I wrapped up watching the new season of You a few days ago and, to put it lightly, I have a lot of thoughts. If you recently binged the season and are looking to hear some thoughts and opinions, or if you are planning on watching it and want a preview, this is the article for you. Warning, there will be spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk.
There are a lot of things that can be said about the new season of You, but in my opinion, you can’t say it isn’t engaging. Even when I wanted to stop watching, I couldn’t. I was hooked by the plot twists and cliffhangers which come, conveniently, at the end of nearly every episode. When watching You, the “Next Episode” button is impossible for me to resist. I simply have to see what kind of chaos Joe is going to cause.
Surprisingly enough, Joe wasn’t the most malicious, murderous character in the show this season. His wife, Love, made him look almost sane and normal (note the keyword: almost). Love showed little mercy throughout the show, murdering and almost murdering countless characters. Her motives for killing were spotty at best. In past seasons of You, the plotline leads to violence. However, in Season 3, I would argue that the violence created the plot. It almost felt like the producers were lost with what direction to take the show in and whenever they were stuck they had Love murder someone or lock someone up in a cage (sorry Cary and Sherry Conrad). While Joe’s violence in the past was never justified by any means, it at least made a bit of logical sense within the plot of the show. Love’s actions in this season were random and simply stupid. I understand that this was likely intentional in characterizing Love as an impulsive sociopath with a habit of murdering. That being said, I wish the show had gone in a different, more thoughtful and thorough, direction.
Despite finding myself annoyed with Love’s ignorant actions, I still remained engaged in the show. Part of the reason I was invested in this new season was because of the new location: the suburbs. I appreciated the satire on the white-picket-fence lifestyle that is used by everyone to pretend their lives are perfect. This facade of familial perfection was especially ironic for Love and Joe considering they are both murderers and often spend their free time burying bodies and hiding murder weapons. Nonetheless, the satire on the superficial lifestyle found in the suburbs was valid for even the most innocent of families.
The ending of this most recent season truly kept me on my toes until the last scene, and I was genuinely afraid watching the last two episodes. I was both surprised and impressed at how the final episodes cleverly tied together different aspects of the season. Joe exited the last season with his old life, and wife, literally going up in flames. Looking ahead to the next season, I worry about how one of my new favorite characters, Marienne, will fare. Considering Joe followed her and her daughter to Paris, it is not looking good for them. I don’t know what will end up happening in Paris, but I am sure I will be hooked while watching it all from the comfort and safety of my bed.
If you recently watched season 3 of You, what are your thoughts? Do you agree with me?