You (Season 5)

Creator: Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble
Starring: Penn Badgley, Charlotte Ritchie, Griffin Matthews, Anna Camp, Madeline Brewer, Frankie DeMaio, Pete Ploszek, Tom Francis, Natasha Behnam, Amy-Leigh Hickman, Michael Dempsey, Michelle Hurd, Elizabeth Lail, Saffron Burrows, Shalita Grant, Travis Van Winkle, Cayleb Long, Jefferson White, Tilly Keeper, Tati Gabrielle, Robin Lord Taylor
Original Airdate: 2025

**The Following Review Contains Major Plot Spoilers **

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

For its polarizing final season, Netflix's You returns to the scene of the crime, in some ways proving just how little has changed for serial killer Joe Goldberg since the series first premiered on Lifetime 7 years ago. But what a trip it's been, with the psychological thriller maintaining an enviable level of consistency since the jump to streaming exposed it to a much wider audience. Now that solid run reaches its end with Joe not only forced to confront the past, but meeting his ultimate match in more ways than one. 

Having gone from New York to California to England, Joe's back in the city after leaving a long line of victims and clues in his wake, evading capture long enough to fixate on his next obsession. Whether it's Guinevere Beck, Love Quinn, Marienne Bellamy or Kate Lockwood, all were duped into believing he'd be their white knight. And despite Joe convincing himself this latest reset is different, he'll always revert to his sociopathic default setting, gradually revealing the worst parts of himself before blowing everything up and moving on. 

If last season was defined by a huge Fight Club-inspired twist that raised Joe's body count, this follows those events with an even bigger one, complete with a plethora of callbacks and returns to bring the story full circle, teasing the possibility he'll finally get his. Now with the tables turning, predator becomes prey when an outmaneuvered Joe makes some of his sloppiest mistakes yet. But if this season marks a homecoming, it's only fitting that it all comes back to Beck, who's legacy has him backed into a corner like never before. 

Three years have passed since Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) returned to New York City with Kate (Charlotte Ritchie) after killing politician Rhys Montrose (Ed Speleers) and framing his student Nadia (Amy Leigh Hickman) for murder. Having since rehabilitated his image and regaining custody of their son Henry (Frankie DeMaio), he's now one half of a married power couple with Kate, the CEO of T.R. Lockwood Corp. 

Despite covering for Joe, Kate's still unaware of the full extent of his crimes, which causes problems when vindictive sister Reagan (Anna Camp) digs up dirt to have her removed from the company. With Reagan's twin sister Maddie (Camp) caught in the middle, Kate confides in loyal half-brother Teddy (Griffin Matthews) for help. But with his thirst for retribution growing, Joe discovers a homeless woman named Bronte (Madeline Brewer) breaking into the now abandoned Mooney's bookstore. 

After an antagonistic start, Joe and Bronte bond over their shared love for writing as he hires her for the store's reopening. Though his plan to contain Reagan goes horribly awry, he can't stop obsessing over Bronte, who harbors a big secret of her own. Now with Joe's marriage to Kate imploding as she catches on to his lies, Bronte may be the only person left who truly understands him. But even with his newly reassembled cage in Mooney's basement, Joe's luck could be running out.

You'd figure returning to a familiar city with his wife and son would give Joe the chance to permanently put the past behind him. But that's a song we've heard before as his desire for control again overrides the fantasy life he's concocted in his damaged psyche. That he somehow lasted three years in a seemingly normal, functional marriage could almost be considered a success given his track record. So, of course, he's getting restless again. 

Just as he previously discovered how unfit he was for suburban life with Love, the dinner parties, board meetings, fame and fortune that comes with being Mr. Kate Lockwood isn't Joe and never will be. And now Kate's family predicament has given him the perfect excuse to let his darkest urges resurface. What he frames as protecting her is only fuel for his own addictive release, even if it begins under plausibly deniable circumstances. 

