Last year, the series “You” dominated Netflix with over 40 million views in its first four weeks on the streaming service.
What many people didn’t realize is the show tanked on Lifetime and was eventually put on Netflix after receiving low viewership while it was on television.
The first season is based off the 2014 novel “You” by Caroline Kepnes. The second season coming out on Netflix Dec. 26 is based on the book’s sequel “Hidden Bodies.”
The series is about a bookstore owner named Joe (Penn Badgely), who falls in love with an MFA student named Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail), or Beck for short. Beck visits his store and Joe becomes obsessed with her.
After a short Google search, Joe is able to find out everything about Beck — from her living space to her daily schedule. From there, he stalks her and eventually begins dating her after killing the man she was sleeping with.
What I enjoyed most about the show was the suspense. I particularly liked how Joe was able to get into Beck’s life and know everything about her, just through accessing her social media.
The way Joe was constantly in the shadows and barely avoiding Beck’s gaze when he follows her kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the show.
The show cleverly tackled issues relevant to our society such as dating in modern times and how social media is taken out of hand.
I also enjoyed how the majority of the violence was done off-screen. During the first season of the show, Joe kills many people in order to get closer to Beck.
I liked that the violence wasn’t shown, because the show wasn’t about the killing — it was about the suspense of Joe stalking Beck.
When I heard “You” was picked up for a second season, I was a little torn. I enjoyed the storyline and the suspense of the show, but I knew things were going to be different.
One of the show’s creators, Sera Gamble, said the show will be “gorier and scarier than anything in season one.”
There’s nothing wrong with gory horror. While it’s not my cup of tea, it may resonate more with others.
I just hope the show sticks to what it does well, instead of trying to be something it’s not in an attempt to gain more viewership. We’ll just have to wait until the end of this month.
“You” can be streamed on Netflix starting Dec. 26.
Nicole Hindberg can be reached at [email protected]