There's a fine line between a series offering familiarity and being formulaic. For the Netflix standout You, the series finds itself in a precarious situation ahead of its fourth season as the story's premise has become repetitive over its first three seasons. Adapted from the books written by Caroline Kepnes, show creators Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble must find a way to bring something fresh to Season 4 of You or risk falling down the same monotonous hole. After all, a story that sees its main character, the seemingly charming, yet secretly brutal Joe Goldberg played by Penn Badgley, carry out countless murders and face no repercussions begins to lose its believability with each escape from the law. While the premise of You faces questions of sustainability, there's still optimism approaching the new season that the tried-and-true delivery of the first three installments will have a different yet much-needed feel over the next 10 episodes.
Stalk, Murder, Rinse, Repeat Is 'You's Tried-and-True Formula
Listen, there's nothing wrong with a show that sticks to what it does best. After all, the success of the first season of You, which actually aired on Lifetime before being picked up by the streaming giant, was massive. Kepnes’ books also continue to find themselves as The New York Times Bestsellers, and she has a fourth book in the series set to release this year. Not every show has to be this deeply intertwining, thought-provoking work of art that audiences unfairly come to expect with each new release. A show like You with a lead as strong as Badgley will always pique interest. What needs to happen, however, is a new offering in the story. The same back-and-forth that has unfolded multiple times over the first 30 episodes is in need of a makeover.
The premise of You is quite simple: Joe Goldberg takes an interest in a local girl, whether it be Beck (Elizabeth Lail) in Season 1 or Love (Victoria Pedretti) in the ensuing two seasons, and does what he can, which includes geotracking and some serious stalking, to instill himself in her life. In doing so, Joe oftentimes finds himself removing the excess and the unnecessary people from their lives, such as people like Beck's toxic ex Benji (Lou Taylor Pucci) and controlling friend Peach (Shay Mitchell) were taken from Beck’s life. This storyline was flipped slightly in the last two seasons of You with Love being the one removing people from Joe’s life and anyone that threatened their future. That was bad news for people like Delilah (Carmela Zumbado), Candace (Ambyr Childers), and Natalie (Michaela McManus), each of whom had tie-ins with Joe. While You's formula took a 180 and transferred to Love, it still played out in similar fashion.
Seriously, How Does Joe Move the Glass Box Each Season of 'You'?
While death, most of which are by association, and stalking are the two biggest patterns in You, there's the case of the glass box that behind Badgley’s performance, is the second-most interesting thing in the show. Used by Joe to hold his victims captive, this glass box was first seen underneath Mooney’s book store. Flashbacks showed the store's owner taking a young Joe (Gianni Ciardiello) downstairs to see the valuable collection of books he stores in there. Years later, this contraption would serve as a creepy jail cell. What makes this a bit redundant is that after Joe killed Beck and fled out west to California, we see yet another glass box pop up in a storage unit. Did he have it shipped? Are these things easy to build? There are so many questions about this box — but that's besides the point. The played out storyline of Joe locking up a potential threat and interacting with them periodically over the course of a season only for that person to die by season’s end has become far too repetitive.
Assuming this box continues in its travels with Joe wherever he runs off to next, it would be nice to at least see it be used in a new and interesting way. How that may be isn't easy to predict. Perhaps it involves whoever is in there escaping and destroying this cage so no one else can succumb to its torture. From the looks of You's Season 4 trailer, there doesn't appear to be any sight of this box, which gives some optimism that what lies ahead for Joe could look a bit different for him and for the audience.
The Tables May Be Turning In 'You' Season 4
There's plenty of hope that the played out storylines of You's three chapters appear to be coming to an end. As shown in the trailer for Season 4, the new season will see Joe overseas and in a situation he isn't accustomed to: being the one followed. Viewers got a taste of the tables turning on him with the jarring twist involving Love being just as dangerous as Joe as the two met in a tumultuous, fiery climax where only Joe made it out alive. If the next 10 episodes can tap into that even more, fans of the show should be in for a fun ride.
Badgley hinted at a change when speaking to Collider after the third season aired, expressing an interest in exploring his character's relationship with himself. This appears to be true from the trailer, and it looks as though someone of equal intelligence is keeping an eye on him, which should lead to new layers being peeled back in this already complex character. The drama has given the audience plenty of looks into Joe Goldberg’s life when he's in control — the idea of having him being the one surrounded by mysterious murders and on the radar of someone else will be a welcome change to this gripping thriller.
As You gets set to release its fourth season, which will come in two five-episode batches beginning February 9, it's imperative for the series’ future success for it to take a new turn. There's nothing wrong with keeping things familiar in a show, but in a day and age where new thriller series are dropping left and right, it's important to keep the viewers guessing and engaged. You has given itself a strong foundation built on that very premise — now it's time to amp up the storyline and give the series a new direction, one that will hopefully be evident at the start of the fourth season.
You Season 4 Part 1 drops on Netflix on February 9. You can check out the trailer below.