After a strong and surprising three seasons, Netflix’s thrillerYouhad a rough start to season 4, and episode 6, “Best of Friends,” doesn’t do much to suggest that the rest of Joe Goldberg’s (Penn Badgley) story will be as compelling as it has been so far. While it’s fun to see Joe living in London, England as an English professor named Jonathan Moore, that novelty wears off fast. Between dull side characters and a plotline that veers away from the main action, this episode doesn’t measure up toYou’s usual strong storytelling.
There have been hints that season 5 ofYouwill be the last. After season 4’s attempt to reinvent Joe’s tale by having him be the stalked instead of the stalker (although he is obsessed with Kate Galvin, played by Charlotte Ritchie), it’s easy to see that the show is moving in the direction of the end, although episode 6 could be a lot better.
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While there’s a central plot thread throughout episode 6, with Rhys Montrose (Ed Speleers) telling Joe that he needs to pick a stranger to pin the murders on or Joe will go down for them, much of the run time is focused on a party that feels too much like the previous gatherings inYouseason 4 part one. Like the episode when Joe and Kate’s friends go to a country estate, episode 6 is mostly filler instead of offering up any dramatic plot twists or compelling character development.
While it’s interesting to see Joe dealing with the problem of needing a scapegoat for the murders, he should be focused on figuring out a plan instead of standing around at a party and thinking about how much he hates everyone around him. Season 4 struggles with finding the right balance between Joe’s dark story and the wealthy young adults he has become friendly with in London, and episode 6 is pretty dull because of that.
Season 3 ofYouworked so well because the dark romance between Joe and Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretit) is riveting and well-balanced. Every time Joe thinks that he has figured Love out, he’s mistaken, and he has to clean up her messes even more than he has to hide his own true self. Episode 6 doesn’t do much to justify Joe’s feelings for Kate or prove that this is an interesting relationship to follow. While the episode attempts to prove Joe’s feelings, as she flirts with another man at the party and he’s jealous and hates to imagine her with someone else, it’s still hard to say that Kate measures up to Beck (Elizabeth Lail) or Love.
The best scene of episode 6 is when a woman who is working during the party kidnaps Phoebe (Tilly Keeper) and locks her in a room. However, even this scene is lackluster when compared to the strong storytelling of seasons 1 through 3. It’s clear that the writers thought this moment out, as by the end, Joe has framed this woman and he can walk away free, at least for now.
However, this character is problematic as she fits into the “crazy woman"trope of thriller and horror stories. It’s uncomfortable watching this storyline play out asYouhas a reputation for figuring out clever and unexpected ways to tell the strange and gripping story of Joe Goldberg, and it feels like the show can do a lot better. If
This scene also points to another problem with season 4: too many characters.Youseason 3 is a great suburban satireand the side characters like Sherry (Shalita Grant) and Cary Conrad (Travis Van Winkle) are hilarious. Season 4 is definitely lacking strong and well-written minor characters. Phoebe and Kate are the only ones given any real development, and episode 6 continues to show Phoebe as a miserable rich kid who is used to having everything in life handed to her. While she’s of course genuinely scared that she’s going to die when she is locked in a room, it’s hard to feel a lot of sympathy for her since she hasn’t proven herself to be a kind person.
Youwould feel much stronger if Kate and Phoebe were the main people who Joe was interacting with in his new London life. A few appearances by Adam Pratt (Lukas Gage) would be fine since he and Phoebe struggle with whether to get engaged and it’s interesting watching Phoebe wonder if he truly loves her or if she can do better. And while season 1 isn’t nearly as good as the shockingThe White Lotusseason 2 finale, Gage does appear in the first few episodes of the HBO drama, and he proves his great acting talents in this role as well. Still, there are too many rich friends who all blend into each other.
Youhas struggled to find the delicate balance of changing Joe’s story enough to keep things fresh and interesting while making sure that he feels the same as he always has. When watching “Best of Friends,” it’s hard not to wish that season 4 looked a bit more like the previous seasons and that Joe was still following his typical formula of finding a new woman to obsess over. While he does become involved with Kate, he’s often distracted and thinking about Rhys and how to save himself, and this makes the season feel very different.
The final moments suggest that the next few episodes will be more compelling and entertaining, with Rhys saying that he’s going to murder Kate’s evil father Tom Lockwood, who has been mentioned several times throughout season 4.Youhas always been bingeworthy, and even if episode 6 isn’t very good, it’s still hard not to want to watch the next episode right away, so the show does succeed there. There’s hope that the next few episodes will be more entertaining and that the season will end on a cliffhanger that sets up what will hopefully be a better and more cohesive season 5.
