“You,” a show that came out on Netflix about two months ago. In the first four weeks, it got more than 40 million views and has been talked about ever since.
The show is about a bookstore employee named Joe who meets MFA student Guinevere Beck or Beck for short. Joe quickly becomes infatuated with Beck and begins stalking her. Beck’s privacy settings on her social media are so bad that he is actually able to find her house, which just so happens to have large windows that he can watch her though.
Nicole Hindberg | Argonaut
He follows her to a poetry reading that she is reading one of her poems. She gets drunk before the reading and is basically booed off the stage.
Later, Beck stumbles down the subway where Joe just happens to be at. Angry with Benji, the guy she’s sleeping with, and distracted by texting him in her drunken state, she falls down into the subway track where Joe saves her at the last minute.
From that episode on, their “romance” begins — by “romance” I mean a relationship that is completely motivated by Joe manipulating the situation in his favor.
Something that’s unique about this show is that Joe isn’t hated. With Beck being such a naive person who doesn’t realize what’s going on. Plus, with her very one-dimensional friends, Joe is the only one with layers.
The show doesn’t just focus on Joe stalking Beck, it also focuses on Joe’s neighbor Paco. Paco and Joe have a close relationship because they share the experience of having a mom with an abusive boyfriend. Joe helps Paco by giving him food, books and a place to escape.
In a weird way, you kind of root for Joe.
Beck’s best friend Peach is manipulative and secretly in love with Beck to the point of her faking her own suicide to drive a wedge between Joe and Beck. With Peach being a more obvious sociopath, you end up wanting Joe to get the best of her.
“You” was originally a Lifetime show, a network that is notorious for having one dimensional storylines. The show did not do very well when it was on television, but since coming to Netflix, it took off.
The actor who plays Joe, Pen Badgely, has been outspoken about the audience’s reaction to the show. He is grateful people are watching the show, but wants everyone to stop romanticizing Joe and see him for what he is — a murderer.
One girl tweeted “@PennBadgley kidnap me pls,” and Badgely responded with “No thx.” Another wrote, “Said this already but @PennBadgley is breaking my heart once again as Joe. What is it about him?” Badgely responded with “A: He is a murderer.”
Those are just a few examples of fans responding inappropriately to the show. Badgely also publicly discussed how a lot of teenagers are missing the point of the show by acting like this.
Over the course of the season, Joe killed multiple people including Beck’s best friend Peach and Beck, herself. Audience members are left with questions about how season two will be played out, especially with Beck being the “You” from the title of the show.
Overall, this is a clever show with a new and unique story, which explores issues of modern dating and social media — albeit taking it to the next level. The show is only 10 episodes, but every episode is a wild ride.
Nicole Hindberg can be reached at [email protected]