Review: YOU Season 4

Gracie Moore finds flaws but also promise and a change of approach to the first half of Netflix’s smash hit show

Season four of YOU was released on the 9th February on Netflix and despite the second half of the season only being released in March, the show has had viewers hooked worldwide. This season feels different to the preceding seasons in that it’s (so far) been less about Joe’s obsession with a new woman and more about trying to evade false murder accusations (ironic, I know).

Penn Badgely, who plays Joe (now ‘Jonathan’), also stated in an interview that he requested fewer sex scenes in this season due to being a married man with children: he said it didn’t feel right for him to continue Joe’s previous sexual endeavours because it no longer feels relevant. For this reason, this season has been very refreshing in terms of sex scenes as they don’t feel gratuitous and tend to serve a purpose rather than just filling the episode time.

Season four has been full of tension and plot twists with murders happening nearly every episode and has left us with more of a Whodunit rather than simply following Joe’s stalking tendencies. It is obvious that this is a big change-up from what we expected when following the themes of the previous seasons but it feels more watchable and less uncomfortable.

Season four has been full of tension and plot twists with murders happening nearly every episode and has left us with more of a Whodunit rather than simply following Joe’s stalking tendencies.

However, in contrast to this, Joe’s main personality trait revolves around his obsession with various women and the subversion of this almost takes away the main sticking point of the show. There are hints in flashback form to Marienne and Joe following her to Paris after the end of season three, but this doesn’t come to anything seen so far and we have to hope that this loose end is tied up when the second half of season four is released in March. Thus far, there hasn’t been much continuity from season three but considering the success of the previous seasons, it is entirely possible that this will be cleared up as more episodes are released.

Despite this season being a refreshing change, there are some plot holes that are just too glaringly obvious. How has Joe moved across the world to London, into a massive apartment in Kensington with a job as a university professor when he was meant to be confirmed dead at the end of season three? It feels implausible that this is possible when considering how difficult it is to move abroad, even without a fake identity.

Overall, season four has hooked audiences very well and hasn’t utilised a cheesy cliff-hanger for the mid-season finale. A cliff-hanger would have felt cheap and lazy but revealing the killer before the end opens up the story nicely: we know how the plot will unfold in the second half of the season and what Joe’s role will include (publicly providing evidence for this) but it also provides opportunities for more plot twists and plenty more action that’ll surely lead to a impactful finale.