apart that it feels like a whiplash when they finally happen.
Is it an interesting and shocking turn of events? Most definitely – I almost fell out of my chair because even though it’s absolutely mental and complicated, it oddly makes sense. The exposition dumping is honestly sad, and so unlike You, but season 4 just wraps it in a cooler wrapper, making it almost not horrible. It’s a shocker, really – the audacity that the show has to use the most used aspects of thrillers to give us something watchable.
I also wonder why there always is the token kid character who ends up being a convenient scapegoat every time in this show. I almost feel bad, but then again, there wouldn’t be a connection to some long-lost past trauma and an extra character that can be easily pushed under the bus and given a lifetime of PTSD that they would need the rest of their life to get over.
Also Read: You Season 4 Part 2 Reactions: Fans Rejoice at Love Quinn’s Arrival, Surprised With the Plot Twist
Mental health issues take the front seat this season. It’s all great and stuff and explains Joe a little bit better. There’s also Phoebe’s story, one that you will latch on to a bit because, oddly enough, one rich kid doesn’t turn out to be absolutely insufferable. Her character is uncharacteristically amazing, and thus, when she ends up in the difficult situation from which she tried to run from in the first place, you feel for her.
Joe, meanwhile, is a difficult cookie to swallow. Even with his issues, it’s no joke the things that he has done. And oddly enough, as a viewer, it’s almost disgusting how much you want him to be better. To succeed, to find love. For something to happen to this horrible, murderous man. On the other hand, there are Kate’s issues that are a different flavour of the crap childhood muffin. It’s a mess of mental health issues all around that makes you take note for a bit.
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I must say that You season 4 part 2 is much better and more thrilling than part 1. It’s sometimes deeply emotional as well, something that you wouldn’t expect for a show like this, probably. You sympathise with Joe, especially so in the last episode. As he comes to terms with his own demons, in spite of the craziness, you sympathise. This is a deeply broken man who really deserves a psychiatric evaluation and then jail. Either way, Joe’s mental health and “habits” are things for everyone to see in different ways. Whether you sympathise or not, it might just be an interesting debate to get into.
Lastly, we have Marienne – another one of Joe’s love interests who, in spite of being one of the main women (well… you know), ends up being quite the bummer. And another token young adult character gets the axe pretty harshly, and personally, I felt like it seemed a bit much in the grand scheme of things. But, you know, that’s the show for you.
Summing Up: You Season 4 Part 2
The latest entry in Joe’s saga feels like a different show than its first three seasons. Sure, there are similarities (ah, the sweet reminders of previous, better seasons), but if both parts are taken together, You season 4 isn’t its best bet. However, it attempts to explain some things and contextualise others. If anything, it brings the importance of mental health forward.
I enjoyed the second part of season 4 in that it gave a few nice surprises and thrilling moments. All in all, my favourite remains the first nasty season of Joe’s life.
You is streaming on Netflix.
Also Read: You Season 4 Part 1 Review: Joe Goldberg is Back to Haunt Our Dreams