As we've come to expect, dishing out punishment is always exclusively about Joe and no one else. He'll also enjoy it way too much, immediately raising red flags and putting Kate in more danger. From him. And we're barely at the second episode before he makes one of his biggest miscalculations, as a seemingly straightforward plan to eliminate Reagan unravels in spectacular fashion, leaving us wondering whether the writers have backed themselves into a corner. The solution is crazy, but also kind of ingenious, enabling Joe to pull another rabbit out of his hat, for the time being.

No plotline features twins without a reason, and while the scenario gets a little convoluted, it works due to Anna Camp's unhinged and ferociously comical dual performance as Reagan and Maddie. Especially in the episodes when she's not only playing both twins, but one masquerading as the other. For a while it even appears Joe won't be able to gain an upper hand on the shrewd, conniving Reagan, who's made it her mission to destroy him and Kate by exposing their shady pasts. 

Chomping scenery like no one's business, Camp is effectively detestable as the evil twin who steps on her clueless himbo of a husband and petrified daughter. But she saves her meanest wrath for outgoing, barely stable sister Maddie, who isn't the ditz she first appears to be. Having built up a lifetime of insecurity and rage from Reagan's bullying, Joe's found his ace in the hole. Unfortunately, she's also a real wild card who could come back to bite him later. 

From the get-go we know Bronte's hiding something beyond her real name and identity. But in the meantime, she's checking all the same boxes as previous women who transfixed Joe. The only question is what game she's playing, with Madeline Brewer proving incredibly effective as this irritatingly artsy, high-strung thinker concealing a presumably troubled past. But whatever Bronte's intentions, she's also drowning in a sea of self-doubt, which only makes Joe fall harder, shutting out the wife he thinks no longer appreciates him. And for all the complaints about Brewer's character not being likable enough, she's not supposed to be, understandably eliciting as many conflicted opinions from viewers as she does Joe.

Episode six ("The Dark Face of Love") is the season's turning point, giving us Bronte's full backstory and and reframing events we've already seen as a master plan's revealed, before abruptly crumbling. The season's huge twist isn't an enormous surprise on its face, but all the details and revelations accompanying it are, along with a pivotal flashback involving Elizabeth Lail's Beck. 

Where "Bronte" begins and Louise Flannery ends is anyone's guess, but her catfishing soon lands her in the same territory as Beck and the rest, shedding pieces of her own identity to believe in Joe. It's almost as if she's entered one of those cheap romance novels she pretends to enjoy, devolving into the very trope she scoffs at while losing sight of her true purpose.  

Since Joe's story always contained details that would drive true crime fanatics crazy and set social media ablaze, it's only natural the writers would fully exploit this in the final episodes. Exposed for the world to see and judge, he's again forced him to do some spin control to reclaim a narrative that's quickly spiraling out of his hands.  

While it seems every crime series is now required to incorporate a podcast, vlog or TikTok subplot, there's rarely been a better thematic match for it than Joe, whose public profile occupies this weird space somewhere between Ted Bundy and Luigi Mangione. We believe he'd want the world to see and hear his delusional version of events, even appealing for sympathy with a childhood trauma tour of the infamous cage. Watching Badgley walk the tightrope in successfully pulling this off is mind boggling, but the hilarious user comments that scroll across the screen during his interview are the true highlight, echoing obsessive thoughts of diehards who pour over every aspect of the show.  

The best part of last season was Charlotte Ritchie's performance as Kate, whose armor of cynicism still wasn't strong enough to withstand the guilt and daddy issues that eventually drove her to Joe. Rattled and more vulnerable, she's now armed with the full truth, done covering for an unstable husband who isn't just a danger to her, but a son who may have inherited his dad's violent streak.   

For far far different reasons than Joe, viewers also yearn for the return of "ice queen" Kate from last season, if only because we know she possesses the strength and intellect to take him out. At first, it doesn't appear as if she'll get there, opting instead to delicately contain him in order to avoid a public relations nightmare. It isn't until she's fully honest with herself about just how dangerous he is that the gloves come off and she recruits some backup. 

