You is a must-watch Netflix series for those who enjoy psychological thrillers. This four-season show (with a fifth in the making) uses the unreliable narrator trope and leaves the audience conflicted as it fluctuates between glorifying and villainizing the main protagonist, Joe Goldberg, a literary genius with a passionate, deadly loyalty to the woman he loves.
Beware—major spoilers ahead for those who have not completed the show! I’ll analyze Joe’s character in detail, and no story elements (up to and including Season 4) will be censored.
Being a lover of psychological thrillers myself, this series’ thought-provoking plot and Joe’s character often made me reevaluate my morals, judgments, and feelings. I’ve created a list of my thoughts on Joe and the writing strategies incorporated into the plot.
- Being In Joe’s Point of View
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Viewing the story predominantly through Joe’s perspective makes us conflicted about our moral standings. There were many moments in which Joe would convince himself of a truth that the audience would thus believe because we had access to his internal monologue.
For example, when Joe described Candace as a crazy ex rather than taking accountability for his attempted murder, it became easy to feel annoyed by her attempts at revenge, despite knowing she was in the right.
We are unable to fully understand the emotions and perspectives of other characters, causing us to feel a lack of empathy, just like Joe.
- Joe’s Liberal Opinions
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There is no doubt that Joe has a charismatic, witty inner voice. His political openness contributes to the idea that he’s a “nice guy.” His awareness of social class, race, and sex injustices makes him appear better than his actions—a “good person” deep down.
These characteristics show us that, for men, sympathizing with the unfortunate and advocating for equal treatment is enough to change our perception of them. Feminism can very easily be used as a disguise.
We rush to label others as “good” or “bad” people for what they express on the surface, but such a shallow understanding of others means a “good” person could also be a secret serial killer!
- Sympathy For Joe’s Past Trauma
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Joe’s adult murders are cruel and unjustified. However, understanding how he protected his mother as a child causes the audience to sympathize with the decisions he makes as an adult.
We get glimpses of Joe’s childhood trauma and unstable relationships, making it difficult to accept that he’s the only one to blame. The system failed him and he developed an unhealthy perception of love during his early development. Understanding and empathizing with Joe is enough to begin feeling bad for and wanting the best for him.
- Joe’s Desire To Be Better
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The concept of goodness is often revisited throughout You as Joe’s ultimate and unattainable goal. Joe emphasizes the idea of being a “good person,” as if it’s an achievement he’s constantly aiming for or has already earned, disregarding his inhumane actions.
Joe’s conception of goodness further complicates the audience’s feelings towards him. The audience pities Joe for feeling like he “must” kill others, as if he were forced to for the sake of himself and the people he loves. When he claims he doesn’t “want to kill anyone,” the audience wants to give him opportunities for redemption that he never commits to.
One example of many is when Joe goes to therapy, making it seem as if he wants to be better and needs support to do so. Yet he still reverted to his original destructive mindset. He let us down.
Joe’s sociopathy is unintentional, as portrayed in the fourth season, where we witness his mental disorder progress. This begs the question: Is Joe at fault, or should we blame his environment and the system that failed him?
- Joe’s Intelligence
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Being passionate about literature, Joe has developed an eloquent style of speech that makes him alluring and reliable on the surface. He’s a genius. That elicits sympathy. Joe’s ability to communicate his thoughts so beautifully and present us with philosophical ideas in a manner that sparks reflection makes him likable and admirable.
Joe’s crimes aren’t the first trait that comes to mind when thinking of his qualities, so our perception of him is altered. We want to understand his motivations and believe he knows what he’s doing. The audience forgives his flaws because they are curious about how he manipulates circumstances to his benefit.
- The Inclusion of a young character in every season
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One of my favorite parts of this show is that each season introduces a new young character who represents the passion of youth that adults lose sight of.
With Season 3 being the only exception, Joe aims to preserve the innocence and nurture the minds of these youthful characters. His ability to connect with them and make them feel seen causes the audience to sympathize with him more.
Theo serves to warp Love Quinn’s character in a season that shows us the similarities between Love and Joe. Despite the two making similar mistakes, Love is perceived as unstable, in part because she damaged Theo. Meanwhile, Joe remains the good samaritan oppressed by his self-made problems because he protects children, the epitome of purity.
- Being Conventionally Attractive
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Joe always finds a stable place in the social hierarchy, despite his efforts to “lay low.”
Season 4 is the best example of that. He gets with conventionally beautiful women of higher social status and intelligence while facing little to no consequences for hurting others. He is inconvenienced at times, but never oppressed.
Joe always finds a way out, and I believe his appearance helps him do so. The inclusion of this detail exposes the harmful reality of our superficial priorities.
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