I Binged Watched ‘You’ in One Day and I Am Left Conflicted

Lifetime show turned "Netflix Original," You is a drama that swallows you hole into the world of Joe Goldberg. You originally aired on Lifetime in 2018 and was acquired by Netflix gaining a lot of attention.WARNING: THIS POST WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS. Now that we got that out of the way, let's get into the show.

You follows the classic boy meets girl love story, if that love story includes stalking and murder. The lead character, Joe, meets Guinevere Beck (known as Beck in the series) when she is searching for a book in the bookstore Joe runs. This was truly love at first sight. From that moment on Joe stalks, kidnaps, murders, manipulates, and does whatever he has to in order to get closer to Beck. In his mind everything he does is to protect her.

The show, based on the novel by Caroline Kepnes, is unsettling to its core. However, some viewers have found themselves liking Joe. Who cares if he killed people, kept mementos, and is the king of stalking? Actor Penn Badgley has found himself trying to convince people not to like Joe on Twitter.

Unfortunately, Badgley's stunning good looks doesn't make hating him easy. The audience's relationship with Joe is like the craziest roller coaster you've ever been on. I found myself wishing Joe would have a moment of clarity and stop everything, I wasn't so lucky. There are moments in which Joe is the adorable, doting boyfriend shown in your favorite rom-coms. That feeling changes once Joe experiences even the smallest fit of jealously.

What makes Joe so dangerous and terrifying, is the fact that he truly believes he is doing what is right. He never looks at himself as a stalker or a murderer. He views himself as the knight in shining armor saving the damsel in distress from the dragons of the world. Unfortunately, those dragons come in the form of a jerk ex-boyfriend(?) and an overbearing/obsessed best friend.

By the end of the show I felt almost numb, I didn't know how to process it all. I also wish I paced myself and didn't finish the entire show in one day. That was a mistake on my part. The show is intense from beginning to end, which when you pack all 10 episodes in one day makes it feel even worse.

Usually, I like characters that are terrible i.e. Raymond Reddington (The Blacklist) and Klaus Mikaelson (The Vampire Diaries and The Originals). When it comes to Joe, I am on the fence. I think this is what the audience was suppose to feel. Yes, he is the main character and if you don't like the main character what is the point in watching? He is also a terrifying psychopath. He wasn't as charming, to me at least, as the "terrible" characters mentioned above.

Over all I enjoyed the series and am looking forward to season 2. Now excuse me while I hide all of my social media pages and take my phone off of the cloud...

Oh and P.S. John Stamos is in it and looks as beautiful as ever, so if you needed anymore motivation to watch You, there's that.

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