Of course, Kate's hardly the only victim so it stands to reason the others Joe wronged would want to extract revenge. Like imprisoned former student Nadia and ex Marienne (Tati Gabrielle), who Joe assumed he left for dead last season. Less conspicuous by her absence is fan favorite Ellie, but given Jenna Ortega's busy schedule, that return was always the longshot and not exactly imperative for closing this out. But it would have been a great surprise. 

With Kate looking to take the law into her own hands, Joe finds himself on the wrong side of the cage by the series' penultimate episode, "Trial of the Furies," which stands as the series' definitive entry for how it brings Joe face-to-face with the cold, hard truth of what he is and why. It's also something this narcissistic killer with more lives than Dexter will never admit to. 

As Joe's current existence literally goes up in flames, starting anew becomes his only option. Barreling toward the home stretch with a slasher-style finale, the question is less about whether his reign of terror will end, but who makes it out alive. And that's where the writers use up every last ounce of goodwill, asking for a massive suspension of disbelief when it comes to these characters' fates. 

Marienne has this brief but memorable talk with Bronte warning her against assuming she's too smart to get sucked into Joe's vortex. It's a standout scene magnified by Gabrielle's powerful performance, suggesting some sort of deprogramming is required for Bronte to stop projecting what she wants to see and start noticing the facts. And with her fate still very much in the air, the show's narrative voice shifts, placing Joe's future in someone else's hands for a change.

This is the season that examines how women who should see Joe for what he is still somehow remain powerless to his charm and excuses, even lying to themselves to justify it. A toxic predator with a type, he's drawn to hurt or damaged people in need of "saving," exerting the control he couldn't as a child trapped inside that cell he'd later lock them in.

Badgely's tackled the most complicated of tasks in playing a tormented protagonist who views himself as the savior, straddling the line between charming manipulation and full blown psychopathy. That's why a trial that fully exposes him to the world is the character's worst nightmare, or at least almost as bad as a castrated life spent alone in prison. It's still a cage of his own making, but a real one he complains "you" put him. And it's the closest thing to a victory his victims can hope to get.                             

You (Season 4)

Creator: Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble
Starring: Penn Badgley, Tati Gabrielle, Charlotte Ritchie, Tilly Keeper, Amy-Leigh Hickman, Ed Speleers, Lukas Gage, Stephen Hagan, Adam James, Aidan Cheng, Niccy Lin, Eve Austin, Ben Wiggins, Greg Kinnear, Victoria Pedretti, Elizabeth Lail
Original Airdate: 2023

**The Following Review Contains Plot Spoilers For The Fourth Season Of 'You' **

★★½ (out of ★★★★)

After a hugely successful run following its move to Netflix in 2019, the psychological drama You finally breaks the streak, with a messy and confounding fourth season. But it's not as if leaps in logic haven't always accompanied the show's premise of an outwardly charming but obsessively sociopathic serial killer who moves from woman to woman as he attempts to curb his violent impulses. Ridiculous developments often caused former bookstore manager Joe Goldberg to evade capture and even death, with the writers (and Penn Badgley's instinctually creepy performance) often doing an unusually decent job covering his tracks. 

As crazy as these scenarios got, there was this sense the show remained somewhat bound to the rules created for its own universe. And even on the occasions those were violated, a pretty good reason accompanied it and they'd get a pass. This marks the first time believability flies off the rails, and while it doesn't spell doom for a series that could still easily recover in the final season, it's definitely indicative that wrapping things up soon may not be such a bad idea. 

Broken into two parts, the entire season hinges on a big plot twist that has to be discussed since all ten episodes hinge on it, which could be part of the problem. That this revelation comes so late doesn't help, giving viewers little time to process the fallout before being blindsided by another turn or two. After a while you just start rolling your eyes at certain plot holes that detract from the occasionally gripping second batch of episodes. But the first half is the bigger problem, introducing us to a multitude of unlikable, headache-inducing characters before knocking most of the them off.

