TAGGED AS: crime thriller, Drama, Netflix, serial killer, streaming, television, TV
You, the psychological thriller that follows murderous romantic Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) as he looks for love (and leaves a trail of bodies, in the process) returns for season 4 on Thursday, February 9 to Netflix. The new collection of episodes will be presented in two halves, the second of which is scheduled to drop to the streamer on March 9.
Joining Badgley in the new season — which relocates the story to London — is Charlotte Ritchie, Stephen Hagan, Lukas Gage, Tilly Keeper, Ben Wiggins, Amy-Leigh Hickman, Ed Speleers, and Tati Gabrielle, who reprises her role as Marienne Bellamy.
It’s been a year and a half since season 3 premiered and the buzz behind these new episodes are high. But do they deliver the goods? Here’s what critics are saying about season 4, part 1 of Netflix’s You:
(Photo by Netflix)
You Season 4 finds a way to blend all the things people loved about the first three seasons and then still gets in your head to shock you.
—Nathaniel Brail, ComicBook.com
This season feels like a completely different show that has no real connection to the past seasons. This new cast has no depth, there’s no stand outs. Even Joe has lost his appeal.
—Kristen Maldonado, Pop Culture Planet
The first half of season 4 is no different, easing audiences into its familiar tone with Joe’s (Penn Badgley) twisted narration and a cast of characters heinous enough that you’ll be rooting for the killer offing them. However, while the tail end of season 3 had started to feel a little bit stuck in a corner, the latest episodes breathe new life (pardon the pun) into this killer drama thanks to a location change and an almost entirely new cast.
—Fay Watson, Total Film
(Photo by Netflix)
When it works, it works because Badgley is charismatic and the show is brash enough to drop a decent number of plot twists into every episode.
—Ellen E Jones, Guardian
Badgley returns as the lovable but murderous sociopath Joe Goldberg, and as always, he’s the highlight of the season. The actor is at home as Joe, and it shows throughout every moment he’s on screen, but it’s when he’s given some new material to work with that he shines.
—Nathaniel Brail, ComicBook.com
Penn Badgley’s performance this season explores a new side of Joe, while maintaining the vital creepiness of the character. Seeing Joe becoming the one being stalked is interesting, and Badgley plays Joe’s surprise and exasperated confusion well, while making sure we know Joe’s crucial lack of self-awareness is in tact.
—Amanda Mazzillo, Film Joy
The premise shift from predator to prey really works, mostly thanks to Badgley’s magnetic performance as Joe. Once again, the Gossip Girl alum nails the vulnerability and complexity of a character who remains compelling despite the truly awful things he does.
—Fay Watson, Total Film
(Photo by Netflix)
Tilly Keeper’s Lady Phoebe might be the exception, a sweet but chaotic socialite who makes the mistake of dating an American playboy played by Lukas Gage. Their messy romance is a soapy thrill and offers some color to their characters that other members of the friend group don’t get the pleasure of enjoying. Outside of them, Kate (who harbors suspicions about Joe) and Ed Speleers’ Rhys Montrose (a dry politician who befriends Joe), there are many other characters but none who get much investment.
—Shania Russell, Slashfilm
Charlotte Richie, the star of hit British sitcoms like Ghosts and Fresh Meat, absolutely shines here as Kate, the woman Joe can’t stop noticing despite her initially cold and prickly demeanor. The role feels like a real departure for Richie, who often plays warm, sweet characters. She knocks it out of the park. Kate’s dry wit puts Richie’s comedic timing to use. Additionally, she’s a more shrewd, guarded woman than the ones Joe has pursued in past seasons. That gives the season a much-needed change of pace.
—Shannon Campe, The Spool
You’s new cast of characters may be perfect props for its murder mystery game, but they’re boring and lack the certain callous chaos that makes the genre fun.
—Yasmeen Hamadeh, Mashable
(Photo by Netflix)
It has another go at reinvention by turning itself into a Cluedo-esque Agatha Christie whodunnit, although it is arch enough to feature a discussion about whether or not the whodunnit is the lowest form of literature. It is fun, although it suffers a little under the weight of comparison, given that Rian Johnson has been plugging away at an updated and self-aware take on Christie with the Knives Out films, which are much cleverer than this.
—Ellen E Jones, Guardian
From playing things out like a whodunit to giving us a new antagonist, You Season 4 Part 1 is different, and the real fun of it is joining Joe on his first attempt at solving a mystery.
—Yasmeen Hamadeh, Mashable
Just putting Joe in this position makes for one hell of a season: a bunch of stuffy rich people are being murdered and instead of having Benoit Blanc on the case, “You” has semi-reformed murderous stalker Joe Goldberg, whose main superpower is becoming invisible when he puts on a nondescript baseball cap (a trick that feels extra absurd in the city of London). That’s the kind of excitement just begging to be devoured in a single sitting!
—Shania Russell, Slashfilm
Putting Joe in the middle of a murder mystery allows the show a chance to breathe and evolve, and find new, exciting avenues to explore. This next installment of You is a blast to watch as this mystery gets unfolded, and we learn more about each new character.
—Amanda Mazzillo, Film Joy
(Photo by Netflix)
You season 4’s commentary on its uber-wealthy characters feels a bit tired at times. With so many shows and movies skewering the rich, it’s hard not to feel like one is being hit over the head with the message that rich people are bad. You has never been about subtlety, though, and with the contempt for the rich filtered through Joe’s disdain, it’s a bit more palatable and oftentimes hilarious.
—Graeme Guttmann, Screen Rant
The slice of British upper-crust society “You” slips Joe into this time around seems more of a caricature, perhaps a pitfall of transporting an American series abroad. When one socialite forces a domestic employee to get on his hands and knees and act as a hoop in croquet like she’s the Queen of Hearts in “Alice in Wonderland,” satire gives way to cartoonishness.
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today
His familiar narration that guides the show is no longer delivered with twisted “adoration” for a woman, but with a simmering resentment for a stranger who is hellbent on making sure he gets his hands dirty by giving in to his murderous impulses. This creates not only a fresh twist on an established formula that You has maintained for three seasons, but also gives us the chance to look deeper into Joe’s warped sense of self.
—Rae Torres, Collider
The dialogue also feels overwrought at times, leaning a bit too far into stereotypes that it jars you out of the story. These come hand-in-hand with some incredible plot holes (honestly, how on earth is Joe affording that central London apartment?).
—Fay Watson, Total Film
(Photo by Netflix)
You season 4 part 1 has plenty of absurdity, crafting a mystery that is as comical as it is nail-biting & puts Joe in more danger than he ever before.
—Graeme Guttmann, Screen Rant
When viewed apart from the rest of the series, You Season 4 is just fantastic television.
—Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community
Whether You is any good or not is almost beside the point at this stage. It is entertaining, but it is also sort of awful, which means it hits that sweet spot of Netflix ambience. Don’t look too hard at it and you will have a lovely time.
—Ellen E Jones, Guardian
You season 4 starts out extremely strong with part 1 delivering five great episodes. They are suspenseful, intriguing, and entertaining, even when they end up predictable. Making Joe live on the other side of the fence this time around gives You a fresh and unique feel.
—Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky
92%
You: Season 4
(2023)
Part 1 premieres February 9 on Netflix, with Part 2 following on March 9.
