‘You season 4': Joe Goldberg's irresistible charm seems to be finally wearing off

The first part of the fourth season dropped last week on Netflix

KARACHI:

Knowing that another season of Netflix's You recently dropped made me excited like any other Joe Goldberg fan. As soon as the notification popped up on my phone, I ran to watch my favourite stalker in his mysterious and so-called romantic endeavours. However, much to my dismay, things didn't pan out as anticipated.

Like every previous season, I expected to binge-watch the entire show in a go, but everything felt faint, therefore, a few nap breaks in between did the trick. What was surprising was that a television show which promised to bring an exciting psychological thriller fell short of the same throughout the first part. Perhaps, the second part will provide the juice to power up the entire season.

Spoilers Ahead!

In Season 4, Goldberg sets foot in London under the guise of a new identity, Professor Jonathan Moore. As expected, the neurotic lover boy gets too attached to another beautiful woman, Kate, who runs an art gallery and is played by Charlotte Ritchie. Things take an unexpected turn after the notorious murderer realises that this time, he is the one being targeted and not the other way around.

On the other hand, one can't deny that the season maintained its tense storyline and each episode ended with a significant plot twist; still, as an audience, you missed the overwhelming sensation of watching a nail-biting thriller. To fully gauge the latest season, here are the five most important aspects of the first part that make or break the show.

Goldberg is not the star of the show
In season 4, Goldberg is more concerned with discovering the demons in others than with battling his own conscience. Having a new killer in town—a mysterious stranger who has his eye on the Oxford circle of wealthy snobs—is what drives the whole plot ahead. This season wasn't fixated on Joe and his new love interest, instead, it was focused more on the elites with whom Joe us surrounded by.

Perhaps that's exactly where the first part went astray. In comparison to Love Quinn's high-strung character in the last two seasons, the first few episodes did not have characters that stood out through the plot. Given Kate's ice queen persona, Adam's (Lukas Gage) rich lover boy trope, Lady Phoebe's (Tilly Keeper) bubbly personality, and Rhys Montrose's (Ed Speleers) poverty-ridden past which made him the black sheep of the group, the entire cast seemed right out of a teenage-drama show like Elite or Pretty little liars; based on spoiled affluent individuals.

Yet again, even with such a melodramatic selection of characters, the plot developed quite faintly, with each "surprising revelation" making you whisper sarcastically to yourself, 'Oh, I would have never guessed this'.

Many fans also took to Twitter to express their disappointment at the new season. One user said, "Not only was You season 4, part 1 tedious, it also introduced way too many new characters that were unrelatable, unremarkable, and pointless because they didn't even attempt to make them interesting. They absolutely wasted Marianne's introduction. I'm literally wondering what was the point of the season three finale?"

not only was you season 4 pt 1 boring, it also introduced way too many new characters that were unrelatable, unremarkable, and pointless bc they didn’t even attempt to make them interesting. they absolutely wasted marienne im literally wondering wtf the point of the s3 finale was

— sandra oh emmy campaign manager (@captnmarvl) February 9, 2023

Another tweep wrote, "It was like they completely changed the direction of this season like everything was so random and had nothing to do with previous seasons besides Joe being Joe."

it was like they completely changed the direction of this season like everything was so random and had nothing to do with previous seasons besides joe being joe.

— sandra oh emmy campaign manager (@captnmarvl) February 9, 2023

The monotonous Badgley
No doubt that the last five episodes of You Season 4 are Penn Badgley's most impressive performances to date, but his desire to find true love amidst committing and solving murders is growing quite monotonous. Although by the end of the first part, Joe does realise this too, it still takes his increased adoration for another killer to dim down the obsession to idolise the "one."

London just innit
It's pertinent to note that everything was much wilder in the previous season, from the characters and murders to even the metropolis city—the entire setting diverted the series to a fresh start. But with such a big shift, it's harder to come up with a narrative that can keep people on the hook till the end, as it did in the first few seasons and that seems to be the biggest factor that brought the 4^th season down.

Keeping up with the Love
Let's be real here, it's the love for Love that is keeping the show alive. Even though fans may not be happy with the first part of the season, the teaser for the upcoming episodes releasing in March has everyone riled up on social media.

In the one-minute clip of the trailer, Quinn makes an appearance and that is enough for people to give the series another chance to redeem itself.

"I've watched the first episode of You season 4 and all I can say is that I miss Love," expressed a fan on Twitter, while another said, "You season 4 is so flawed. What happened? It's barely watchable. I hate literally all the characters except Rhys. Kate is so annoying, just kill her. The rich London crowd is all irritating, and I don't care if they die or who kills them. We need Love Quinn back."

you season 4 is so bad. what happened. it's barely watchable. i hate literally all the characters except rhys. kate is so fucking grating. just kill her. the rich london crowd are all irritating & i don't care if they die or who kills them. we need love quinn back pic.twitter.com/O5sBE9Wrqg

— ani (@beaarthur85) February 12, 2023

"This season 4 of You isn't really great, bring back Love from the dead!" penned another user.

this season 4 of YOU ain’t hitting, bring back love from the dead

— MM6 (@SAINT4POTUS) February 10, 2023

You may have overlooked keeping its strong footing this half of the season but it appears the upcoming episodes might allow Goldberg to take a step back from London and reassess his past again, which was left quite hastily in the previous season.

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