Even what's arguably the series' most inventive creation in Joe's "glass box" strains credibility this time, with viewers more likely than ever to be distracted by lingering questions of its transport and construction. Still, it results in the most thrilling episode, despite its somewhat convoluted follow-up. Thankfully, the series isn't running on fumes yet, at least attempting to put the pieces into place for a stronger closing chapter.

After killing wife Love (Victoria Pedretti) and setting a fire to fake his death, Joe (Badgley) is approached by a fixer working for her father who offers him a new identity, provided he ties up loose ends by murdering his ex, librarian and single mom Marianne (Tati Gabrielle). But after tracking her down in London, he can't go through with it, instead letting her escape before starting anew as university English professor "Jonathan Moore." 

It isn't long before Joe's sucked into a group of spoiled rich aristocrats consisting of hard partying department colleague Malcolm Harding (Stephen Hagan), his ice cold girlfriend Kate Galvin (Charlotte Ritchie), ditzy but well intentioned socialite Lady Phoebe (Tilly Keeper) and her arrogant playboy love interest Adam Pratt (Lukas Gage). Rounding out the pack are artist and influencer siblings Simon (Aidan Cheng) and Sophie (Niccy Lin) Soo, loud, abrasive socialite Gemma Graham-Greene (Eve Austin), Kate's dour childhood friend Roald Walker-Burton (Ben Wiggins) and rags-to-riches author and aspiring politician Rhys Montrose (Ed Speleers). 

When Malcolm and others turn up dead, Joe begins receiving anonymous texts from the murderer threatening to expose him as this "Eat The Rich" Killer. With his secret life and true identity suddenly hanging in the balance, he relies on advice from star student sleuth Nadia (Amy-Leigh Hickman), to determine who the blackmailing mastermind is. Matters are further complicated as he falls hard for the standoffish Kate, potentially endangering them both. But like Joe, she has a painful history of her own.

From the start, there's just something missing this season, which could partially stem from Joe now being the hunted, or so it seems. That and barely escaping a previous season where he was married to someone just as dangerous appears to have maybe tamed him a bit. But if entering these episodes with a lower body count and new identity temporarily lulls you into considering Joe's turned over a new leaf on his fourth try, think again.

It isn't immediately apparent Kate will become Joe's latest obsessions, much like Beck, Love and Marienne before her. Of all the twists and turns this season, how their relationship plays out might actually be the most shocking given its uneventful beginning. Because the cast is so large and overstuffed, Kate almost initially fades into the background, but that doesn't last long since Joe needs someone to fulfill his twisted proclivities as the bodies start piling up.  

Kate's at least radically different from the rest, coldly and sarcastically pushing back in ways he doesn't expect. While her aloofness practically guarantees she won't extract the same emotional response from viewers as his preceding victims/girlfriends, Charlotte Ritchie really commits to the role, peeling back layers to reveal a past and present that more than explains Joe's fascination with her. And as we already know, it's not a good sign when he's fascinated with anyone.

While the idea of dropping Joe into this new London setting as a professor probably looked great on paper and promised a dynamic scenario, some of these early episodes become a chore to sit through due to some obnoxious supporting characters. That's especially true of Adam, and to a lesser extent, his British Paris Hilton-like girlfriend Lady Phoebe, who Tilly Keeper does manage to inject with some wounded humanity. 

The fact that so many of these people are cut from the same cloth starts to wear on you, especially since it's obvious most won't be surviving. And seeing Joe on the defense rather than the primary instigator of destruction isn't something we're used to. In a reversal, he's supposed to feel what it's like to be stalked and tormented.   

