Following an underwhelming first part, You Season 4 returns for its second part. In my review of the first part, I claimed it was void of charm. Thankfully, the second part introduces a refreshing new outlook on the world of You.
After the shocking ending of the first part, where it was revealed that Rhys Montrose (Ed Speelers) is the Eat the Rich killer. The second part kicks off almost immediately as Joe races to bring Rhys to justice while he continues to do his bidding. Following their final confrontation, Joe realizes that Rhys is nothing more than another one of his victims, as he was the Eat the Rich Killer all along.
This realization led to a premise that resurrected everything fun and beautiful about this series. We watch Joe struggle with his dark self literally, as he comes to terms with what he is. Penn Badgley delivers what is a career-best as he bounces off the phenomenal performance of Ed Speelers. Speelers’ Rhys replaces the inner monologue of Joe – this unexpected change in the series is welcome especially as the overuse of Joe’s inner monologue affected the first part – by acting as the personification of Joe’s darkest
This season has taken a different route with Joe’s growth, while it was revealed that what we saw in the first part was an illusion, the second part makes his growth real. Joe, whose first instinct is to kill, does something different this time around, he helps those he cares about, Kate (Charlotte Ritchie) and Phoebe (Tilly Keeper), without resorting to violence. Joe’s path to becoming a different person involves him seeing his dark part as just a killer, and he fights hard to finally become someone who is worthy of the life and love he had always dreamt of.
Nadia (Amy Leigh-Hickman) is given a bigger role in this part. Her curiosity for answers to the mystery of that world led her to the doors of Joe’s secret – one of which is the presence of Marriene (Tati Gabrielle) as Joe’s prisoner. Leigh-Hickman’s performance is yet another powerful one in this series of brilliant actors, and her chemistry with Gabrielle helps to further elevate this series to a better level.
The storyline is elevated from the messy standards of its first part, every character is intertwined and every step works together to help the season arrive at a satisfactory ending. Creator and showrunner Sera Gamble proves she is still capable of steering the reins of Netflix’s mind-bending series in an innovative direction.
Netflix’s strategy of splitting its seasons into two parts is proven to not always work with this season. Unlike series like Stranger Things where the plot isn’t affected by the split, You is a mess. It isn’t until the second part begins that things truly begin to make sense. In the future, the strategy should be revised properly to decide which projects it is best suited for.
You Season 4 Part 2 is better, and a stronger narrative helps drive its character’s growth forward. At the end of the season, Joe is a different person than he has ever been. Fans of the Netflix series would enjoy this part as it brings a different and better vibe to the universe they’ve come to love.
You Rating: 8.5/10