Reviewing "You" Seasons 1 and 2: A gloriously stylized and twisted psychological thriller

You is a psychological thriller series on Netflix, centering on obsessive stalker and bookstore manager Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) and his attempts to manipulate the people around him in order to "win" the affections of someone he is currently stalking and obsessed with. In Season 1, his target was literary graduate student and aspiring writer Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail), while in Season 2 he focused on chef Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti).

The plots of each season revolve around the relationships between Joe, his target, and their various friends and acquaintances. While Joe is undeniably an obsessive creep and stalker stopping at nothing to make his targets fall in love with him, his nice and good-looking facade and sardonic voiceover narration creates a lot of sympathy for him as he accurately takes apart the flaws of those around him, even as he shows himself to be as horrible as the others he despises. Almost every major character is greatly flawed, and the way those flaws play off of each other as the people interact is magnificent. Following on from that, there are few clear cut "good" or "evil" characters. Everyone is mostly just varying shades of grey, though Joe and some others are more overtly villainous or unscrupulous in their actions.

The series has a lot of twists, with each revealing more and more about the inner psychological workings of every major character. It is made clear that while trauma can have a huge impact on people, it does not provide an excuse for their heinous acts. The plot line regarding Beck and her childhood retroactively explains a lot of her issues with attention, being affluent, and having a fear of abandonment. These traits lead her to make various decisions that hurt her friends, and she can be a little callous with lying and being irresponsible. Joe is an obsessive stalker who has a deep need to be loved, but the only way he goes about doing that is to stalk women and manipulate them into a relationship, no matter what obstacles stand in the way of that. He also does not recognize that his behavior is creepy and terrifying. Love has similar issues with her wealthy parents, desiring more affection from them and seeking to close the distance between them. Everyone has a mess of personal issues, and seeing all of that through the eyes of a stalker, someone who would know all there is to know about the personal lives of others, makes for an incredibly entertaining experience.

The series is also very well-shot, every scene is filmed in a surreal way that seems rather dreamlike, giving the series a unique aesthetic. Every scene is well-lit and framed in a way that gives a sense that the viewer is watching the events unfold as if they were a stalker themselves.

In summary, You is a psychological thriller with intriguing plot lines, engaging and believably flawed characters, interesting twists, and has a unique visual look. It is definitely entertaining and worth the watch.