(#61) YOU S1 (2018) - [8/10]

A clever bookstore manager relies on his savvy Internet know-how to make the woman of his dreams fall in love with him.

What would you do for love? For a brilliant male bookstore manager who crosses paths with an aspiring female writer, this question is put to the test. A charming yet awkward crush becomes something even more sinister when the writer becomes the manager's obsession. Using social media and the internet, he uses every tool at his disposal to become close to her, even going so far as to remove any obstacle --including people -- that stands in his way of getting to her.

How would I describe this show in one word?

Creepy.

Note

Where do I start? Again, I prefer movies to TV shows cause it just gets to the point so much more quickly and doesn't take 300 episodes of 30 seasons to get to tell a story. Okay, agreed, that was exaggerated but not too far considering some shows. That's why I largely prefer movies. And so I normally just end the screening of a TV series at episode 1. But sometimes, the first episode is so intriguing that you just have to dig deeper and know how the story progresses and then you get episode 2. That's where the problem starts for me, once I get into something, I have this OCD-like urge to finish it no matter what. But for this show, I've gotta say, I wasn't largely disappointed.

Review It's a story about how a bookstore clerk falls in love with his customer who is an aspiring writer and he uses social media, technology and stalking, to meet her acquaintance in mostly unorthodox ways. His unorthodox practices include "removing" people from her life that he chooses are hazardous.

Is there any word more apt than 'creepy' to describe this show? Yeah, don't let the premise fool you, it's so much more creepier, and sick, and psychotic that it foretells. I kinda wish I hadn't seen it cause it's so twisted. Because the message our protagonist or, more aptly, anti-hero tried to convey was that "he'd do anything for love". And is that really acceptable? Are all the things that he did in the show to protect someone because you love them justifiable? No. Obviously not. One of the leads (saying one of to not give off any spoilers) even says so - that it's not his decision to dictate others lives and to enforce it with such detestable methods. But that was very brief and stated towards the very end of the story - which I had to say was rather dissatisfactory - I wouldn't even be surprised if some found the climax to be infuriating. So sure, they say that it's wrong but I felt that throughout the entirety of the 10 episodes, even though we knew what he was doing was wrong, it was never directly conveyed by the directors. His actions were never antagonized but somewhat romanticized for entertainment purposes. I don't think that was the right move.

Apart from the lack of maturity in delivering the message properly, the story in its unorthodox self, is highly intriguing and interesting. At times exciting and exhilarating. And always, always, high-adrenaline intensity. The two leads gave dazzling performances for their characters to really bring them to life. The music was great to really uplift the drama of the scene. It was all, really well done, but... In the end, you watch a show, or a movie or read a book or any form of entertainment for its story. And even if you you can appreciate its attention to detail, structure, characters, intelligent story and world design, it all comes down to whether you accept it on a subjective note, morally, spiritually. It can't determine the rating, but it can influence it. And in the end, that's what drew me away from it. All 'YOU' needed to do was antagonize Joe.

But that's just my opinion. RATING: 8/10

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Creator: Greg Berlanti, Sera Gamble Rated: TV-14 Runtime: 45 min/episode Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance Starring: Penn Badgley, Ambyr Childers, Elizabeth Lail