A more platonic target of Joe's obsessions is author and politician Rhys Montrose who, aside from Kate, proves to be the only wealthy aristocrat whose company he can stand. Devouring his book and advice, Joe digs into his socio-political philosophies, but it's only when Rhys reveals himself as someone far more important than Joe suspected that the season's off and running, nearly five episodes in. Despite being led to believe Rhys is the killer framing him, he's actually Joe's own Tyler Durden and a psychological manifestation of his worst impulses. 

Once again Joe's responsible for all the murder and chaos, with this Rhys alter ego representing some kind of psychotic break. While it reframes everything we've seen, the reveal does feel kind of empty, taking an entire season to return Joe to where he should have started at. And since this specific gotcha device has become such a storytelling crutch of late, you can't really blame anyone for viewing it as a cheat, especially looking back on the totality of events that unfolded. 

What ends up selling any of this is Badgley's performance, with Joe awakening from his fugue state to realize he's as demented as ever. Reaching new levels of madness and depravity by compartmentalizing his actions with another personality, the realization sets in that he's still holding Marienne...somewhere. Episode 8 (""Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?") is easily the most accomplished of the season, harkening back to what originally made the series so suspenseful. Kidnapped and drugged, she struggles to survive inside Joe's glass prison, even as he has no memory of exactly where that is.

Only reinforcing how much Tati Gabrielle's presence is missed from the rest of the season, her portrayal of Marienne's anger and desperation distracts from the logic holes of a scrambling Joe contending with Kate's meglomaniacal businessman father Tom Lockwood (Greg Kinnear) and an increasingly suspicious Nadia. The logistics of the glass box notwithstanding, this is probably the most amount of time the show's spent with someone inside of it. And is Marienne ever battling, with Joe taking advantage of her history as an addict and the very real possibility she may never see her daughter again. It's a match of wills as she nears the end of her rope, before having to put all trust in someone else. 

There's a moment toward the season's close where one phone call to police would end everything and the only reason it doesn't happen is so this predicament can continue. It's the kind of obvious misstep the show never used to make, or at least took proactive measures to ensure wouldn't occur. This choice leads to an even more complicated plan and diminishing sympathies for a supposedly heroic character who just doesn't know when to say when, still trying to expose a proven serial killer after accomplishing what's necessary. Of course, we're fully aware the writers are using every possible tool to extend this, regardless of how much sense it makes. The irony is that Joe still ends up exactly where he should at season's end, as sloppy as it was. 

With Joe preparing to start over with Kate by his side, the writers were smart enough not to tie up the many loose ends, as more than a few characters remain who could still fully expose his crimes. While Elizabeth Lail and Victoria Pedretti's deceased characters both briefly cameo in a Joe dream sequence, the writers may have accidentally struck gold when they opted to have Joe send Jenna Ortega's Ellie away unharmed at the end of the Season 2 with that bag of cash and more than enough motive to return.

If ever there was a time to bring out the big guns it's in the last season, as you could see anyone suddenly reappearing to upend Joe's new life, delivering the final fitting blow this character and the series deserves. Whether the writers can successfully pull that off after such a hit-or-miss season is the bigger question. Either way, there are still plenty of options left on the table to give fans hope that even after this shaky showing, You is still capable of going out on top.                                                                          

You (Season 3)

 

Creators: Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble
Starring: Penn Badgley, Victoria Pedretti, Tati Gabrielle, Saffron Burrows, Shalita Grant, Travis Van Winkle, Dylan Arnold, Scott Speedman, Michaela McManus, Ben Mehl, Mackenzie Astin, Terryn Westbrook, Marcia Cross, Scott Michael Foster 
Original Airdate: 2021

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

Few cable series have benefitted more from a jump to streaming than Netflix's You, which premiered its superior second season in late 2019 after languishing on Lifetime. Since then, the creative improvements have been so noticeable that you'd be hard-pressed to recognize it's the same show. Last season represented the apex of that achievement when creators Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble transplanted stalking, serial killing former bookstore manager Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) from New York to L.A. with thrilling results. Hoping to put to bed the memory of his last obsession and victim, Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail), he finds a new unhealthy relationship with chef Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti). Of course, with the big twist being that she might be his perfect match, as psychotic and prone to violence as he is.

