You season 3 episodes 1–7 were made available for review.
Strap in, because Netflix's highly-anticipated stalker series is almost back (all 10 episodes will drop on the streaming service on October 15) – and, for better or worse, we're here to report that you're in for more of the same.
As you're likely to remember from You's divisive season two finale, or to have gathered from the chilling third season trailer, Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) and the newly named Love Quinn-Goldberg (Victoria Pedretti) – yep, they're married now – have fled from their previous transgressions and set up home together, complete with white picket fence and nosy neighbours.
On the surface everything looks like a picturesque suburban dream; young newlyweds, a little bundle of joy and a fresh start. But, as you will have come to expect, nothing is as it seems and there's something very toxic bubbling underneath.
The season picks up with an increasingly frustrated Joe, who is disappointed to learn that he and Love are having a son. This just about allowed the show to skirt around what would have been a hugely eye roll-inducing trope; "very bad man wants to better himself because having a daughter has shifted his perspective".
Still, this innocent addition to the couple's lives sets them both on a path somewhat in the direction of redemption, hoping to put behind them their murderous ways so as to set a good example. Fans will be pleased to hear that this doesn't last long (it's a weird thing to congratulate, but we concede it would be a completely different show otherwise) and neither Joe nor Love are able to suppress their darker instincts. To give you some sense of how this plays out, the pair end up taking baby Henry along for a good old woodland burial.
While giving the fans what they've tuned in for, this does also pave the way for some repetitiveness in the narrative. It was always going to be a challenge for a third season, particularly when the foundations of You are built on its protagonist's compulsive need to act out the very same pattern of behaviour over and over.
So for a thriller that was previously known for dealing largely in shock value, Joe's actions – accompanied once again by his over-indulgent inner monologue – now start to wear thin to the point of becoming predictable. There's even another glass box in the basement, folks.
The dialogue can also feel unnecessarily over-stuffed at times, which feeds into wider issues with the show's pacing and a general disjointedness that can pull you out of its signature melodrama.
Despite its overt trashiness (and we don't automatically mean that as an insult; there's always room for a solid bit of entertaining trash), You has previously attempted to tackle quite weighty issues such as trauma, addiction and domestic violence – although, in our humble opinion, it's never handled well.
Once again in season three, the introduction of real-world commentary, such as a subplot about anti-vaxxers, feels clunky and heavy-handed, proving once again that this show really isn't as clever as it thinks it is.
In a similar vein, the third instalment has decidedly not veered away from its attempts to sympathise with Joe – including a further dive into his traumatic childhood. The new episodes also afford similar treatment to Love, who flip-flops between victim and villain of the piece.
However it's very much Joe's perspective that's triumphed so far, which, given the history of his treatment of women, further highlights the ongoing problem with You – particularly when considered against the backdrop of recent news headlines.
If you happily binged your way through the first two seasons, we predict that you'll likely be just as entertained as before as the same blueprint for success has been followed.
But if your relationship with the Netflix hit has become a little too toxic, from what we've seen of it, the third season will do very little to silence your concerns or draw you back in.
You season 3 arrives on Netflix on October 15.
Simon & Schuster Caroline Kepnes boxset (You, Hidden Bodies, Providence)
Netflix UK e-gift card
TV Editor, Digital Spy Laura has been watching television for over 30 years and professionally writing about entertainment for almost 10 of those. Previously at LOOK and now heading up the TV desk at the UK's biggest TV and movies site Digital Spy, Laura has helped steer conversations around some of the most popular shows on the box. Laura has appeared on Channel 5 News and radio to talk viewing habits and TV recommendations. As well as putting her nerd-level Buffy knowledge to good use during an IRL meet with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laura also once had afternoon tea with One Direction, has sat around the fire pit of the Love Island villa, spoken to Sir David Attenborough about the world's oceans and even interviewed Rylan from inside the Big Brother house (housemate status, forever pending).
