‘You’ season two turns tacky
Series fails to reach first season hype
Fair use from Netflix
January 13, 2020
After leaving me hooked and desperate for my questions to be answered after the first season of “You,” the second season failed to come close to my expectations for the show.
The main character, Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), tries to better himself this season, making it boring and frustrating to follow. This isn’t a feel-good show, I’m not watching to see him become a better person. The point is to see him stalk someone and watch it play out in the end. No matter how much Joe could change, his past actions have done too much damage.
Despite Joe trying to better himself this season, it also took a dark turn. The show focused less on the stalking and more on overdone murders that didn’t add much to the storyline. At the same time, as Joe is falling in love again and trying not to stalk his new love interest, there were various other story lines happening at the same time with Joe. It was overwhelming, and with the many dark storylines happening at once, the more the other storylines lost significance.
Each episode itself wasn’t very interesting and actually ended up boring me. I found myself falling asleep or finding a different task to do, whereas the first season had me glued to the screen from start to finish.
Although I enjoyed the twist in the storyline, the producers didn’t pack it in until the very last episode. I would have liked to see the plot-twist actually play out, not jammed into one finale episode. By the time I got to the last episode, I had already predicted what the twist would be and I was spot on. The first season had the twist come early and genuinely surprised me, but the second season didn’t even come close to doing the same.
The one positive I can say is that the show left on a familiarly frustrating cliff hanger. This was one of very few moments from the show that surprised me and shockingly left me excited for the third season.
The second season of “You” fell far below my expectations, lacking the dark charm of the first season. However, the storyline and characters have developed enough to keep me hooked, even if I don’t want to be. This season could have had some major improvements, but I know the third season has the potential to be much better.
“You”: ★★☆☆☆
