‘I’ve made mistakes in the past. Would You be a mistake?’
Effortlessly stealing Squid Game’s limelight, You: Season 3 ruthlessly seized Netflix UK’s top spot this fortnight and will not be challenged without a fight.
Joe Goldberg met his match last season and boy, does he regret it!
Now staring down the barrel of parenthood, ‘white picket purgatory’ and his marriage to a ‘monster’, the opening episode— And They Lived Happily Ever After’ — revisits the killer as he battles his latest obsession, leaving You hungry for more.
This first episode exposes viewers to a plethora of emotions, causing them to anguish over Joe and wife Love’s infinite ping pong between psychosis, jealousy and the occasional ray of humanity.
Television writer Sera Gamble (The Magicians) pays homage to Caroline Kepnes’s final instalment of the psychological thriller novels You Love Me by once again employing the show’s infamous monologue.
Perfectly cast, it seems like no coincidence that the protagonist parallels Penn Badgley’s former stint as Gossip Girl’s Dan Humphreys, allowing the actor to once again portray a neurotic, observant outsider with a hidden secret.
A particularly prominent element of the episode is director Silver Tree’s impressive use of visual effects. Throughout, there is a shrewd contrast between the bright, shiny lighting in suburbia and darkly lit, intimate moments captured behind closed doors. This encapsulates the occasions when Joe and Love reveal their rough edges, leaving the viewer feeling unsettled.
Additionally, during the stalker scenes, the show’s use of creative camera angles allows the audience to see through Joe’s eyes, while visual fog highlights his delusions, confronting you with questions about the character’s reality.
This opening episode successfully introduces various underlying themes that will likely develop throughout the season.
I particularly love Joe’s use of language when relaying his cynical views of suburban life. Phrases such as “You’re a prisoner too” and “Happily ever after looks a lot different than I thought” effectively convey his feelings of being stuck, while “I’m married to the wrong person. What if you’re the right one?” implies that the grass is always greener on the other side of the white picket fence.
Suburbia is further depicted as a hellscape of fake perfection through a clique of pretentious, polished neighbours including Sherry (Shalita Grant), a condescending ‘Mumfluencer’. This makes Joe’s perspective compelling, as these inconceivable standards force you into a world where the unhinged couple is easier to relate to.
Using consistently skilful foreshadowing, topical book references and questionable perspectives, this proves to be a promising start to an undoubtedly successful season.
As far as I’m concerned, an enthusiastic binge-watch is inevitable!
★★★★
