You - Advance Preview - Conflicting, In A Good Way

"It’s like you’ve never seen a horror movie, or the news."

Starring Penn Badgley, YOU is a 21st-century love story that asks, “What would you do for love?” When a brilliant bookstore manager crosses paths with an aspiring writer, his answer becomes clear: anything. Using the internet and social media as his tools to gather the most intimate of details and get close to her, a charming and awkward crush quickly becomes obsession as he quietly and strategically removes every obstacle – and person – in his way

That is what they advertise in theory but You is not a love story by any means, it’s the story of a stalker told from his point of view as he talks in his head to the object of his obsession, there is not one moment where you can forget he’s a stalker, not one scene where you might confuse this with some adorable crush, hopefully. Also, you should be warned that there is violence, and sex is a fairly prominent thing here, though I hope people would not come to a show about a stalker looking for family friendly content.

Joe, played very convincingly by Penn Badgley, watches everything around him, he judges, measures and grades everyone in every possible way. At times, some inconsistencies are hard to put aside, like the fact that for a book lover he doesn’t give a fuck about books in their physical form, but mostly there’s the issue that he’s a little too creepy, let’s just say if he was black someone would’ve definitely called the cops on him the first time he lurked outside the girl’s house.

Still, the show definitely makes you think twice about the dangers of social media and how we naturalize things a bit too easily. It’s impressive what a determined person can accomplish by taking advantage of the many ways in which people expect the best from other people; as long as someone is confident enough in their actions, we assume they aren’t doing anything wrong, and though this is not new information, it is definitely something more relevant here than in a con movie where they skim over it and is usually not shown in an every-day-life situation.

All in all, You is creepy, funny and even sexy at times, and a bit conflicting because people can be both nice and horrible at the same time. That being said, this is not a work of art, it’s closer to a guilty pleasure, though sometimes it’s not really that pleasurable of an experience, more like a car crash you’re still compelled to watch, curious to see what’s next. Luckily the show has been renewed in advance so we get to see what’s next, and you can watch it without worrying about a possible frustrating cliffhanger. Though if you’re really in a hurry to know, you can always read the book series it’s based on by Caroline Kepnes.

"Sci-Fi movies are so wrong, technology is our friend."

You premieres TONIGHT, SEPTEMBER 9 (10/9c), on LIFETIME. Are you excited about this one? Let me know in the comments.