YOU: SEASON FIVE
Starring: Penn Badgley, Charlotte Ritchie, Griffin Matthews, Anna Camp, Madeline Brewer, and Frankie DeMaio
Creators: Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble
QUENTIN
With its fifth and final season, Netflix’s You delivers its best offering since Season Two. The fun, almost self-aware campiness pairs perfectly with the genuinely surprising twists and turns, all of which is held together by Penn Badgley’s terrific performance and even more captivating inner monologue (Anna Camp is great in a dual role, too). The showrunners also weave in relevant commentary on the internet’s romanticizing of Joe Goldberg (Badgley), gaslighting, and how influencer culture can sway public opinion. I won’t say it’s a perfect final season of television because there are some pacing issues, but it works perfectly for You’s brand of addictive non-prestige prestige.
ROBERT
The final season of You sees protagonist Joe (Penn Badgley) returned to New York after jaunts in California and Europe, but it seems as if he couldn’t really go home again, not like in the first season. After so many deaths and changes of identities, the raindrops dodged in Season Five and the construct of how Joe manages his elusiveness is too far-fetched. Even within the single episodes, we see Joe go from master criminal, ala Walter White, to boneheaded, overly emotional loser and back again. If you like callbacks and Easter eggs, you will be delighted, but you will also find no rooting interest in any character by You’s conclusion.
