You (Season 4)

Creator: Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble
Starring: Penn Badgley, Tati Gabrielle, Charlotte Ritchie, Tilly Keeper, Amy-Leigh Hickman, Ed Speleers, Lukas Gage, Stephen Hagan, Adam James, Aidan Cheng, Niccy Lin, Eve Austin, Ben Wiggins, Greg Kinnear, Victoria Pedretti, Elizabeth Lail
Original Airdate: 2023

**The Following Review Contains Plot Spoilers For The Fourth Season Of 'You' **

★★½ (out of ★★★★)

After a hugely successful run following its move to Netflix in 2019, the psychological drama You finally breaks the streak, with a messy and confounding fourth season. But it's not as if leaps in logic haven't always accompanied the show's premise of an outwardly charming but obsessively sociopathic serial killer who moves from woman to woman as he attempts to curb his violent impulses. Ridiculous developments often caused former bookstore manager Joe Goldberg to evade capture and even death, with the writers (and Penn Badgley's instinctually creepy performance) often doing an unusually decent job covering his tracks. 

As crazy as these scenarios got, there was this sense the show remained somewhat bound to the rules created for its own universe. And even on the occasions those were violated, a pretty good reason accompanied it and they'd get a pass. This marks the first time believability flies off the rails, and while it doesn't spell doom for a series that could still easily recover in the final season, it's definitely indicative that wrapping things up soon may not be such a bad idea. 

Broken into two parts, the entire season hinges on a big plot twist that has to be discussed since all ten episodes hinge on it, which could be part of the problem. That this revelation comes so late doesn't help, giving viewers little time to process the fallout before being blindsided by another turn or two. After a while you just start rolling your eyes at certain plot holes that detract from the occasionally gripping second batch of episodes. But the first half is the bigger problem, introducing us to a multitude of unlikable, headache-inducing characters before knocking most of the them off.

Even what's arguably the series' most inventive creation in Joe's "glass box" strains credibility this time, with viewers more likely than ever to be distracted by lingering questions of its transport and construction. Still, it results in the most thrilling episode, despite its somewhat convoluted follow-up. Thankfully, the series isn't running on fumes yet, at least attempting to put the pieces into place for a stronger closing chapter.

After killing wife Love (Victoria Pedretti) and setting a fire to fake his death, Joe (Badgley) is approached by a fixer working for her father who offers him a new identity, provided he ties up loose ends by murdering his ex, librarian and single mom Marianne (Tati Gabrielle). But after tracking her down in London, he can't go through with it, instead letting her escape before starting anew as university English professor "Jonathan Moore." 

It isn't long before Joe's sucked into a group of spoiled rich aristocrats consisting of hard partying department colleague Malcolm Harding (Stephen Hagan), his ice cold girlfriend Kate Galvin (Charlotte Ritchie), ditzy but well intentioned socialite Lady Phoebe (Tilly Keeper) and her arrogant playboy love interest Adam Pratt (Lukas Gage). Rounding out the pack are artist and influencer siblings Simon (Aidan Cheng) and Sophie (Niccy Lin) Soo, loud, abrasive socialite Gemma Graham-Greene (Eve Austin), Kate's dour childhood friend Roald Walker-Burton (Ben Wiggins) and rags-to-riches author and aspiring politician Rhys Montrose (Ed Speleers). 

When Malcolm and others turn up dead, Joe begins receiving anonymous texts from the murderer threatening to expose him as this "Eat The Rich" Killer. With his secret life and true identity suddenly hanging in the balance, he relies on advice from star student sleuth Nadia (Amy-Leigh Hickman), to determine who the blackmailing mastermind is. Matters are further complicated as he falls hard for the standoffish Kate, potentially endangering them both. But like Joe, she has a painful history of her own.

From the start, there's just something missing this season, which could partially stem from Joe now being the hunted, or so it seems. That and barely escaping a previous season where he was married to someone just as dangerous appears to have maybe tamed him a bit. But if entering these episodes with a lower body count and new identity temporarily lulls you into considering Joe's turned over a new leaf on his fourth try, think again.

It isn't immediately apparent Kate will become Joe's latest obsessions, much like Beck, Love and Marienne before her. Of all the twists and turns this season, how their relationship plays out might actually be the most shocking given its uneventful beginning. Because the cast is so large and overstuffed, Kate almost initially fades into the background, but that doesn't last long since Joe needs someone to fulfill his twisted proclivities as the bodies start piling up.  

