The hotly anticipated You S4 is still a good watch despite missing its usual chaotic charisma

OUR RATING:

3/5 Stars

WHAT IT'S ABOUT:

Starting anew in London, Joe vows to bury the past and be his best self. But on the rocky road to redemption, a new obsession takes hold.

WHAT WE THOUGHT:

One of the most anticipated Netflix shows of the year is back - this time, however, Joe has taken his peeping ways to the other side of the world. With a new identity, a new job and a new circle of terrible people, the man we hate to love has the tables turned on him as he becomes someone else's prey. 

You's appeal has always been hard to describe; its audience asked to root for an obviously awful human being, but you just can't look away from Joe's consistent ability to make cataclysmically bad decisions. With the first part of season four, its showrunners have decided to switch things up by turning Joe's life into a whodunnit among Britain's elites, but it's a hard task to top the chaotic charisma of Love and her story arc in the previous season.

Unfortunately, this is the first season of You, where I feel like it's missing some of its sparkle and charm. Season three left us with many questions regarding Joe and Marienne, whether they will find each other and if the consequences of Love's death will follow Joe to Europe. Instead of continuing that thread, it's clumsily tied up in one go as the series moves on to a completely new and separate chapter. I understand the series has to evolve, as well as our main murderer, but it felt a bit anticlimactic as Love and Marienne are replaced by the slightly less charming Kate, a gallery manager dating one of Joe's coworkers and friends with a group of self-entitled rich kids, socialites and wannabe big-deals

We also have a mysterious stalker obsessed with Joe, torturing him with details of his past life, but they also end up less intriguing and exciting than Joe's previous nemeses. Perhaps if Jenna Ortega was able to reprise her role as the sister of the investigative reporter killed by Love, it would have added a bit more thrill to the story.This season also gives us a far more self-aware Joe, now Jonathan the Professor, and I wonder if that's also why the show's charm has slightly diminished this season. His delusions around love and relationships were part of what kept you hooked. Although he still has his moments, this 'healthier' Joe is not nearly as entertaining.

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