While last season ended with Joe and Love settling into the suburbs to begin their happy, ordinary life together, if we know anything about him and the series it's that he won't stay content for long. Best laid plans for a "happily ever after" are bound to be in constant jeopardy when these two toxic, damaged personalities attempt to co-exist as a normal married couple living under the same roof. The writers really milk this, forcing the viewer to pick sides this season as the pair constantly try to scheme and outmaneuver each other, extracting revenge for slights both real and imagined, all while attempting to suppress their worst impulses.

What distinguishes this from the superficially similar Dexter is Joe's bitingly sarcastic and self-aware recognition of his circumstances, and an equally dangerous partner in Love. But the biggest recent shift has been Joe's legitimate attempts to try to recognize what's right and do it, despite rarely accomplishing this feat and falling back into his old ways. That's a stark departure from its first season, which presented a nearly remorseless killer whose social media manipulation became his most defining characteristic. Badgley's performance always teeters on the edge of normalcy, giving audiences just enough hope that Joe could possibly turn things around. A wife and child give him an added incentive to try harder, while also providing just as many excuses not to.

Putting down roots in the San Francisco suburb of Madre Linda, the now-married Joe and Love are just starting to settle into a quaint existence with their newborn baby boy, Henry, when Joe starts having eyes for next door neighbor and realtor Natalie Engler (Michaela McManus). But just as his interest becomes more, Love takes matters into her own hands and kills Natalie, leaving both a physical and figurative mess for them to clean up just as she's planning to open her new bakery, "A Fresh Tart." 

With all of Madre Linda focused on finding Natalie, Joe and Love continue to project a facade of normalcy to the community, with the latter befriending local mom influencer Sherry Conrad (Shalita Grant) and her flaky supplement company owner husband, Cary (Travis Van Winkle). Meanwhile, Joe's working at the library, where he develops a burgeoning interest in his no-nonsense boss, Marienne Bellamy (Tati Gabrielle), a single mother struggling through some serious issues of her own.

As the Goldbergs' plan to cover-up Natalie's murder proves more complicated than expected, her distraught, pill popping CEO husband Matthew (Scott Speedman) grows suspicious, while his troubled college student son Theo (Dylan Arnold) develops a crush on a flattered Love, simultaneously consuming her with guilt and excitement. In keeping their horrific secret in the face of public suspicion, Joe and Quinn must somehow cooperate as a team even as their marriage crumbles under the weight of jealousy, mistrust and betrayal. With all their dreams of having a perfect family deteriorating into a nightmare, their relationship soon becomes a dangerous cat-and-mouse game.                

Minutes in, Joe's already sick of married suburban life as his attentions immediately turn to this married neighbor, which makes sense knowing his impulsive history. And that's merely the jumping off point for what the show continues to do so well, taking Joe's established pattern with Beck, only to continue it with Love, and now possibly again. But this season's more interested in deconstructing that entire idea, introducing Natalie as proof that Joe's inability to settle down or control his demons have little to do with his partner. There's no soulmate for someone we learn through flashbacks (this time involving his an abused school nurse from childhood) already had that soul damaged by his troubled upbringing. 

Still devastated by brother Forty's (James Scully) death and fighting with her controlling, alcoholic mom Dottie (Saffron Burrows), Love's not exactly a catch either. Trapped in a marriage of toxic co-dependency, what she and Joe most have in common is their ability to kill, even while sometimes vehemently disagreeing about the who and why.  Love's murder of Natalie sets in motion the series of crazy events that define these 10 episodes, bringing both their worst instincts to the surface, even as Joe really tries fighting back against what defines him. It's a slippery slope, as they try to cover their tracks and work together despite the rapidly eroding trust. 