Kate's at least radically different from the rest, coldly and sarcastically pushing back in ways he doesn't expect. While her aloofness practically guarantees she won't extract the same emotional response from viewers as his preceding victims/girlfriends, Charlotte Ritchie really commits to the role, peeling back layers to reveal a past and present that more than explains Joe's fascination with her. And as we already know, it's not a good sign when he's fascinated with anyone.

While the idea of dropping Joe into this new London setting as a professor probably looked great on paper and promised a dynamic scenario, some of these early episodes become a chore to sit through due to some obnoxious supporting characters. That's especially true of Adam, and to a lesser extent, his British Paris Hilton-like girlfriend Lady Phoebe, who Tilly Keeper does manage to inject with some wounded humanity. 

The fact that so many of these people are cut from the same cloth starts to wear on you, especially since it's obvious most won't be surviving. And seeing Joe on the defense rather than the primary instigator of destruction isn't something we're used to. In a reversal, he's supposed to feel what it's like to be stalked and tormented.   

A more platonic target of Joe's obsessions is author and politician Rhys Montrose who, aside from Kate, proves to be the only wealthy aristocrat whose company he can stand. Devouring his book and advice, Joe digs into his socio-political philosophies, but it's only when Rhys reveals himself as someone far more important than Joe suspected that the season's off and running, nearly five episodes in. Despite being led to believe Rhys is the killer framing him, he's actually Joe's own Tyler Durden and a psychological manifestation of his worst impulses. 

Once again Joe's responsible for all the murder and chaos, with this Rhys alter ego representing some kind of psychotic break. While it reframes everything we've seen, the reveal does feel kind of empty, taking an entire season to return Joe to where he should have started at. And since this specific gotcha device has become such a storytelling crutch of late, you can't really blame anyone for viewing it as a cheat, especially looking back on the totality of events that unfolded. 

What ends up selling any of this is Badgley's performance, with Joe awakening from his fugue state to realize he's as demented as ever. Reaching new levels of madness and depravity by compartmentalizing his actions with another personality, the realization sets in that he's still holding Marienne...somewhere. Episode 8 (""Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?") is easily the most accomplished of the season, harkening back to what originally made the series so suspenseful. Kidnapped and drugged, she struggles to survive inside Joe's glass prison, even as he has no memory of exactly where that is.

Only reinforcing how much Tati Gabrielle's presence is missed from the rest of the season, her portrayal of Marienne's anger and desperation distracts from the logic holes of a scrambling Joe contending with Kate's meglomaniacal businessman father Tom Lockwood (Greg Kinnear) and an increasingly suspicious Nadia. The logistics of the glass box notwithstanding, this is probably the most amount of time the show's spent with someone inside of it. And is Marienne ever battling, with Joe taking advantage of her history as an addict and the very real possibility she may never see her daughter again. It's a match of wills as she nears the end of her rope, before having to put all trust in someone else. 

There's a moment toward the season's close where one phone call to police would end everything and the only reason it doesn't happen is so this predicament can continue. It's the kind of obvious misstep the show never used to make, or at least took proactive measures to ensure wouldn't occur. This choice leads to an even more complicated plan and diminishing sympathies for a supposedly heroic character who just doesn't know when to say when, still trying to expose a proven serial killer after accomplishing what's necessary. Of course, we're fully aware the writers are using every possible tool to extend this, regardless of how much sense it makes. The irony is that Joe still ends up exactly where he should at season's end, as sloppy as it was. 

With Joe preparing to start over with Kate by his side, the writers were smart enough not to tie up the many loose ends, as more than a few characters remain who could still fully expose his crimes. While Elizabeth Lail and Victoria Pedretti's deceased characters both briefly cameo in a Joe dream sequence, the writers may have accidentally struck gold when they opted to have Joe send Jenna Ortega's Ellie away unharmed at the end of the Season 2 with that bag of cash and more than enough motive to return.

If ever there was a time to bring out the big guns it's in the last season, as you could see anyone suddenly reappearing to upend Joe's new life, delivering the final fitting blow this character and the series deserves. Whether the writers can successfully pull that off after such a hit-or-miss season is the bigger question. Either way, there are still plenty of options left on the table to give fans hope that even after this shaky showing, You is still capable of going out on top.