If LA was purgatory and suburbia was hell, London might be when I finally get to a good place. Or so Joe Goldberg thought. The deeply problematic, highly romanticized, and undeniably charming on-screen serial killer – played by Penn Badgley – escapes his murderous past to pursue yet another object of his desire in the first installment of the two-part fourth season of the Netflix series Has gone. You.
Nail biting, mind-blowing and downright entertaining from the get-go, be assured that you-yes, you-are in for a treat this time too.
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a thriller like no other
Joe Goldberg is now Jonathan Moore, a humble professor of literature at a posh London university. He is the perfect hero: mysterious, good-looking, and exceedingly self-righteous. He is looking for peace, quiet and Marianne (Tati Gabrielle) – his love interest from last season who “got away” after learning the truth about her.
As in earlier seasons, Goldberg feels like a fish out of water, often expressing his discomfort and disdain in an internal monologue delivered in Badgley’s trademark baritone. According to showrunner Sera Gamble, the protagonist is “great when he’s in an environment that’s not natural to him, that’s foreign to him,” and we really couldn’t agree more.
Goldberg wants to have a no-nonsense life with his books, but of course, it shouldn’t be like that. After a chance encounter plunges him into an abyss filled with London’s snobbish and arrogant elite, Goldberg soon learns that he is being followed and framed for high-profile murders he did not commit. Of were Poetic justice, to say the least.
The story has all the markings of a quintessential murder thriller and feels like an Agatha Christie novel, or, as Joe says in the opening scene, “a whodunit, the lowest form of literature”.
While you are forced to think that Goldberg will now obsessively pursue Marianne, the narrative takes a sharp turn as both the plot and the characters evolve to captivate the audience like never before. No wonder Netflix revives this show season after season.
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a stellar cast runs the show
Badgley is not the only one You on his capable shoulders; The rest of the cast is equally brilliant, if not more so. Charlotte Richie, for one, is supremely convincing as Kate Galvin, the art collector who is Joe’s neighbor and, perhaps, the first victim of the misfortune and despair that always accompanies him. Tillie Keeper (as Lady Phoebe), Kate’s best friend and London socialite, is perfect as a modern-day Marie Antoinette, troubling, fearless and glamorous in equal measure.
The makers also deserve kudos for capturing the essence of London, from its cobbled streets and reading culture to some of its inherent classism and ignorance. as always this season You It is a social thriller as well as a psychological thriller.
But that’s not to say that part one, season four, is perfect. Goldberg’s excessive reliance on stalking, irreconcilable obsessive streaks, and the snobbery of the wealthy. As essential as these features are for the plot, the more one yearns for freshness. But perhaps it is too early to judge; Eventually, part two will arrive only this March.
(Editing by Therese Sudeep)