The story of Joe's new obsession is more of a slow burn than in season's past, gradually evolving as Joe sorts out his feelings and wrestles with the accompanying guilt. Briefly, it might be the closest he's come yet to not seeming like a total stalker, as Badgley gives us passing glimpses of who a more adjusted Joe could be. But we know him too well by now, recognizing his interest in Marienne the librarian has much more to do with him feeding his narcissistic tendencies than it does her. It's easy to recognize everything he sees in this woman, and even while fitting the damaged type he typically latches onto, she transcends that narrow categorization thanks to the fortitude and grace rising star Tati Gabrielle brings to the role.

While completely grasping the idea of Marienne as Joe's idealization, Gabrielle still plays her with plenty of agency, as the character battles a recent history of addiction and tries to protect her daughter from slimy newcaster ex-husband Ryan (Scott Michael Foster). But the show's told from Joe's warped point of view and the writers make sure we don't forget it. 

Joe's still the one calculating every move, hoarding creepy keepsakes, breaking and entering and reminding us that as long as she's in his life in any capacity, she isn't safe. All the potentially disastrous scenarios involving Joe or even Love finding them out marinate in viewers' minds throughout the season, with the biggest source of tension coming from what could happen to Marienne, or even her daughter.  

The show's penchant for incorporating controversial, hot-button issues like cyber-stalking and pedophilia into its narrative continues this season with a sub-plot involving an anti-vaxxer parent, Gil, (Mackenzie Astin) who both is and isn't exactly what he appears. This again places the series well within its creative wheelhouse of reflecting reality, but twisting it just enough to provoke discussion and bring a little more out of the material. Love's inability to control herself when it comes to protecting her child might play as the character's most relatable moment thus far, especially when taken outside the context of her other actions. Victoria Pedretti gives this emotional whirlwind of a performance throughout, with Love's insecurity over their marriage pushing she and Joe over the edge. 

Love's bid for societal acceptance starts as strategy before evolving into what resembles a desperately genuine desire to fit in. At first glance, the phony, condescending Sherry Conrad and her himbo husband Cary couldn't seem any more broadly comedic or ridiculous, albeit in the best possible way. 

It's only when circumstances turn that Sherry and Cary are collectively revealed as more authentic than either Joe or Love could dream of being, while worthy of a begrudging amount of respect. And a lot of the success of these two characters can be attributed to Grant and Van Winkle's collective timing and chemistry, which evolves into one of the season's biggest highlights.

At first, it's hard to get a read on the grieving Matthew, with Scott Speedman playing him in a constant state of distracted, drugged-out insomnia, obsessed with obtaining the necessary surveillance footage he believes will uncover his wife's true killer. This comes at the expense of his fractured relationship with son Theo, who's fallen so hard for Love that it's blinded his ability to see that infatuation can't possibly end well. Before long, he'll just be another pawn in the Goldbergs' game to cover their tracks.

It isn't exactly a spoiler to reveal the reconstruction of Joe's infamous "cage," again located in a setting that makes for easy storage. Nor is it particularly suprising that it sees a lot of action this season, with big questions surrounding not only who gets locked in, but whether they'll be exiting with their lives. 

Digging out of holes is what this series does best, surrounding Joe with indispensably memorable and colorful supporting players who could drive a show of their own. It's the best and most frustrating element since we know there's a good chance a few may not survive past these ten episodes. Suprisingly, more loose ends are left than usual, which only increases speculation about what a fourth season will look like.

With Joe and Love working with and against each other in a battle for their own self-preservation, it ends the only way it can, as the writers continue making the tough but necessary decisions that mark each new installment as its own self-contained film with a concrete finale. The writers are always looking at the bigger picture in realizing the only way to ensure the show's successful continuation is to tear it all down again and move forward with another reset. Expertly combining horror thrills with soapy dramatics, You has officially hit its stride, remaining as wickedly smart and addictive as it's ever been.