You Season 2 Review

December 29, 2019 at 8:08pm
By Jason Stettner

You is back, and this is a much more balanced second season. Things have changed, from the setting to the target in play. It’s also surprising, despite me essentially guessing how things would go. Aside from a small bit of predictability, this should definitely be full of surprises as things take dark twists and turns. We once again have Joe (Penn Badgley) who has taken a new name, while also arriving in Los Angeles.

This changes everything, it’s a fresh start for the character and he obviously needs a new obsession. This is Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti) with a perfect name for this series, and thus the stalking begins again. Keep in mind that things did not turn out well last time around. In the mix is an old flame, she has followed him to LA and this adds an extra dynamic as Candace (Ambyr Childers) knows how he thinks. There are other characters as well, they’ve expanded the cast and therefore the stakes with it.

There are many people involved, and this does of course get dark. That’s expected considering the nature of the situation, but that does change quite a bit as things progress. I felt this was a much more evened out season as the last one had some oddities in it. I really liked the conclusion to this season as well, aside from the last ten seconds which really weren’t necessary and almost felt out of character in my opinion.

Everything about the character feels similar, Pedretti provides an excellent performance here. Her background is well developed and that directly feeds into current situations. Its fun how this series plays with dark situations, and how modern interactions could be handled in some circumstances. It should be unsettling to most, as it is basically about stalking and intense levels of emotional manipulation.

This was shot fine, the setting definitely changes the mood quite a bit. It should feel very similar to the last season, and it uses the time to help build motivation behind characters. It even highlights some side ones, as they do factor into this web of deceit. I hope it gets darker as it goes along, if they do continue this. I also hope that it twists more than what’s shown at the end, the two main leads definitely are interesting throughout this season.

The Conclusion

You Season 2 was definitely an improvement upon the original while feeling about the same, just a more evened out selection of episodes. It’s really hard to describe, or go over as this is best left to being a surprise. There are many key narrative points that would help in going over just what this season provides, but that would entirely take the fun out of coming across them from a viewer perspective.

The two leads are excellent here, with great performances. They have some unique interactions, and I think that will delight many to see develop. There is of course an element of the past factoring in, and many surprising situations that people here find themselves in. It definitely has some twists, but ones that might seem a tad obvious I suppose. I like what they’re doing here, it’s a good look at the creepy side of modern stalking.

Adding some drama, and so much darkness on top of that. Returning fans will definitely like this direction. I didn’t like the last ten seconds or so, but not a big deal as it could pivot anywhere. This is also perhaps a good spot for new viewers, as this is such a fresh start for the series.

You Season 2 Review at Home with Streamed Viewing

Rating Overall: 8.3